Steve Martz and Andrew Mason of THX

June 28, 2021 730 PM EST

Special Guests/topic: THX and the Onyx lossless DAC Amplifier with:

• Andrew Mason, Senior Staff Engineer, Product Development, THX Ltd. 
• Steve Martz, Vice President, Global Technology, THX Ltd.

THX Onyx - a powerful DAC/amp for your headphones

How to set up THX Onyx - YouTube 

https://www.thx.com/blog/why-dac-amps-matter-thx-onyx/

Reconnection:

• We took a show off.  Had been going pretty hard for 5 months since start of year.  Good to take a break but lining up more guests now. Can’t guarantee it will remain every 2 weeks but that’s the target.  Open to guest suggestions and connections from our listeners
• Sam’s going to CEDIA!  Anyone else gonna make it?
• Looks like CES is a GO and Sam will try to make it there too.
• Brian wrote a screenplay! Hoping to have a screenwriter focused podcast episode soon.

THX Introduction : 

THX has a storied history in home theater, first via George Lucas, then as an independent company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Razer.  THX began certifying theaters for a quality audio and video experience so that movie goers could enjoy the film the way the creator intended. THX took this concept into the home theater product sector, offering the THX Certification service to worthy brands who can pass and have verified through hundreds of tests the high quality experience provided by their product.  In recent years, THX has also evolved into providing such technologies, in addition to its THX Certification service - such technologies as THX Spatial Audio and THX AAA.   

And now - its very first introduction direct to consumers of a product with the same mission - to empower quality entertainment where and when you want it with the THX DAC/Amp, a portable solution for enjoying lossless, crystal clear audio from your portable device over wired headphones. 

Interview :

• How has the Razer transition been going?.  How do Razer and THX work together? 
• On the THX web site there are 366 THX certified products but only one that is THX branded.  Is this a one off or the start of a trend?  Will we see more THX branded products?  Consumer products or are production products a possibility?
• It looks like THX certification is still going.  What does that mean in a world of Atmos and Lossless?
  • Since the razer acquisition it seems like THX is in a prime position to help guide consumers to higher quality AV.
• Please tell us a bit more about THX Onyx product
  • Who is this product aimed at? What if I don’t have ‘golden ears’?
  • Can consumer level headphones benefit from THX Onyx? If not, where’s a good starting point for headphones that do benefit?
  • Does it work with the new Apple Lossless / THX Spatial audio?
  • What do you need to get the most from THX Onyx?  Is Apple Music enough now or are Tidal / Amazon Music still better options?
• What’s going on with Deep Note?  Are you / did you really replace it?
• What’s next for THX?  

Quick Good Bad and Ugly:

Sam - Fast and Furious 9  

Brian - Glory

Guests - Parasite, Thor Ragnarok