I got my review up on @CEE TEE DSHA-3FN up! What a fantastic amp! It’s a nice compliment to my favorite amp the ECP T4 hmmm
might have to see if a T4 remake could be done ha!
![Thinking face :thinking: 🤔](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f914.png)
Finally got my DSHA-3FN, after a bit of a journey. The unit was damaged during shipping, and Christian was AMAZING. He handled everything with such care and professionalism - always updating, explaining, taking accountability. Can't say enough good things about the Nitsch customer service experience.
The unit arrived finally arrived this week -- fixed and fantastic.
And the SOUND... Wow. I wasn't fully prepared to like it as much as I did.
Some background: I'd been using a Topping A90/D90 AKM stack with Focal OG Utopias and felt like there was something I wasn't quite getting from the sound. I tested a bunch of Summit-Fi equipment at a dealer: Chord Dave, Feliks Euforia, Pathos InPol, and NAIM Uniti HE. I was stunned by how uninspired the Chord and Feliks sounded after the buildup. The Chord sounded thin, the Feliks bloomy. I was expecting to hear magic, and found myself more impressed with my Shanling M8 DAP when I A/B-ed them.
The Pathos was the biggest improvement on my home system, but I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. I ended up using the A90 as a pre-amp and plugging the Utopias into an X-Duoo MT-604, which got me 70-80% of the way to the Pathos tubeyness for under $200 bucks. (I still think that little hybrid wonder is one of the great audiophile bargains, and is not taken seriously only because it is TOO affordable.)
So the Nitsch was a big leap of faith and finance, and for the first time I experienced the audiophile cliche: "I heard things in my music I never heard before." Here's an example. In Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion," about two thirds of the way into the song, a new instrument is introduced. It sounds like the world's tiniest cymbal or someone gently striking a tambourine chime. I've listened to that song for the past 40 years, and this is the first time I've noticed that sound. Clearly I've always heard it, but the DSHA-3FN pulled it out of the mix, and I NOTICED it.
What's fascinating is that, in principle, I thought the ASR crowd had a point -- that something as transparent as an A90 should have revealed everything in the music and that any digression from that design philosophy was simply introducing pleasant distortion. So to hear ADDITIONAL detail, plus bigger soundstage, clearer bass/sub-bass separation, punchier bass, smoother treble, and overall, just a more enjoyable, immersive presentation... well, it's an awakening. (probably an expensive one, unfortunately)
Fortunately, I finally hear the sound I was hoping to get from my Utopias.
As for a DAC, after seeing the Mass-Kobo designer auditioning his new $17,000 amp with my exact same Topping D90 MQA DAC, I think I'm good.
Summit Fi has been reached with these cans. Thanks, Christian & Doug!
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Sounds like you have amazing combo there. IIRC the D90 isn't as aggressive in its presentation while the DSHA3FN is a dynamics monster especially with Focals. I can imagine those two synergizes incredibly well with the Utopia. I also imagine Sonnet Morpheus (also a laid back DAC) would pair incredibly well with the 3F for Utopia OG (not the 2022) as well if you want to explore a more musical presentation of a NOS DAC. The Holo Audio NOS DAC might be too aggressive for the 3FN but I can see those two pairing with ZMF Atrium or Verite
Either the LIM or the MIB would be a good candidate for a less aggressive and more even out dynamics. Another option is to go NOS such as the Holo May KTE or Sonnet Pasithea (less macrodynamic focused than KTE and more microdynamic emphasis)
Find a Walnut X DAC, also by ECP. Tremendous synergy.
Appreciate the response. Yes, I am seriously contemplating having Schiit port my old Yggdrasil into a new "+" chassis and upgrade the A2 cards to the MIB cards so I can compare them. I think I read in the main Schiit thread that someone who found their B&W speakers with diamond tweeters aggressive and tiring had the issue alleviated by moving to the MIB cards. I'll have to look more into Holo and Sonnet. I've heard of their products, but never really researched them.
For others that are familiar with the OG ECP DSHA-3F and/or the Nitsch DSHA-3FN, other than the Topping D90 mentioned above, what have others found to be good solid-state DAC pairings with the amp when used with Focal headphones? I'm beginning to think that the Yggdrasil A2/OG that I've used to great success with my Magnepan speakers for years in the same room is just too aggressive to use with Focal headphones, as I haven't been completely satisfied with any amp I've tried here at home.
The only amp that I ever heard that sounded as good as my Cavalli Liquid Gold with my Utopias.The Utopia/3F pairing is simply one of the best and most synergistic pairings in TOTL headphone sound. There is different sound, not better. I'm so glad Christian and Doug collaborated to bring this back to life.
I’m absolutely loving mine! I was pleasantly surprised by the unboxing experience of Serial #4! Love the included flight case. Great idea!
Running it in my bedroom system through a Shunyata Denali 6000Tv2, Denafrips T2 12th, Lumin U2 and real Nordost cables driving my OG Utopia with Danacable Nirvana.
Sounds as good as I could have hoped. Dead quiet through the whole range via the volume pot with nothing playing. Great linearity and control with just a hint of sweetness.
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To each their own — I think this looks better than 90% of headphone amps out there.I could learn to live with the wooden side panels, which aren't hugely to my taste, but the gold volume knob just looks awful