Nitsch Pietus Maximus Headphone Amp Review - Religiously Warm, Thick, Smooth, Refined
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- The Pietus Maximus and Multibit DAC Module were channel purchases. Thanks to Nitsch for loaning the ESS DAC module!
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Timestamps…
00:00 Intro, Pricing, Disclaimer
01:25 Shameless Self Promotion
01:49 Takeaways
03:04 In This Video…
03:53 What is the Pietus Maximus?
05:41 Pricing, Specs, Build
09:41 The Thing I Don’t Like…No Balanced Input
16:25 Test Gear
20:08 Sound from Amplifier
25:17 Headphone Pairings
27:18 Sound with DAC Cards
32:03 It Begs to be Used with Outboard DACs
35:19 Comparison with Asgard 3
36:02 Comparison with G111mk2
39:38 Pairing with the Bifrost 2
41:35 Does Pietus Maximus Punch Up?
43:56 Final Thoughts
Thanks for the excellent review and I have the amp only version. I love that it is a single ended amp. This Pietus Maximus amplifier appears very specific for people, like myself, with high cost and high sensitivity headphones and IEM's who don't want to pay for all that balanced topology, connectivity, expensive cables, power and "features" they won't use. For many a single ended $250 to $400 external DAC will do just fine. Most of the balanced amps I came across in this $500 price range all had a lot of complaints with noise/distortion etc for higher sensitivity lower gain headphones/IEM's including the G111 MK2 which last I heard you only get 1/2 power in US 115V or be into soldering runs etc to modify. Pietus Maximus has quite a LOT of volume control with each gain. The low is a VERY low gain and it plays sensitive IEM's with no noise. I really like my Pietus Maximus and I am experimenting with DAC's. I found the closest amp sound, technology, price and build quality to the Pietus Maximus was the Rebel Amp also single ended.
I really appreciate the TIME you put in with different combinations for your reviews!
I agree with the balanced issue point again. My current favorite is the Schitt/Lake combo!
"Schiit People" or "Lake Schiit" produced a chuckle this morning. Thanks!
I LOL'd hard at this
Thanks for this. I ordered one and it will be here tomorrow. I don't really consider myself an audiophile, and this is will be my endgame headphone amp.
Great review! I want that dial for my Mjolnir3 instead of the silver one it comes with.
I've built myself a solid mid-tier listening station for my desk at work. Using the Mojo 2 as DAC, which I picked up used for only $450, and the PiMax for amp, and the ZMF Atticus for headphones. It pales in comparison to what I have at home, but the bang for your buck performance is truly outstanding.
Hi and congrats for the information you provide! Any recommendations for headphones with a lot of LOW sub bass with good mids/highs around of below 1000£??? Very much appreciated
thanks for the great review 😎 i use it and really like it with a coax driven mojo 2. do you think the qutest may be a good pairing? or what dac would you suggest as a good upgrade? thx
I was hoping you paired the J2 AKM 4499 with that Maximus and gave us your thoughts.
Does it challenge more expensive amps? I think it always depends what you're looking for. I've been into head-fi for a little under 15 years (always mid-fi) and it took me a few rounds of taking time away and coming back to it to realize what I really want from my gear. I've only had this amp for a few weeks but it's ticking all the right boxes for me. Top quality and very useful video, as always, thanks!
I don't get the dislike for a power switch in the rear. My Yamaha and mackie mixers all have them back there too. Keeps one from accidentally hitting the button and shutting off the unit by accident while in use.
Great review! When will you publish the mjolner 3 review?
A matter of days, not weeks.
please see how you can get an Aune S17 amp for review. apparently, it matches the v222 at half the price. And stage is better on low gain, so I'm curious! AND you opinion is the one i trust!
My impression about Nitsch was they use all discrete components, because they feel discrete is better than op-amps. I didn't think they were going for a "tube-like" sound?
I am curious what you think about running a balanced dac into a balanced HP amp with a single ended preamp out into an amp like this. Example: Denafrips Ares into Sinxer SA1 into Maximus. Do you think that it would suffer a similar loss of quality as using the single ended out of the dac straight into a single ended amp?
I wonder how this would stack up to the new Aune S17Pro class A amp at $600? I'd like you to get your hands on that one and review. Perhaps Apos will send you a review copy.
Spent about 2 months with this amp. Tonally, Pietus hits the mark for me. My favorite under $1000 so far. Unfortunately had to package it as a trade deal for my current Ferrum Erco + Hypsos stack, but it was a joy to listen to when I had it.
Agreed with what Wavetheory said about Bifrost 2 paired with this. I enjoyed it much more through my RME ADI2 than Bifrost 2, not sure if it was due to worse RCA out on Bifrost or just synergy. Bifrost 2 gave the amp a slight artificial bloom to individual note hits that the RME was more accurate with; this isn’t the case with all amps.
hi, did you try the Bifrost 2 OG with the PM? is it / may it be a better pairing than a Mojo 2? thx
I have a Modius E -> Lokius -> Asgard 3. I'm looking to upgrade to either a PiMax or a Lyr+. I'm currently running the Arya Organic as my Daily listener. Any thoughts?
How do you feel Pietus + Multibit compares to the EF400?
I follow a bunch of audio reviewers. I am a very experienced audiophile. You do really great reviews and you arr every thorough. I am very impressed. Kudos.
Excellent Review Wave. I've got the Pietus Maximus. Really good Amp for the money. But I prefer it "without" either DAC card installed. Especially the Multi-Bit which seemed to reduce the volume of the PM. The PM performs a lot better with an external; DAC from my experience with it. The Geshelli loaded with the Kitchen sink JNOG2 SOCKETED [J2S] DAC kills the Schiit DAC offerings with the PM. Even my Schiit SYN connected to the PM sounds better than the Installed Schiit DAC chips. If you "Must" have an AIO with PM... get the ESS DAC chip, not the Multi-Bit
JTB. Justified True Belief? 🤓
If the ESS DAC chip is the same as in the Modi+, then I would expect it to sound really good. I’m amazed how good the tuning is on the Modi+.
@@ChicagoRob2 Don't get me wrong the ESS sounded good... but my External DACS just sounded better with the PM.
@@JTB-- To be expected.
@@ChicagoRob2It’s the same chip that’s used in the Modius.
Orchard audio has RCA to XLR active converter but it's little bit pricier ($300), for the work it's doing.
I built my own passive cables XLR to RCA cables which are an improvement over straight RCA's just for the extra power. I looked at some of those transformer boxes but I can't understand why they would be of value? Improved noise floor? Sounds pretty black to me already.
Unrelated to the vid, but still want to know. Whats the difference between a portable amp ( ifi hip dac/ gryphon) compared to a desktop amp like this one you are reviewing? Like surely going portable you are losing a lot of performance?
Hi there! How does Maximus do with Metal If I use them with Caldera?
can u connect this dac amp to the ps5?
Is that the ZMF Bokeh? Review is coming?
I had one with the ESS DAC and sold it maybe 2 weeks later. Definitely has a more warm sound and also wider sound stage. It worked wonders on my HD 660S2. I have to agree with you on the price but Cee Tee with Nitsch Audio definitely has to make some sort of markup with his new company. My primary reason for selling was that none of my headphones needed that much power. I will probably end up buying the Nitsch Magni Piety as it is now more readily available for sale and better priced at $174.99.
Hmm i have a 660s and a 800s and was looking at this or the magni piety… you think it’s overkill? I have the magni heresy now and it doesn’t do that great with the 800s. I just got those last week. I did preamp it from my freya that helped but still can get some issues. I’m looking for primarily for my turntable as digitally my newer MacBook Pro has been hard to beat even vs other dacs n amps. Have you gotten the piety yet to compare to? Would love any info
How do you rate this as an amp only with Mojo2 as DAC?
Shouldn't you be using the USB audio player Pro app with your Samsung phone?
There are a couple of other apps that provide "bit-perfect" playback, but APP is my favourite, so far.
APP doesn't work as a Roon endpoint. Roon is amazing and to use it OTG you have to use the Arc app.
Looks like Asgard 3 pro plus max edition
That's some real niche shiit you bought there! 😮😅😮
But methinks that I will hang on to my iFi Phantom (when it arrives sometime this week). 😝
@@TheWorldTeacher, mine should be here in a couple of days. I'm DEFINITELY not looking forward to paying the equivalent of USD$350 in import duties!
I keep everything balanced, from my desk to my home theater, because you get more power from balanced since it has double the Voltage, not because it sounds better. It is unacceptable not to have it at this price. Looks great though.
Can't you just buy XLR to RCA cables and avoid the DAC compatibility issue altogether?
No, that hugely changes the sound signature of a DAC by changing its distortion profile. You need either transformers (e.g. CineMags) or an active summing device (e.g. Lokius), both of which impart their own color.
It’s the only problem I had with this review. I actually have it setup this way as going xlr to single ended is not an issue it’s the other way around that can cause issues and you need a converter. Benchmark Dac xlr to Pietus single ended. Otherwise I totally agree with WT’s review and everything he said. For those Grado fans, one of my favorite pairings is with this amp and 325xs!
@@darmokt Do you know the science behind that? I assume to has to do with the voltage and dual ground difference but I am not sure.
Benchmark themselves say be careful with this. Right from their website for such cables: "Use this cable to connect the transformerless (electronically balanced) analog output from any Benchmark product (such as a DAC1 or DAC2) to an unbalanced analog input on a power amplifier or Hi-Fi "preamplifier". This cable will work will all Benchmark balanced analog outputs. Please note that this cable will not work with the transformer-coupled analog outputs found on some non-Benchmark products" So, yes, it works SOME times...not every time. There are reasons why there aren't more makers out there saying "just get adapter cables." There are lots of audio gear makers out there and basically none of them are recommending this approach. Benchmark is specifically saying 'use it with our stuff'. To every viewer/reader out there, do this at your own risk and know that it is a risk.
@@wavetheorysound
Okay so in this scenario it is bad. If it was the other way around though? Since RCA cables from a SE DAC will carry less voltage, couldn't one (me) just use an RCA to 3 pin XLR cables from a SE DAC (Airist/Massdrop R2R) to a balanced amp (HeadAmp GSX.Mini) with the only consequence being less volume because SE runs less voltage?
Modern amps have this amp built in ! Do you believe that this company will survive?!
Just get xlr to rca cables if you have a dac that performs better through their xlr outputs. I don't think it's as big of a deal as you made it.
To anyone reading this DO NOT buy simple XLR-rca cables. 2 problems can arise: 1) mismatched line level voltage and 2) dropped shared ground. Either or both could damage your gear. SOME gear can do this safely, but not all. I do not recommend this approach.
@@wavetheorysound Interesting, haven't had a problem with that yet with any of the gear that I used with, but I'll keep that in mind.
@eorysound as long as the cables are wired and grounded properly it’s not an issue. As I posted above I have this setup this way with cables directly for this purpose purchased from Benchmark.
@@richlevin5596i have to do that myself for my turntable as it’s not balanced, i use that to my mani n run a conversion to my Freya to balanced. I know schitt just made a balanced phono but it would be coming from my SE turntable
devoted to
I know. It's a silly pun on the "pious" motif.
@@wavetheorysound, you’re supposed to say its name with an ITALIANO accent. 😸
@@TheVeganVicar mi scusi 🤌🤣
This is not the mjolnir 3
I think this MJ3 has autism