NITSCH Sound Pietus Maximus Optimus Prime Review - The Touch

Hey Everyone,

Thanks so much for sharing impressions, it is really exciting as these get out and we get to hear about the combos you like!

I just requested some more ESS cards, hopefully I will get some more soon...

Yes, you can also get cards directly from Schiit. You will need a 1/16" SAE allen wrench key or a Torx TX6 driver to remove the volume pot set screw. Note: There is a little switch on the card for BAL or SE (single-ended), I turn it to SE when I install it.

THANK YOU for making this a great full first year for NITSCH!

Cheers and Happy Holidays!!!
Christian (CEE TEE)

 

Love you Cee Tee. You are one of the many friends I've made through the years that absolutely deserves the fruit from your hard work.

 

Congrats CeeTee on another wonderful product. Mine arrived on Monday. I’ve been letting it warm up since and have noticed some wonderful changes since turned on. It keeps getting better.

 

So good. "To be fair, there are folks in France that think your butcher your language". That's a Canadian deep cut.

 

Want to add that the negative gain (0.3x/-10dB) is awesome!
No scratchiness when turning the knob and no audible noise at all, with a very usable volume knob range.
Even with my full BA A12t I can get up to 11 o'clock (where it gets uncomfortably loud)
I don't think I ever enjoyed listening to a desktop amp this much with IEMs.

 

Wrote this to @purr1n and he asked me to post here.

The more I listen to Pietus Maximus the more I'm sort of in shock.

In all the areas that matter to me it's sort of matching or besting my $3k tube amp. I didn't even get this much involvement, sense of ease, resolution, naturalness or effortlessness from MJ3. I'm honestly stunned.

I finally listened intently with Yiggy A2 and it is even more impressive than with the ESS card. So I can finally attribute the overall sound I'm hearing mainly to the amp. It's just incredible with Atrium Open.

Am I crazy or should this amp be priced at $1,200 like MJ3? This doesn't really make sense and is sort of blowing my sense of what amps should cost out of the water. I wish it was in a MJ3 size chassis so my monkey brain could better believe what I'm hearing.

I'm really curious to hear how others are getting along with this amp!

 

One thing I can say is when I got accustomed to the Pietus sound Im back to listening and enjoying music again. This is not a “watering the ashes” type of stuff yet for me personally but at this price point those who start with this and a good headphone can easily call it a day without going homeless.

 

I received my Maximus a few days ago and have been playing continuously. Using HD600. I also have the Piety and the Maximus is much better, all grown up and refined. smooth, same great tone but clean and clear. I love it and will be listening to headphones again, its a joy.
thank you Cee Tee for a great product

 

Look bois,

I really love my Big PeePee (even my GF loves my Big PeePee, which she might get some tonight), but the Big PeePee on tech level can't compete with something like the DNA Starlett and beyond (which make sense due to the cost,). However, it can be good enough for most. Just don't think it is on the same level or beyond IMO.

The ESS Card is great for AIO setup but it is also what is partly holding back the Big PeePee. True, I only used the OG BF2 with the amp. But even when running that I could tell that the Big PeePee can scale. The catch will be how much it can scale. Give it time/months of using the amp and let's see how people really feel about it.

For an AIO it is more than sufficient for my needs on my computer desk. But If someone give me $$$$$ and I get the Soekris 2541 and MJ3, I know that will blow the Big PeePee out of the water with the catch that you must spend $$$$. Which is partly why a lot of us jumped on getting the Big PeePee.

I know I am being negative here folks, but TL : DR:

• Keep exceptions in check.
• Don't make your exceptions make you go into la-la land.
• Be honest

 

Curious to hear more impressions with more headphones for this exact reason. I'm genuinely curious and appreciate your thoughts on it and impressions. My expectations were fairly low when I bought this.

To be clearz IMO, I'm being honest, I prefer Big Pee Pee over MJ3 with Atrium Open. No contest.

I prefer Stratus with HD650/KISS, but it's a toss-up between Stratus and Pietus with Atrium Open. It's that close.

Pietus is a more intimate, smaller scale experience. Stratus is a bigger, wider and deeper experience.

That said, for sure everyone should listen with their own ears and report back. That's why we are here.

In my experience, at my house, with this chain, these headphones, these ears, etc. Anyways I'm gonna check out of this thread for real this time and just read. Peace.

 

Does anyone have impressions on this yet? I mean with the Cinemags in general. I’m totally addicted to the mags.

 

This is all very exciting. Now how about a balanced version with XLR's? Double the double

 

In this location, where I spend time every several months, I have a 2541 and a Piety. Ordered a Pietus Maximus (DAC-less) to hear how it will go with the 2541. I considered bringing my MJ3 here but it would not fit on the desk and I'd rather not have a hot amp always on so close to other gear.

 

I’ve been running it for a week with a MM2 in NOS mode. Headphones are Grado 325x (amazingly smooth and crisp punchy base), LCDX ( prefer in high gain so far brings more depth to staging), hd600 with ZMF velours (honestly best they’ve sounded to me), HD6xx with ZMF perforated (prefer these on medium gain volume to about 1-2pm) and various iems - all on medium gain except performer 5 which sounds best on high gain ( brings out more of the treble sweetness)

I’ve not directly compared to other amps or other DACs yet as I really want my brain to adjust to the PMax before I do. If it’s burnin or just my Brain adjusting, I have noticed changes, mostly in the bass. At first it seemed a bit muddy but that changed within a day or two. I now find it deep, very resolving and nuanced. The staging is not extremely wide, but wide enough to enjoy the separation of notes and instruments. Super black background. I I find it remarkably similar to my headamp ultra desktop with the crossfeed turned on. It almost has that speaker staging feel.

 

I think I now have a handle on this awesome amplifier and AIO.

I purchased a Pietus Maximus with the intention of making it an AIO with one of the DAC cards to sit in my nightstand with a Pi4 usb streamer with Roon.

I originally ordered a MB Card directly from Schiit because I like the R2R dense and open flavor of my SFD-1 mkii. I ordered direct because DIY is easy in this case and I can always return it.

My initial impressions mirror everyone else’s. @YMO has said it very well minus the dick jokes lol. After reading Marv’s comments on the DAC cards, I was curious to find out how much I was giving up plankton-wise with the MB card. After a few days of AIO use with JAR600, I took it down to my listening area and hooked it up to SFD-1 mkii and was blown away by how much Pietus scales AND how much the MB is leaving on the table.

I then ordered a ESS card from Schiit and just received it today.

Marv really is holding back lately. The ESS card stomps the MB card in synergy with Pietus. I am pleased that it still has an open feeling and has much, much more plankton. The stage is a little closer on JAR600 and HD650 but not a deal breaker by any means. The real clincher as Marv says is the even and smooth response through the FR.

I am telling anyone who listens. If I had to start over from scratch, I would get Pietus Maximus with the ESS card, Pi4 as streamer and a pair of JAR600 and call it quits. This is crazy how good this combo is period. This is not taking value into account. Just hand @CEE TEE your money because he has all of this insanely awesome stuff at his shop.

Pics or it didn’t happen:

MB card



ESS card

 

Another excellent pairing that shows Pietus with ESS 9028 card has more to give beyond JAR600 if you’re so inclined.

 

What are you losing when using ESS Card with Big PeePee?