Shanling Launches New EH3 Desktop DAC/amp

Powered by the flagship 8-channel ESS ES9039PRO DAC, the EH3 also has Shanling’s in-house OP+BUF amplifier architecture with four OPA1612 combined with discreet transistors alongside eight units of the BD139 and BD140 power transistors. This results in a fully balanced design that has 1,900mW at 32ohms for single-ended connections and 5,200mW at 32ohms for balanced connections. 

Aside from that, there’s also Shanling’s in-house developed I/V conversion stage based off the TI OPA1611 as well as Japanese KDS active crystal oscillators at 90.3168MHz and 98.304MHz for accuracy and reduced jitter. There’s also Shanling’s CPAF (Constant Phase in All Frequencies) Low Pass Filtering, using two TI OPA1612.

The system is powered by the Ingenic X2000 processor that is paired with Shanling’s own in-house system that the company claims will offer “smooth performance and fast start-up times”.

As for design, it’s quite reminiscent of other Shanling desktop products like the EM7 streamer DAC/amp and the EC3 CD Player. The EH3 has a circular 1.6-inch IPS screen on the front with a large multi-function wheel to the right of it that serves as a power button as well as a volume and navigation wheel.

On the left side of the front panel, you get your headphone outputs in the form of 3.5mm and 6.3mm single-ended ports along with 4.4mm and XLR balanced ports. Moving to the rear, there is a pair of RCA analog inputs and outputs, along with digital coaxial, digital optical and USB DAC inputs. There is also a balanced XLR analog output and USB audio output, coupled with a HDMI I2S input and a USB-A port for connecting an external drive. 

Aside from those, the Shanling EH3 also offers digital inputs such as wireless streaming over DLNA and AirPlay, as well as the ability to be used as a Bluetooth receiver with Bluetooth 5.0 and support for the LDAC, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC codecs.

There is a row of physical buttons on the top, although it’s unclear what the buttons are for. Our best guess would be for play/pause as well as track skipping and switching between inputs. 

The EH3 uses the third generation of the XMOS XU316 USB interface with asynchronous USB connection, supporting high-res audio up to 32-bit/768kHz and it can also support DSD512. With support for drives up to 2TB of storage space, the EH3 can be a fully independent all-in-one system that’s controlled by Shanling’s Eddict Player app. 

Priced at US$889, the Shanling EH3 is now shipping.

Visit Shanling for more information