SHANLING EH90 Fully Balanced R2R DAC & Headphone Amplifier

A Flagship R2R DAC and Headphone Amplifier

The Shanling EH90 is a desktop R2R DAC and fully balanced headphone amplifier built around Shanling’s flagship in-house R2R converter. It follows the company’s SCD3.3 SACD player, both in sound quality ambition and in design: the 90s-line chassis is crafted from aviation-grade aluminium with a sandblasted, anodised finish and a high-strength tempered glass front panel. A panoramic 4.8-inch colour screen handles playback information and direct settings access, and the unit measures 230 × 280 × 83.1mm at around 3.7kg. It is available in black and silver, with a remote control supplied.

Flagship Pro R2R DAC Architecture

Rather than a Delta-Sigma converter, the EH90 uses a 24-bit discrete R2R ladder built from 212 resistors matched to 0.01% tolerance. Shanling combines a 19-bit architecture with a 4-bit compensating code and an assistive push-pull differential circuit. Because R2R conversion performs no digital modulation and no oversampling — the PCM signal is divided directly — the signal path stays shorter and distortion lower. The result, in Shanling’s words, is the analogue character, vocal texture and naturally smooth tonality associated with R2R, combined with high resolution and detail.

Fully Discrete Headphone Amplifier with MOSFET Output

The amplifier section is fully discrete and was developed specifically to match the R2R DAC, balancing transparency with the natural character of R2R sound. JFE2140DSGR JFETs handle the input stage, while IRF530N and IRF9530N MOSFETs form the output stage. That combination provides high current output, remains stable across a wide range of loads, and is described by Shanling as natural sounding. Two gain settings are available to match sensitive in-ears through to demanding full-size headphones.

Up to 5.2W of Balanced Output Power

From the balanced outputs the EH90 delivers up to 5200mW + 5200mW @ 32Ω in high gain, and 575mW + 575mW @ 300Ω — enough for the most demanding full-size headphones, and stable whatever the impedance or load. The single-ended 6.35mm output offers 295mW + 295mW @ 32Ω in low gain and 1320mW + 1320mW @ 32Ω in high gain. THD+N is quoted at 0.003% @ 32Ω across the outputs, with signal-to-noise ratio of 117dB single-ended and 120dB balanced, and channel separation of 70dB and 95dB respectively.

Headphone, Preamp and Line Outputs

Headphones can be connected three ways: 6.35mm single-ended, 4.4mm balanced and 4-pin XLR balanced. For system building, the EH90 also provides RCA single-ended and XLR balanced analogue outputs with line-out and preamp modes, so it can feed active speakers or a power amplifier directly — the RCA output is specified at 2.5V and the XLR output at 5V.

Digital Inputs, HDMI ARC, I2S and Bluetooth

Connectivity covers USB, optical, coaxial, AES/EBU, I2S and HDMI ARC. USB and I2S accept PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit and DSD512, while optical, coaxial, AES/EBU and HDMI ARC accept PCM up to 192kHz/32-bit. The I2S input is FPGA-assisted and supports 10 different cable pinout definitions, which makes the EH90 compatible with a wide range of transports — Shanling singles out pairing it with the CT90 CD transport. The HDMI ARC input lets a TV or projector feed the EH90 with a single HDMI cable, and Bluetooth 5.4 adds receiver mode with LDAC, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC.

Dual Power Supply and External Clock Support

Power comes from a dual-supply design: a custom 35W linear transformer for the analogue and Hi-Fi sections, plus a dedicated 10W digital power supply, which improves isolation between the operating and audio circuitry for lower noise. Filtering uses sorted capacitors totalling over 12,000µF. The EH90 also carries its own high-precision, stable crystal oscillators, and a WORD/CLK input accepts an external master clock at 44.1kHz or 10MHz for further gains in timing accuracy.

Specifications

• Model: SHANLING EH90
• Product Type: Fully balanced R2R DAC & headphone amplifier (desktop)
• DAC: Shanling Pro R2R, 24-bit discrete R2R module
• R2R Array: 212 × 0.01% precision resistors; 19-bit architecture + 4-bit compensating code; assistive push-pull differential circuit
• Headphone Amplifier: Fully discrete MOSFET — JFE2140DSGR JFET input stage, IRF530N + IRF9530N output stage
• Gain: Two adjustable gain settings (low / high)
• Display: 4.8-inch colour screen
• Headphone Outputs: 6.35mm single-ended; 4.4mm & 4-pin XLR balanced
• Analog Outputs: RCA & XLR (line-out / preamp modes)
• Digital Inputs: USB, optical, coaxial, AES/EBU, I2S (FPGA-assisted, 10 pinouts), HDMI ARC
• Bluetooth: 5.4 — LDAC / aptX Lossless / aptX Adaptive / aptX HD / aptX / AAC / SBC
• External Clock Input: WORD/CLK BNC, 44.1kHz / 10MHz compatible
• Supported Formats (USB): PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit, DSD512
• Supported Formats (IIS): PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit, DSD512
• Supported Formats (Optical/Coaxial/AES/HDMI ARC): PCM up to 192kHz/32-bit
• Power Supply: 35W custom linear transformer + 10W dedicated digital power supply; over 12,000µF filtering
• 6.35mm Output Power (Low Gain): 295mW + 295mW @ 32Ω; 30mW + 30mW @ 300Ω (THD+N <1%)
• 6.35mm Output Power (High Gain): 1320mW + 1320mW @ 32Ω; 140mW + 140mW @ 300Ω (THD+N <1%)
• 6.35mm Frequency Response: 20Hz–45kHz (–0.2dB, OS)
• 6.35mm THD+N: 0.003% @ 32Ω
• 6.35mm Channel Separation: 70dB
• 6.35mm Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 117dB
• 6.35mm Noise: 111dB (2.8µV)
• 6.35mm Output Impedance: 0.3Ω
• 4.4mm/XLR Output Power (Low Gain): 1170mW + 1170mW @ 32Ω; 125mW + 125mW @ 300Ω (THD+N <1%)
• 4.4mm/XLR Output Power (High Gain): 5200mW + 5200mW @ 32Ω; 575mW + 575mW @ 300Ω (THD+N <1%)
• 4.4mm/XLR Frequency Response: 20Hz–45kHz (–0.2dB, OS)
• 4.4mm/XLR THD+N: 0.003% @ 32Ω
• 4.4mm/XLR Channel Separation: 95dB
• 4.4mm/XLR Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 120dB
• 4.4mm/XLR Noise: 109dB (3.6µV)
• 4.4mm/XLR Output Impedance: 0.6Ω
• Preamp RCA Output: Level 2.5V; 20Hz–45kHz (–0.2dB, OS); THD+N 0.003% @ 32Ω; SNR 116dB; output impedance 100Ω
• Preamp XLR Output: Level 5V; 20Hz–45kHz (–0.2dB, OS); THD+N 0.003% @ 32Ω; SNR 118dB; output impedance 200Ω
• Dimensions (incl. base): 230 × 280 × 83.1 mm (D × W × H)
• Weight: 3.7 kg
• Power: 100V or 220V, region locked
• Colours: Black, Silver

What's Included

• Power cord
• Bluetooth antenna
• Remote controller
• USB cable
• Manuals