New, Very Interesting CD Transport


On John Darko's website today we learn of the brand new Shanling ET3 CD Transport. And for $729 USD it looks really capable. Top loading with Philips SAA7824 drive. AES/EBU, coaxial, TOSLINK and I2S digital outputs. Plus Wifi and Bluetooth. USB to connect to a external HD and built in upsampling, too. It even will output digital to USB for connection to a DAC but not with upsampling.

Here's the skinny:

https://darko.audio/2023/06/shanlings-et3-cd-transport-comes-with-two-twists/

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xcreativepart

Circling back on this topic of the Shanling ET-3 Transport. I changed DACs this weekend from the Chord Hugo TT2 to the Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE. This provides more input choices for the ET-3 AND more upsampling options, as well.

Using the I2S output on the Shanling to the Spring 3 I'm finding the sound quality raised across the board.

I'm using DSD512 right now and find it's working really well.

Having a network streamer with only a USB output and a DAC with USB and S/PDIF inputs didn't give me a lot of choices. The Spring three gives me Coax, BNC AES-EBU, I2S and USB inputs.

I2S is the first input I've tried with the Shanling and it's a winner.

By the way, the Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE is a great DAC and I'm finding it a suitable upgrade to the Chord Hugo TT2.

OP, +1. Most people will likely miss the fact that their dac might not have I square Buss input and therefore miss out on the Shanling's magic

Hi @creativepart ,

Can you write more of your impressions about Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE?

I use the Chord Quetest DAC. And I'm planning to upgrade it in future.

Well, two-days is not much time to get anything comprehensive but the Spring 3 is a great sounding DAC, so far.

I too had a Qutest for 4 or so years. I really liked it. But I wanted to move up to the next level. There were 4 or 5 choices that appealed to me, and my two finalists were the Spring 3 and the Hugo TT2. I had not personally heard either DAC.

I chose the Chord because of my affinity for the Qutest. And, it was a good choice. It expanded on the Chord house sound with a higher resolving DAC. I've had it about a year. I felt I could not go wrong with the Hugo TT2 and I was correct.

But as systems evolve you try different things and find different strengths and weaknesses. I purchased an Audiowise SRC-DX USB to Dual S/PDIF converter and used it with my Hugo TT2. What I found was that I liked the S/DIF input better than the USB input on the Chord. But using a "converter" bothered me. I preferred the sound with the converter but I don't like using a USB powered box to convert USB to S/PDIF.

I looked at changing my SoTM network streamer to get outputs other than the lone USB output on the SMS200 Ultra Neo. But after reading more and more comments from Spring 3 owners about how great it was turned my attention to that DAC and it's very broad input options.

OK, how's it sound? It's not a shocking R2R sound all that different from the Chord FPGA sound, but it is a bit less aggressive? It is clean, clear and precise very detailed and the edges of clicks, drums, piano keys are more etched.  It handles reverb decay much more naturally. These are not huge changes. If you love your Qutest you'll love the Spring 3, as well.

Hi @creativepart

I just received Shanling ET3 transport. I used a Cary 303 mk1 as transport before. I changed the DAC from Chord Qutest to SMSL DO300EX, a very affordable Chinese DAC built on an AK4499 chip and sounds unbelievable good.
From the box Shanling ET3 doesn’t sound better than Cary. But my experience shows all digital stuff need a very long break-in. I tried two outputs: Coaxial and I2S. So far I2S makes congestion on orchestral tutti that Coaxial doesn’t. But my Coaxial cable, the NBS Signature2, is much more expensive than my HDMI I2S Audioquest Forest.
How long did your Shanling ET3 transport break-in take?