New, Very Interesting CD Transport

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?

How long did your Shanling ET3 transport break-in take?

I don't feel qualified to respond to this. I don't pay much attention to break in times. I just listen to music. I can't say with any authority that it sounds better now than the day I got it.  And, when I got it I had a Chord Hugo TT2 and during the first month I switched to the Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE. So, I'm not sure where the sound changed and why. When I tried USB output I did not like it. I also tried Toslink and that was better. But when I went to I2S with a $5 hdmi cable I felt it sounded best.

I wish my auditory neurons were cardboard like Jason's.  Would have saved me a lot of money.  My system is highly resolving and can make grown men cry.  I have used multiple CD transports and though the differences are not always huge, none of the sounded the same.  Kinda like giving a pitmaster a rack of ri s and a backyard grill hack one.  When done, they should taste the same cause they were both racks of ribs.  

jaymark

I wish my auditory neurons were cardboard like Jason's. Would have saved me a lot of money.

Probably Jason and you hear very similarly on a physiological level, but he enjoys not hearing a difference. That may be due solely to confirmation bias, something of which he's aware but misunderstands.  Meanwhile, he enjoys trying to shame those who do detect differences. It's what he does.