New, Very Interesting CD Transport

I started this thread and can report no problems with my Shanling ET-3. But I must admit I don't play a lot of CDs. I mostly stream and play LPs.

I only own redbook CD’s.
After four months of ownership I can report zero issues with my Shanling ET-3.

I don't own the ET3 but have had multiple, significant reliability issues with Shanling's SCD1.3 soon after I purchased it. Shanling had little interest in helping me resolve those issues.

If you do a search, reliability issues have been a problem for Shanling over the decades.

@qbitstate Tthe CD BOX has had significant reliability problems so you might want to look into that further.  That said, I remember someone saying they had an issue with the Shanling too that’s probably worth a look as we. .  Just FYI. 

Has anyone heard or compared the ET3 to the Pro-ject CD BOX RST2 transport. Totally different price points i get that but i’m considering the RS2 T but wondering if the ET3 might be "good" enough...

If ET-3 plays CD and upsamples it do PCM you can use I2S or Coaxial outputs.

However, S/PDIF outputs only support up to 24/192.

I emailed Shanling Tech Support about upsampling via the USB output of the transport and they responded that it was a hardware limitation of the USB components built into the Transport.

Hi @tweak1 

If ET-3 plays DSD files from the USB memory - both USB and I2S output work.

If ET-3 plays CD and upsamples it do DSD you can use I2S output only.

If ET-3 plays CD and upsamples it do PCM you can use I2S or Coaxial outputs.

So, please clear it up for me does the ET3 play DSD via coax outs?

Hi @creativepart 

I agree with you that ET3 is a good audio device and a great value for money. But we use a different set of features. 

I was talking about USB output not inputs from USB sticks/drives. I have no idea of it's capabilities other than playing CDs.

Hi @creativepart

ET-3 Plays DSD from USB memory and does it great!

I can use PCM oversampling though coaxial. But don’t need oversampling. My DAC has AKM AK4191 that is built to work with AKM 4499 DAC chip and does oversampling job better then ET-3. But I prefer not oversampling mode of AKM 4499.

And cable quality matters! My $1000 NBS coaxial SPDIF cable overperforms any $100 I2S cable that I have by a big margin!

@alexberger

Thanks your 411 is very helpful. I may still get one if the price is right. FYI my digital connection is coax and my Audio Alchemy DDP -1 + PS 5 dac/pre is old. it still sounds amazing

@creative Thank you too. Bummer that it doesn’t read DSD I have a lot of them. So it's no longer on my radar

A good CD transport should load fast and be very mechanically silent. I had an old Sony ES CD player years ago that I used as a transport. It would only play redbook CDs, and it loaded faster, switched tracks faster, and ran more silently than any multi-disc reading transport I've had since. 

I use my ET-3 plugged in via I2S into my Holo Audio Spring3 KTE DAC using a run of the mill HDMI cable. It sounds great. I like the I2S sound quality over using USB. I even like S/PDIF over the USB output.

I've never had any skipping nor any CDs that would not play.

The ET-3 doesn't read or play any DSD disks, but will upsample PCM or output DSD via I2S. With USB you cannot upsample at all.

It does recognize and play MQA disks, if that matter to you. I bought one just to see and it plays at 88.2mhz.

For the price it has a lot of features. The main plus is the top loading mechanism in my book. I have never streamed with it.

Hi @tweak1

I use ET3 SPDIF and USB outputs.

I2S is tricky. It is not a HDMI standard. Each DAC producer connects I2S to HDMI pins differently.

Some sellers on AliExpress make custom HDMI cables. But in this cas you can’t choose your cable by sound quality and price.

Compared to the Cary 303mk1 with upgraded digital transformer, RCA connector and fuse that I used as transport, ET3 sounds more lean, with mose space between instruments and more accuracy.

I like its ability as a USB external memory player.

I don’t use oversampling feature because I listen to my DAC in NOS mode.

I don’t like in ET3 a number of things:

1. No song number in remote control.

2. Very bad application to use it as a USB memory player.

3. Once per number of CDs playing it jumps. Cary doesn’t do so.

4. ET3 doesn’t play 1 CD out of the 30 that I tried. Cary played all the CDs.

I use NBS Signature 2 SPDIF and Audioquest Carbon USB cable.

NBS sounds better with CD and Hires PCM files. I use Audioquest Carbon mostly with DSD files.

I tried 2 HDMI I2S cables. But they don't work with DSD because of a different pin connection, but with PCM I preferred NBS SPDIF cable sound quality over I2S I have.

It looks like sound quality depends more from cable quality than from interface SPDIF, I2S or USB. 

Hi @tweak1 

Do you want to use it as CD transport only?

It has a very good sound quality for it price, but a number of drawbacks.

I am once again thinking to buy a ET3. Any current 411 would be appreciated

Guys,

Did you listen to ET3 transport yourself?

Ho can you judge any piece of equipment just by retail price?

My experience shows there is not price- sound quality correlation in audio equipment.

Especially if you go to vintage equipment, China audio or use DIY equipment. 

I had a DAC of one famous British company for 5 years. I bought a new Chinese DAC on 1/4 price. And it owerperformed my British DAC by big a margin. 

@cleeds

+1

On point as usual.

Charles

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.

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.  

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.

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?

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 ,

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.

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

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.

I'm still enjoying the Shanling ET-3 BUT... I'm a bit disappointed in the USB output options. In S/PDIF coax or optical you can use the transport's upsampling to 192hz. Withe I2S you can upsample to 768hz or even DSD512. But with USB upsampling is not available at all.

I contacted Shanling and they quickly got back to me and said it was a hardware limitation and that it would not be "fixed" in firmware later, because it can't be.

Now, that's not a deal killer. I got it to play CDs at 441.hz. But I do like the upsampling as it adds a bit of air and softness to sometimes harsh sounding CDs.

But be aware, if you're planning on using the USB output, upsampling is off the table.

Thread Police 😭 upset and whinging these types are. 

CD Sales have already been broached upon in this thread with no Thread Police intervention 👍👍👍.

"Get a Life." 

@pindac and? Another post unrelated to the thread subject. Why don't you explain to us the difference between AM and FM.

First, I’m not a fan of MQA. I tried it with Tidal and a MQA capable DAC when it first came out. I ended up thinking it was not a good thing. It did sound different, I suppose at one time I thought it was better or maybe just different. But after trying Qobuz and listening to higher res files without MQA I dumped Tidal and sold the MQA capable DAC.

I bring all this up, because the Shanling ET3 is capable of playing MQA CDs-yes, that’s thing evidently.

I’m always up for trying things. I was listening to a new Bob James Trio album (Feel Like Making Live) on Qobuz and liked it. Then I heard it was available on a MQA CD. Humm.

Amazon had it for less than $20 (vinyl was nearly $70!) so I thought I’d try it. It arrived today and included a separate "Immersive audio’ BluRay disk, too) Which I’ll never play.

So, I’m listening to the MQA CD now. It lights up a green MQA logo on the front of the CD transport and the display says it’s 88.2/24 resolution. My Hugo TT2 DAC doesn’t do MQA but doesn’t need to in this case. It see the CD as 88.2 and displays a light yellow color to indicate this.

It sounds quite good. Is that due to the MQA? Or is it just a nice sounding CD? I’ll have to compare it with my Qobuz version of the music soon. But right now, I’m wondering - if CDs had always had a way to output 88.2/24 instead of 44.1/16 would we have moved away from them so quickly in the end??

On the Subject of CD sales as well as Vinyl Sales.

Both are Hard Medium Merchandise, that when purchased the Performers get a substantial remuneration as a comparative remuneration to what a Streaming Service Pays.

Nearly all Performers today, who want to have a career in crating music, are focusing on marketing their recordings on both CD and Vinyl.

For the even more privileged in the Music Industry, these Individuals or Bands, have the clout with Record Companies to not have any of their Recordings made available through a Streaming Service until 100K of of Hard Medium Sales have been realised.

Thanks @vinylvalet 

That could be the one for me

Just circling back after a month with the Shanling ET3... I"m not missing the Jay's CDT2-MK3 at all. This unit sounds great and is a joy to live with.

NOTE: I'm still just using it as a CD transport. I've not attempted to use it as a streamer nor have I downloaded the App that's available for it.

Shanling has just released a SACD transport, the SCD1.3 for $1279.

Shanling SCD1.3 SACD Transport

@creativepart : that’s funny 😂😂.

Who pushes a button elven times? Total hardship! 🤯😉

dumb question, how do you select, say track no, 12 out of 15 songs from the remote ?  Is a universal remote control with numeric keypad works with ET3? 

You put the CD on and listen to the 11 songs - as in listen to the entire CD. Just like LPs, you listen to the whole thing. OR, you push the FF button 11 times if you must listen to just one song on a CD.

To answer the universal remote question someone who cared about that feature enough to test out a "universal" remote would have to try it.

A dumb question, how do you select, say track no, 12 out of 15 songs from the remote ?  Is a universal remote control with numeric keypad works with ET3? 

Does the Shanling ET-3 CD transport play gaplessly?

I obviously does with my CDs, To be sure, I pulled out DSOM and it sounds great on the ET-3. No pauses inserted.

I haven't attempted to use the device as a streamer so I can only go by what others have said and as I recall they said it was gapless in all but one network format. I paid little to no attention to this, as I doubt I'd ever use this as a streamer. I bought this for it's CD playback and multitude of output choices exclusively.

@creativepart dumb question to ask, but here in 2024, it can't be taken for granted:  Does the Shanling ET-3 CD transport play gaplessly? (i.e. no inserted 2 or 3 second pauses between tracks when there shouldn't be, such as on Dark Side of the Moon, other prog rock CDs, classical, jazz and such). Thanks!

Bits are bits and they should all sound the same - until they don't. Then we are left with a big "Hmmm." Just as people tell you that the quality of your streamer is at least as important as the quality of your DAC, (or at least should be on a commensurate price level), I think we can surmise that the quality of a device reading the data from a CD, and then passing that information to a DAC can be important as well. The Philips drive used in the Shanling seems to be a good one. 

I have a "decent" Denon CD player I picked up two years ago as a hedge against CD players "going away" and I'm happy with it, but I'd be interested in giving a dedicated transport a try. The words "audiophile" and "fool" shouldn't be close in definition. I can't believe so many people could be fooled. 

CORRECTION - I've been calling the transport the "EC3" but it's actually called the ET3 not EC3.

In fact, I think Shanling makes a full CD Player with the EC3 name.

Sorry for the error.

Can you cancel oversampling in your Shanling EC3 transport?

Well, I found a setting in the menu that suggests that it can upsample CDs. But it definitely has a "Bypass" setting that shows 16/44.1 output.

It’s kind of confusing figuring out the menu as some things pertain to other sources i.e. Bluetooth and USB Drive/Stick and I don’t know if they apply to CDs too.

But I have mine set at Bypass and the Chord Hugo TT2 is showing 16/44.1 is being received.

UPDATE: I just set it to 192hz and it is upsampling the CD as the TT2 "light" changed from Red for 44.1 to Blue for 192.

So, to definitively answer your initial question... Yes, it has upsampling BUT you can bypass it and output 44.1 Redbook from CDs.

Can you cancel oversampling in your Shanling EC3 transport?

It is important to any Chord DAC that has its own oversampling processing algorithm.

It is non-oversampling for CD Playback. When using it as a WiFi streamer I know you can stream high res out of it via it's DNLA network connections. But, I don't have any of that setup yet. It's just outputting Redbook CD into my Hugo TT2.

By the way you can send upsampled content to the Chord DAC, I do so via HQ Player/Roon/Qobuz. But that works best when you send content upsampled to at least 705.6hz to bypass the Chord's internal upsampling.

Interesting thread. I own an Esoteric DV60, which I use solely as a transport. The DV60 is a universal player, which means it can read SACD's, DVD A's etc., I do not think it is any less capable as a transport than a unit designed purely for CD's. I have done a few comparisons between it and these type of transports, and the Esoteric has always come out on top. Not to say that perhaps a lesser SACD unit that does all things would be in the same category, but I think generalizations, like those made above, are not always correct.

Hi @creativepart

Can you cancel oversampling in your Shanling EC3 transport?

It is important to any Chord DAC that has its own oversampling processing algorithm.

I received my Shanling EC3 yesterday. So, it’s nowhere near broken in yet. I’ve been playing it no more than 2 hours. I should have run it all night on mute, but forgot to.

First impressions... well made, nice form factor, easy quick start for CD playback. As to sound, it’s a bit warmer than the Jay’s CD2-MK3. Like the Jay’s there’s plenty of bass, but it’s not quite as open on top, at least not yet. But it does not seem lacking.

I have not tried ANYTHING other than playing CDs. I don’t know, yet, what firmware it was delivered with. I’ve not attempted Bluetooth or their Eddict Player App. So, I can’t comment there. I did buy this for CD playback. So, the other features are a nice bonus, but not a first priority.

I’m running the CD3 output via coax S/PDIF into my Chord Hugo TT2 DAC. I plan to test optical later today and maybe USB also. The TT2 doesn’t have I2S or AES-EBU inputs.

No buyer's remorse - everything works and sounds good. I'm especially liking the soundstage and depth. But then my DAC is a specialist in those qualities.

Relevance to this thread, pindac?????

Yesterday I was invited to see in the New Year, in the company of some of my local HiFi Group members, as well as supply a set of ears to assist with evaluations of a certain component exchange on a CDP and evaluate Two very similarly built Pre-Amp's, that have now evolved to one having TVC Volume Control and the other a Khozmo VC along with a few other bespoke components added to the circuit. c    .

Tube Rolling was the fundamental behind the get together.

An Audio Note CD2 was made available to be used for the Tube Rolling experience. The CD2 owner has been trying out the supplied Tube along with a recent acquired Vintage Amperex. Both produced a sonic that was able to be lived with, with the Amperex having the effect that was least attractive to myself, I was on y own on that as the evaluation.

The Pre's were added to be used with each of these Tubes, there was enough going on with the sonic to show the impact the Pre-Amp's selected topology could create. The assessment which was unanimous was that each of the Pre's was at their best with a different Tube upstream.   

Next up were a selection of loaned Tubes specially selected for this experience.

The loaned Tubes to be used were all tested and measured showing each being above the Factory Spec' for each Tube. The Period of production for the Tubes ranged from Mid 50's through to Late 60's. 

First used for this Tube Roll has been a quite expensive in todays money early 60's version, the introduction of this used with Khozmo VC Pre-Amp' blew all attendees away.

The follow Up tube being a Mid 50's Tube and one that can be found for approx' 70% cheaper than the previous used 60's Tube, again blew all attendees away. This tube begged for both Pre's to be tried with it in use, and both Pre's were amply rewarded for the sonic being produced with this Tube used upstream. 

My overall evaluation was quite simple, where I stated not even AN know the quality the CD2 is able to produce.

To gauge the CD2 in use with the Mid 50's Tube the next period was with a £4K CDP in use which has been Tube Rolled and selections made with a lot longer period allowed for evaluations.

The CD2, even though not as impressive overall as the £4K CDP, had plenty on offer to strongly suggest it was something quite special. 

The Tubes were no longer a case of how long one could be lived with, it was now a case of how long could one of the Vintage options be lived without.

The impression made was so good, other selected Tubes to be trialed, were not tried out.    

Here's another thread where folks have actually listened to the ET-3 and prefer it to the new Schiit URD among others.

Shanling ET-3 CD Transport