Shanling ET3 CD Transport

[creativepart]

Received my Shanling ET3 cd transport yesterday - so I haven't had more than 24 hours of break-in but in general this is a good sounding CD transport. I do have personal experience with 3 other CD Transports, including the Jay's Audio CDT2-MK3, Audiolab and Cambridge Audio. And I find this little "player" to be pretty competent  and nice to use.

 

Compared to the Jay's Audio they are fairly similar, with the Shanling being a bit darker sounding overall. Not DARK but just not as bright as the CDT2-MK3.

 

My initial impression is that it's sonic signature is similar to the Audiolab 6000CDT. But I like the top loading CD mechanism vastly better than the CD Slot loading Audiolab. The price is pretty right too. The 6000CDT ($599) is priced fairly close to the ET3 ($729). Close enough to be added to your list if you're thinking of adding a CD Transport.

[creativepart]

1 hour ago, garrardguy60 said:

What changes did you notice during/after break in?

 

Also, since your post was last week, do you have more than 24 hours on it and has it changed further?

Yes, probably another 30 or more hours on it... listening, not just playing.

The main difference I hear now is that initially the bass was a bit bloated and now it sounds more evenly balanced. I will also say that the Jay's exhibited pretty much the same behavior upon receipt.

 

I'm connecting via Coax S/PDIF to my Hugo TT2 DAC. I did try out the Optical S/PDIF for a very short 30 mins or so and my initial impression was that it had more soundstage depth and width with the Coax. But as I said it was short. I plan to test out the USB output, too. But I'm heading out for a month in our RV at the end of this week. So, I doubt I'll get to it this week.

[creativepart]

The Shanling is also MQA capable - Not something I really care about. Not a fan.

 

However, I found that a new album I've favorited on Qobuz had an MQA CD for sale on Amazon for less than $20 so I decided to give it a try.

 

And yes, it works. Sounds fine. Better that the Qobuz streaming? I've not compared them. But the ET3 is playing this CD at 88.2/24-bit. Quite a feat for a CD. I don't buy many new, new CDs but it's a unique thing to play a CD at double the Red Book resolution.

 

What do you think?

 

 

[creativepart]

I've tested the upsampling feature on a few CDs, it worked fine. My DAC (Chord Hugo TT2) doesn't really do DSD. It will take DSD in as PCM (DoP) and then down sample it to 768. So, I've not tried DSD upsampling from the Shanling.

 

I don't have an opinion on the SQ improvement or lack of same with upsampling on the Shanling. If I'm going to play redbook CDs, then I want them to play at redbook resolution. MQA CDs are sort of but not really redbook so I was happy to test this one CD out. But I doubt I'll make it a regular occurrence.

 

When streaming, I use HQ Player to upsample streaming files to 705.6/758 and I'm happy enough with that. Though I doubt there is much benefit over 192hz. Heck, I"m 74 and in audio tests I wash out around 11k.

[creativepart]

Quote

"I've just read elsewhere that there's no upsampling on the USB Out of ET3... "

I'm not sure of that. Where did you find this claim?

[creativepart]

43 minutes ago, creativepart said:

I'm not sure of that. Where did you find this claim?

UPDATE -- you are correct when playing from CD. I'm not sure about when playing from the Bluetooth streamer or the USB Drive input via the USB Audio output.

 

I just reconfirmed - I can upsample CD playback to 192hz via S/PDIF Coax or Optical. But not USB.

 

Because I've never tried playing any files via the USB Drive I can only go via the menu and very limited manual. There are upsampling menu options  from 192 to DSD512 on the menu. They must be for USB Drive playback via USB Audio output or there would be no need for them to exist because S/PDIF is limited to no more than 192hz.

[creativepart]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:18 PM, skipspence said:

I've just read elsewhere that there's no upsampling on the USB Out of ET3... 

Since I was mainly interested in USB and DSD I canceled my order😊

This is so. I was running the ET3 with a glass Optical cable and seeing 192K. But today tried a decent USB cable and no matter the upsampling setting in the unit it just outputs CDs at 44.1. Seems odd.

[creativepart]

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. With 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.