Shanling ET-3 CD Transport Review - Golden Schlong Worthy

System 1: Cambridge CXC / iFi Zen Stream -> Yggdrasil A2 OG -> Schiit Freya S -> Schiit Tyr’s -> Magnepan 1.7is

System 2: Cayin Mini-CD MK2 / Blusound Node 2i -> Yggdrasil+ LIM -> Rogue Cronus III -> Spatial M3 Sapphires

I purchased the Shanling ET3 to replace the Cayin Mini-CD MK2 in System 2. Upon unboxing the well packaged ET3, I decided I would try it first in System 1 so I could compare it with the CXC.




The first CD I played on the ET3 was Ray Lamontagne Till the Sun Turns Black. I was going to start by playing a couple of tracks on the ET3 then the same two tracks on the CXC to see if I could hear a difference. However, after about a minute into the first track, it was clear that the ET3 was a welcome improvement over the CXC. Everything had a more natural engaging presence in the soundstage. Vocals were smoother, more resolved and naturally imaged in a way that made connection with the performance easier. The was a continuousness to the flow of the music that was more like vinyl. I was so enamored with what I was hearing, I listened to the entire CD straight through, fully engaged in discovery mode even though I have heard this album many times before. I then began to play this CD again on the Cambridge CXC and for the first time I really noticed a “digital” sound coming from it. The musical lines and elements of the soundstage did not sound as cohesive as the ET3. It seems in most areas, the ET3 has at least a slight edge over the CXC. However, the cohesiveness and continuousness or liquidity of the ET3 is big win for this product based on my listening priorities. As a transport alone, the ET3 is easily worth the $130 more it costs over the CXC. Not only does the ET3 sound better but the build is better IMO.

Next, I set out to compare the ET3 as a streamer to the iFi Zen Stream. I will say that the ET3 was much easier to connect to the network and get music playing than the iFi. The ET3 has been working flawlessly with the mconnect app. I am using a Bluejeans 110-ohm AES/EBU cable with the ET3 while the iFi is using a Bluejeans RCA Coax cable. Comparing sound quality, I give a slight edge to the iFi with a little more presence and detail. Note that my iFi has their $300 power supply upgrade so it is basically the same price as the ET3. I would choose the ET3 over the iFi just as a streamer due to its ease of use and sound quality that is not too far behind. While the iFi is a Roon endpoint allowing me to listen to Calm Radio, I discovered that I could also listen to Calm Radio on the ET3 by using its Bluetooth function with the Calm Radio app on my phone. The ET3 connected to my Samsung phone using LDAC which has higher resolution than normal Bluetooth. I also used LDAC directly from the Qobuz app and from YouTube. Honestly, it seems to sound almost as good as streaming.

I finally moved the ET3 to its intended place in System 2. The form factor is first rate for my application. The ET3 is a great option for a CD transport that sits side by side with a turntable.



After hearing the ET3 in System 1, I am likely going to purchase a second ET3 as I just will no longer be satisfied with the CXC. But first, I need to put the ET3 through much more use to make sure it is reading all my CDs as it should and will hold up well over time.

 

Nice review! Any chance of trying local playback from a USB stick? Interested to know if it's of the high calibre of the cd playback or more like the streaming.

 

I used the edict app on phone and hooked up a hard drive with some music to the ET3:




The app synced up wit the ETC and it scanned the 7000+ songs from the hard drive.

So far the album list does not show art but the play screen does:



Started playing Eva Cassidy Anniversary Song. Have heard this several times on my system through Qobuz. Certainly sounded as good as I have every heard it. Compared it to Qobuz and I would say they sound pretty close but I would think the hard drive sounded a little better (dimensionally). Decided to open the CD and play same track next. Sounded very close to the hard drive version which was copied from the CD. CD may have been a little smoother or more liquid. Would really take some more extensive auditioning to be sure.

 

CD80/CA80 are our low-budget oriented players, they are closer to our EC3, so more focused on all-in-one box. I especially like the CA80 as one box solution for some small speaker rig.

As SyncLink runs all over Bluetooth, software team doesn't want it to load hundreds of album arts at the same time, as it would took too long. We asked them to add it as an option for user, bacause I'm sure many people would be fine with a little bit of writing on initial scan, just to get the all album art.

 

Here is a firmware update for ET3, fixing a small issue with CD Playback (Dropout around 1 minute into playing)

https://en.shanling.com/article-ET3V13.html

 

I did notice that I was occasionally getting a very brief drop out or glitch on perhaps one song on the CD but not every time I played the CD. Appreciate getting us a firmware update. Will get it installed on my ET3.

 

I just noticed that there is no wired connection option available for ET3, is that intended? Anyway to add a wired connection to the unit?

 

I think he said the theta data via ST opt was his fave. my sfd-1 had that connexion, but I never got to use it, unfortunately. supposedly. att's glass opt--arguably--was the greatest and most "musical" of inputs.

 

Just wanted you all to know that the firmware update went well. All one needs to do is download a file to a thumb drive root directory and plug the thumb drive into back of the ET3. Then choose system update local and the ET3 does the rest. The dropouts so far are now gone.

 

i can't read between the lines here, and it's fuckin w me, would you be open to a lil delta markage for the list--doesn't have to be the whole story, i understand there are many considerations, but maybe just a hint for us uninitiated?

 

Don’t worry about it.
It’s good.
Read the title of the thread.

 

And I wanted to ask, anybody tested ET3 with some I2S inputs on DACs?

We are looking for more feedback on this, because there seems to be a bit of randomness with some DAC manufacturers and their pinouts on HDMI connector used for I2S. So we welcome any real life feedback on the I2S connection.

 

Definitely need more time with this, but I like how it sounds.

From AES I'm not really a fan (on certain CDs) and prefer AES from Holo Audio Red in direct comparison (on certain CDs). Need to listen to more to get a better understanding.

Switching to USB Audio Out from ET-3 I start to really enjoy it. Good resolution, black background, dynamic, impactful, detailed and non-digital treble.

It's funny, so far I prefer USB out on two CD transports, but prefer AES on all pi-based streamers I've used and currently own.

Need way more time to say if I prefer USB from ET-3 compared to my go to AES from Red. It's close for sure. Both I could live with long term.

Gear used:
ET-3 USB out -> Unison USB Yiggy A2 -> DNA Stratus -> ZMF Atrium Open

Holo Audio Red -> AES -> Yiggy A2 -> DNA Stratus -> ZMF Atrium Open

As a CDT it is very, very quick to play and skip / scan tracks. As @purr1n mentioned it is also dead quiet while operating.

All of this is IMO in my system and is subject to change. Lol. I'll listen to AES again at night when my house is quieter.

 

Question for Shanling: has the ET3 been tested with the Fidata server for CD ripping via usb?

 

Will check on this, if possible.

No, not something we tested.

 

UPDATE to my previous post.

I ended up preferring AES out of ET-3 now that my house is quieter, so that's how I compared against the Holo Audio Red.

it's insanely hard to ensure I'm hearing from the same master of an album from the CD and a digital file or streaming a digital file. I already had a few moments tonight where the loudness compared to the CD and playing back digital was completely different. Turns out I was playing the 24 bit digital file on accident on Red.

After confirming my files were identical digital on my Roon Rock to these 3 CDs I chose to compare, I listened to them all on both sources.

A Perfect Circle, Mer De Noms - ET-3 CD playback won here. Cleaner playback with less digital hash (this can really interfere on this album as there is a lot of cymbal crashing going on that can sound like shit through other sources. Minor difference between Red, but if a gun was to my head I would choose the CD.

Olivia Rodrigo, Sour - Again, ET-3 wins here by a small margin. Slightly cleaner treble, more "open" sound with a hair more plankton. Slightly more macro dynamics coming through. Still, it's not a world of a difference compared to streaming files from Roon Rock to Red.

Wet Leg, Wet Leg - This threw me for a loop. The Red sounded miles better than the ET-3 playing the CD. Well, turns out I only had the 24 bit master on Roon, so this was not the same master. The volume was also very different between them, with the streaming file around 3db louder. Interestingly this just reinforces the theory that the master is much more important.

After burning this CD and loading those files to my Roon Rock the subtle improvements on the ET-3 compared to the Red were evident again. (However I still preferred the 24 bit file to CD).

All in all, I'm not sure the ET-3 is worth it if you already stream files from a competent source like the PI2AES or Red. Sure there are slight differences compared to CD on the ET-3, but the ease of use and access to many different masters of an album (some that sound arguably better than the available CD) through streaming local or borrowed files, might make up for that.

I really like how it sounds and intend to keep it, but time will tell if I get lazy and just use Roon / Red 24/7 instead. Who knows.

 

Can you try using upsampling feature on et3 & then compare vs red/roon 24bit master files?

 

I did try upampling for a few CDs and ended up preferring leaving it off. It wasn't a big difference, but it did lend a bit of an artifical character to the sound. I only tested with Yiggy (which already upsamples internally). Folks with NOS dacs will have to chime in on the Shanling's upsampling prowess.

Note, you can't upsample if using USB output. Only AES, Coax, and I2s will oversample.