Shanling ET-3 CD Transport Review - Golden Schlong Worthy

I am going to have a take a stream of consciousness approach because the ET-3 does so much! Shanling, for those who do not know, used to make really good sounding CD Players back in the day. Here's a CD300 back the first meet that @CEE TEE organized along with Rockcod's B22.

Meet photo from 2010. San Francisco.

Shanling was also responsible other CDPs like this (this unit exhibited more diverging views on its looks)


Their DACs used various chips from BB. They had a consistent house sound which was a more toward classic R2R than modern R2R. Bottom line is that Shanling made good sounding DACs and has the chops. I asked @Bina while back when Shanling was going to get back into the high-end act. I know this is a tough sell because high-end is dead. High-end has become ridiculously expensive. The people who can afford high-end have one foot in the grave - that is look like our current politicians in the USA who either keep falling down the stairs or have a literal brain-fart in the middle of a speech. Also, 88% of high-end audiophiles are kind of cringe (the crowd here on SBAF is good though). @Bina did say something to the effect of maybe in the future.


Shanling ET-3 sitting on up of an Emotiva ERC-4
FWIW, the ERC-4 is totally outclassed as a CDT by the ET-3, it's not even worth talking about

Well, I guess the ET-3 is it. And at $729, it's priced right! This is something that normal people can afford without eventually becoming 65 year old goofball incels disowned by their wife and kids. When I first saw the ET-3 at a distance, my magic eight ball foretold: IT WILL BE GOOD. First of all, I like the sound of top loaders. I noted that the ET-3 followed the top-loader philosophy of the ancient Shanling CDTs. A Rega Planet CDP which was also a top loader (with mechanism mods) sounded great, that is until my youngest shoved a carrot into it. Second, Shanling tended either dampen or massload their transports by design (something I've done extra as mods to with mediocre cheap CDTs). Although I wasn't sure back then, I expected Shanling to carry forth this approach. Turns out to be true. The ET-3 is a decent weight for its quarter form factor size. The chassis of the ET-3 is well dampened with a thud and doesn't ring. The ET-3 represents the best of what Chi-Fi has to offer. Quality at relative good value. And no, Chi-Fi isn't a bad word. If anything I think it's companies like Topping/SMSL and forums like ASR that have promoted the temple of SINAD which have ruined Chi-Fi's reputation in the past five years.

Since the ET-3 is an obvious CD Transport, it does almost everything under the sun including Bluetooth, WiFi, Apple Airplay, and maybe even butt cleaner like the Japanese toilets, I had to start somewhere: how does the ET-3 sound as a CD transport?

Anyway, feel free to interject and ask random questions including comparisons to other gear I happen to have on hand and other use cases.

 

So a couple of things immediately stood out about the ET-3:

• It's SUPER QUIET. I thought it was broken until I lifted the cover and saw the CD spinning. Those used to 80s and 90s CDP expect to hear a "psss" sound while the disc is spinning. I heard jack-shit.
• User interface is easy. Biggest button on the top is the play/stop button. FF and RW buttons work as expected with reasonable fast track change times. (It's still slow compared to computer interfaces which are almost instant today). In fact, if I hit FF or RW several times in succession, the ET-3 will remember how many X times I hit the button and go X tracks forward or X times back. It's amazing how little things like this make a difference. Neato! In case one forgets what buttons do what, the iconography well laid out and visible.
• The top cover is completely removable by design. It's of fairly decent weight being made from glass. There's a metal bearing mechanism with a magnet in the center to ensure a good clamp on the CD.
• The chassis is a decent weight for its size. But it's not just that. The chassis when tapped on doesn't ring. It's damped. Knock, knock, thud. I know it sounds ridiculous, but these things make a difference and explains why I've preferred the sound of heavier CDTs like the Theta Data III or modded (dampening and massloading) lightweight CD players.

Glass top cover turned over. At the center is a metal bearing with a magnet that snap clamps the CD into place


It doesn't get easier than this. The play / pause button is centered and larger than the others. If I forget what does what, the iconography is easy to see. Implementing a good UI isn't that hard!

 

So how does it sound as a CD Transport?

Disclaimer / Warning to People of the "Audio Science" Religion: I believe that CD Transports (or any digital source) have a sound that carries over regardless of DAC. Aspects of the sound can synergize, making something good better, making up for something that is lacking, of maybe not even make a difference if the DAC sucks too much. The tl;dr version is this: cease reading immediately if you are of the of "Audio Science" Religion.

Well, put it this way. My favorite CDT of all time was the Theta Data III. The darn thing weighed about 50lbs, was made in the 90s, and over time stopped working consistently. I eventually built a Pi2AES (and now have Mercury), which all sounded almost as good as the Data III, but good enough, especially when streaming is taken into consideration. Still, I have a ton of CDs, and CD media seems to be coming back (like vinyl). I also have to admit that I miss the sound of CDs from specific types of transports. My daughter asked if she could have a CD Player. I bought the ET-3 for her. However, after hearing it, she's getting the ERC-4 instead.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ET-3 sounds a lot like of the Data III, at least from the AES outputs. I would describe the sound as stately, tight, articulate, just slightly over-damped (as opposed to zippy), black, spacious without being overly diffuse, and very liquid. This last part is very important to me with respect to transports (since I listen to plenty of vinyl). @zerodeefex inquired about the ET-3 has a good replacement for his Data III which surprisingly works to this day, but it's only a matter of time.

It is as good as the Data III? Although I don't have one on hand, I'd dare to say yes all things being equal. Readers already know how good my audio memory is.

 

Here's your answer:


DNLA, NAS, AirPlay options. Pretty sure there's a clean butthole a la Japanese toilet feature too.

With respect to AirPlay, is was super easy to set up after I read the manual and realized that I needed to install the Shanling Eddict App to configure the network. Basically the App lets us put the phone into a it's own temporary WiFi. The big button on the Shanling ET-3 under WiFi setup then syncs the the devices and extracts the home WiFI info into the ET-4. I had to run the process twice, but it picked up immediately the second time. AirPlay then becomes a cinch. Here I'm using Tidal.


iPhone AirPlay via Tidal into the ET-3

Yes, it supports USB output mode as a transport very similar to the Urd. I have a slight preference toward the AES outputs.

(A) ET-3 --AES-->Schiit Proto MIL version B (see below) --SE Out--> Piety --> JAR600 / RS2X (F-pads)
(B) ET-3 --USB-->Schiit Proto MIL version B (see below) --SE Out--> Piety --> JAR600 / RS2X (F-pads)

The USB output (B) has more "plankton", the AES output (A) is more liquid sounding. I can easily see more people preferring the USB output (B). In fact, option (B) sounds a lot of like this: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...eak-out-pci-usb-card-with-unison.11822/page-3

It's a proto described here for purposes of real science: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ue-science-and-exploration.13584/#post-411624

 

Oh man. As someone with a lynx PCIe card and a working data III (replaced the laser with one from an old pioneer elite unit that was never used), this is of great interest to me.

 

I can't answer as a direct question from you because you are an MoT. However I can indirectly answer this given this thread where I have three transports (and of course the Mercury and pi2AES at different spots in the house)

YMMV. According to my own preferences. Note ties.

(1) Theta Data III -> ATT ST Optical
(2t) Theta Data III -> AES
(2t) ET3 CD -> AES*
(3t) ET3 CD -> USB**
(3t) Pi2 Mercury Wifi (Tidal) -> AES
(4t) Pi2 AES Wifi (Tidal) -> AES
(4t) Urd CD -> AES
(5) Urd CD -> USB (yes, I prefer the AES from Urd)***
(6) ET3 Wifi AirPlay (Tidal) -> AES - digitally, AES takes the digital off
(7) ET3 Wifi AirPlay (Tidal) -> USB
(8) ERC-4 CD -> AES

* The ET3 is a little less tonally dark as the Theta Data III
** ET3 USB has a more hifi sound which I suspect many others would prefer. I prefer the liquidity and mellowness of the AES output despite slightly less plankton
*** I did not like the sound of Unison source and Unison receiver. It's like doubled up Unison. Too tubby, tubey, and soft.