Because "any budget Blu-Ray player" does not have: 1) a USB output 2) an AES/EBU output 3) an I2S output 4) optional internal upsampling 5) an onboard network streamer w/ (tiny) cover art display Whether you need any of these features is a matter for you but the Shanling ET3 makes them available and budget Blu-Ray players typically do not. This is why the video is titled "...does SO MUCH MORE".
Wow the question was worth it- wasn’t expecting you to respond 😂 love your videos ! I use one of your recommended combos- kef ls50 with Rotel RA10 and the Schiit Modi + DAC. You had recommended the Amp + Spkrs in an article called “happy accidents will happen “
@DarkoAudio, if a Blueray player would be used only as CD transport, do you think that will be enough, or would you still recommend a hifi transporter? i am a newbie and stuck between choosing a Panasonic UB820 or cambridge audio AXC35. my current system is CA CXA81 with Kef ls50 meta and Bluesound node. I only need a CD converter to optical/coax nothing more. i prefer to stick with new equipment, not SH market.
Picked up a $10 thrift store Toshiba SD4980. Has a Burr Brown DAC and also has Toslink, coax digital audio outputs in addition to RCA. Works great with just an amp if you want to simplify the chain.
PRO TIP! iFi Audio has free software called iFi Bridge for Roon. If you run it on your host PC and enable DLNA on the ET3, it will pick up the ET3 like a Squeezebox. Then, if you enable Squeeze box support in Roon your ET3 (by IP address) will pop up. BOOM, your ET3 in now a Roon endpoint with lossless 24/192 and DSD64 no matter what output you use so long as your DAC supports those resolutions on your chosen output. I need to do a write up on setup somewhere but it's not hard.
I know it's not really an answer to the question you asked, but I recently got myself a Denon DCD-A110 SACD player and I really am amazed by the sound quality on offer. It's not cheap but it easily competes with the mega-priced players from only a few years back.
Yes, PS Audio makes a CD/SACD transport, but it's thousands of dollars. It's the only one currently in production I recall hearing of offhand, though there may be others. It does have I2s output, BTW. Note: I think some/all of the OPPO units may offer SACD transport functionality, but the company no longer makes or really supports them- but don't quote me on the OPPO details, I'm not sure about all of what I just said about them. Also, not sure what kinds of output formats they offer for DSD. There are ways to rip SACDs, which have been well-documented online in recent years, but my own bias is not to bother with that, for various reasons both rational and irrational for me. I do have a couple of very good CD/SACD players, also with internal standalone DACs for streaming, which solves this problem for me. but unfortunately they're not cheap and they're all-in-one (and thus sub-optimal/dead in terms of the upgrade path) 'solutions.'
Would be interested if it played SACDs. I have an Oppo in my main system, but I like the size of this for a headphone setup. I already have a very inexpensive DVD/CD player that’s about the same size with a coax out that sounds great with CDs for that setup. Unfortunately, an SACD player this size seems impossible to find.
A top loading CD mechanism has a Turn Table vibe, that why I’m drawn to top loaders. It needs a see through top cover to display the album art. Very cool and I want one.
A couple of experiences. I connected my $45 Sony Blu player to my DAC. Sounded much worse than my Audiolab 7000 CDT (CD transport). So, yes...there is an audible difference between a cheap player and a specifically designed CD transport. Then I connected my 24-year-old Nad CD player to my DAC. It sounded VERY good too. That Nad has an HDCD chip in it so that might have helped. All these connections were done using the coaxial output/input. Apart from the upsampling chip the Shanling ET3 has, I believe the multiple connections available plus the Phillips/Sanyo top-loading drive make this a very tempting player for those with large CD collections (and detail-revealing DAC/HiFi set up).
I literally work at a cheese shop and I can afford this. “Value,” “Affordability,” “Cheap,” “Expensive” - these are entirely and inherently subjective ideas based completely on an individual’s particular use-case. There are, of course, pieces of gear far outside my price range, but the last thing I’d do is project my own subjective opinions or fiscal insecurities on other complete strangers, who may have “less than,” “same as,” or “more than” income than I earn. More power to you, really, if you have an incredible under-$1,000 system - and equally if you have an incredible over-$100,000 system. Imagine … trying to tell someone what your definition of value is. I must be way out of my depth for expecting more from such out-of-touch, curmudgeony, non-critical-thinking audiophiles.
A high quality audiofile grade transport with excellent build and a high quality DDC for $700'ish is a good value in the hifi world. Something like McIntosh transport only are in the $5000 to $8000 range! And in the end, transport doesn't even affect the sound. Unless it is so shitty it can't even read the 1's and 0's corectly. This device probably half the cost or more is just the DDC and the rest is just high quality build and a decent head and electronics.
@@suwatt6019 I did a bit of research and bought a decent blu-ray player, used, for 100 bucks with a really quiet motor, used the optical output into a cheap DAC. It's amazing. I can switch back and forth between the two and if I have the same cd in both systems the difference in clarity in what's coming from the Blu-Ray player through the DAC vs the CD player is incredible. The difference between my Blu-Ray and my friends CD transport hooked into my system wasn't noticeable to me at all. Certainly not enough to justify spending another $1200.⁰⁰
Dear John, I am not a audiophile and probably never will be. But this of course doesn't mean that I don't appreciate good quality music. And thanks to your reviews, I managed to build an OK quality system setup for music listening. I enjoy your videos a lot which are like a doorway for me to this immense world of audio, and would also like to hear from you more album recommendations if possible to taste what else out there to listen. That would be great. Thank you for all sharings 🙏🏻
I think I've finally talked my mother into getting rid of ours after 2 years.... We haven't used it in a decade and there aren't even speakers at this point though.... Do you have a system with the vinyl deck on top?
I bought the ET3 when it first became available, mid-July 2023, from Hong Kong; I’m in Australia. I use it with a Mytek Brooklyn DAC + and Audeze LCD3 headphones. It’s extremely well made, better than the Mytek actually. In my opinion the CD sound is fabulous, I love it; further, higher resolution files played from a USB stick via USB input on the ET3, are astonishing. (It’s possible to load album artwork onto the USB stick too, and this displays on the ET3 during playback). I was looking at other CD transports (in a price range up to Aus$4,000) and the Shanling stood out. I bought it without an audition (the only time I’ve ever done this, a bit of a no-no, I know!), and I’m very happy. I’m trying different interconnects at the moment, so far the AES is (marginally, by a tiny bit) the best, but I haven’t tried I2S. The difference is so small I have actually questioned whether I’m imagining it. Thanks for the review John, much appreciated😊 Q: could the ET3 be used to rip CD’s?
There is a thread about the ET3 on head fi with a lot of back and forth with Shanling. I think they said it can't be used to rip cds but I might be wrong about that tbh. I recommend checking out the thread if interested in purchasing. Shanling seem very open about the machines limitations, such as they are.
Got to disagree, tried many dvd players and in every case my dedicated transports were noticeably better. So, it depends on your priorities. If you just want an acceptable sound, then of course a dvd will be fine, but if hi fi is your hobby and you are chasing sound quality, then transports are an improvement.
Another outstanding video. Thanks John. You asked if any of us used their audio at eye-level - well, I do (almost) but not out of choice! I'm a wheelchair user so most things tend to be at eye-level!! 😁
I like it 👌. I like the way a cd is loaded - feels a bit like a digital vinyl in a way. Selecting play whilst you're stood at the unit feels completely natural too 👍
I’m so old. Each time Shanling is said, it sends me down a rabbit hole; Gary Shandling from the Tracy Ullman show which debuted The Simpson’s in 1987. The year I bought my first CD player… Sony CDP-207 ES.
Thanks for the review. I love CDs, that's critical listening session with CD album from track 1 to last. I do RIP CDs into lossless digital format too for leisure listening and easy sorting , searching, customize playlists. One downside on CD transport is the remote without numerical key is a pain to keep forward / reverese the track searching...
My old Sony S Master digital amp with inbuilt cd player has an optical out. Is 24 years old and it sounds absolutely SUPOIB 😊 connected to my recently purchased Marantz amp and i immediately knew that i don't need to spend money on any totally overpriced expensive stuff. My old Sony S Master tape radio cd combo looks classy, its all light grey metal with chrome decoration and is available everywhere for only about £30 now. I wifi stream tidal as well and when a song plays on cd quality this cd player gives it a run for it's money and sounds much better and clearer than tidal. Can't beat some of the old stuff.
I am so glad you reviewed this woefully neglected product ( by RU-vidrs at least ). I have been a Shanling fan since the days when they made whopping great tank like disc players with tubes which you imported from Hong Kong and broke in a year or two due to the voltage difference . When I heard this was coming out I was champing at the bit, but in true audiophile style started looking into transport tech and bought an immaculate used Jay's Audio cd 2 mk 2 which I then upgraded to mk 3 with the help of Alvin at Vinshine. But this is a stonking product and, while I don't have one I am awaiting delivery of the super cool ( I think ) EC mini. Now a review of that would be great.
Mines arriving tomorrow. £580 from opic with 10% new customer discount. Love the design and form factor and looking forward to listening to my old cd collection, messing around with upsampling, streaming from my nas etc through my rme adi2 dac. No doubt it won’t provided better 1’s and 0’s than any other cd transport or player but I’m sure I’ll enjoy messing about with it. 😊
The et3 is a good visual and form factor match to the nad m10 v2. I love the looks, sound and functionality of my NAD, Shandling, Rega P8 and my Revel 126 speakers. I think looks and pride of ownership can be as important as sound quality of your equipment.
Absolutely- there are no rules for how to enjoy the audio experience. Life is an existential domain- we get to choose our values. While in my experience the sound quality is the preeminent concern, that's just my own value. Pride of ownership can be cool, too.
Did you know that PS1 first gen with coax actually has a very good drive mechanism and very good sound. Almost on par with the Sony 5400es in sound, not quite, but close
Whooo hooo! As one of the 7 people who buys MQA CD’s 😅 , due to the end of MQA on Tidal, I am very happy with this news! Will be between this and the SMSL PL 2000 for me but leaning toward this one since I don’t need the DAC. And the is2 option. Thanks for the product spotlight!
Darko, this is not affordable, especially given it's just a transport. Don´t get me wrong, I'd love to have a dedicated transport, but for the cash you need for that you can get a full, actually affordable high-fi system. Unfortunately for us normal folks, if they want to add a cd player in there, buying and old cd player from yamaha or such remains the only really affordable option.
Yes, a relevant comment. Don't know if manufacturers put more money into parts in a CD transport when they can ignore other non-essential parts, but it's interesting how some products seem to get more expensive when you remove things...
@@riingyes, it’s clear that the priciest components do fewer things and not more things. i think you’re right to be curious about this and i think you’d be wrong to assume there’s no there, there
This is an interesting point, however, everything is relative. The Shanling ET3 is certainly affordable in the hi-fi cd transport field. For example, it is half the price of the Urd and three times cheaper than the Jay's Audio CDT2-mk3; and beats both in terms of performance. With it being a top loading unit, the ET3 should last a long time. Therefore, $730 for an end game CD transport is extremely affordable.
Suggestion, could you, in the future, also show simple things, like startup time, toc read time, play ready time. Does it has an autoplay funktion? Meaning, load CD and no more to do and so on. Stuff like that is important to some of us...Love your vids.
We did shoot the time from disc load to to TOC read but ultimately I decided that piece of footage was too long. Besides, there's nothing to complain about with the ET3's startup or disc load times, otherwise I would've said so in the video.
Thanks for this review. I so want a top loading cd transport/player. It's kinda crazy how pricey they are compared to this. I wish woo audio still made theirs
Thank you. I am impressed with the innovation, performance and the feature set of the HiFi gear coming out lately from the companies based in China. My only concern with buying gear that is born out of a Chinese company is the customer support and service for repairs for US customer. For example, I have emailed several times Musician Audio about service here in the USA for their products; they never answered me. However, Eversolo did communicate with me. If you own SMSL and Topping products and you have bought them used, where do you take them in case they break or need service in the USA? Denafrips has Vinshine Audio; there is one person in Texas, USA that repairs and services Denafrips gear and other Chinese gear like Kinki Studio and Jay's Audio.
Shanling is a more professional company selling in Europe for years but I have no Idea in the USA. As I stay in Bali I have no problems except if there is a problem Jakarta has an official Shangling dealer. I would recommend going to their website and finding out if they have a dealer /distributor for the USA?
wow when you look at that new shanling product it amazes me that we havent seen such things from western hifi companies already. i get the feeling that the decide not to make products that will affect the sales of other products in their line. a cd player that is also an sacd player that upsamples and streams. this is so obviously what comsumers have wanted for ages its shocking we dont have 15 of these already on the market.
I'm glad your reviewing the Chinese brands. I think there's a ton of good gear coming from China which doesn't always get the reviews. S.M.S.L have just released a CD - DAC. Interesting product.
@@krwdIt's not they are trying to stir up trouble in the world, it is more of western neocon propaganda portraying it that way. But luckily, it only works on stupid people.
Sweet. Thanks so much for reviewing this. I've been eyeing this CD Transport for a while, but no one has reviewed it. Really didn't want to invest in something where I have no idea about it's performance and especially about that lid - I have never seen that before, so there was no way for me to know if that wouldn't have caused issues. Great review. Always appreciate how you talk about its use which I feel is neglected to be discussed by most other reviewers.
My old portable Sony all metal thin elegant cd player I bought 30 years ago .. has the most useful feature of all .. a digital optical out, which I could use with an optical to coaxial converter with my amplifier (Monitor audio A100) which has a good dac (digital to analogue converter) in it It’s only recently that I was able to get a CD player .. an Amazon branded device (costs £20 and has a very functional remote ) which runs off a standard phone charger or external battery pack for phone charging. (Which makes it movable .. possible to play it without a mains charger unit) Importantly it has a coaxial wired digital out (and hdmi) which I connect to the dac in my amp and sounds indistinguishable from the great mains £400 Arcam cd player I have .. which has great digital to analogue conversion . My new set up has a tiny foot 🦶 print in my living room. Very pleased with it and cost £20. The A100 dac amp can be had 2nd hand for 100 to £200
You are right....for example My Sony S Master digital amp with inbuilt cd player has the same digital optical out. It's not 30 years old, but 24 years and it sounds like yours absolutely SUPOIB 😊 I connected it to with my recently purchased Marantz amp. No need to buy this expensive stuff. My old Sony S Master tape radio cd looks classy, also all metal with chrome decoration and is available everywhere for about £30 now.
Mate… we went from 0 to 1000 with the technobabble. Was looking forward to a CD player working. Love my CD’s…. Love the content but boom…. First 5 min was crazy
Not really. Lasers fail over time, and furthermore most of those 90s players -- even a good Denon -- had lasers leagues worse than what is in the ET3. Jitter and such increases over time too, which undermines the signal running to the DAC -- thus not reproducing the CD's music faithfully. None of those 90s players upsampled a CD to then take advantage of those benefits through a modern DAC. Lastly, I love a good Burr-Brown DAC as much as the next person, but today's DACs -- though even from $100 to $300 -- are better in resolution and reproduction than any Burr-Brown DAC. Stated another way, would a thrift store turntable work well? Not if the cartridge, needle, and everything else needs to be replaced. CD players are not much different, but I think people fail to realize those distinctions still.
@@christopherorman5769 I don't completely agree with this statement. While it is true that CD players can deteriorate over time, this does not necessarily mean that all used CD players will perform poorly. There are plenty of people who take good care of their equipment and clean the laser regularly. In fact, just $100 can buy you 5 CD players at the thrift store, so the risk and reward are definitely worth it. In addition, there are plenty of second-hand CD players on the market that are still in good condition and offer excellent sound quality. I have not yet come across a model with jitter problems. And when it comes to turntables, I have been regularly using second-hand turntables from thrift stores for years. If you replace the cartridge, they will last years to come :).
@@christopherorman5769 upsampling, may or may not lead to better sound. Many of the most well loved players/DACs are in fact 1bit. Upsampling is attempted synthesis, not reading magical information that floats in the ether around your CD. As such it can sound "nicer" but* Nice thing about a thrift shop TT is that it could be anything, and it will play discs once it's up and running. And old CD player may just give up the ghost outright.
This doesn't look very transportable to me and if I have to plug it into a separate DAC and carry that around too... I'm going to look pretty stupid... I think I'll stick to my Sony Discman. 😔
In my experience of over 55 years in HiFi audio I always had problems with CD player because I'm living in the tropics without AC. The frontloaders use a rubber belt that deteriorates over time and has to be replaced spare parts are not easy to get even from big brands like Marantz(claiming no more spare parts available) NAD had to get the spare parts from China. One transport lasted 10 years it was a TEAC Esoteric SUPER QUALITY and at that time it was still affordable. I spoke with some technicians and they all said top loaders cause fewer problems. If I will buy a new player I will go for a toploader. Besides the point, I have Two DAP Players from China one over 7 years and one over 4 years never encountered a problem. You have to do research about the company &product you buy from and Shanling is serious.
Thanks for the video John! There is a Schiit distributor out of the Netherlands called schiit-europe. Their stock has been a bit sparse but looks ok at the moment. No URD in stock currently though…
They set out to be an unconventional brand from the outset and it's working for them. Read founder Jason Stoddard's book. He came from a good marketing and advertising background which has served him well with making a name for Schitt Audio. I own two of their products and they work well in my stereo system.
I wonder how Ralph Lauren would have fared if he had kept his original name for his brand ...Ralph Lifshitz...? 🤔 Maybe fashion is less forgiving than Hi-fi...
Thanks, good review. I was excited about Schiits CD transport until I saw the price. This looks more reasonable with more features (even though I'm still a Schiit fan).
I went with the matching CD11 Tribute from Rotel to go with the A11. There are some great low cost CD options, but once Cdn exchange was considered, i chose the Rotel.
Great video - no Schiit. :) I think it's the first one in a while where I didn't hear you utter the near mandatory "IT'S NOT A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE!" :)
Schiits new cd player is a transport with a built in ddc. I’m even more interested in their new balanced phono which is a step above the mani for like 300.
Thanks John. I was unpacking an ET3 that arrived today so your timing was spot on. I was debating between this and the Schiit Urd, so you have ensured no buyers remorse 🙃. Looking forward to listening to it. I didn’t see the link to the podcast mentioned in the review regarding upsampling, but I’m curious to see if I can hear any difference….
As a follow up, having now played a few cds, I’m loving the top loading mechanism. It’s weird but tactile and somehow really satisfying. I’ve only had slot or drawer systems before and this is much more natural somehow 🤷🏻
It would be interesting to see this compared to SMLS PL200 :) Videos like this makes me want to start collecting CDs again. 👍👍 It was funny trying to explain to my 5yo how they work and now we are 'rocking' old Sony Walkman cd player connect via toslink to HT, that's the only one I have at the moment 😅
But why? The Shanling contains no DAC but offers USB and I2S outputs, upsampling and network streaming. The SMSL offers none of these very useful extras but loads in a DAC and headphone amplifier. They are chalk and cheese.
@@DarkoAudio I meant more like comparing ET3 + EH3 to PL200. They are of course not the same, but maybe PL200 can be all someone interested in CDs needs 🤷
Oh yes, prices. How could I forget?! The SMSL sells for around $800. The Shanling ET3 + EH3 goes for around $1600. Again, chalk and cheese. 😉 Even if you added your own more affordable DAC to the ET3, you'd still be missing a whole bunch of extra features when opting for the SMSL.
@@jeeeeeeeefro Cambridge is an option too. Both are around the same price range though depending on the region one can be more than the other. Canada, for example, the Cambridge costs $100 more. Though Cambridge has cheaper CD players
Why is this product senseless? I can buy a NAD 542 in pristine condition for 100€, that plays also HDCD and many CD’s have an optical output that I can feed in my Chord DAC. But I am happy with the original CD sound. A good DVD player and a good DAC is also enough. To hear the difference would mean invest ten times more in room acoustic and better other components.
Not comparable. That CD player looks and feels nothing like the Shanling (which also has bluetooth and a streamer) and that is important for some of us. Imagine a fugly NAD CD player on top of a nice sideboard in the middle of your living room.
Seems good value. Has a colour display, a well designed gravity based cd loader, an app and remote and some decent customisation. I can't see any other equivalent with those sorts of features at that price point
Great review, Darko. Your honest and intelligent opinions are appreciated by us old guys getting back in the audio game. How would match a DAC up with player? Would you favor a mid priced Schiit Modi+ or a Topping D70 over a similarly priced Denefrips Ares II? I'll be playing vinyl and CDs - thinking about going with a tube amp. Any suggestions are appreciated!
Nice review 👍! One question though, are you sure it also upsamples over USB? Because when it first came out, there was a mention in the manual I believe that it couldn't upsample, using the USB out to a DAC?
Thks John. This maybe the CDT n streamer ( I only use Apple Music, no Qobuz available ) ) I’m looking for instead of the Jays Audio CDT because of the price and size. It’s also slightly cheaper cuz I’m in China ( Eu518 ) and didn’t want to spend over 1k. Also I have a DDC and DAC ( Pontus 2 ) so this fits perfect in my system. CDs are very cheap so it’s a no brainer.
lol there’s so many elitists in the comments. But that’s audiophiles for you. It’s all subjective in the end. Get what works for you, if you have the money to buy something like this or better, then you probably don’t have as many issues as the rest of us and that’s great. Just don’t diss on us for buying cheaper systems because that’s what we can afford. Money shaming is really stupid especially when you don’t know other people’s circumstances or commitments. But I’ll stop being your mom and let you have your own opinion. Let’s just enjoy the medium in whatever form we choose and stop judging others because they feel a certain way about something ultimately trivial. All things considered, seems to be a really capable system for those interested at this price point. (P. S. If you are new to this channel this guy does good reviews on quality “newer” equipment that is at the legitimate audiophile level. That being said, most items in the more niche market of high definition audio as opposed to consumer products tends to be orders of magnitude more expensive. There can be reasons for that, but whether or not those reasons matter is up to you.)
Very nice, brings back memories from my Marantz CD 23, same concept and form factor (and Philips drive), although the Marantz dates from the early nineties.
Nice review. Have to agree on Schiit supply, the official distributer here in Oz doesn't seem to bring in much and doesn't seem interested in the brand at all, which is a pity.
Cool product & even cooler demo material. The Gil Norton production on that Blue Aeroplanes album probably sounds pretty good upsampled! One of the few people in the States that definitely know who that group is...the guitarist on that masterpiece album was recently lost.
The software blows, it's pre-alpha at best. Making clicks and pops with Airplay, dropping BT, not pulling proper artwork, albums getting stuck on the screen. The wi-fi set up is pretty tedious as John said, and it really works half the time, conflicts between sun-link and wifi. Not a very thought out product. You can tell by ET3 displaying Vinyl as the background for playing CD's.
Curious about the AirPlay feature…you didn’t specify if it’s AirPlay 1or 2. (1 would be preferred as per your article detailing the ins and outs of AirPlay)
Hi I purchased this earlier this year, I think it was the same model... Sent it back.... It WOULDN'T play long CDs... Beethoven, Bruckner and rock or jazz CDs... It would play so far then stop.... Anything over the so called standard length..... No joy... Sent it straight back and got my refund....
I think the Shanling ET3 is the perfect CD Transporter for me. Have the RME ADI DAC that you know at the table by the laptop where I have 50K FLAC files and the ET3 is quite small and will fit perfectly here, with top charging and other things. Thank you so much for the ekselent review.
I bought one. Its awesome. Absolutely no mechanical noise when playing CDs , audio quality much better than my ex-Audiolab 7000cdt, solid and well made
Hey John, thank you for another nice video. Do you know what the upper USB-connector is for (not USB audio)? It came to me how wonderful it could be, if this player would be recognized by a pc as a cdrom drive for ripping my cds
Affordable high end. Gonna plug the et3 with a combo Ladder Bach pre amp into my old BMC amp. Looked at the specs on the Ladder Bach and freakin amazing.
