Shanling ET-3 CD Transport Review - Golden Schlong Worthy

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by purr1n, Aug 13, 2023.

  1. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    @chesebert , have you ever reviewed this dac here?
     
  2. chesebert

    chesebert Friend

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    Don’t think so. The dacs I have are not popular here so any comparison would not be meaningful to people here. I may write my impression if I ever get a chance to get a Weiss 204 loaner.
     
  3. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Understood as the price premium for this manufacturer is substantial. However given that the designer is one of the "godfathers" of DSD and digital audio in general (at least as I understand it) it would be interesting to hear this dac and compare it to say, a Holo being fed 1 bit from HQPlayer. Seeing how your using the Et-3 as a sort of streaming intermediator in front of it is interesting as well...
     
  4. chesebert

    chesebert Friend

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    Isolation is key to reduce/eliminate noise. The streaming hardware and associated processors along with all the switching noise are isolated inside ET3. ET3 is then connected to an intermediary media converter (in my case it’s actually another PBD dac but without using the actual analog output. PBD also sells their streamers which does the same thing but those have integrated network streamers which I think should be housed in a separate box and not in the same box with other digital inputs due to the noise generated from the processor cores. MSB also has something like this they call digital director). The intermediary media converter takes in all the digital inputs and converts them to proprietary Playback Link data, which is then connected to the actual dac via ST fiber.

    Kind of nuts but sounds phenomenal and makes sense from an engineering perspective.
     
  5. Kreed

    Kreed New

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    It's been a while since you asked this question but since you asked, I'm using mine with an smsl m400 over I2s and everything seems to be working well except perhaps MQA which isn't too important for me.
    I get a high resolution symbol on m400 but not MQA.
     
  6. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    Shanling: Terrible Reliability, Don't Stock Spare Parts and Won't Honor Warranty.

    In addition they don't support their Chinese dealers like Shenzhen Audio with spare parts or even technical support.

    This is based on my direct experience with a Shanling SACD1.3 purchased from Shenzhen Audio. It stopped reading discs (after about one minute, No disc error with any CD or SACD) after a month of moderate use.

    I've been going back and forth with Shanling and Shenzhen Audio for over a month. What a cluster#%*@! Looks like I'm now the proud owner of a $1300 door stop. Perhaps, with the remaining parts that work, I can be the only entity in the world with spare parts! Contact me first when (not if) your SACD1.3 fails.

    The problem is the smaller circuit board attached to the bottom of the transport mechanism. Really low quality wave soldering resulted in several pins of the large 1389 IC to lose contact after a month of use.

    BTW, unless it's simple solder touch up of a bad circuit board, Shanling charges to do their warranty repairs (??!!) and also charges a steep return shipping fee.

    Shenzhen Audio will honor the warranty only if you return the entire player. I guess since Shanling can't and won't supply spare boards, Shenzhen will attempt to fix the board. What if they can't? Then either company will charge return shipping. The total is close to the retail cost of the SACD1.3. Regardless of whether you send a bad circuit board and pay Shanling for "warranty" repair or the entire unit back to Shenzhen Audio, the whole process will take two to three months.

    Live and learn. Never buying another Shanling product and will think long and hard before buying any audio gear directly from China. They don't have to stock spare parts like US companies. Customer service is something that the Chinese business model has yet to discover. Manufacturers don't talk to or support their dealers.
     
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  7. Tchoupitoulas

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    Am I missing something here or couldn’t you just send back the entire player for a replacement?
     
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  8. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    Sure, for at least half the cost of the player. The return shipping charge should get even closer to full retail.

    I am a professional bench tech and retired semiconductor engineer. I offered my services at no charge since Shenzhen knew the problem well (I'm guessing they are overwhelmed with returns due to a poorly manufactured batch of the transport circuit boards). I am performing all the labor. I'm guessing this board is a $5 to $10 part in China. Any US, UK or European manufacturer would happily send me the board at not charge and be done with it.

    I'm only presenting a very brief explanation of what actually occurred. The crazy emails, contradictions, say one thing and the next day say another, little of no communication between the manufacturer and the dealer, both in China and speaking the same language, etc.

    I have all the correspondence. Perhaps when I have more time, I'll post the entire mess.

    In the meantime, I strongly encourage anyone thinking of buying a Shanling product in China or even in the US (I very much doubt the few US dealers have any spare part stock,no matter what they tell you) to strongly reconsider.
     
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  9. Tchoupitoulas

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    Thanks for the warning. It’s crazy but I’ve heard plenty of reports of manufacturers simply replacing a defective product rather than repair it - or else sending out a new one and then selling refurbished units.

    The shipping costs are terrible. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this.
     
  10. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    Thank you for your kind words.

    After going around and around for a month, the best Shanling would do is repair the board at my cost and if I pay shipping both ways; still a sizable cost to me. They will only honor their warranty if it is through one of their dealers. But they have no spare parts for their dealers (and said so) and aren't interested in communicating with them.

    Perhaps spare parts will suddenly free up when a good chunk of their international sales evaporate due to this fiasco.

    This is just the first salvo. I'll be posting this and more on all the US and European forums.

    I don't believe customer service is an important thing for Chinese businesses, certainly based on my experience. Most in the US will continue buying their junk anyway due to low cost. I should have named this, "The High Cost of Low Cost Chinese Audio Gear".

    There are exceptions though. Both my HumminGuru record cleaners failed at the same time after the warranty expired. The Hong Kong manufacturer went above and beyond to ship me two complete motherboards at an extremely far price with reasonable shipping.

    Shame on Shanling.

    BTW, I wasn't really impressed with the performance of the SACD1.3. Not bad for the price but certainly no giant killer. I would have been better off paying a little more for a Marantz SACD model in the US.
     
  11. Bina

    Bina MOT - Shanling

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    Yeah, this is unfortunate case.

    As @Vinyl Valet decided to purchase from Shenzhen Audio/Leiyin, we can't help out in any way. While they might be in the same country, our international team has no connection to them at all, they are not our dealer or distributor. This is really up to Vinyl Valet and the seller to sort out warranty.

    We always recommend purchasing from your local sellers, in USA it's MusicTeck. They can do some repairs in-house, they deal with the shipping on their side or they simply replace the unit for a new one. And the same applies for all our official international distributors and dealers.

    Opting to instead purchase from Chinese sellers brings these risks of complicated warranty and we have been warning about it for years on our official website https://en.shanling.com/category/256

    If you decide to go forward with your campaign and post it on all the forums, I would just please ask you to refrain from making any judgments on warranty capabilities of our international distributors, as you have no experience with them and it differs from the services provided by Chinese sellers.
     
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  12. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    How's that for a runaround. No US, UK or European manufacturer would act this way. A manufacturer that doesn't stand by their product, can't provide spare parts and whose idea of customer service is to write long, silly excuses on public forums. Pathetic.

    If Shenzhen Audio isn't a Shanling Dealer, where are they getting Shanling product from?

    I have plenty of experience in audio as I've been involved in the high end audio industry on and off for over 40 years. This has nothing to do with the warranty capabilities of your international distributors (what capability can they have if you can't supply spare parts?). You manufactured a defective product and won't stand by it and you can't supply a replacement board because all are going to production by your own admission.

    Shanling has plenty of time to write lengthy excuses for their broken business model but none to help customers like myself. How hard and how costly is it to simply ship me a replacement board?

    Yes, I will continue with my campaign and you will do nothing but write lengthy excuses; anything but stand by your product. Brilliant business model. Sorry but US consumers ask for and deserve more. The manufacturers or distributors, US, UK or European that I have worked with over the years would be appalled by this attitude. They run their businesses to serve their customers first and foremost. Your clearly do not.

    Bottom line: The SACD1.3 is unreliable, the manufacturer is unwilling to standby their product or supply spare parts. Do not make the same mistake I made. Their are plenty of products out there that are far more reliable, offer better value and with manufacturers that stand by their product.
     
  13. Vinyl Valet

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    So, you say Shenzhen Audio is not a Shanling dealer.

    https://shenzhenaudio.com/collections/shanling

    Sure looks like a Shanling dealer. How are customer like myself supposed to know? Obviously, you can't control where large quantities of your product go and then, when a customer has a problem, you do nothing but write lengthy, lame excuses.

    Never heard of MusicTeck. I went to their site and the SACD1.3 is sold out. Shenzhen Audio, not a dealer, seems to be able to find unlimited Shanling product supply but your official US dealer can't get any or at best very little.

    What a load of crap.

    I'm retired and have all the time in the world. Next stop, Audiogon, Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, Audio Asylum, What's Best, etc.

    Keep digging that hole.
     
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  14. Bina

    Bina MOT - Shanling

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    Shenzhen Audio/Leiyin Audio are independent Chinese seller, they get products through Chinese distributors. Same way as about few dozens random Chinese sellers over on Aliexpress, Lazada or other random sites.

    They are not official dealers of our international team.

    The most we can do is report it to our company management, to take it up with our Chinese team (it was reported to them about 2 weeks ago, as far as we were informed, they are trying to help out with some solution in assistance of Shenzhen Audio).

    We warn about shopping from Chinese sellers directly on our official website. We have our official E-Shop and official dealers/distributors listed on our website.

    For our international distributors, we can supply them with majority of spare parts needed for repairs. Which is different from your request for the complete board.

    We do our maximum to support our international customers that purchase from our international distributors and dealers. We do not provide global warranty for random Chinese sellers.
     
  15. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    More runaround, finger pointing and nonsense. Just be honest; Shanling has no interest in customer service. You will only support your product when it suits you or when it's convenient. Meanwhile lots of your product is available throughout the world, by your design that you conveniently won't support. It doesn't matter what the business model, it's still your product manufactured at your facility.

    I see that you will continue to spend time and money writing countless excuses to my upcoming countless new threads with the only possible goal of trying to save face.

    What are US consumers to think of a manufacturer that is so rigid in it's greatly flawed business model that they can't see that simply shipping a $20 board at little to no shipping cost will save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales. Clearly this is a very poorly run manufacturing business making greatly flawed decisions. US and other international consumers should be asking themselves, how long can a company like this stay in business? My advice; don't risk it and never buy any product manufactured by Shanling as it's a crapshoot whether or not the factory will provide customer service or not. How was I to know what a cluster#$&* this would turn out to be?

    And what about your incredible US dealer that doesn't have or can't get SACD1.3 players? Sheesh.

    Next time it's going to be a new thread, not page 11 of an established thread.
     
  16. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    @Vinyl Valet, as a third party here, you bought from Shenzen, I think it's reasonable to deal with them directly. If you don't want to deal with warranty repair by sending the unit off, then I don't know what else you'd want. It sounds like the item is faulty. Can you not lobby Shenzen for a replacement?
     
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  17. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    Please, go on digging that hole.
     
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  18. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    As I stated elsewhere, shipping the entire unit to China and then paying for the return shipping will be close to the total cost of the player.

    I offered and Shenzhen Audio agreed to have me service the unit myself at no cost to them. Both Shenzhen and Shanling agreed that the problem is the smaller circuit board attached to the bottom of the transport mechanism. Once I removed the board, they told me that Shanling would not send them a replacement. So I was jerked around from the very beginning. A promise, if I supplied the skill and labor, they would supply the parts. At this point I still hadn't been told that Shenzhen Audio was not a dealer that Shanling would support. Then Shanling refused and the month of countless back and forth, often contradictory emails started.

    Name one US, UK or European company that only supports select dealers or distributors and only services selective consumer reliability issues while under warranty. You can't because a manufacturer operating in those regions like Shanling would be quickly out of business.

    I have all the correspondence and when released in chronological order will only make Shanlings look worse, if that's possible at this point.

    Would you be willing to pay close to the full price for shipping a product for warranty repair or, if offered and accepted, you could solve the problem with a simple board replacement that you were initially promised because the manufacturer decides its not convenient to do so? Why do you think that it's acceptable for the manufacturer of the product, considering the very low cost of doing so, not to simply supply the spare part at this point in a lengthy, convoluted process of their design but instead spend plenty of time making lame excuses on public forums?
     
  19. Vinyl Valet

    Vinyl Valet New

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    For those of you that have been doing this for a while, many years ago Shanling was well known for making highly unreliable product. Not surprised that they weren't smart enough to rebrand.
     
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  20. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    I don't know, man. the Player is $1300-ish? It shouldn't cost nearly that much to and fro shipping to get a new item under warranty. I understand you don't want to ship it off, but may be your only recourse. That is what I would do myself.
     
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