CD/SACD-проигрыватели и транспорты — Shanling EC3

The EC3 is a small disc player from the Chinese brand Shanling, loaded through a lid on its top panel. Beyond disc playback it reads music files from a USB drive and accepts Bluetooth streams, and it adds a headphone output and digital outputs to its analogue connections. SACD is not supported, and the drive reads pressed CDs along with CD-R and CD-RW media.

Key specs that matter

An ESS ES9219C Sabre chip does the conversion, feeding an LTA8092 operational amplifier. The drive is a Philips CD80 mechanism fitted with a Sanyo HD850 laser head. The RCA line output delivers 2.3 V, with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 40 kHz within 0.5 dB, 116 dB signal to noise ratio, 116 dB dynamic range and distortion below 0.001 percent. The headphone jack is a 3.5 mm socket providing 20 mW into 32 ohm on low gain and 70 mW on high gain, with 114 dB signal to noise ratio and 0.0015 percent distortion. USB playback handles PCM up to 32 bit and 384 kHz as well as DSD256. The unit is 188 mm wide, 255 mm deep and 68 mm high, weighs 2.4 kg and draws 15 W.

Engineering and use context

An Ingenic X2000 processor runs Shanling's own software and manages the drive, file playback and network functions. Because the disc goes in from above, the player needs free space over it on the shelf, and no motorised tray is involved. Bluetooth 5.0 comes from an Ampak AP6256 module and supports the SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs. Flash drives plug into a front USB-A socket for file playback. A small round colour screen on the front shows playback data, source and volume, and a phone app gives full remote control. Coaxial and optical sockets carry the bitstream out to an outboard DAC. The housing is aluminium, and the mains supply is rated for 220 to 240 V at 50 Hz in the European version, with a two year warranty in that market.

Pairing

With its standard line level, the EC3 connects directly to the line input of any integrated amplifier or preamplifier. The optical and coaxial ports let the owner upgrade later to a standalone converter while keeping the Philips drive as a transport. The headphone output suits in-ear monitors and light portable headphones of high sensitivity rather than demanding full size models, and Bluetooth reception turns the player into a wireless receiver for a phone.

Alternatives

The Shanling CD50 is a front-loading desktop CD player of the same brand with a Cirrus Logic converter and a 4.4 mm balanced headphone output.