Photo-electric pick-up cartridge and equaliser
Made by: Digital Stream Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan
Supplied by: Soundfowndations Ltd, Berks
Telephone: 0118 9814238
Web: www.ds-audio-w.biz; www.soundfowndations.co.uk
Prices: £1270/£2295 (cartridge/PSU & equaliser)

CARTRIDGE

use of two (dual-mono) LED/photocells
is claimed to improve stereo separation.
New photodiodes have also upped the
cartridge’s output level to ~70mV though,as this signal is fed directly into a
proprietary equaliser, it’s onlyof indirect relevance.

DS Audio DS-E3Those wizards of trickledown tech are at it again: DS Audio’s new entry-level model,
the DS-E3, gives you a taste of the Masters series at less than a tenth of the price!
Review: Ken Kessler & Paul Miller Lab: Paul Miller

It’s hard to name a cartridge brand as
prolific as DS Audio. It seems every
time you turn around there’s a newmodel. Following a flurry of entries atthe extreme top-end, including the Grand
Master EX [HFN Oct ’23], DS Audio has
returned with a new optical cartridge atentry level, an absolute cracker called theDS-E3 – and with no price increase over theDS-E1 [HFN May ’19] it replaces.
Pricing is crucial to the story, especiallyas companies including Soulnote [HFNNov ’23], Uesugi and others have added
DS Audio-compatible energiser inputs totheir phono stages. For users with multiple
cartridges – and many of us enjoy both
MMs and MCs – the presence of a DS Audio
energiser/equaliser in an all-singing-alldancing phono amp from another brandmakes the DS-E3 (like the DS-E1) even more
attractive. Here’s why.
If you buy the DS-E3 cartridge/equaliser
package, the price is £2295, whichrepresents a £245 saving over buying themseparately. The cartridge on its own is

LEFT: Safe as houses – until setup time! AllDS Audio pick-ups are securely shipped in amachined and anodised block of alloy£1270, as is the equaliser. But if you own
one of the outside makers’ compatible
phono stages and you’re curious about
optical cartridges, the entry fee to the DS
Audio club is no more onerous than that ofmany top-end MC brands.
I’m stressing this now because DSAudio’s optical cartridges are among
the few truly revolutionary high-end hi-fi
products of the past decade or so. Manyof you will be thrilled by them, especially
if you are old enough to recall that a
half-century ago, there were attempts
at manufacturing photo-opticalcartridges, but the concept
was too early, awaiting lowtemperature LEDs, etc.
So when it comes to DS
Audio’s cartridges, I’m
hard-pressed to namesomething in hi-fi ascontroversial or exciting.

PM Gets inside

ABOVE: Seen end-on, the miniature infra-red
LED ‘transmitters’ are just visible at the front ofthe mechanism. A clear plastic cover limits dust
getting inside and onto the receiving photo cells

In the decade-plus since
DS Audio launched its first
optical pick-up, designer
Tetsuaki Aoyagi has constantly
evolved the cartridge’s basic
principle of operation [see PM’sboxout, p69]. The DS-E3 is now themost affordable pick-up to utilise theReprinted from Hi-Fi News for global distribution | www.hifinews.co.uk

company’s third-generation mechanism,originally debuted in the Grand Master[HFN Feb ’21]. The green LED at the front of
the pick-up is purely decorative, indicating‘power on’, and mirrors the vertical LED
indicator on the DS-E3 EQ’s sculpted alloy
fascia [see p71].
The real action happens inside thecartridge where not one, but two, special
narrow-beam LEDs are positioned under
the stylus tip and in front of the cantileverfulcrum, their output deflected by anextremely fine beryllium plate connectedto the cantilever. These light beams fall
onto two photodiodes, each generating anelectrical current that represents the left orright channel audio signal.
In this third-generation mechanism themoving mass of the stylus/cantilever/plate
has been reduced, improving tracking
and high frequency response, while theBELOW: The DS-E3 is equipped with a crimped
aluminium alloy cantilever fitted with a goodquality, elliptical-profile diamond stylus

Ken Continues
Every DS cartridge has its
own energiser/equaliser, butthey are all interchangeable.
Of course, there’s certainly
a difference between the DSE3 energiser and the next, theDS-003 [HFN Oct ’21] at twice theprice, up through the five-model
equaliser range to the £42,200 GrandMaster. However, I’d rather have a Grand
Master EX cartridge working into the DS-E3
energiser – which I have tried – than theobverse, a DS-E3 cartridge into one of the£9000-plus energisers.
With the DS-E3 cartridge/energiser, it’s
like looking at a Grand Master EX Mini-Me.
That is not a backhanded compliment. I
hate to jump the gun rather than leave
you in suspense but at this point I mustsay what you’re getting today for £2295 isakin to what would have cost you £10,000
three years ago. Rarely have I seen such
beneficial use of trickledown technology,and in such a short time.
Before you even install it, the DS-E3
cartridge immediately calls attention toitself via the visuals which it shares withall the ‘Gen 3’ and Master models. Thisis the new, sculpted shape with verticalLED, as now applied to all six models inthe catalogue. However, the body is madefrom aluminium, with a semi-matte finish

ABOVE: The illuminated green‘power on’ strip is quite separate
from the special LEDs used inside thephotoelectric ‘mech’. DS Audio’s body shapedemands care in setting the arm height

which looks a bit like titanium, as opposedto the Grand Master EX’s highly polishedgold/chrome look.

model looks
As for DS Audio’s matching energiser, this is
no longer a prosaic, rectangular box, withflat, unadorned front panel, like the DS-E1.
Instead, it’s a miniature version of thehigher end models, complete with
its prominent, protruding
curve and central on/off button. At theback are justsockets for

LIGHT TO SOUND
Although DS Audio’s phono cartridges employ photo
diode technology, they still track the vinyl groove
using a mechanical stylus and cantilever, just likeevery other cartridge. However, while audiophiles
still need to be mindful of cartridge compliance,
tracking force, tracking ability, tracing accuracy
and tonearm matching, as we are with conventional
MMs and MCs, optical cartridges do not rely onelectromechanical principles to generate an output.
Instead, the DS-E3’s discrete, two-channel output (carriedby the L+ and R+ terminal pins) is derived from the light of two
fixed, narrow-beam 5V/850µm (IR) LEDs – seen in the inset picture as
two dark blue ‘blocks’ – shining on a pair of photocells at the back of themechanism. The invisible light from these LEDs (powered via the R– and L– pins)is ‘chopped’ by a V-shaped sliver of beryllium on its way to the photocells. Again,
our picture reveals this so-called ‘shading plate’ glued to the middle of thecantilever, its movement directly mirroring the passage of the stylus through thegroove. It’s important to remember that the chopped (modulated) light pathis still ‘analogue’ – not digital – as is the current derived from the photocells. PM

input and output, and a switch that selectsbass response – choose by ear because
its effect is loudspeaker-dependent. The
boost is quite audible, so attend to it with afavourite LP with prominent lower octaves[see PM’s Lab Report, p73].
Finally, while DS Audio’s costlier models
boast exotic cantilevers and line-contact
styli, in the DS-E3 the former is aluminium,
the latter elliptical.

Lighting the way
Having now used at least six
different DS Audio cartridges
and energisers, I keep two
permanently on-handalongside a selection ofMMs and MCs. If you
are curious, and would
like a general shortcut to ponder, one
might say the ‘familysound’ of DS Audio’s
optical cartridges falls
somewhere inbetween
the two dominant, coilsand-magnets technologies.
Hence, if you mated a Koetsu
Rosewood with a Decca Gold,a DS Audio cartridge would be theprogeny. The DS-E3 bears out this theory
and explains why I am predisposed toward
them: if you like chocolate and you likeoranges, you’ll like chocolate oranges.
It was the wide stereo of the track‘Wipe Out’ on Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar
Featuring The Impressions [SundazedLP5622] which made me fire up my MM

www.hifinews.co.uk | Reprinted from Hi-Fi News for global distributionCARTRIDGE

and MC soundstage yardsticks, respectively
the Garrott Decca Gold and the Denon
DL-103 [HFN Jul ’09], to confirm what I washearing. DS Audio’s Master models havealready shown me how wideand deep was the soundstage
afforded by an increasingly
more refined design. Since
the introduction of thefirst Master model, it wasimpossible to detect anycondensing of the perceived
dimensions, so close are theDS Audio cartridges to those venerable,
tried-and-tested classics.

acoustic guitar or piano, with added bassfrom Russ Savakus on one cut. So spare yet
so rich-sounding is this album you’ll swiftly
dismiss thoughts that mono would havesufficed. DS Audio’s new
DS-E3 turned it into a roomfiller thanks to the life-likescale it reconstructs.
Despite the unplugged,
acoustic nature, this set
also raised the matter ofthe DS Audio bass ‘bump’,something which neverbothered me after four decades of listening
to LS3/5As. What this album asked of thecartridge was to reveal the full grandeur ofa piano, but primarily the resonance of an
acoustic guitar. In both cases, there was aweight to the sound which belied the use‘It’s likelooking at aGrand Master
EX Mini-Me’

fast and fluid
This large, open dais allowed greater
access to what are surprisingly good homerecordings and impromptu live tracks
more than 50 years old. The
signature snap of Fender
Jaguar transients, essential
when reproducing thesound of a wild surf band, wascrisp, rapid and yet had enoughtwang to exhibit that bizarre but
necessary blend of attack andfluidity. DS Audio’s cartridge isquick – like Decca quick.
As the Impressions album is
one of those raucous, play-it-loudaffairs, next on the stack was the
exceptional-sounding, unplugged,lean-as-filet-mignon Today! [Craft
Recordings/Vanguard CR00744],
Skip James’ magnificent 1966
recording from his later years,
when rediscovered by the world
at large. This is just James on

ABOVE: While taking its industrial design
cues from the larger Master series energiser/equalisers, the DS-E3 EQ – with matching green
power on LED – is significantly more compact

solely of unamplified instruments. I was
driven to bang out some chords on theupright next to my desk for comparison,just to make sure it wasn’t wishful thinking.

Body building
Thank goodness, too, for stereo, as James’
guitar was positioned just off-centre
enough to intimate the form of a real
singer holding and playing it. Moreover,this LP was delivered with body and timbre
as lifelike as the sound of Muddy Waters’legendary audiophile favourite, the oftreissued Folk Singer from 1964.

RIGHT: Inside the elegant DS-E3 EQ
energiser and equaliser showing PSU
transformer [right] and regulated
supplies [top and left of PCB] for the
optical pick-up and op-amp IC-based
equaliser/output circuit [centre PCB]

www.hifinews.co.uk | Reprinted from Hi-Fi News for global distribution

Labreport
CARTRIDGEDS AUDIO DS-E3

ABOVE: The DS-E3 EQ provides power for the optical pick-up’s internal LEDs via theinput RCAs [left]. The output RCAs [centre] offer alternative bass turnover frequencies[see Graph 1, opposite] via an ‘Output 1/Output 2’ toggle switch

Arguably as impressive, giventhat James’ voice is as high as acastrato’s, was the super-clean
midband. The noise floor via DS
Audio pick-ups is so low that you
can pretty much hear all of theminuscule aural clues, and as James’
voice lacks the force or textures of,say, Albert King or John Lee Hooker,
the DS-E3 was asked to display
finesse and delicacy. It succeeded,
creating intimacy and realism.

Coming up roses
This was one of those listening
sessions where a guitarist could
identify the brand of James’ strings,or a pianist the make of piano.
While the latter itself yielded
enough bass to further explore thetwo low-frequency EQ settings ofthe DS-E3 energiser, I countered itwith Paul McCartney & Wings’ Red
Rose Speedway [Capitol 0244858324]. This was a no-brainer
as all of McCartney’s albums are
as bass-prioritised as a Charles
Mingus record, and it presented analternative to the gentler acoustic
bass of the Skip James LP.
I have the half-speed-masterededition Red Rose Speedway, released
for 2023’s Record Store Day, whichsome might find controversial ashalf-speed mastering goes in andout of fashion. Yet from start tofinish this LP has undeniable loweroctave mass and weight – no, makethat substance – which challenges
other releases. To what surely
would be PM’s relief, the DS-E3 kept
Macca’s bass on the right side of‘fat’ or ‘overabundant’, the two EQ
selections chosen according to theloudspeakers in use.

Closing the gap
What the DS-E3 has also acquired isa hint of needed dryness or control,
making it easier to appreciate theebb and flow of McCartney’s playing.
This works hand-in-hand with evengreater transparency, narrowing thedifference between the entry-level
cartridge in DS Audio’s lineup andits more expensive siblings. With thismodel, all six DS Audio pick-ups have
now made the transition to ‘Gen 3’ –and not just in looks.

HI-FI NEWS VERDICTABOVE: The DS-E3’s pins are clearlymarked and separated. Also visible are
the shading plates, cantilever and IR LED
light source [see also p69]

In practice, while DS Audio’s ‘third generation’ mechanism
brings the DS-E3 some of the benefits over the DS-E1 [HFN May’19] we saw in the Master 3 [HFN Jan ’24], other features of its
performance are inescapably linked to the retention of a basic
crimped alloy cantilever and elliptical stylus. So, despite thecompliance being slightly ‘stiffened’ from 15cu to 11cu, tracking
has improved slightly further over the DS-E1, with the DS-E3
clearing the maximum 80µm groove pitch on both channels
and the most severe +18dB modulation (315Hz lateral cut, re.
11.2μm) at just 0.65% THD. How? Because the recommended
tracking force has increased from 1.7g to 2.1g! VTA is now
slightly more accurate too at 22o. One of the real benefits of theDS-E3’s ‘dual mono’ optical path is improved stereo separation– a full 35dB midband here – although, for whatever reason,channel balance was a poorer 0.9dB in our sample. The 790mV
output from the DS-E3 EQ unit is not far off that of the DS-E1 EQ.
Another benefit of the ‘Gen 3’s’ reduced moving mass is adeferment of the inevitable cantilever resonance at ~12-13kHz(DS-E1) to ~15-16kHz here [see Graph 1] leading to a +6.5dB
treble peak. Note the impressive symmetry between lateral[black], vertical [red] and stereo [dotted] responses, and also the
reduced bass boost of the Output 1 and 2 options – a sensible
update on DS Audio’s part. Distortion [see Graph 2] necessarilyreflects the response trend with, again, excellent L+R and L-Rsymmetry – a boon to 3D soundstaging – and a low of just 0.3%
(re. –8dB re. 5cm/sec) through bass and midrange before hitting
9%/8kHz where the 2nd harmonic meets the response peak. PMDS Audio does it again! Its entrylevel models always offered easy
access to optical technology
and superb sound but the DS-E3
extracts even greater overall
refinement, tighter bass andother sonic gains. The pick-up andequaliser combined elevate thisentry model to the standards of
its mid-range of two years ago,
which cost thrice the price. If
you’ve been waiting to try a DS
cartridge, wait no longer.

Sound Quality: 90%
0-------- 100

ABOVE: Frequency response curves (–8dB re. 5cm/sec) lateral (L+R, black) vs. vertical (L–R, red) vs. stereo(Output 1, dotted; Output 2, dashed)

ABOVE: Lateral (L+R, black), vertical (L–R, red), stereo(dashed) tracing and generator distortion (2nd-4thharms) vs. freq. from 20Hz-20kHz (–8dB re. 5cm/sec)

HI-FI NEWS SPECIFICATIONSGenerator type/weight

Photo-optical / 7.7g

Recommended tracking force

20-22mN (21mN)

Sensitivity/balance (re. 5cm/sec)

790mV / 0.9dB (from Eq unit)

Compliance (vertical/lateral)

11cu / 15cu

Vertical tracking angle

22 degrees

L/R Tracking ability80μm / 80μm

L/R Distortion (–8dB, 20Hz-20kHz)

0.9-12.7% / 0.3-9.1%

L/R Frequency resp. (20Hz-20kHz)+2.7dB to –4.4dB/–2.1dB to +6.8dB

Stereo separation (1kHz / 20kHz)

35dB / 18dB

www.hifinews.co.uk | Reprinted from Hi-Fi News for global distribution