Photo-electric pick-up cartridge
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
Price (inc. equaliser): £4995

CARTRIDGEDS Audio DS 003

Right: Alloy body and top plate withthreaded lugs ensures the DS 003 can bebolted tight. Decorative LED strip is separate
from the internal LED that ‘powers’ thephotocells and generates the audio output

With the DS 003, DS Audio delivers its 3rd generation technology in a system one-tenth
the price of its flagship Grand Master. Can it hope to offer a taste of its authority?
Review: Ken Kessler Lab: Paul MillerAttesting to what I firmly believe
is a ‘hi-fi truth’ – that differing
technologies have innate sonictraits, eg, valve vs transistor – isthis latest DS Audio ‘optical’ cartridge, the£4995 DS 003 with matching energiser. It
replaces the £5050 DS 002 [HFN Jun ’17],
so there’s even a slight price reduction.
DS Audio cartridges certainly possess afamily sound. Seasoned audio enthusiasts
might agree that all the various types– MM, low- and high-output MC, strain
gauge, Decca/London, moving-iron,moving-flux, and in this case optical – allexhibit specific characteristics. Cantilevermaterial and stylus profile offer somedifferentiation within a given range and so
it is here, in part, with the new DS 003.

match points
Fitted to the DS 003 are an aluminium
cantilever and line-contact stylus,
contrasting with the outgoing DS 002(same cantilever but Shibata stylus) and theMaster 1 [HFN Dec ’17] with its sapphirecantilever and Micro Ridge stylus. It’s
also possible to ‘mix ’n match’ within theDS Audio catalogue as all the company’s
cartridges work with all of its energisers,
so in reduction ad absurdum, one could
feed the £13,795 Grand Master [HFN Feb’21] into the £1481 DS-E1 [HFN May ’19]
energiser, or vice versa – the £1162 DS-E1
cartridge into the massive two-chassis£39,900 Grand Master energiser.
I tried the DS 003 with both the DS-E1
and Master 1 equalisers to gauge theperformance of the DS 003EQ, which sits in
between them in the catalogue. It’s worth
noting that existing owners of aDS Audio pick-up or equaliser can purchaseeither the DS 003 cartridge or DS 003EQ
equaliser separately, the cartridge costing£2298, the equaliser £3147. Purchasing
them together saves £450.

I find the differences between DS Audio
cartridges to be far greater than thedifferences between the various energisers/
equalisers. Suffice it to say, each cartridge
works perfectly with its matching energiser
in terms of value and overall balance, but
don’t let that stop you from purchasing,say, an DS-E1 cartridge with aDS 003EQ, or a Master 1 witha DS-E1 energiser.
Company President
Tetsuaki ‘Aki’ Aoyagi [seeboxout, p47] has confirmed
there’s a trade-in policy forowners who wish to upgrade
cartridge or energiser, so you
will never be stuck with either, as each canaccommodate the upgrading of the other.
As for the differences between theDS 002 and DS 003, the latter really is anew model rather than a refinement. It
represents the 3rd generation of DS Audio’s

RIGHT: Inside the DS 003EQ energiser/equaliser showing screened PSU transformer[under cover, left], 5x33,000µF/25V electrolytics
per channel [lower right] with equaliser/bass
filter and active preamp output [top right]

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

HFN Oct DS Audio DS 003_Reprint.indd 47

optical technology [described in great
detail by Editor PM in all our previous
reviews] and employs the main cartridge
mechanism from the flagship Grand Master.

light work
Cantilever and stylus mark the territory
between the two, as
does body material. The
Grand Master uses a
diamond cantilever andMicro Ridge stylus, with abody of ‘ultra duralumin’,while the DS 003 uses theaforementioned aluminium
cantilever and line-contact
stylus, with aluminium body. Inside theDS 003 is a re-designed optical system withindependent LEDs and photo-detectors
for the left and right channels, providing
a claimed increase in output voltage from
40mV to 70mV. DS Audio also claims an‘The guitar
playing exists
in its own
dimension’improved signal-to-noise ratio and reduced
crosstalk [see PM’s Lab Report, p49].
A smaller beryllium shading plate[this modulates the light falling on thephotocells] brings a 50% weight reduction,
down to 0.74mg, with a substantiallydifferent shape. This is said to be less than
1/10th of the mass of an MC cartridge’s
core and coil system. The DS 003’s internal
wiring is also 1.6 times thicker than inprevious models, to lower its impedance.
As for the DS 003EQ, DS Audio has
increased the thickness of the PCB from
1.6mm to 2.0mm and copper foil from35μm to 70μm over that of the DS 002
equaliser. The DS 003EQ provides fourlevels of cut-off for the low-frequency
range, via two sets of RCA outputs and a
two-way toggle selector.

new ears
Aside from the shallow body, which will
either necessitate lowering the arm (withcare not to foul the LP edge with taperedtonearms) or to use spacers, the DS 003 isincredibly straightforward to deploy. The
pins are colour-coded, and the tracking
force is absolutely spot-on at 2.1g.
Choice of bass roll-off is a matter ofsystem matching, especially when movingfrom big floorstanders to small two-ways
like LS3/5As. That’s because this cartridge
delivers massive amounts of lower octave
action – so powerful that I heard mysystem with new ears. The Wilson Sasha
DAW [HFN Mar ’19] is even more ‘massive’
down below than I realised, especiallyafter playing the Jimi Hendrix collection
Voodoo Child [Classic Records RTH-206].
What drew me to it was an article
I had seen recently about rock trios inwhich one member overshadowed theother two, eg, Clapton in Cream. What
the author explained with utter lucidity
was the worth of Noel Redding and Mitch
Mitchell on bass and drums respectively.
Below: The sculpted alloy faceplate andprofiled casework of the DS 003EQ is clearlymodelled on the much larger Grand Master EQ

INSET: (Below) DS Audio’s line-contact
stylus mounted into the crimped end of its
alloy tube cantilever (pictured at x30)

From the opening notes of ‘Purple Haze’
through all eight sides (except for, ofcourse, a few Band Of Gypsys tracks),
the article was validated, both musicians
driving Hendrix along, not merelycomplementing him.
From little fills to cavernous
thunder, the DS 003 extracted
all the bass energy andpercussive slam withrichness and control,sounding like a crossbetween a classic
Japanese moving-coil anda Decca. I was remindedof the latter’s speed, attack
and precision, but that was
not all. There was an uncanny,Koestu-esque fluidity which
manifested itself in the strangest way.
Let’s not be coy: early Hendrix LPs
were in many ways ‘kitschy psychedelia’
thanks to lots of weird left-right panningand level phasing. The DS 003 expanded
the soundstage and created within it aconsistency that allowed the panning tobe accomplished with the smoothest travel
you could hope to hear, eschewing deadareas, while the in-out phasing was equallyeffortless. This authority also enhanced thefront-to-back depth experience of, er, theExperience, so even though the gimmicky
effects are dated, you hear withoutobstruction how the musicianship remains– after 50-plus years – without peer.
And if you want to understandatmosphere, listen to ‘The
Wind Cries Mary’ via theDS 003, and hear how theguitar playing seems toexist in its own dimension –not merely its own space.

silky cutMore conventional is the1972 orchestral version of theWho’s Tommy [Ode SP99001],
which remains unnecessary, as theoriginal release was majestic enough.
Whatever the reason, Pete Townshend
sanctioned this performance of the rock
epic with A-list guests – Rod Stewart, Ringo
Starr, Richie Havens, Maggie Bell, Merry
Clayton, Richard Harris, etc – backed bythe LSO. It would be followed by the filmsoundtrack, a live performance from a few

Tetsuaki Aoyagi
DS Audio’s Tetsuaki Aoyagi (Aki) was a certified accountant before joining Digital
Stream Co., Ltd. Says Aki, ‘I studied accounting and management because I was
thinking of starting a business, making products no-one had ever created, but myknowledge of engineering came from product development at DS Audio’.
Aki was not a traditional ‘hi-fi guy’, but his initiation was also a revelation.
‘One day, a company advisor, an audiophile, invited me to listen to some LPs
because I had never heard vinyl at that time’, remembers Aki, ‘the first song heplayed was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. I was shocked by the sound, so muchbetter than my iPod! I could not believe it.’ Watching the LP spin and seeing thecartridge glow, Aki was converted. ‘It was a Toshiba C-100P optical cartridge andI asked him why it lit up. He explained the technology and gave me a C-100P.’
Impressed by the long-out-of-production device, Aki thought, ‘If I make an
optical cartridge with current technology [LEDs and photo-detectors], the soundshould be even better. This would make many people happy – just what I waslooking for!’. Development of optical cartridges began the very next day, Aki
launching the company DS Audio in 2013.

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

08/09/2021 10:49Labreport
DS Audio DS 003

ABOVE: Rear view of the DS 003EQ PSU/equaliser. The pick-up’s internal LED is
powered via the R– and L– pins while the output is returned via R+ and L+, all via the‘Input’ RCAs. The equalised outs are filtered at 30Hz or 50Hz (steeper via output 2)

years ago, and who knows what else,
but this oozes pedigree despite it
now being redundant.
And what a sound! The
grandiosity matches the LSO’s
more traditional fare, and throughthe DS 003 it called to mind, of allthings, some of the better-sounding
Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops
open-reel tapes. The feel was silky,
with that inimitable air possessed
only by opera and Broadway stage
recordings. As it’s 50 years old, thevoices have changed, especially
Stewart’s, but the sonority anddiction of the inimitable Richard
Harris emerged so lifelike from thesystem that I was compelled tohook up LS3/5As to make sure I washearing such authenticity.

ultra crisp
More pointless than an orchestralversion of Tommy is the 2020
‘reimagining’ of a masterpiece.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens (yes, that’s
how he’s billed) and the original
producer, former Yardbird PaulSamwell-Smith, re-recorded Tea For
The Tillerman2 [Cat-O-Log Records
02508 88695] with mainly leaner
arrangements. The DS 003 revealed
that his voice has altered less overthe decades than has Stewart’s,
while the instruments’ harmonics
were breathtakingly convincing.
Again, the DS Audio technology –here come the traits – demonstrated
background silences, openness,
freedom from fatigue and anythingelse that could mar such crystalline
sound. This was evident on every
track of the mono remastering of
The Turtles’ Golden Hits [DemonDEMREC628], capturing Johnny
Barbata’s ultra-crisp drumming andnew-to-me low-level details in theimpossibly familiar ‘Happy Together’.
If one is lucky enough to listen
to a world-class component, there’s
usually a watershed moment, oneof a revelatory nature that tells you
when something truly is special. For
the DS Audio DS 003, it arrived withboth the discoveries among The
Turtles’ tracks, but especially theremastered Ladies Of The Canyon
from the box set, Joni Mitchell –The Reprise Albums 1968-1971[Rhino R1653984].
Mitchell possesses a voice of such
unique clarity and fragility that it isimmediately recognisable, while ‘Big
Yellow Taxi’ is a song I’ve heard somany times I thought I knew every
millisecond. The DS Audio DS 003
performed the miracle that elevatesa component from the merely
superb to the magnificent: it madethe song sound like I was hearing it
for the first time. I am smitten.

HI-FI NEWS VERDICTABOVE: Alloy cantilever and fulcrum/suspension arrangement is visible here.
Cartridge pins are gold-plated andusefully spaced. Power for the internal
LED is supplied via green and blue pins

The DS 003 shows emphatically
how trickle-down technology
benefits the customer, while
maintain a pecking order. As
close as it is to the mind-boggling
Grand Master, enough differences
ensure that the two can co-exist:
the DS 003 is the more lively of
the two, the Grand Master themore subtle. That said, if you canafford a Grand Master, buy it. If
you cannot, the astonishing
DS 003 will still blow your mind.

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

Like the DS-E1 [HFN May ’19] and earlier DS 002 [HFN Jun ’17],
the DS 003 may employ a basic crimped alloy cantilever but
its line-contact stylus has more in common with the former(Shibata) than the latter (elliptical). Its tracking performancebeats both, however, not least because the downforce range has
been increased from 1.6-1.8g to 2.0-2.2g in the third-generation
DS 003 and Grand Master [HFN Feb ’21] ‘optical’ pick-ups. Unlike
the DS 002, the DS 003 cleared the maximum 80µm groove
pitch (75µm on the right channel) and the most severe +18dB
modulation (315Hz lateral cut, re. 11.2μm) at 1.7% THD.
Says Aki [see boxout, p47], ‘In the 2nd generation vibration
system, the distortion rate was consistent regardless of thestylus pressure, but in the 3rd generation, the distortion rate
decreased when the stylus pressure was increased.’ In practice
distortion is slightly lower at 1.5% (DS 003) vs. 1.7% (DS 002;1kHz/5cm/sec) but trends higher at 0.55-15% (20Hz-20kHz, –8dB
re. 5cm/sec) vs. 0.45-10% for the lateral cut [see Graph 2, below].
The latter is as much a function of the DS 003’s improved HF
frequency response where the +7dB/12kHz peak from the DS
002 is traded here for a less aggressive +2dB (left)/+3.8dB (right)
boost at a higher 14kHz [see Graph 1, below]. The symmetry
between lateral [L+R, black traces] and vertical [L–R, red traces] isalso excellent while the stereo separation is improved by a huge
10dB (25dB to 35dB) – both clear benefits of the 3rd gen dual
optics/shading plate mechanism. Finally, as we’ve seen before,
bass output is also boosted, reaching +4dB and +2dB/20Hz via
30Hz and 50Hz settings (first-order roll-off selected). PM

ABOVE: Frequency response curves (–8dB re. 5cm/sec) lateral (L+R, black, 30Hz cut; dashed, 50Hz cut)versus vertical (L–R, red, 30Hz cut)

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

HI-FI NEWS SPECIFICATIONSGenerator type/weight

Photo-optical / 7.7g

Recommended tracking force

2.0-2.2mN (2.1mN)

Sensitivity/balance (re. 5cm/sec)

940mV / 0.80dB (from Eq unit)

Compliance (vertical/lateral)

15cu / 18cu

Vertical tracking angle

25 degrees

L/R Tracking ability

75μm / 80μm

L/R Distortion (–8dB, 20Hz-20kHz)

1.2–12% / 0.55–15%

L/R Frequency resp. (20Hz-20kHz)+2.0 to –6.0dB / +3.8 to –1.5dB

Stereo separation (1kHz / 20kHz)

35dB / 25dB

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

HFN Oct DS Audio DS 003_Reprint.indd 49

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