NextGen. To appreciate just how much the two Marks of the third transport model differ, here's the two-sided Mk3 successor…

… and the one-sided predecessor Mk2. Even casual users who don't understand what they're looking at can tell a few obvious things beyond more blue and red for the usurper.

1/ the big Rubidium clock shrunk to a an oscillator with super SC-cut crystal.
2/ the power supply is significantly larger.
3/ mechanical suspension is more sophisticated.
4/ clean/dirty circuit apartheid is far stricter.

Countering arguments of overkill—how much is really needed to spin a CD and read its groove—we recognize the same extremism with flagship audiophile servers. Invariably those go extra miles with their clocks, power supply and noise filtration across multiple stages. To earn any go-faster points in these elite races demands disproportionately more effort it would seem. No stone unturned and all that Jazz.

For those who disagree or whose wallets do, Jay Ho continues to offer his half-priced $2'498 CDT-2 MkII with Philips CDM4/19 drive. The CDT3-MkIII is his attempt at an all-out version for listeners who agree with his core credo: that vinyl excepted, the best playback comes from a dedicated purpose-built digital transport. If we play files, our transport is called a server/streamer. If we spin physical media, it becomes a disc transport. As today, it may equal a very slim job description. This Philips drive won't spin fast enough to read DVD-A or SACD. It will only unpack CD and naught else. It's a specialist not multi tasker. Perhaps this Chinese martial arts proverb puts it best. "I'm not afraid of the guy with the thousand moves. I'm afraid of the guy who practiced his one move 100'000 times."

On that note, eagle eyes still have questions about the DAC moves called filter, xfeed and volume. What digital filters can we select? Is crossfeed what it usually means, a small strategic left-to-right and right-to-left counter channel injection for headphone listeners whose amp lacks the feature? The converter being discrete FPGA-switched resistor ladders, how does volume control work? Variable reference voltage like Sonnet/Metrum? I knew of just the man who'd have all those answers.

For those who love this voodoo, there's still the 3D-printed Qstab NSE clamp. Jay's provide their own using carbon fiber. Beatechnik now offer the German version from Headquarter Audio as a $298 option. Vinyl freaks are right on this spinning Ouija board. They know all about platter mats, record weights and upgrade belts. Different materials sound different even when they seem to be outside the signal path. CD champions remember blue lights, green felt-tip marker, edge trimmers, squalene oil, EAC and black recordable CD trumping commercial pressings. For them it's all in a day's work at the listening den. If you cry murder most foul, don't enter. Just argue on a forum why it's all nonsense. You'll get plenty of anonymous applause. For assurances of a different kind, there's a 30-day guarantee on the DAC where Jay's bear 2-way shipping. Up to one year the owner covers 1-way shipping, for the next two years both ways. That's three years worth of free parts & labor support for the converter. The transport does it for one year. Finish options are black or silver. Buyers also select between 115 or 230VAC versions. Shipping is from the City of Lions i.e. Singapore.

For excellent company, we last encountered this Danish R2R tech in a ~5K LessLoss DAC. With it, the Jay's DAC2-Mk3 joins the ranks of R2R diskretniks so a club that includes (but isn't limited to) Aqua, Denafrips, Holo, MSB and TotalDAC. Soekris too make turn-key models. All in so including brands or decks I never yet heard of, converting digital to analog this way still remains a tight niche when integrated chips smaller than a postage stamp do the same thing for less money. Whether it sounds the same is the question; at least to proponents of R2R. Given our photographic evidence on raw build quality, it's easy to appreciate why team Vinshine as the global Denafrips ambassador have shepherded Jay's since their export beginnings. Mr. Ho designs and builds to the same standards as Mr. Zhang's Denafrips team does for their best. Under Beatechnik, Vincent Ong now seems well positioned to attempt a similar global victory lap for Jay's brand. Armed with what look like serious contenders, at pricing which in this sector remains attractive for high-value props, resistance might prove futile? By April 16th we knew what HighFidelity in Warsaw thought. Now their samples became mine. Multiple opinions are always merrier. So are broken-in loaners.