Audio by mark jones

DS Audio is a new company within the DCS group of companies, an award winning company in the laser optical market for over 25 years.

DS Audio modernized optical phono cartridges with matching equalizer/phono stages, creating the future of analog music from vinyl records. They are a division of Digital Stream Corporation, an innovator in the laser optics market for over 25 years, and co-developer of the optical mouse with Microsoft. Using their expertise in optics combined with modern technology, their engineers have perfected the optical phono cartridge. This 100% pure analog system uses a stylus and cantilever to trace the record groove which then modulates light to create the musical signal. There are no lasers used or any digital technology. Immersed in the high-end audio space, DS Audio offers a complete line of optical phono cartridges and matching phono stages as well as cutting-edge accessories.

We also highly recommend many of their outstanding accessories. The Ion-001, which creates positive and negative ions to neutralize and remove static from vinyl records, and the ST-50, which is an excellent stylus cleaner, equipped with a micro-dust cleaning gel specially designed for laboratory clean- room applications.

Other Products by DS Audio
ION-001
$2399 USD

Vinyl records have a surface static electricity charge created by friction. Two common sources of friction that creates static build-up are the stylus drag that occurs during record playback, as well as removing records from their jacket and sleeve.
By emitting both positive and negative ions in a controlled fashion from its dual outlets, the ION-001 ionizer unit effectively neutralizes and removes static electricity from the record surface.
The unit is completely silent during playback, and can also remove charge on Compact Discs.

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ION-001 technical specs
ST-50
$109 USD

The ST-50’ s cleaning gel is made of a urethane resin developed
specially for the purpose of atmospheric micro-dust control in
clean rooms. Extremely effective cleaning properties are required
to meet the specified standards for such applications. The ST-50
gives you the very best in stylus cleaning performance.
Many stylus cleaners apply excessive force to the stylus and cantilever during the cleaning process. The DS Audio ST-50 cleans
your stylus at the tracking force set on the tone arm.

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ST-50 technical specs
DS E-1 Cartridge
$1,250 USD

The DS-E1 has a wire suspension mechanism which is the same design as DS Master 1 and DS-W2 and DS002 By implementing it, you realize high channel separation and stable music playback.

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DS E-1 Cartridge technical specs
  • Channel separation24dB
  • CantileverAluminum
  • Recommended Stylus Pressure 1.6g~1.8g
DS E-1 System
$2,750 USD

The DS E-1 System includes cartridge and equalizer.

The DS-E1 has a wire suspension mechanism which is the same design as DS Master 1 and DS-W2 and DS002 By implementing it, you realize high channel separation and stable music playback.

The DS-El equalizer employs an operational amplifier at the heart of its amplification circuit, greatly reducing the number of components required. This also allows the DS-E1 to posses an extremely compact form factor, around 1/3 the size of the DS- 002 equalizer, whilst still offering the world leading performance you have come to expect from DS Audio.

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DS E-1 System technical specs
  • Channel separation24dB
  • CantileverAluminum
  • Recommended Stylus Pressure 1.6g~1.8g
DS 003 Cartridge
$2,500 USD

The new DS003 optical cartridge system has been optimized by implementing an independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels. As a result, the cartridge output voltage has greatly increased from 40mV to 70mV. The DS003 cartridge offers a greatly improved S /N ratio when compared to its stable mates, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.

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DS 003 Cartridge technical specs
  • Channel Separation27dB
  • CanitleverAluminum
  • Recommended Stylus Pressure 2.0g~2.2g
DS 003 System
$6,000 USD

The DS 003 System includes cartridge and equalizer.

The new DS003 optical cartridge system has been optimized by implementing an independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels. As a result, the cartridge output voltage has greatly increased from 40mV to 70mV. The DS003 cartridge offers a greatly improved S /N ratio when compared to its stable mates, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.

Compared to the DS002 equalizer, the thickness of the circuit board has been changed from 1.6 mm to 2.0 mm, and the thickness of the copper foil has been changed from 35µ to 70µ.In addition, the DS003 equalizer allows you to select the cutoff frequency for the low frequency range from four types, allowing you to select an output that better matches your system.

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DS 003 System technical specs
  • Channel separation27dB
  • CantileverAluminum
  • Recommended Stylus Pressure 2.0g~2.2g
DS W3 Cartridge
$5,000 USD

The new DS-W3 optical cartridge system has been optimized, by implementing an independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels. As a result the cartridge output voltage has greatly increased from 40mV to 70mV. The DS-W3 cartridge offers a greatly improved S/N ratio when compared to its stable mates, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.

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DS W3 Cartridge technical specs
  • Channel separation27dB
  • CantileverBoron
  • Body MaterialAluminum
DS W3 System
$15,000 USD

The DS W3 System includes cartridge and equalizer.
The new DS-W3 optical cartridge system has been optimized, by implementing an independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels. As a result the cartridge output voltage has greatly increased from 40mV to 70mV. The DS-W3 cartridge offers a greatly improved S/N ratio when compared to its stable mates, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.
Compared to the DS-W2 equalizer, the thickness of the circuit board has been changed from 1.6 mm to 2.0 mm, and the thickness of the copper foil has been changed from 35µ to 70µ. Components are also optimized for third-generation cartridges.In addition, the DS-W3 equalizer has four different low-frequency outputs to choose from. The DS-W3 equalizer has both unbalanced and balanced outputs, so you can choose the output that best matches your system.

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DS W3 System technical specs
  • Channel separation27dB
  • CantileverBoron
  • Body MaterialAluminum
DS Master 3 Cartridge
$9,500 USD

A first for DS Audio, the Master 3 cartridge features the combination of a square pillar diamond cantilever with a Micro Ridge stylus. The cartridge body structure has been designed in such a way as to promote maximum rigidity. In addition to these features, the Master 3 utilizes internal wiring 1.6 times thicker than used in the second-generation cartridges in order to reduce impedance.

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DS Master 3 Cartridge technical specs
  • Channel separation27dB
  • CantileverSquare Pillar Diamond
  • Recommended Stylus Pressure 2.0g~2.2g
DS Master 3 System
$27,000 USD

The DS Master 3 System includes cartridge and equalizer.

A first for DS Audio, the Master 3 cartridge features the combination of a square pillar diamond cantilever with a Micro Ridge stylus. The cartridge body structure has been designed in such a way as to promote maximum rigidity. In addition to these features, the Master 3 utilizes internal wiring 1.6 times thicker than used in the second-generation cartridges in order to reduce impedance.
The DS Master3 equalizer is a dual monaural circuit design with three transformers and completely independent L-channel and R-channel circuits. The power supply has been overwhelmingly strengthened to enable deeper, richer low-frequency expression. The DS Master3 equalizer has balanced and unbalanced outputs, and the low-frequency cutoff frequency can be selected from six different options.

 

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DS Master 3 System technical specs
  • Channel separation27dB
  • CantileverSquare Pillar Diamond
  • Recommended Stylus Pressure 2.0g~2.2g