DS Audio DS Master3 Optical Phono System

DS Audio Master 3 Optical Cartridge System

The DS Audio Master 3 is DS Audio's semi-flagship optical cartridge system, consisting of the Master 3 optical cartridge and the Master 3 dedicated equalizer. It represents the first DS Audio cartridge to feature a diamond cantilever below the Grand Master tier, and the first to pair that advancement with a dual-mono three-transformer equalizer at a scale and complexity well above the W3. The Master 3 is available as the cartridge alone, the equalizer alone, or as a complete matched system.

DS Audio and the Optical Cartridge

DS Audio, founded in Japan by Tetsuaki Aoyagi, is the company that brought the optical phono cartridge into the modern high-end. Rather than using electromagnetic induction like conventional moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) cartridges, DS Audio optical cartridges convert stylus movement into an electrical signal using light. A miniaturized LED shines onto a photodetector, with a lightweight beryllium shading plate attached to the cantilever modulating the light intensity as the stylus tracks the groove. The result is an output signal in the range of 70mV, vastly higher than any MC cartridge, generated by a moving system of extraordinarily low mass, entirely free from the hysteresis and electromagnetic distortion inherent in coil-and-magnet designs.

Because optical cartridges detect stylus displacement rather than velocity, they require a dedicated equalizer rather than a standard RIAA phono stage. DS Audio's equalizers apply the correct optical equalization curve, supply operating voltage to the cartridge's LED system, and deliver a line-level output for direct connection to a preamplifier. No separate phono stage is needed.

The DS Audio Product Lineup

The DS Audio range currently spans the E3, DS003, W3, Master 3, Grand Master, and Grand Master Extreme. The Master 3 is designated the semi-flagship, third from the top, and succeeds the earlier Master 1. It shares the third-generation dual-mono optical mechanism with the models below it, while introducing the diamond cantilever and Micro Ridge stylus combination previously found only at the Grand Master level, and pairing them with an equalizer of substantially greater complexity and power than any other third-generation DS Audio unit below the Grand Master.

DS Audio Master 3 Cartridge

Square Pillar Diamond Cantilever

The most defining feature of the Master 3 cartridge is its square pillar diamond cantilever, a first for DS Audio below the Grand Master tier. Unlike cylindrical or tapered cantilevers, the square pillar cross-section offers superior resistance to flexing in any direction during playback, providing a more rigid and geometrically stable signal path between the stylus and the optical assembly. Diamond is chosen for its extraordinary stiffness-to-mass ratio, ensuring that energy from the groove is transmitted with minimal loss or distortion to the shading plate. In the Grand Master Extreme, cantilever and stylus are grown as a single one-piece diamond element; in the Master 3, the cantilever and Micro Ridge stylus are separate precision components joined at the cantilever tip.

Micro Ridge Stylus

The Master 3 uses a Micro Ridge diamond stylus, a fine-line geometry that makes contact with the groove walls across a very narrow, elongated footprint. This geometry traces the finest groove modulations with high accuracy, recovers detail in the innermost grooves of a record with less wear than broader profiles, and maintains consistent contact geometry across the full range of groove velocities. Combined with the rigidity of the square pillar diamond cantilever, the Micro Ridge stylus positions the Master 3 as a significant step above the line contact geometries used in the W3 and DS003.

Ultra Duralumin Body and Optical Mechanism

The Master 3 cartridge body is machined from ultra duralumin, a high-strength aluminum alloy of greater hardness and stiffness than the A5052 aluminum used in the W3 and DS003, selected specifically to minimize resonance and maximize the rigidity of the cartridge structure. The cantilever holder is stainless steel. A vertically oriented illuminated window, finished in amethyst, runs along the front of the cartridge body, and a matching illuminated element is found on the equalizer front panel, providing a visual link between the two components of the system.

The Master 3 cartridge uses DS Audio's third-generation dual-mono optical mechanism, with independent LEDs and photodetectors for each channel, and a 99.9% pure beryllium shading plate reduced to 0.74mg, over 50% lighter than the aluminum plates used in DS Audio's second-generation designs. Internal wiring is 1.6 times thicker than in second-generation cartridges. Output is 70mV at 1kHz with channel separation of 27dB or greater. The cartridge weighs 7.9g and is recommended to be tracked at 2.1g.

DS Audio Master 3 Equalizer

The Master 3 equalizer is the most powerful and fully specified unit in DS Audio's third-generation equalizer range below the Grand Master. Its scale, 452 x 153 x 484mm and 23kg, reflects a substantial internal architecture built around dual-mono circuit topology, triple transformer power supply, and six independently configured low-frequency output options.

Dual Mono with Three Independent Transformers

The Master 3 equalizer is a true dual-mono design, with completely independent left and right channel circuits throughout. Three transformers are used: one dedicated to supplying operating voltage to the cartridge's LED system, and one each for the left and right channel amplification circuits. This arrangement eliminates any shared power supply interaction between channels and between the energization and amplification functions, contributing directly to channel separation, noise floor, and dynamic stability at all signal levels.

Six Low-Frequency Filter Options and Output Configuration

The Master 3 equalizer provides three RCA output pairs and three XLR output pairs on the rear panel, six outputs in total, each corresponding to a different low-frequency cutoff configuration. Subsonic filter slopes of 6dB or 12dB per octave at 30Hz and 50Hz thresholds give six distinct combinations, allowing the user to precisely match the system's bass response to their turntable, tonearm, loudspeakers, and room. This degree of low-frequency adjustment flexibility is a direct advantage of the optical cartridge's amplitude-based operating principle, which extends the cartridge's response well below the audible range and makes subsonic filtering an active part of system optimization rather than an afterthought.

Output Voltage and Connections

The Master 3 equalizer delivers 700mV at its output, 40% higher than the 500mV output of the W3 and DS003 equalizers, providing additional headroom and drive capability for a wider range of preamplifier input sensitivities. Output impedance is 120 ohms on both RCA and XLR outputs. The equalizer accepts a single RCA input pair. All components are hand-selected and hand-assembled by DS Audio technicians in Japan.

System Compatibility and Setup

The Master 3 optical cartridge requires tonearm wiring with fully independent conductors for each channel's positive and negative leads, plus a separate dedicated ground conductor. Tonearms that share the ground with one channel's signal return require rewiring before use, as DS Audio optical cartridges carry DC supply voltage to the LED through the tonearm leads. Setup otherwise follows standard cartridge alignment procedure. The Master 3 is compatible with all DS Audio equalizers, and all DS Audio cartridges are compatible with the Master 3 equalizer, though DS Audio recommends pairing each cartridge with an equalizer at a comparable or higher tier to realize its full performance.

Critical Reception

The DS Audio Master 3 has been reviewed widely in the international press and received some of the strongest language applied to any analog source component in recent years. Reviewing it for Hi-Fi News, Ken Kessler wrote that he "was simply not prepared for such audible gains over every cartridge in my arsenal," comparing the scale of improvement to upgrading from a small two-way speaker to a full floorstander, noting it was "not something I ever expected from a cartridge." His conclusion: "This cartridge has few if any equals. The semi-flagship Master 3 is as close to flawless as any cartridge I've heard." Marek Dyba, reviewing the Master 3 system for High Fidelity, noted that it played "extremely naturally" from the first record, and described an experience of music reproduction that met the highest expectations set for a reference-tier analog source. The consensus across publications positions the Master 3 as a transformative analog component that brings the essential character of DS Audio's Grand Master technology within reach of serious analog enthusiasts.