Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Although DS Audio’s phono cartridges employ photo diode technology, they still track the vinyl groove using a mechanical stylus and cantilever, just like every 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 on electromechanical principles to generate an output. Instead, the DS-E3’s discrete, two-channel output (carried by the L+ and R+ terminal pins) is derived from the light of two fixed, narrow-beam 5V/850µm (IR) LEDs – seen in the picture below as two dark blue ‘blocks’ – shining on a pair of photocells at the back of the mechanism.

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 the cantilever, its movement directly mirroring the passage of the stylus through the groove. It’s important to remember that the chopped (modulated) light path is still ‘analogue’ – not digital – as is the current derived from the photocells. PM