Digital, Rebuilt Around Time: Soulnote D-3

The Soulnote D-3 is the company's reference D/A converter — a genuinely radical take on digital that throws the industry rulebook out and rebuilds around one idea: protect the timing of the music. Completely non-NFB, fully dual-monaural, and armed with a femtosecond-class clock and Soulnote's ZERO LINK interface, it's built by ex-Marantz engineer Norinaga Nakazawa's team to make digital sound as vivid and alive as the best analogue.

Four Flagship DACs, Zero Feedback

Inside sit four ES9038PRO converter circuits — two per channel — running as a true dual-monaural design, with completely separate analogue sections, transformers and power supplies for left and right. The output stage is a discrete, non-NFB balanced amplifier using Type-R circuits with ultra-high-quality naked foil resistors. There's no global feedback anywhere in the signal path, which is exactly how Soulnote likes it.

ZERO LINK and Femtosecond Timing

The D-3's ZERO LINK interface synchronises a network transport directly to the DAC's own clock, eliminating the asynchronous circuits that smear digital timing. A femtosecond-order DDS clock (LMX2594, ~45 fs jitter) enables Non-DPLL operation, and a NOS (non-oversampling) mode removes any ambiguity from the time axis. A colossal power supply — three transformers, 152 electrolytic capacitors and 52 SiC diodes — sits behind it all. Support runs to PCM 768 kHz and DSD 22.6 MHz via ZERO LINK/USB, with a 10 MHz external clock input for the ultimate setup.

Why You'll Love the Soulnote D-3

• Quad ES9038PRO, dual-mono — two DACs per channel, fully separated L/R
• Completely non-NFB output — discrete Type-R balanced amplifier, naked foil resistors
• ZERO LINK — clock-synchronous transport link that eliminates asynchronous circuits
• Femtosecond clock — ~45 fs DDS for Non-DPLL, plus NOS mode
• Hi-res everything — PCM to 768 kHz, DSD to 22.6 MHz; 10 MHz clock input
• Reference power supply — three transformers, 152 capacitors, 52 SiC diodes
• Hand-built in Japan — Premium Silver or Premium Black, 28 kg

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ZERO LINK?

ZERO LINK is Soulnote's digital interface that lets a compatible network transport (such as the Z-3) lock to the D-3's own master clock, removing the asynchronous conversion stages that add jitter — for dramatically cleaner timing.

What inputs does the D-3 have?

ZERO LINK, two USB Type-B, S/PDIF coaxial and AES/EBU, plus a 10 MHz external clock input. Analogue outputs are balanced XLR (5.6 Vrms) and RCA (2.8 Vrms).

Can the D-3 drive a power amplifier directly?

The D-3 is a reference DAC; pair it with a preamplifier or a power amplifier such as the Soulnote A-3 Core or M-3 monoblocks. Ask us about the ideal configuration for your system.

Soulnote D-3 Technical Specifications