Recently somehow it often turns out that simultaneously two very similar models from different manufacturers come out. That Hidizs AP60 pair with Shanling M1, now here to Cayin N3 came the brand new M2s from Shanling, continuing development on the vector taken by the company back in M1.
Shanling M1, of course, became the most breakthrough model in the company's portfolio. Of course, the M2 was good with the M3, but it was the "small" player that showed the huge potential of developers who managed to combine compact sizes with convenient controls. Not surprisingly, the model became a hit, despite a relatively high price. The company perfectly understood where to go further, and updated their previous "budget" M2 model, performing it in a similar style: maximum screen, tweak control, convenient universal interfaces and so on. Tightened the amplifier and the battery (since now you do not need to save so much on the size). The pricelist decided to keep about the same level as was the case with M2 (after all, the market inexorably dictates its laws), you can buy Shanling M2s for about $ 200.
Specifications
- DAC: AK4490EQ
- OU: MUSES8920 + TPA6120
- Output power: 130 mW @ 32Ω, 12 mW @ 300Ω
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz (-0.2 dB)
- Distortion: <0.003%
- Signal to noise ratio: ≥108 dB
- Dynamic range: ≥108 dB
- Output Impedance: 4.8Ω
- Channel separation: 75 dB @ 32Ω
- Battery: 1800 mAh, Li
- Operating time from one charge: > 9 h.
- Memory Cards: MicroSD up to 256 GB
- Bluetooth: 4.0 with APT-X
- USB: USB-C with USB OTG support, USB Audio (supports Native DSD, D2P and DoP output), USB DAC (up to 32 bit / 192 kHz)
- Support for formats: ISO, DSF, DFF, DTS, APE, FLAC, ALAC, WMA, AAC, OGG, MP3, WAV, AIFF
- Maximum supported resolution: 32 bit 384 kHz, DSD256
- Screen: 3 ", 480 × 800
- Dimensions: 53 mm × 14.5 mm × 85.6 mm
- Weight: ~ 100 g
Packing and delivery kit
In Shanling, they did not bother with the box and used the M1-proven solution - a solid black cardboard with silver embossed, depicting the outline of the player. Inside, of course, is M2s, an instruction and warranty, a pair of protective films and a USB-C-cable. To add the "most" to the kit, the developers put in the box a USB-card reader and a plug for a 3.5 mm jack.
By the way, there are good cases for M2s, but they will have to be bought separately, fortunately, they are very inexpensive.
Design and management
Appearance is exactly what will motivate potential buyers the most. M2s looks very impressive - the frame of the case is made of aluminum, the front and back panels are covered with 2.5D-glass, almost the entire front panel is occupied only by the screen, in general - in front of us, without false modesty, one of the most stylish players in the history of these devices. At the moment, M2s comes in two colors - black and blue, but I think adding other options is just around the corner. Of course, the quality of assembly in Shanling traditionally pleases, no flaws, creaks or, let's say, no backlash here and there is no close.
There are not many controls. On the left side there are three playback control buttons, a microSD card slot and a reset hole (you never had to use it). On the upper edge is expected to be the power button and lock, on the bottom - USB-C-connector and headphone output (switchable through the menu to the line-out mode). USB-C here is very versatile: charging, accessing the memory card, USB-DAC, sound output by digit and even reading USB OTG flash drives - that's what the owner of M2s will enjoy. Unlike the nearest competitor Cayin N3, here did not draw a conclusion on the coaxial, but, honestly, who really needs it?
On the right side there is a control wheel, it rotates to navigate through the menus and is pressed to confirm the selection, a reset button is placed below it. And this wheel is the main stumbling block. First, its encoder does not work perfectly, the sensitivity is higher than it should be, and therefore sometimes one-click rotation sometimes results in a displacement of more than one point. Secondly, the orientation of the wheel slightly complicates its rotation with one finger, the Shanling M1 variant is still more convenient (at least in my hand). Of course, these are not the biggest problems, and having gotten used to it a little, it's slightly more convenient to manage M2s than Cayin N3, but the feeling of vexation from the fact that the ideal was so close, but remained unreachable, is still present. Also a slightly ambiguous feeling leaves behind a screen: on the one hand - excellent resolution and color reproduction, a large diagonal. On the other hand - in the sun it does not have enough reserve for brightness, and touch control here would obviously have benefited ergonomics. In addition, sometimes there is a feeling that Shanling did not come up with how to use the increased screen area, and it simply "walks", it is primarily visible on the playback screen.
The player menu continues the tradition started back in the days of the first M2 (sorry for the tautology), more precisely, the menu is absolutely the same, so the potential buyer does not have to get used to the management logic, it remains the same. In place, even a little derailing, due to which you can adjust the volume only on the playback screen (the twist is the one that is for volume, that for navigation).
The first three menu items do exactly what you expect of them: return to the playback screen (similarly the "back" button works), viewing files by tags (there is everything from styles to playlists) and viewing files by folders. The media library is updated fairly quickly, everything is organized logically, so there are no questions.
Playback settings include everything related to sound: volume limit, position memorization, pause playback, equalizer, gain, volume leveling, balance, playback mode and moving to the next folder during playback. System settings store all the options that were not included in the previous section. Here you will find options for updating the library, Bluetooth, sleep and screen timers, brightness, choice of themes, firmware update and everything else that you expect from the player.
On the playback screen, by tradition, there is an additional submenu, caused by a long press on the twist, there you can delete the track, add it to your favorites, select the playback mode, etc.
One of the main features of the player is its versatility. Multifunctional USB-connector and the presence of Bluetooth, working for reception and transmission, allow you to use many unusual scenarios: digital transport, streaming music from the smartphone to the player and much more.
The operating time from one charge was somewhere around 9 hours 15 minutes (MEE Audio P1 in the role of load, volume 50, Gain low, FLAC with a resolution of 44.1 / 16). Of course, this is not Cayin N3, but still very good.
By the way, for the player has already made a lightweight firmware with repacked graphics and fonts, which had a beneficial effect on the speed of work. Interested lovers of experiments at their own peril and risk can be curious here. And one more amusing observation, while I was writing this review: on the Shanling site appeared beta versions of the new Hibylink software (namely Hiby write software for M2s), judging by the description, it will allow to control the player from the smartphone, so we are waiting for "a new era convenience "in the world of portable sound.
Sound
To listen to the device used the following headphones: iBasso IT03, Meze 99 Classics, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser Encore, Campfire Audio Andromeda, 64 Audio U12, HUM Pristine and others.
In the filing of the player, Shanling tried to achieve two goals at once: take the sound from the previous generation M2 and make it less vintage, correcting the main "features", because they did not just have to make a good sound, but also surpass this M1 parameter. It turned out quite curious. This time I will not repeat the obvious about the price category many times, I think it's clear that for the player of this segment to expect some flaws in the sound - it is normal, it is also quite expected that there are no serious problems in the sound of M2s.
The bass has a slight focus in midbass, speed is medium-typical for the initial price category, bass is not super-fast, but their speed is sufficient for most complex compositions. Deep bass is present, but it is somewhat lacking in structuredness and control, but it is still better than the total absence of this range. LFs here well build textures and enjoy a pleasant massiveness.
SC are a little accented, they will like those who love the smooth musical middle, often mistakenly attributed to the 4490 series chips. Due to the emphasis on the midrange player, the vocal and emotional component of the composition are well transmitted, slightly losing microdetails (although the personal experience of recent years has already convinced me that a sharp and sterile "super-detailed" sound is not something to be striven at any cost). The imaginary scene is average in both directions, the player shares well the plans in depth and spreads tools wide, building a very reliable space.
HF-range M2s is whimsical, with some bright headphones it is quite possible to get some sorting, which will not please HFs. However, careful selection of headphones allows you not to encounter this problem. The HF resolution is average, but the attacks are worked out well (attenuation is slightly worse, but also normal).
By tradition - some brief thoughts about comparing this player with similar models.
Cayin N3 . Losing in ergonomics, Cayin also wins in sound - better-worked LF (especially deep), better control of HF, as a result - a more "serious" sound, however, the difference is big just will not work.
Shanling M1 . The case when you clearly hear how the sound was sacrificed to a compact size. M2s is better in terms of the weight of LF, is more detailed on the MF and better than HF - in general, does everything you expect from a more powerful solution.
Shanling M2 . Owners of the previous generation of players of the company, perhaps, will be most disappointed, from the branded slightly vintage feeder with smoothed high-frequency, there is almost nothing left, M2s brighter, more detailed and partly even more aggressive.
xDuoo X10 . In general, offers a fairly similar transfer of midrange, the LF X10 slightly more focused, but on the HF wins M2s, as he has in this range still less features, which must be carefully closed eyes.
Fiio X3-2 . In many respects, players of Shanling act as hostages of design and everything connected with it. A classy case and a quality screen dictate a higher price relative to competitors, which allows you to buy a player better by sound, even with simplicity. This is what X3-2 from Fiio is - a smoother, more natural pitch, but, naturally, it's far less spectacular.
Hidizs AP100 . Perhaps the most "long-playing" star on the horizon of portable audio. Of course, it's big enough, and not as glamorous as the current models, but by sound, it clearly bypasses the M2s, showing a more organic and natural pitch across the entire range with some bias in the dark sound.
Compatibility
The Shanling M2s has a rather high output impedance, which can affect the supply of some hybrid and multi-turnaround models, so when choosing headphones for it, try to avoid low-impedance models (except dynamic ones, of course), although modern multi-drivers are usually not affected by the impedance of the source. By background noise, M2s is slightly better than Cayin N3, but it's still very sensitive IEM, fortunately, there are not many such models. The power reserve of the player is enough for any IEM, and most "full-size" will be a player for the player.
Stylistically, the player is quite versatile, although for styles with artificial pumping, it will not be the optimal choice. Sensitivity to the quality of the record, I would rate the scores at 7 out of 10.
Traditionally - several tracks in the role of example
Roger Waters - It's a Miracle . I already wrote about the recent work of Waters in the previous review (and I'll return to it more than once, it's worth it), but for now let's return to the most significant solo milestone of the past - "Amused to Death". On this track, Roger shows us the perfect contrast between calm, peaceful music and a very sarcastic text, which got to the "nuts" all, from the doctors to Lloyd Webber (and it was not necessary to steal a melody from Pink Floyd). In general, the quintessence of what we love this powerful old man for. With Shanling M2s, you can also enjoy the music part (which is one code).
Iced Earth - Clear The Way (December 13th, 1862) . Only a few days left before the release of the new album of the classics of the heavy shop, which received the megapaphos name Incorruptible. Judging by this track, Aysy remain true to their traditions - long epics, the theme of the American Civil War (to be exact, the battle of Frederiksberg), scrap reefs, beautiful retreats - all that we love the company for. Shanling M2s shows itself from the best side, playing out drayvovo and vigorously.
Mogwai - Coolverine . Somehow this team did not turn hand in hand, but in fact in vain. Some of the apologists of the post-rock genre have not just received their legendary status for nothing. Complex, multifaceted melodies, reminiscent of a dream on a stifling summer day, pile in immediately and do not let go for long. Judging by this track from their album "Every Country's Sun", scheduled for the release on September 1, the group is moving more confidently towards the art-rock, seasoning it with its own branded shoegase. A complex, multidimensional track wins from accented M2s midrange, allowing you to enjoy individual parts of each instrument without losing musicality.
conclusions
Very interesting player, immediately falling in love with its design, surprising with the breadth of features and versatility of functions. Naturally, the sound does not lag behind, it is quite capable of competing with other solutions of this segment. And personally for me the future integration with Hibylink looks especially interesting, I hope to see a decent budget competitor solutions from A & K.
The article is based on materials .
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