Shanling H3 Portable Amp/DAC with Apt-X Bluetooth

 

 
 
 

BACKGROUND

A bit of information about Shanling excerpted from their Website:

Shenzhen Shanling Digital Technology Development Co., Ltd. is a joint-venture high-tech enterprise specializing in research and development, manufacture, marketing and sales of audio products.  Shanling began as a developer of audio products in 1988, producing its first Hi-Fi stereo power amplifier.  Since then, Shanling has grown and now manufactures a wide range of products – SACD/CD player, high fidelity solid-state and vacuum tube amplifier, advanced mini music center, tuner, audio/video amplifier, etc.

Today, we'll be looking at their first entry into the ever-expanding DAC/Amp market targeting smartphone users, the Shanling H3.

Here's a LINK to the dedicated H3 thread, where you can look for upcoming impressions, ask questions, etc.

 

DISCLAIMER

I was provided the Shanling H3 as a review sample as part of a U.S. + Canada Review Tour I'm coordinating.  There is no financial incentive from Shanling in writing this review.  I am in no way affiliated with Shanling, and this is my honest opinion of the H3.  I would like to thank @Shanling for giving the Head-Fi community a chance to test drive the H3, and I hope our feedback proves useful for fellow Head-Fi members as well as for Shanling.

 

INTRODUCTION
Ok, so why review the Shanling H3.  Well, when I saw it announced I wondered how well this DAC/Amp would compare to the Cayin C5DAC.  I'd just signed up for that review your and thought it would be a good opportunity to compare the two first-hand.  I was also intrigued by the Apt-X Bluetooth feature.  Wireless connectivity is something I think we're going to see more and more of in the future, so I was curious how well it worked and whether or not it would improve upon the listening experience with my iPhone and also how well the iPhone + H3 could replace my trusty Fiio X5 Classic.  On top of this, a review tour would provide other Head-Fi members a chance to check out this new DAC/Amp, compare it to existing products, and make a more informed choice about which DAC/Amp fits their needs!
 
Read on to find out whether or not the H3 met my expectations…
 
 

ABOUT ME

I'm a 43 year old father who loves music.  From electronic (Autechre, Boards of Canada) to modern/minimalist composition (John Cage, Philip Glass) to alternative rock (Flaming Lips, Radiohead) to jazz (John Coltrane and Miles Davis) to metal (Behemoth, King Diamond) to classic rock (Eagles, Rush), I listen to a wide variety of genres and artists. 
 
My portable music journey started with the venerable Sony Cassette Walkman and then progressed to portable CD players, minidisc recorders (still have my Sharp DR7), and finally on to DAPs like the Rio Karma, iRiver IHP-1xx, iPod 5.5, iPhones, and the newer crop of DAPs from Fiio and iBasso. 
 
I typically listen with IEMs from my ever-growing collection from budget to mid-fi. Less often, I grab a pair of full-size cans.  Recently, I've been listening a lot with my AKG K553 and HiFiMan HE400, as well as the Alpha & Delta AD01 and RHA T20 IEM I had in for testing.  I do have a lot of other gear, though.  You can always check my profile for a reasonably up to date gear list. 
 
As with a lot of people my age, I've got some hearing issues.  I've got mild tinnitus and suffer from allergies, which can affect hearing in my right ear.  I'll admit it, I'm not blessed with a pair of golden ears.  That said, I've been listening to portable gear for a long time and feel confident in assessing audio gear - just wanted to be transparent up front. 
 
 
SPECS
SPECIFICATIONS:

1. Output: 210mW @ 32 ohm
2. Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz(-0.5dB)
3. THD: <0.004%
4. Dynamic Range: >110dB
5. SNR: >120dB
6. Supported Bit Rates: 16bit, 24bit, 32bit
7. Supported Sample Rates: 44.1kHz - 384kHz

FEATURES:

1. DAC: ES9018K2M
2. I/V & LPF Opamp: OPA2134
3. 4.0 Bluetooth, APT-X supported
4. XMOS, supporting up to 384k/32bit PCM and DoP128 DSD128
5. HP Opamp: OPA2134
6. HP Buffer: TPA6120a2

MSRP: $350
 
 
PACKAGING & ACCESSORIES
Similar to the Cayin C5DAC, the H3 arrived in nuclear bomb proof packaging.  Shanling one-upped Cayin at DIY-ing some of the toughest, most packing tape covered packaging I've ever experienced, and I've received a lot of packages!  Do Chinese audio companies hold stock on packing tape companies or something?  I mean, seriously!
 
The actual H3 comes in a classy matte black hinged box with embossed writing on the lid and a very snug outer sleeve that mimics the inner box - just like the M3 DAP from Shanling.
 

 
 
Open the box and you see the Chinese-only owners manual.  I know there's a bit of English on the cover.  Disregard that.  Once you open it, nada...
 

 
 
Under that, you find the H3 and accessories nestled in foam.
 

 
 
Accessories include one stacking band (just one band - what's up with that?), a short 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, and a long micro usb to usb cable.  There were also some silicon feet for the amp which aren't pictured here, since I'd already installed them.  Note that there's no protective case or pouch for your new H3!.  @Shanling, at this price point a protective case or much should be a mandatory accessory!
 

 
 
Speaking of the usb cable, the micro USB connector was the longest I've ever seen and stuck out on the H3's case more than any of my other micro USB cables.  Here it is fully inserted in the H3.  Notice how much metal is showing.  It was perfectly stable, though.  If I were using the H3 long-term, I'd plan on purchasing a much shorter left or right angle micro USB cable to make a lower-profile connection with my iPhone.
 

 
 
The only thing I needed to get up and running that wasn’t provided was an Apple Lightning Camera Connection Kit cable, and it’s certainly not on Shanling to provide one of those for us Apple fans.
 

 
 
 
BUILD & ERGONOMICS
The H3 comes in black or silver and has mostly metal build with a small plastic plate on top,a small plastic cover over the Bluetooth receiver on back, and a plastic gain switch.  I'm honestly not sure what Shanling was going for with the design language here.  Compared to the very unique industrial design of their M3 DAP, the H3 is very plain looking although I do think the black H3 is much better looking than the silver H3.  The build is solid with one exception which I'll cover later, so stay tuned.  Ergonomics are pretty well thought out, but there is room for improvement there, too.
 
Let’s start with the front of the H3.  Here we see the nice, large knurled metal volume knob.  It turns smoothly with just enough resistance to prevent accidentally pushing the volume too high too quickly, which is great when you're using IEMs. My one gripe with the knob is that I have gotten my fingers pinched when adjusting volume by gripping the knob from the front instead of just nudging it along from the top or bottom.  As you can probably tell from the picture below, the case has some pretty sharp edges right around the knob, so be careful.  @Shanling: If you're listening, please round these off next time!
 
The front also has the headphone jack and input selector on either side of the volume knob.  All of my plugs clicked in very snugly with no loose connections.  The metal toggle switch has nice resistance.  It clicks firmly into place and stays put.  I never had it accidentally switch to another position.
 

 
 
 
On the back, we see the Line In jack and the black plastic cover for the Bluetooth receiver.
 

 
 
 
Left side.  Nothing to see here.  Move along...
 

 
 
 
On the right side, we find the micro USB receptacle and the gain selector, which is one of my main complaints about the H3.  The gain selector is a small, raised plastic switch with far, far too little resistance.  Since the H3 didn't come with a protective case or pouch, I used a spare fabric carry pouch I had laying around.  When I removed the H3 from the pouch, it was a crap shoot whether or not the H3 would be on the gain setting I left it on.  So a friendly reminder to all of you, please make sure you turn the volume all the way down and check your gain switch when using any portable amp.  Your ears will thank you!  @Shanling: A nice solid metal slider with adequate resistance like those used in the Fiio E12 series of potable amps would be a much appreciated improvement!
 

 
 
 
How big is the H3?  Here's a comparison pic with my iPhone and the Cayin C5 DAC (another DAC/Amp I recently tested).  It has basically the same dimensions but is twice as thick.
 

 

 
 
SOUND
I’m the first to admit that describing sound isn’t an easy thing to do, so I’ll try to describe this as clearly and concisely as possible without waxing eloquent about subtle nuances that only the highly-trained ear will hear.  If you’re looking for that, there will soon be other reviews that meet your needs.  With that said, my listening was done with three goals in mind: 

• How competitive is the H3 + my iPhone 5s vs. the Cayin C5 DAC + my iPhone 5s?
• How competitive is the H3 + my iPhone 5s vs. my main DAP, the trusty Fiio X5 Classic?
• How similar is the H3 to Shanling's M3 DAP

 
I used many different HP and IEM during my time with the H3. Critical listening was done with my AKG K553 and HiFiMan HE400, volume matched with a 1kHz test tone and the Decibel 10th iPhone app. 
 
Soundstage

1. Compared to the M3 and X5, the H3 had comparable width but greater depth and height.
2. The C5 DAC had comparable depth and greater width, but I found the H3 again excelled in height.
3. I remember listening to a song where the music audibly rises over several seconds.  With the DAPs and C5 DAC, the sound seemed to rise up to my forehead level.  With the H3 the sound just kept rising and rising, feeling like it was pulling me upwards.  Nice!

 
Lows

1. Compared to the C5 DAC and X5, the H3 had tighter, faster, more linear bass with less mid-bass bloom. This made the H3 sound more natural but less fun, with less impact / slam.  Not that it's not still fun, the bass impact is still there and is satisfying - just not at the same levels as the C5 DAC and X5.
2. Compared to the M3, the H3's bass felt like the more fun option with a bit more mid-bass and slam / impact.  The M3's bass sounds even more linear, feeling more relaxed / softer in comparison.

 
Mids

1. Compared to the C5 DAC and X5, the H3's mids are cooler and less intimate. With the the X5 to a lesser degree and the C5 DAC to a greater degree, vocals sound warm / lush, making it feel like the vocalist is singing directly to you. The H3 on the other hand feels like they stepped back a bit and are singing to the room.
2. Compared to the M3, the H3's mids have a quite similar presentation but the M3's mids are a but drier, conveying less emotion. 

 
Highs

1. Compared to the C5 DAC, the H3's highs were a bit less shimmery and less analog sounding.
2. When comparing to the X5 however, the H3's highs were crisper and more detailed but less harsh / digital. The X5's highs sounded a bit aggressive in comparison, and the X5 was more prone to accentuating sibilance.
3. Compared to the M3, the H3's highs were a bit edgy. The H3 sounded crisper and more detailed, lacking the M3's smooth, relaxed presentation. 

 
Layering / Separation

1. H3 > C5 DAC > M3 > X5 

 
 
Bluetooth vs. Wired

1. Bluetooth sounds better than my iPhone but can't keep up with a wired connection or with my DAPs.  My suggestion is to stick with a wired connection.  Your ears and the H3's battery will thank you.  That said, you can certainly do worse than the Bluetooth connection.

 
Driving Power

1. The gain settings are great, and I got good use out of the volume knob with both Low and High Gain settings. IEM and most HP were good with 25-50% on Low Gain. My HE400 planars were good with 25-50% on High Gain.

 
Resolution

1. Bluetooth is limited to 16/44
2. Wired is capable of up to 24/384 and DSD128

 
Miscellaneous

1. I wasn't bothered by channel imbalance, EMI, or hiss when using the H3. The H3 is missing a bass boost setting, but I didn't find myself missing it.

 
Overall
I quite liked all of the gear I was testing out, and I think each has it's time and place and will suit someone's listening tastes well.  Sonically, I felt like my iPhone 5s + H3 (and the C5 DAC) compared very nicely to both the Fiio X5 Classic and the Shanling M3.  I could see a smartphone + either C5 DAC or H3 being a great option vs. a dedicated DAP.  Depending on your preferred sound signature, one of these options could work very well for you.  Hopefully the above descriptions will help guide you in making a decision.  In my case, the H3's cooler sound and more reasonable gain settings would lead me to reach for it over the C5 DAC in most cases.
 
 
BATTERY LIFE
My main criteria for success here was whether it would keep up with my iPhone, and it just pulled that off.  That said, the battery life isn't stellar.  I didn't time it, but I'd peg it at about 8 hours with a wired connection and 6 hours with a Bluetooth connection.  For me, this would mean I'd need to charge the H3 every day or two to keep it charged.  Hopefully other reviewers will prove their overachiever status and time the H3's wired and Bluetooth battery life.  
 
This brings me to one of my gripes with the H3, which is the lack of a useful battery indicator.  The Power LED lights up solid red when charging, solid blue when the H3 is powered on, and then changes to blinking red when the battery is low.  That's it.  There's no way I could figure out to determine how much more battery life is remaining.  Not cool!  Maybe there is a way, but having a Chinese only manual certainly didn't help.
 
@Shanling: Please give us some way to get a battery life estimate.  The Cayin C5 DAC's three Power LEDs is a better solution.  Even the Aune B1's "morse code" method is better than nothing at all. 
 
 
CONNECTIONS
Connecting to my iPhone and MacBook Pro via Bluetooth was a snap!  I flipped the H3's input toggle switch to Bluetooth, selected Shanling H3 on my iPhone or Macbook, and was up and rocking in no time.  Nice!
 
Connecting to my iPhone via USB was a bit more complicated.  Something I learned during my time with the C5 DAC and H3 is that having a separate USB receptacle dedicated just to charging makes life much, much easier for smartphone users!  With the C5 DAC, I just plugged it in and made sure it was selected as my output device.  With the H3, I had to make sure I plugged in headphones before connecting the H3 to my iPhone.  Plugging in headphones switches the H3 from charge to output mode.  So if I forgot to plug in headphones before connecting the H3, my iPhone would give me a warning message and I had to completely disconnect the H3 and try again.  Is it the end of the world?  No.  Is it a pain?  Yes.  
 
@Shanling: Please find a way to simplify this to make sure iPhone users don't get a frustrating error message when connecting the H3 when there are no headphones plugged in! 
 
Final note on connections: The H3 works just fine for watching movies.  I didn't get any lag while using it as a DAC with my MacBook Pro to watch an episode of Vikings.
 
 
SUMMARY
As I mentioned in the introduction, I was interested in testing out the Shanling H3 for a couple reasons.  
 

• I wanted to see if it fared favorably against other portable gear I owned or was testing. CHECK!
• I wanted to see how well the Apt-X Bluetooth feature worked.  Not too bad, but not as good as a wired connection.

 
The Shanling H3 is a flexible audio tool capable of greatly enhancing the audio experience with you smartphone.  If you want freedom from cables, connect via Bluetooth and it'll sound good.  If you're ok with a cable, connect via USB for great sound.  It can also spice up your DAP listening experience via Line Out.  Although I didn't write about it here, it sounded great hooked up via LO from my Fiio X5 and the Shanling M3 I was testing.  After testing the very powerful Cayin C5 DAC, I was happy to test a DAC/Amp with much more reasonable gain settings.  Good show, Shanling!  I was also happy with the H3's dimensions.  It was basically the same size as my iPhone 5s but twice as thick.  This made it very easy to pair the two.
 
Although I was mostly happy with the H3, there were a few detractors.  My main concern was the sloppy gain switch, and I hope Shanling changes to one with much more resistance in the future.  I was also disappointed with the lack of a protective case or pouch.  Other amps I've purchased include some kind of protective case or pouch - even at lower price points.  There's really no excuse not to include one, in my opinion.  And finally, the lack of a useful battery indicator left me with a battery-drained H3 on a couple occasions.  I'd strongly encourage Shanling to provide a way for H3 users to get a quick and easy battery life estimate.  This could be by multiple LEDs or coded blinking.
 
Despite any issues, if you’re using a smartphone without using an amp or DAC and think the sound signature I described for the H3 matches your listening preferences - please give the Shanling H3 some serious consideration.  This is especially true if you use harder to drive cans.  It will significantly improve your listening experience!
 
Thanks again to @Shanling for providing the Head-Fi community the opportunity to give the H3 a listen.  My iPhone already misses it!  I look forward to hearing more great portable audio products from Shanling in the future.
 
And please remember to stay tuned for more reviews from my fellow tour members.  I'm sure you'll get many different views of the H3 over the next couple months!