Shanling M0

Shanling M0

Disclaimer
I would like to thank Rick of Hifi Solutions in Amsterdam for providing me with the Shanling M0 for this review. No incentive was given for a favourable review, I was just asked to say something about the store. Of course! Would have done that anyway, Rick.

Hifi Solutions
The reason I wanted to work with Hifi Solutions is that sometimes in this hobby it can be quite difficult to find access to demo units and advice that actually takes into consideration the preferences and the budget of the customer. When I lived in London it was surprising that the best stores were actually found outside of Central London and now that I am back living in the Netherlands it is like landing in an audiophile desert. Hifi Solutions is quite literally the only brick and mortar store I know of in the Netherlands that stocks high-end portable gear from brands such as Campfire Audio, 64 Audio, EarSonics, Effect Audio, Chord, Astell & Kern, and in this case Shanling (because interesting gear does not always have to be expensive). So I wanted to make sure Dutch audiophiles were aware of Hifi Solutions. And of course any audiophile visiting from abroad, because there is more to Amsterdam than the Red Light district and Coffee Shops where the term "high tea" has a wholly different meaning to it than in London.

M0 Specifications

• Dimension: 40 x 13.5 x 45 mm
• Screen: 1.54 inch, 240 x 240 touch screen
• Weight: 38 g
• DAC Model: ESS Sabre ES9218P
• Sampling rate: up to 384kHz / 32 bit, DSD 128
• Storage: up to 512GB TF card
• Battery Life time: about 15 hours
• Deep standby: 30 days
• Charging time: 2 hours
• Recommended headphone impedance: 8-300 ohms
• Output port: Headphone output (3.5 mm)
• Output power: 80mW @ 32 Ohm
• Output impedance: 0.16 Ohm
• Channel separation: 70 dB
• Frequency response: 20Hz~20kHz (-0.5 dB)
• Distortion: 0.004% (A-Weighting, Output 500mV)
• Signal to Noise Ratio: 118 dB (A-weighting)
• Ground noise: <3uV (high gain)
• Dynamic Range: >105 dB
• Price: US$109

Links:
https://hifisolutions.nl
https://www.facebook.com/hifisolutions
https://www.shanling.com
https://www.facebook.com/Shanling-Audio-603230783166845/

Preamble
This is a first in what I hope to be a small series of reviews with a twist, as it is much less about critical listening and all about real-world use for training.

I train a lot, five to six days a week, and have been doing that most of my life. For me there is a practical reason because high-intensity exercise helps me manage my ADHD and so I have to maintain the sort of training routine that is not all that far from what a professional athlete would do. In fact, I grew up with professional athletes and learned a lot from them, mostly the discipline and drive needed to keep it up year in, year out. There is a very strong psychological aspect to it and the harder you push, the more important that aspect becomes, even if your level is not quite up there with the Olympians. It is all about your own personal limits, irrespective of how you stack up against others. By the time this review goes up we will be well underway in 2019 and for many people the New Year's resolutions will have failed already. The first few weeks in the New Year were great, new running shoes and gym outfits, getting all excited about sweat pouring over your face and then ultimately giving up because of a 1001 different excuses. I have seen it many times and it is not that people are "weak" or "failures" or whatever degrading term you can think of, it is just that they have not addressed the psychological aspect that comes with building up a structural training regime, let alone building it up to the point where you can really start to push it (and that's where the fun is).

There are many ways to deal with the psychological side of training and one of those we all know so well... Cue the music! [Insert Rocky I training video]
See, I knew you would instantly have the right tune pop up in your head! Its near universal recognition is because it resonates with us. The music recalls the images of Rocky working hard and getting to the top (of the stairs), there is an energy in it that speaks to us at a very deep psychological level, and indeed at a deep physiological level as well. It literally gets our adrenalin up and stimulates us. Even if we do nothing with it, it still primes our body for action. Music can do that. So athletes wearing Beats on their head are not just raking in the sponsorship, they are creating a bubble for themselves where they can channel the energy of their favourite music to psych themselves up and prime their body and mind for action.



Music is a great way to help you push on when otherwise you might not have, or worse, quit trying altogether. The adrenalin (and other chemicals your body has on offer) can even help you suppress the pain of your muscles burning from the exertion. One month before I started working on this review series my doctor told me that I should prepare myself that perhaps I would never run again because of a chronic knee injury. Not only was I lucky enough that the injury was not quite so serious, the first runs I did with the Shanling M0 were my fastest in two years. The music I carried with me actually helped me overcome a fear I had built up of injuring my knee further. This fear resulted in me running too carefully, actually worsening the injury. Getting myself psyched up and full of adrenalin helped me to ignore some initial pain and lengthen my stride to become more fluid, causing less impact on the knee and making me run faster. Win-win!

Music can be a great catalyst like that, but being an audiophile I got curious about the influence of the quality of the music. While training many details are lost because your focus is not on the music and there is other noise around. So does it make sense to invest in better gear? My hypothesis is that it can indeed make sense, if it is aimed at the right things:

Sound
- A good quality bass to begin with, as I have had many boring and lifeless "sports earphones" in the past.
- Plenty of details coming through very clearly. Most of those will be lost, but enough of it will remain perceptible to add to the excitement of the music.

Build (both source and IEMs)
- Lightweight and very durable because it will need to withstand some abuse, especially moisture from sweat and rain.
- In case of earphones, great ergonomics to get a secure and comfortable fit.
- A vented design (like with some dynamic drivers) can help minimise pressure fluctuations while moving around.
- Thin, light cable without any microphonics, or possibly Bluetooth without bulky parts that move around more than you do yourself.

Practical
- Good battery life. Nothing worse than having to constantly charge equipment. My Garmin GPS watch lasts about a week and I cannot begin to describe my level of frustration when at the start of a training I get the dreaded "Low Battery" pop up.
- Easy controls and a smooth, fluid interface.

With this in mind I started thinking about the first setup I would like to try. I had already found the Final E-series IEMs, which I think are absolutely great. I bought the E2000 and got to review the E4000 and E5000, which showed me that indeed better quality IEMs help to make the music more engaging even while training. The E5000 have a stiff and very microphonic cable and I can't recommend those unless you plan to replace the cable. However, the E4000 do have a very nice cable, a great sound and a well-vented design, so I started with those. For the source I really had only one DAP in mind, the diminutive Shanling M0, which I understood to be a powerful little DAP with lots of added features.

E4000
Before moving on to the M0 I wanted to briefly touch on the E4000. I have reviewed them in full here already, but there are a few practical elements that I did not really touch on in my review and some aspects that are specific to training.

The E4000 have a vented design that is very helpful in reducing pressure fluctuations when moving around. With intensive exercise it is possible that the IEMs move around and if there is a good seal it can feel a little bit like someone is pushing and pulling a plunger against your ear. The vents on the E4000 help to mitigate this quite effectively. Of course it also helps to use different tips. Personally I always use silicone tips because I find foam tips to be a bit itchy, but after a run in the pouring rain I found that silicone was simply not practical, as it gets slippery when wet and that caused all manner of issues. With foam tips I have not had similar issues and actually found it more comfortable during training indoor as well.



The runs in the pouring rain and freezing cold did also allow me to subject the E4000 to a real durability test and I have to say that I am very impressed by them. They have been completely soaked in the rain and I was quite sure water entered the vents because even my ears were full of water by the time I was halfway on one of my runs. Despite it all, the E4000 kept going and although there were some minor cut outs from the mmcx connectors in the days following the runs, those only seemed temporary. In terms of durability I think the E4000 did an excellent job, although I might avoid running in rain that bad in the future, just to be on the safe side, because they are definitely not waterproof.

On to the Shanling M0...

Unboxing
When Shanling learned about this review they were kind enough to send over their new armband for me to try out as well, so we are unboxing two boxes.





The M0's box came in a white sleeve with an image of the great range of colours that the M0 is available in and some basic information on it. Removing the sleeve revealed a similar box to the one the armband came in, a classic mat black with a glossy Shanling logo on it. Opening up both boxes revealed a very nice presentation that has a premium feel to it. The M0 was presented sitting in black foam in such a way that it was the centre of attention, whereas the armband was the centre of attention simply by being the sole item in its box. The M0 also did not come with a whole host of extras, just the basics such as a USB cable, which I found was quite a nice one, and very basic manual and warranty card. Spartan, but also just what I would expect at this price point and there is no need to add more either.

Design and build quality
The M0 is a very nice DAP and I was really impressed from the moment that I took it out of the box. It is solidly built yet due to its diminutive size only weighed in at 37 grams on my kitchen scales, and that was including the required micro-SD card. The design itself is understandably minimalist, there is simply not much room to add lots of buttons etc, but it is executed in a very sleek and stylish design. On the bottom are the only ports found, a USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone out, on one side is a very nicely designed volume knob that also functions as an on-off switch (which I found a little too sensitive, often switching the M0 on when I was storing it after training), and on the other the slot for the micro-SD card. For a DAP this small, I would say this is an award-winning level of design, it is that well thought out.



On the front is a 1.54 inch touch screen from which you control the DAP. It is very responsive and works very smoothly, although its small size does make it a little sensitive when trying to scroll through a long list of albums.

In use for training the M0 is absolutely brilliant. The size and weight are perfect and I can just forget that it is there. Initially I did not have the armband (which I will discuss later in this review) and so I needed to find a way to carry it with me while running. I found that it fit perfectly inside the back pocket of my running pants that is actually meant for keys and during my runs I did not find the weight to be noticeable at all. The Shanling clip would do very nicely here too and if you happen to be using Bluetooth you can just put it in any pocket without it bouncing around more than a set of keys.

GUI
Tiny DAP, huge number of options. The M0 has very extensive menus and lots of settings that can be used. There are five main menus:
- Menu 1 'Now Playing': Brings you straight to the music you are playing or played last.
- Menu 2 'My Music': Options to select music based on the Album, Artist, Playlist, Genre, etc.
- Menu 3 'Folders': A folder view of all the files on the system/micro-SD card.
- Menu 4 'Playback': Playback settings such as EQ, Gain, DAC filter, gapless, etc.
- Menu 5 'System': Here you can update the system when loading a new micro-SD card (which can take a long time if you have many files), Bluetooth pairing, screen settings, USB function, themes, language, firmware updates, etc.



I fiddled around with various settings to see what would work best during training. It tried the DAC filter settings and did not notice too much of a difference while I was training. The differences might well be there to hear during critical listening, but that was not the purpose of this review and so I left it on the factory standard 'Minimum Slow'.



I usually avoid using EQ, especially for reviews, but when training it does not matter as long as the music is engaging and so I tried out various options. The M0 does not have a custom EQ function and only allows you to use a set of 16 pre-sets. I tried out several options while training, only to revert back to the normal sound, as the M0 sounds best that way to my ears.



When the music is playing the M0 has three options to view:
- Screen 1: Play/pause/forward/back controls, a favourite button, and playback control (repeat, etc).
- Screen 2: Displays playing time, lets you add the track to a playlist, info button, and direct button back to the main playback menu.
- Screen 3: Lyrics (if added to the music files).
After a short while the screen will go back to displaying only the album art.



Sound
Despite its diminutive size and affordable price, the M0 offers impressively good sound quality. It has a more neutral tone than my warmish-natural sounding AK70 and has a bit more brightness, which I feel helps details come through more clearly. With the E4000 I felt the M0 accentuated the V-shaped sound slightly compared to the AK70, as the AK70 had a tighter bass and more laid-back treble. In comparison I felt the M0 had a more exciting sound.



I have tried both low gain and high gain mode and ended up keeping it on high gain, as I felt the E4000 benefitted from it. Paired with the E4000 on high gain, the sound is punchy, detailed and exciting, exactly what I was looking for in a training setup. Even when I run outdoors I get a really good bass impact coming through, clear details and a lovely bit of sparkle, it just feels really well balanced for training. The soundstage is also of a very good size so that the sound does not feel like it is too confined in the head. It does create a nice training bubble where I can focus on myself, but it feels nice and natural as well. There is also no need to push the volume up too much, as even on relatively low volume levels everything is there.

Shanling Armband
The design of the armband is simple and effective. I think it is the same case Shanling released earlier, but this time connected to a band. You can simply slide the M0 in from the top and the fit is tight enough to keep the player in place. The cable can be inserted through an opening in the bottom and the armband itself is elasticated so that it can fit tight enough around the arm to stay in place, but not restrict movement by being too tight.





I really liked using it for running and it stayed perfectly well in place. It also worked well with the E4000, the cable of which I just ran underneath my clothes, as I was wearing several layers due to the cold weather. I expect though that in spring it might be a bit trickier, as I will need to find a way of dealing with the cable when I wear only one layer with long sleeves. In this case Bluetooth becomes a much more practical option, as it does away with the cable. Or, alternatively, the Shanling clip so that the M0 can be clipped on my clothes around my waste, making it much easier to run the cable underneath my shirt. Wearing the armband on my bear arm underneath the sleeve of my shirt is not something I want to try while running, as I expect it will start to chafe after a while. (Running is notorious for causing chafing.) Again, Bluetooth might be the optimal solution here and I hope that at some point I will be able to try out true wireless earphones paired with the M0.

Overall the armband has proven an excellent solution that is comfortable and has what feels like a very durable design.

Conclusions
The Shanling M0 is an excellent "micro DAP" that packs a considerable punch in a very small package. It is beautifully designed and a very capable performer with a smooth and responsive GUI, and a great sound. Despite its minimalist looks, the M0 is fully featured and is a joy to use. For audiophiles looking for a training DAP, I cannot recommend the M0 highly enough. It is a joy to use and when paired with IEMs such as the Final E4000 offers audiophile quality sound in a setup that is extremely light, comfortable and durable. The added bonus of having a few great optional accessories such as the armband and clip, make it a really practical solution that might well be more convenient than some Bluetooth receivers, as those would still require a source and the M0 is already very small and light.

Ultra-Portable & Good Sound - Shanling M0 Review



Shanling M0 is one of the few Ultra-Portable Music Players on the market right now, but it has fairly solid specifications, with a good amount of power, a nice overall design, and even a touchscreen and Bluetooth.




Introduction

Shanling is a large company from China, actually working in high-end devices, and usually having products considerably more expensive than M0. This means that they have both the experience and the budget to design and create good products, and to offer excellent support for them. In my experience, Shanling is great with warranty support, they will be helping you if you have any issues with their products, but this is fairly unlikely since they are all pretty well built.

It should be noted that I have absolutely no affiliation with Shanling, I am not receiving any incentive for this review or to sweeten things out. This review is not sponsored nor has been paid for by Shanling or anyone else. I'd like to thank Shanling for providing the sample for the review. The sample was provided along with Shanling's request for an honest and unbiased review. This review will be as objective as it is humanly possible, and it reflects my personal experience with Shanling M0. Every opinion expressed is mine and I stand by it, the purpose of this review is to help those interested in Shanling M0 find their next music companion.



About me

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/p/about.html



Packaging

First things first, let's get the packaging out of the way:



















Shanling M0 is a mini-Player and it comes packaged as one, although the overall package feels fairly satisfying. In the package you will be receiving the Player itself, a high-quality Type-C USB Cable, and that will pretty much be it.

Shanling also sells a Clip and a Leather case for M0, and I actually do recommend getting the clip case if you can, it has been a great help to me.

Since the price of M0 puts it in the entry-level area, being priced at about 110 USD, so the package is very fair.



What to look in when purchasing a high-end DAP

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/p/what-to-lookl.html



Build Quality/Aesthetics/UI/Firmware

Starting with the build quality, M0 is quite awesome, it is a fully metallic device, with a selection / volume wheel (digital controller of an analogue volume controller).



M0 comes with a small display, but the glass above the display is fairly thick, so you don't have to worry about keeping this one in a back pocket, or, if you're using the clip case, to clip it to your shirt and such.

My personal unit took a few hits to the ground and came back with no scratches or defects, but it would be bad practice to recommend you do be careless with it just because it will last some wear and usage without a hint of fatigue.

The aesthetics are on its side, as are ergonomics, since it has mostly rounded edges, and it is a sleek device. Relative to its size, it is a bit thick, but this works well for carrying it in hand.

The display is a bit small for my thick fingers, but then again, my finger occupies almost 30% - 40% of its display, so I get some missed clicks. On the other hand, the display is fairly bright, although not quite that colorful. In fact, the display is one of the brightest I've noticed in small DAPs, and this is something good since it means it will be visible under direct sunlight. For this size of a DAP, it is absolutely adequate.

Shanling M0's main issue will be similar to other mini DAPs, the fact that on this display size, sometimes the name of an entire song may not fit, similar for [band name] - [song name], but this is not an issue of M0, but a limitation of this kind of size. Folder browsing works very well, and so do other browsing methods.



M0 also comes with LDAC and APT-X, and I got excellent results using it with APT-X devices. The transmission is okay for casual usage, and the signal doesn't cut out often. You can both receive Bluetooth signal, and send it, and you can use M0 as a USB DAC. You can even use it as a transport to your DAC/AMP, which would make it a really nice affordable transport.

If there is anything that is missing from M0, those would be physical forward and play buttons, since an ultra-portable DAP would probably be used in a pocket, or you'd want to use it without turning on the display, so on future versions, physical buttons may come in handy.

The battery life is fair to pretty good, lasts one car trip easily. I've also connected M0 to my Dacia Logan's sound head unit to act as a transport / music source for my car rides, and with the small size, yet simple navigation, it was just what I needed to have access to my music while driving.

I should note that for such a small device, I ended up using it more often as a shuffle DAP than as a typical one, with one large folder of many songs, and using it to shuffle between those. If you had an iPod shuffle before, and if you wanted a much much better sound, M0 should be a good answer to that call.



Sound Quality

The driving power of M0 is quite limited, barely making face to Ultrasone Signature DXP, so I'd recommend sticking to easy to drive IEMs, or really portable headphones instead of trying to force it to drive hard-to-drive headphones. It lacks the push and power to drive something like a Planar, or high-impedance cans, but with IEMs and portable headphones, it does a sweet job.



For the most part, M0 is a fairly neutral DAP, with a touch of warmth, with a generally clear, clean sound that has good extension in both the bass and the treble.

The bass is clean and clear, the speed is fairly good, and it could be considered an accurate bass, especially for the price point. M0 is a touch warm overall, but this doesn't make it any less fun to listen to, instead, making it a good pair for colder and brighter IEMs.

On an overall level, the midrange is slightly smooth, not necessarily laid back, but neither very forward. The midrange is presented with a very natural tonality, and it isn't a very aggressive midrange that pushes the details in your face, being more on the laid-back and lean side.

The treble is clean and clear, although fairly soft as well. The treble would pair quite well with headphones that are a tad bright or a tad too sparkly, and if you wanted to soften their character a notch. The treble presentation as well as its position is natural, and there is very little space to complain about M0.



Shanling M0 also has an excellent sense of dynamics, thing which shocked me a bit, since for a really small device, it sounds very dynamic and engaging. The stereo imaging is also very good, especially considering that this is a 100 USD mini-DAP, and can compete with 100 USD DAC/AMPs that do not offer DAP functions at all.

The soundstage is rather natural, with every instrument placed in its rightful place, although, if anything, it is on the more intimate side of things, especially compared to wide-sounding devices in the 100USD price range. This being said, it compliments both intimate and wide-sounding IEMs and headphones, although it will tend to give a more intimate experience with all IEMs and Headphones it is paired with.



Portable Usage

This is a chapter where M0 shines brighter than a thousand stars.

Starting with the ergonomic design, M0 has rounded edges, so it can sit well in your pocket, but with the clip case, and given its low weight, it can also be attached to virtually anything, including backpacks, hats, boots, belts, or virtually anything you could imagine. To connect it to my car, I have been using my car's ventilation system, which has just enough space for the clip case to attach to it.



There is no EMI, and the bright display makes up for an excellent experience if you're going to be using M0 portably, in full daylight.

Given its good pairing with IEMs and portables, M0 shines if it is being used with an In-Ear, so that adds to its portability, and so does the fact that you can use Bluetooth with it, as you could use it as a bluetooth receiver, while having it clipped to your hat.

All in all, the portability of M0 is quite golden, and there's nothing to complain about in terms of portability.



Pairing

Shanling M0 is slightly warm, soft and intimate, so I'd generally recommend pairing it with brighter and more airy IEMs, making better synergy with those than thick or already soft IEMs.





Shanling M0 + Tin Audio T2Pro - T2Pro is actually an interesting pairing for M0, because it is both easy to drive, and because it has a really wide and airy overall sound that makes a good contrast with the more intimate and softer sound M0 has. Overall, the pairing sounds a touch more natural, and although M0 cuts some of T2Pro's original flair of being really wide and airy, the pairing ends up sounding quite a bit more natural and tonally precise. The soft nature of M0 compliments T2Pro quite well.

Shanling M0 + Orieti New Primacy - Oriveti New Primacy has always been an interesting IEM from Oriveti, with its main drawback being the driver flex it had. Otherwise, ONP has always been a wide and natural sounding IEM, and with M0's softer nature, the soundstage gets a bit more intimate, while the overall sound gets a touch softer, but also a touch leaner, all while staying fairly dynamic and engaging.

Shanling M0 + FLC8N - FLC8N is a multi IEM all in one, with many signatures under its belt. Given its magic, it surely has a combination of filters to pair with M0 to get an excellent sound, but regardless of further tweaking it, even out-of-the-box, FLC 8N sounds quite nice with M0, having a natural soundstage, clear and punchy sound, with a dynamic overall presentation.



Comparisons

Shanling M0 is an interesting ultra-portable DAP, and at the moment my list of ultra-portable DAPs reviews is a bit thin, so I'll try comparing it to something similar in terms of price range and design, the devices of choice being Audirect Whistle, HIFIMAN Megamini, and Shanling M2s.





Shanling M0 vs Audirect Whistle - The whistle from Audirect has now been replaced by Beam, a more ergonomic device with a different overall design. Starting with their design, M0 is an ultra-portable Player, while the Whistle is a DAC/AMP for smartphones, also made to be ultra-portable. Now, the difference in function is quite huge, you can use each for a very different scenario, for example, M0 can read your microSD cards, while the Whistle can use your smartphone's library and especially Streaming library, but then again, so can M0, if you're inclined to use it as a bluetooth receiver. In terms of sonics, the Whistle makes itself remarked first by being quite a bit warmer in the bass, although it has an even smoother treble, and by a considerably wider soundstage. By contrast, M0 makes itself remarked by sounding more intimate, more natural (neutral), having a touch more sparkle to its treble, and by being a tad more controlled on an overall level. I also have noticed a bit less hiss coming from M0 with very sensitive IEMs. If you're looking for a DAC/AMP, and if you're not afraid of it draining a bit of your smartphone's battery life, you can totally go with the Whistle or rather, the beam, but if you're looking for an ultra-portable DAP, and to get disconnected from your smartphone while listening to music, and especially, if you're looking to have the choice of staying connected to the smartphone or not, since it has APT-X, M0 should be your main choice here.

Shanling M0 vs HIFIMAN Megamini - Megamini is a considerably potent enemy for M0, but it is held back by some of its inherent issues, like its really minimalistic design. M0 is much more rich in features, and has a more ergonomic design, although Megamini is lighter as an overall device. In terms of screen display, both have a bright display that can be used in full daylight. In terms of browsing playlists, both are actually pretty much the same, since while Megamini's button-based browsing isn't the fastest, but M0's small display is also a little hard to browse with small fingers. M0 does have some extra features like bluetooth, including APT-X, it can act as a USB DAC, it can accept larger sized microSD cards, and it has some EQ presets. This being said, Megamini has the wider soundstage, more dynamic overall sound, better driving power (considerably so), more tight and quicker overall sound, and with the more natural overall presentation. M0 is much more feature-rich, and is easier to browse if you don't have really thick fingers, and although it has a softer and more intimate sound, this isn't necessarily a disadvantage, especially if you prefer this type of leaner, softer, and more intimate presentation. If you're looking for a mini DAP, and if you want no bells and whistles, no Bluetooth, and if you don't mind physical buttons, Megamini is still an excellent choice, but if you want to have access to Bluetooth, APT-X, if you want to have a larger music library with you, and if you prefer a more intimate and softer sound, Shanling M0 is quite the awesome choice.

Shanling M0 vs Shanling M2s - What kind of review would this be, if I wasn't comparing M0 to its roots, namely M2s. M2s is an ultra-portable DAP as well, and it actually is similar in size to M0. There are a few differences though, the largest one being that M2s does not feature a touch screen. This is probably the biggest difference between the two as well, everything else being less important than the fact that you require to use the wheel for everything with M2s, while you can use a touch screen with M0. The sonic signatures are quite similar, with M0 sounding actually a touch more natural, and more neutral to my ears, and making the better source. If you want a touch screen Player, Shanling M0 is clearly the better choice here.



Value and Conclusion

Talking about the value of M0 could take more than talking about any aspect of it, as this is one of the best value DAPs there is, since it costs very little relative to other DAPs in the market, being priced at just 110 USD, but it offers quite a lot of power and features.



Starting with the build quality, M0 is build like a champ, being a fully metallic device, with an ergonomic design, nicely rounded edges, and with a fairly nice feel to it. A good resolution touchscreen display with good brightness complements the rest of the design, and a physical volume wheel makes usage much better.

M0 has Bluetooth, it has APT-X, and it has LDAC, along with offering the possibility of using it as a USB DAC, basically it offers a full plate of features, for the price at which other devices offer none of those abilities. It may not have quite that much power, so you won't be able to power planars, or a HD800 / HD600, but M0 surely is enough for most IEMs and even portable headphones, so you won't feel limited by its power.

The sound is crisp and clear, albeit it is also fairly intimate and soft, making M0 an excellent pair for brighter, colder, and more airy cans, especially those where you always wished they were softer, leaner, or more intimate.



With a large number of features, excellent build quality, great battery life, bluetooth APT-X, LDAC, and a clear and crisp, punchy and dynamic sound, if you're looking for an ultra-portable Music Player for about 110 USD, you should really give Shanling M0 a shot, and don't forget to grab a clip case, if you plan on clipping it to your clothing, or on using it in your car, to provide sound to your car's head unit!

Link to Audiophile-Heaven Review Page: https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2019/02/ultra-portable-good-sound-shanling-m0-review.html



Playlist used for this review

While we listened to considerably more songs than those named in this playlist, those are excellent for identifying certain aspects of the sound, like PRaT, Texturization, Detail, Resolution, Dynamics, Impact, and overall tonality. We recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you're searching for new most, most of them being rather catchy.

Bats - Gamma Ray Burst: Second Date
Eskimo Callboy - Frances
Incubus - Summer Romance
Electric Six - Dager! High Voltage
Kishida Cult - High School Of The Dead
Dimmu Borgir - Dimmu Borgir
Breaking Benjamin - I Will Not Bow
Thousand Foot Krutch - The Flame In All Of Us
Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.
Infected Mushroom - Song Pong
Attack Attack - Kissed A Girl
Doctor P - Bulletproof
Maximum The Hormone - Rock n Roll Chainsaw
Rob Zombie - Werewolf, Baby!
Escape The Fate - Gorgeous Nightmare
SOAD - Chop Suey
Ken Ashcorp - Absolute Territory
Machinae Supremacy - Need For Steve
Ozzy Osbourne - I Don't Wanna Stop
Crow'sclaw - Loudness War
Eminem - Rap God
Stromae - Humain À L'eau
Sonata Arctica - My Selene
Justin Timberlake - Sexy Back
Metallica - Fuel
Veil Of Maya - Unbreakable
Masa Works - Golden Japang
REOL - Luvoratorrrrry
Korn - Word Up!
Papa Roach - ... To be Loved
Fever The Ghost - Source
Fall Out Boy - Immortals
Green Day - Know The Enemy
Mindless Self Indulgence - London Bridge
A static Lullaby - Toxic
Royal Republic - Addictive
Astronautalis - The River, The Woods
We Came As Romans - My Love
Skillet - What I Believe
Man With A Mission - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Yasuda Rei - Mirror
Mojo Juju - Must Be Desire
Falling Up - Falling In Love
Manafest - Retro Love
Rodrigo Y Grabriela - Paris
Zomboy - Lights Out
Muse - Resistance
T.A.T.U &amp; Rammstein - Mosaku
Grey Daze - Anything, Anything
Katy Perry - Who Am I Living For
Maroon 5 - Lucky Strike
Machinae Supremacy - Killer Instinct
Pendulum - Propane Nightmares



I hope my review is helpful to you!

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Official M0 info

Specifications

• Size: 40*135*45mm
• Screen: 1.54 inch, 240*240 high definition touch screen
• Weight: ~33g
• DAC model: ESS Sabre ES9218P
• Battery time: up to 15 hours
• Standby: about 30 days
• Charging time: about 2 hours
• Battery capacity: 640mAH lithium
• Storage: Micro SD only, maximum support 512GB
• Output port: 3.5mm
• Output power: 80mw@ 32
• Output impedance: 0.16
• Channel separation degree: 70dB
• Recommended earphone impedance: 8-300
• Frequency range: 20HZ~20KHz
• Distortion: 0.004% (A-Weighting, output 500mV)
• Signal to noise ratio: 118dB (A-Weighting)
• Bottom noise: <3uV (High gain)

Price: $99~109.

Purchased from MusicTeck.

MusicTeck M0 link & Amazon MusicTeck store link.

Great customer service and the package arrived in just a week time which is quite a record considering the usual customs delays.

Unboxing...

The package includes the USB cable (Type A to Type-C), manual and warranty card.

Design

The Shanling M0 is among the smallest portable audio players on the market. The design is not just super compact but also very cute, and probably a selling point for the M0. Build quality is not left behind. The unit is very well built with a whole CNC aluminum machined chassis (including the volume wheel) in a very smooth finish. The shape is well rounded on every single corner too. The square shape and low weight (<40g) is also very pocket-friendly and ultra-portable.


The M0 is not just compact but also very minimalistic. The front side consists of the small ~1.5" LG touch screen of tempered glass. The screen resolution is not too high with just 240*240 of display, though the brightness can be set high enough. Color depth is average but nothing to complain about for this small form factor.


At the bottom there are two different connections for multiple uses, USB Type-C socket to the left and 3.5mm plug. The USB port can be used not just for charging and access the micro SD, but also for DAC function, while the 3.5mm port can be set as output for extra amplification.


To the left, there is the hidden micro SD card slot and reset button, well protected by the plastic cover. There is no internal storage on the M0, though it should support up to 512GB cards. Only tested with 128GB Samsung card and no issues so far.


Finally, the right side holds the small control wheel used for volume adjustment, power on/off if held a few seconds and screen on/off on single press. There are extra 2 functions that may be assigned to this button by user preference (see next section).


User Interface & Software

The interface is very simple. Apart from the volume wheel there are no physical controls and everything is managed by the small touch screen. It may sound that this makes things simpler, but in practice, the lack of the basic playback controls can be a disadvantage. Not a problem when using Bluetooth sets, but the 3.5mm plug does not respond to in-line controls.

The wheel can be set to 2 extra functions by user preference, play/pause, next or back track; useful, but still limited. Moreover, the wheel lacks accuracy when adjusting the volume, usually jumping two steps instead of a single one. It is annoying but not a serious issue as the volume changes are very low from one step to another and probably something that could be fixed by a next firmware release.

Using the Shanling own MTouch OS the navigation with the small touch screen is easy and the response is fast enough most of the time. You start with five different round tiles at the home screen and can go back to any previous menu with a short swipe to the right. The small screen can only show four lines a time, which is quite acceptable.

In theory, it is also possible to go back to the home screen by single touch and hold on any screen or menu for a few seconds. However, in practice this feature is far from being perfect and can be more than frustrating; sometimes it works just fine, but others there is no response regardless what part of the screen is touched. Moreover, while the scrolling through lists is fast, it is also too sensitive and on a slight swipe up or down it will go to the end or top of the list; problematic when scrolling through long file lists. Also, if a folder or file name is too long for the screen, then it is possible to scroll the whole line text by a short swipe to the left; this must be made with lot of care, because if missed it will scroll to the beginning or end of the current list.

The software on this M0 already arrived with the last 2.2 version. And good news that so far the system is surprisingly very stable, no freeze and never needed to reset the unit after a month of daily use.

Below the different screens and menus:

Playback screen(s)


Home screen(s)


My Music


Playback settings

[One note on the 'Resume mode' options. It does not always work as should, as for some reason (firmware bug), the player will not start on either the last track played ('track' option) or the position of the track ('location'). It is another annoying part, that (hopefully) must be fixed on a firmware release.]

System


Wheel shortcuts


Volume bar


Themes


Battery

Rated to perform up to 15 hours. A fair statement when using only the wired 3.5mm output with easy to drive gears with a volume level of around 30 (out of 100) and on low gain. However, the numbers will drop drastically when using any wireless feature even at lower ~20 volume steps, where the battery may hold up to around 10 hours. And if used as source for a DAC or amplifier then it will drain the battery even much faster.

Charging time is actually fair and may take to ~2 hours to fully charge. The USB Type-C does not support fast charging.

Bluetooth performance

The M0 features a 2-way Bluetooth connection, so it can be used either as transmitter or receiver, supporting up to BT 4.1 version with common codec like SBC, AAC, AptX (not HD) and now various LDAC options. I used it mainly for streaming music to some portable earphones and headphones like the u-Jays Wireless, Zolo Liberty+ (total wireless) and the Soundcore Spirit pro for more active use. The paring is not always immediate even with devices already listed on the M0. Once paired the M0 automatically adjust to the best BT codec available. Connection is usually good but not perfect. The BT antenna appears to very sensitive, so if blocked a little bit there are some short interruptions on the music playback and it is very annoying when it happens. Otherwise, it can work continuously for some hours.

As receiver, it worked fine with a couple of Samsung Galaxy phones, and the BT connection was actually better than when used as transmitter.
Either way, the volume can be adjusted by the M0 wheel, though the EQ won't work (not that is worth anyway).


DAC usage

The M0 also features a bidirectional USB interface, so can be used either as external DAC, and might need to install extra drivers. It works fine and the playback can be done as usual through the M0 controls.

Also, it is possible to use the M0 as source for an extra DAC; however, the volume is fixed to maximum so it is useless if used with something as the Dragonfly. Moreover, the battery is drained very fast too.

Sound Quality

The M0 rates a low output impedance and expectedly pairs pretty well with easy to drive gears with usual low impedance up to 32ohm and standard sensitivity of ~100db. It can drive any kind of IEMs, dynamic, multi BA or hybrid sets to more than an enough loud level without showing signs of distortion. Earbuds too are well powered as long as they rate up to 64 ohm, and didn't have problem to drive some headphones like the u-Jays, P55 Vento or even the Meze 99 Classics. Moreover, there was no hiss and the background is rather quiet with low floor noise.

Some of the gears used include the iBasso IT01, Dunu Falcon-C, FLC 8N, final E4000 and CustomArt Fibae 3, Periodic Audio Be. For larger wired headphones, the Meze 99 and briefly the SoundMagic P55 Vento (v3).

Inside, the small Shanling M0 adopts an ESS SABRE ES9218P DAC chip, found of a few good smartphones and on other small portable players as well, but of course with a sound tailored by the company.

Sound-wise, the presentation is clean and mostly linear from lows to highs. It is not a neutral, flat reference sounding portable player, but does compete well within the $100 price. While there is not much coloration to the sound either, the M0 shows a noticeable lift on the mid-bass region for a bit fuller note on lower instruments. Easy to catch with any headphones that have a north of neutral bass response but not a serious bass boost with heavy-bass sets. Extension is limited without much sub-bass rumble or depths, but on the other hand the upper-bass is quite controlled and clean when reaching the lower midrange. Layering and texture are decent, and speed is actually good when paired with nice dynamic drivers.

The midrange is neutral if a just bit laid-back. There is not much emphasis on either instruments or vocals, and while the tonality is neither too cold nor too warm it can sound a bit of dry and lean. The level of air and separation suits well for the price; better than a few sub $100 options but clearly below than more dedicated DAPs that cost 2 or 3 times more. Transparency is good enough with a fair level of detail.

The treble has good control with just little boost on the low treble area for extra energy and sparkle, trying to impress with more detail and added fun factor. Extension is decent with just a small roll-off at the higher registers. There is not much room to complain about in terms of treble quantity; however, the quality is not as positive. The timbre is kind of off and more importantly it sounds kind of artificial; not a big issue when paired with more affordable earphones of around the $100 mark, but if going higher it will sound quite 'synthetic' and simplified.

Soundstage is limited, lacks expansion and width with a more 2D effect, though the channel separation is good. It works good enough with IEM or closed headphones sets on lower budget that don't have a large stage presentation, but with higher stuff it will sound very closed and limited.

As reference, the Lotoo Pico or xDuoo X10 are more expansive, and yet the M0 sounds more spacious and airy than the Nano D3 or Fiio M3K; so pretty much it fits well to its price range.