Shanling M7
- Added by voja
- Create date
Shanling M7 Specifications:
Dimensions – 129 x 78 x 20 mm
Weight – 312g
Display – 5-Inch 1920 * 1080
Operating System – Open Android 10
CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
Memory – Ram 6GB, ROM 128GB + single Micro SD card slot
Hi-Res support – 32/768 & DSD512 & MQA 16X
Bluetooth – Bluetooth 5.0, two-way, LDAC, LHDC, aptX HD, aptX, SBC Support
Wi-Fi – 2.4G/5G, supporting DLNA, Airplay
DAC – ESS ES9038PRO
Amplifier – ADA4896-2 +
MUSES8920 + OPA2211 + BUF634
Output Power – Single-ended 400 mW@32Ohm // 900mW@32Ohm Balanced
Output – 3.5mm single ended and 4.4mm balanced
Output impedance - Less than 1 Ohm
Battery – 7000 mAh, supporting 18W quick charging
Battery life – Up to 10 hours in single ended and 8.5 hours in balanced and 8.5 hours using Bluetooth
Intro
Do you find yourself wondering whether to simply get a DAC/Amp to give the sound from your phone good amplification and not bother with portable DAPs? Alternatively, you may be in the camp which says, keep the music separate because your phone does too many things and disrupts your music, then runs out of power and everything is down. There are those who use their DAPs for numerous things that their phone can do, except make phone calls, although DAPs ar capable of phone calls as well, with the right software.
The fact remains that most audio enthusiasts have a DAP because there are times when you just want to get away from all those messages, notifications and phone calls and just focus on your music.
The options have become even more interesting with the Shanling M7, a DAP which is highly resolving and it will make your music sing! The build quality is incredible and the sound quality is exquisite.
Disclosure and Note
I bought the Shanling M7 from Shanling at a reviewers’ discounted price.
All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.
My setup for this review
I paired the M7 with various earphones, earbuds and headphones. I also used it as a source and DAC to feed my Xduoo MT604 balanced amplifier, initially via Bluetooth to my Rod Rain DAC/Amp, then direct into the MT604 using a balanced 4.4mm cable
Contents of the box - Your DAP; USB A to USB Type C cable; additional screen protector (the DAP comes with a screen protector applied); Micro SD card “O” rings x2 , Warranty; A miniature Shanling brochure; and a Quick Start Guide.
Optional Extras: The leather case is an optional extra at a cost. Further, the Player comes with two outputs, the usual 3.5 mm single ended output socket and a 4.4mm balanced output socket. You neither get a 2.5mm socket as part of the hardware, nor do you get an adapter included in the accessories, so do not expect to see that in the package. If you have 2.5mm plugs on your earphones or headphones (less likely) I suggest you buy an adaptor to plug into the 4.4mm socket before your Player arrives.
Another more obvious thing is to have is an SD card for your own music. In most cases the 128 Gigabyte (GB) of storage available on the device is (in most cases) insufficient for our music collection, especially the higher the quality of the music files. The device supports up to 2 Terra byte (TB) of additional storage. The final thing is a cleaning cloth for the screen, the good thing about the M7 is that apart from the screen all other part do not show fingerprints.
Form, Features and Function
Form
Build: The Shanling M7 is solidly built with the design theme of the Shanling M9 but made more manageable for those who do not want a huge Portable Music Player, and that is not to say, the M7 is small, it is the size of the Fiio M11 and the TRI TK-2. What is important is that it can be handled much easier than the M9, given the size. It is made of a solid single piece of aluminium, which gives it a curb weight of 315 grams with dimensions of 129mm by 78mm by 20mm.
If you have yet to see either the M7 or M9, they both have, what appears to be a new Shanling design theme. The thrust of the design is to have curved "tree-bark-like" wavy lines along the length of either side. To me the design is not only elegant, it serves a practical purpose, which is to allow good grip, even when you do not hold the Player firmly, you get the reassurance that it will not slip out of your hand. I am no electronics expert but the wavy lines remind me of a heat sink, whether they are meant to dissipate heat or not I do not know.
The top of the elegantly designed Player is a flat glass finish with an output at either end, one is a 4.4mm socket and the other is a 3.5mm socket. The bottom is also flat with a USB C socket for charging and data transfer, and an SD card slot.
The back is smooth with curves flowing from the sides, with a frosted glass look, which again makes the player easy to handle.
Features
Technical features: Shanling uses dual ESS9038Pro DAC chips, they tell us that they have made advancements from the slightly larger M9, such as a single-piece aluminium body and a single board intergrated acoustic design.
Shanling states that the ESS DAC chips are “8 channel power hungry beasts”, their implementation in their high-end CD player helped them to tame the hunger for power to improve power consumption. Shanling says their pairing of the ESS Sabre DACs and OP+BUF amplifier setup has proven to be their best measuring player so far.
I have to say it is not clear what is being measured, sound, noise, heat, or heat dissipation. In any case, there are improvements from the M9, which makes the M7 very pleasant to listen to, in my assessment.
Function
In Operation: On the right side (with the screen facing you) is a multi function knob, which is an on/off switch, when pressed for about 2 seconds, a volume control knob, and wakes the screen up from sleep mode with a short press. The knob is a bit smaller than I was used to, but you quickly get used to it and it becomes second nature and feels normal maybe because it just does its job so well.
On the left side (screen facing you) there are three buttons, one a “back” or “repeat” button, the middle button for “play” or “pause” and the third for “forward”.
Feel: How does the M7 feel in the hand? My first experience is that it felt slightly “squarer” than the slightly more elongated rectangular feel of the Fiio M11 Original. As previously mentioned the grip feels reassuring with the wavy design and the non-slip frosted back all adding to the secure “grippiness”. Initially it felt different, but within days, it felt natural to hold, familiarity was fairly swift. When using the M7 one-handed, my little finger instinctively slips underneath the player to give added support, while being able to reach the three (play/pause; back and forward) buttons with my thumb easily and the volume button with my index finger. A little shimmy and your thumb will reach all parts of the screen. Without the faux leather case, the edges of flat cut bottom were noticeable, although not uncomfortable, the edges dig into my little finger a little bit.
When using the case, the Player rests more comfortably on your little finger. Resting the Player for a long time on your pinky is not an issue with the case on. Obviously, it gets warmer in the case than using the Player without the case.
Software: There are numerous software features, a lot of which are essentially android features. I will highlight a few of the audio specific features, or those specific to Shanling and on the M7.
The first thing to note is that it uses the Snapdragon 665 Central Processing Unit (CPU) running on Android 10 with 6 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM).
You have the option to select numerous low pass filters, which may alter your sound. I have not used the filters. You also have three gain option, Low, Medium or High. This option is also available on your quick setting menu to toggle. As a safety feature, when you select High gain, the volume automatically goes down to 10 (or up to 10) on the volume dial, irrespective of your volume level you were on prior to selecting High gain. Another important feature is the option to fix volume when using USB audio, note that this sets the volume at maximum in USB line out. I have mine off which is the default mode, a maximum volume setting in USB mode can cause damage to your hearing if you forget to turn down the volume when using line out.
You also have Scheduled power off, Double tap to turn off or switch on, the option to show volume at the top of your screen, and Vehicle mode. I switched off the double tap to turn on screen because it is an unnecessary use of battery power, given the alternative switch, the multi purpose wheel is just as effective.
You have the option to choose which buttons you want to enable or disable when the screen is off. This ensures that depending on your use, you can avoid accidental touches, in your pocket or bag, or even your mode of use, such as how you hold your DAP. Simply go into settings, General, Key-Lock, and you will see an animation of both sides of your DAP with the buttons shown, each button has an on-screen switch you can toggle on and off, to suit your purposes.
You also have the various options under Audio to select output, select phone out or line out. My experience is that the M7 sounded great when I fed it into my Xduoo MT604 tube amplifier, more below.
In terms of function the M7 is fairly familiar and easy to use.
The software operates smoothly on both the Andriod and Prime mode. With the 6GB of RAM, my library loads quickly and the entire system is fluid. However, I had issues with the software which seems to be related to my SD card. I formatted the card but it appears the speed of the card might be an issue, I will test it out and report back if the issue is related to the player, but I doubt it. I had no issues with my other SD card.
Screen: The 5 inch 1080p screen with its brightness adjuster - toggle in the drop-down menu - gets it fairly bright, although you can further increase brightness by choosing a white background as your wallpaper. Here again, it is a choice between prolonging the battery life and convenience. It is easily adjustable so I opt to save battery as my default mode, and increase brightness as and when I need to do so.
You get the usual option to select how long your screen remains on, but the screen off modes are three, off completely as in shut down and it takes about 1 to 15 seconds to wake. Once woken, you may choose to have the screen permanently on, showing your albums, Artists, or a particular track playing with album art. While playing, you may want to short press the wheel to place the screen in, what I call, a “bare essentials” mode. What this does is to have the screen on but with just bear essential information only, no, album art , just a black screen with white writing. The information I get in the bare essential mode, are at the top, volume, bit rate; in the middle, time and date, name of track, artist; at the bottom of the screen, I get the battery percentage showing. In the bare essentials mode the wheel works in all its guises, hence you can switch the screen on and off, shut down the entire player, and adjust the volume, as you please. The three buttons, if selected to operate in screen off mode, function as usual, play/pause; back and forward. That is indeed all I need when I am out and about, and if and when I need more information, all I have to do is to short press the wheel.
Sound Signature and Quality:
To my ears the tuning is quite beautifully done. The M7 is highly resolving, well defined across the frequency spectrum and gives you the impression of a high fidelity sound system with a slight uplift on the low end. What the M7 is not, is cold and analytical, it gives you a highly resolving yet melodic tuning.
Slightly emphasised bass I am told is the Shanling house sound.
The mid-bass bass is impactful, mature and very well defined, unless your recording or earphones are themselves bassy and you get what is recorded.
The M7 digs deep when the track has sub-bass that is visceral and potent. The bass delivered is precise yet the decay is natural depending on the quality of your recording.
Daniel Castro - I'll play the blues for you
Al Marconi - Innocence
Sub-bass is rendered gently but with potency.
On a neutral set of monitors midrange is full and incredibly melodic, without blurting out or shouting out at you. Clearly, you get more pronounced midrange if your monitors are so tuned.
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Ain't that a bitch.
The guitar solos just sound like they are floating.
Euge Groove - Slow Jam
The saxophone sounds so majestic with the piano gently caressing your ears in the background.
Treble is detailed and satisfyingly transparent, where your earphones or headphones are so tuned you get lots of air, making the sound spacious and open.
Brian Culbertson - Together Tonight
Just listen to the details brought out by the M7.
David Sanborn & Bob James - Maputo
The M7 is very good on technicalities, in that, the perception of instrument separation, dynamic range, imaging and sound stage is highlighted by this player.
Notes on the sound
Remember, it is, the quality of your recordings and your earphones and headphones which will show off what the technicalities of this player.
Another thing to remember is that each application you choose to playback your music has an influence on the presentation of your music. For example, the Shanling Music Player Application is more bassy than the Fiio Music Player Application. The PowerAmp Application is more bassy than the Nuetron App.
Streaming relies on the player connecting to your wifi, so it draws a bit more power to do the job and of course, obviously, the volume at which you listen to your music also has an effect on the rate at which your battery drains.
My experience
I had a pleasant time listening to my music on the Shanling M7, but I was not bowled over initially. The two things which got to me was the cover for the cause of the SD card being unseated, as I tried to replace the cover it presses into the SD card, unseating it. That was annoying, but you learn to handle that cover. I hope Shanling change the cover for the card slot or remove it altogether. [EDIT: Since publication, I was informed by a fellow M7 user that the cover can be taken off entirely, which resolves the issue. Thanks, very helpful] However, the other issue, the sound quality, was not an issue as such, as I thought the Player sounded ok. I then played around with the gain toggle and forgot it on High Gain.
The next time I plugged in my earphones, I thought it was a bit loud at 20, so I reduced the volume, but it seemed to me that the sound quality had become even better. I then realised that I was on High Gain, and in the past I generally listened on Low Gain with as much volume as I required on each set of earphones. I do not usually listen to music at high volume, I am happy with getting good isolation and raising the volume to a low to mid levels, which is why I did not feel the need for switching to High Gain.
I also thought it got hotter more quickly on High Gain, and at the moment it is a very hot summer where I live (no more than the original Fiio M11) such temperatures on the Player would be fine, even a pleasure to warm your hands in the winter) so I was not inclined to listen on High Gain.
I suddenly started to enjoy listening to music on my M7 DAP a whole lot more by switching to High Gain and lowering volume to 15% and more if required. It seems to me that the Player was optimised on High Gain, as the default and then the lower Gains took away a small amount but, to my ears, noticeable amount of SQ in the process of lowering the Gain. Now, on High Gain, with low volume, I just enjoy listening to music on my new Player, a Whole Lot More!
Desktop Experience: The results were mixed. I did not like the sound plug in to the Xduoo MT604 tube ampifier, which sounded a bit closed in. Which says more about the MT604 tha it does about the Shanling M7 The sound via Bluetooth to my DAC/Preamp and then to the MT604 was very pleasant. In both instances, the M7 was not heating up at all, it felt cold to the touch, which is very good to know.
Headphones and Earphones:
Blon B20
This is an open-back Planar Magnetic set of headphones which demand a lot of power. Lots of DAC/Amps did not do the Blon B20 justice, because the bass was subdued. However, with the M7 the Blon B20 bass was quite well defined and impactful.
TRI Starshines
Again, this set of earphones require a lot of power given the TRI Starshines’ Electrostatic drivers, again the M7 did a good job powering the Starshines beautifully.
Comparison
Original Fiio M11 : The Fiio M11 was a DAP of its time, it worked well and produces good enough sound. However, compared to the M11, the Shanling M7 seems to be all grown up. The sound quality has been upped a couple of notches.
Caution: Be careful do not blow your ears out!
In Conclusion
This is a nice sounding DAC/Amp with enormous reserves of power for most use cases. I love the quality of the build, the ergonomics, the sound quality.
Enjoy your music!
Dimensions – 129 x 78 x 20 mm
Weight – 312g
Display – 5-Inch 1920 * 1080
Operating System – Open Android 10
CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
Memory – Ram 6GB, ROM 128GB + single Micro SD card slot
Hi-Res support – 32/768 & DSD512 & MQA 16X
Bluetooth – Bluetooth 5.0, two-way, LDAC, LHDC, aptX HD, aptX, SBC Support
Wi-Fi – 2.4G/5G, supporting DLNA, Airplay
DAC – ESS ES9038PRO
Amplifier – ADA4896-2 +
MUSES8920 + OPA2211 + BUF634
Output Power – Single-ended 400 mW@32Ohm // 900mW@32Ohm Balanced
Output – 3.5mm single ended and 4.4mm balanced
Output impedance - Less than 1 Ohm
Battery – 7000 mAh, supporting 18W quick charging
Battery life – Up to 10 hours in single ended and 8.5 hours in balanced and 8.5 hours using Bluetooth
Intro
Do you find yourself wondering whether to simply get a DAC/Amp to give the sound from your phone good amplification and not bother with portable DAPs? Alternatively, you may be in the camp which says, keep the music separate because your phone does too many things and disrupts your music, then runs out of power and everything is down. There are those who use their DAPs for numerous things that their phone can do, except make phone calls, although DAPs ar capable of phone calls as well, with the right software.
The fact remains that most audio enthusiasts have a DAP because there are times when you just want to get away from all those messages, notifications and phone calls and just focus on your music.
The options have become even more interesting with the Shanling M7, a DAP which is highly resolving and it will make your music sing! The build quality is incredible and the sound quality is exquisite.
Disclosure and Note
I bought the Shanling M7 from Shanling at a reviewers’ discounted price.
All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.
My setup for this review
I paired the M7 with various earphones, earbuds and headphones. I also used it as a source and DAC to feed my Xduoo MT604 balanced amplifier, initially via Bluetooth to my Rod Rain DAC/Amp, then direct into the MT604 using a balanced 4.4mm cable
Contents of the box - Your DAP; USB A to USB Type C cable; additional screen protector (the DAP comes with a screen protector applied); Micro SD card “O” rings x2 , Warranty; A miniature Shanling brochure; and a Quick Start Guide.
Optional Extras: The leather case is an optional extra at a cost. Further, the Player comes with two outputs, the usual 3.5 mm single ended output socket and a 4.4mm balanced output socket. You neither get a 2.5mm socket as part of the hardware, nor do you get an adapter included in the accessories, so do not expect to see that in the package. If you have 2.5mm plugs on your earphones or headphones (less likely) I suggest you buy an adaptor to plug into the 4.4mm socket before your Player arrives.
Another more obvious thing is to have is an SD card for your own music. In most cases the 128 Gigabyte (GB) of storage available on the device is (in most cases) insufficient for our music collection, especially the higher the quality of the music files. The device supports up to 2 Terra byte (TB) of additional storage. The final thing is a cleaning cloth for the screen, the good thing about the M7 is that apart from the screen all other part do not show fingerprints.
Form, Features and Function
Form
Build: The Shanling M7 is solidly built with the design theme of the Shanling M9 but made more manageable for those who do not want a huge Portable Music Player, and that is not to say, the M7 is small, it is the size of the Fiio M11 and the TRI TK-2. What is important is that it can be handled much easier than the M9, given the size. It is made of a solid single piece of aluminium, which gives it a curb weight of 315 grams with dimensions of 129mm by 78mm by 20mm.
If you have yet to see either the M7 or M9, they both have, what appears to be a new Shanling design theme. The thrust of the design is to have curved "tree-bark-like" wavy lines along the length of either side. To me the design is not only elegant, it serves a practical purpose, which is to allow good grip, even when you do not hold the Player firmly, you get the reassurance that it will not slip out of your hand. I am no electronics expert but the wavy lines remind me of a heat sink, whether they are meant to dissipate heat or not I do not know.
The top of the elegantly designed Player is a flat glass finish with an output at either end, one is a 4.4mm socket and the other is a 3.5mm socket. The bottom is also flat with a USB C socket for charging and data transfer, and an SD card slot.
The back is smooth with curves flowing from the sides, with a frosted glass look, which again makes the player easy to handle.
Features
Technical features: Shanling uses dual ESS9038Pro DAC chips, they tell us that they have made advancements from the slightly larger M9, such as a single-piece aluminium body and a single board intergrated acoustic design.
Shanling states that the ESS DAC chips are “8 channel power hungry beasts”, their implementation in their high-end CD player helped them to tame the hunger for power to improve power consumption. Shanling says their pairing of the ESS Sabre DACs and OP+BUF amplifier setup has proven to be their best measuring player so far.
I have to say it is not clear what is being measured, sound, noise, heat, or heat dissipation. In any case, there are improvements from the M9, which makes the M7 very pleasant to listen to, in my assessment.
Function
In Operation: On the right side (with the screen facing you) is a multi function knob, which is an on/off switch, when pressed for about 2 seconds, a volume control knob, and wakes the screen up from sleep mode with a short press. The knob is a bit smaller than I was used to, but you quickly get used to it and it becomes second nature and feels normal maybe because it just does its job so well.
On the left side (screen facing you) there are three buttons, one a “back” or “repeat” button, the middle button for “play” or “pause” and the third for “forward”.
Feel: How does the M7 feel in the hand? My first experience is that it felt slightly “squarer” than the slightly more elongated rectangular feel of the Fiio M11 Original. As previously mentioned the grip feels reassuring with the wavy design and the non-slip frosted back all adding to the secure “grippiness”. Initially it felt different, but within days, it felt natural to hold, familiarity was fairly swift. When using the M7 one-handed, my little finger instinctively slips underneath the player to give added support, while being able to reach the three (play/pause; back and forward) buttons with my thumb easily and the volume button with my index finger. A little shimmy and your thumb will reach all parts of the screen. Without the faux leather case, the edges of flat cut bottom were noticeable, although not uncomfortable, the edges dig into my little finger a little bit.
When using the case, the Player rests more comfortably on your little finger. Resting the Player for a long time on your pinky is not an issue with the case on. Obviously, it gets warmer in the case than using the Player without the case.
Software: There are numerous software features, a lot of which are essentially android features. I will highlight a few of the audio specific features, or those specific to Shanling and on the M7.
The first thing to note is that it uses the Snapdragon 665 Central Processing Unit (CPU) running on Android 10 with 6 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM).
You have the option to select numerous low pass filters, which may alter your sound. I have not used the filters. You also have three gain option, Low, Medium or High. This option is also available on your quick setting menu to toggle. As a safety feature, when you select High gain, the volume automatically goes down to 10 (or up to 10) on the volume dial, irrespective of your volume level you were on prior to selecting High gain. Another important feature is the option to fix volume when using USB audio, note that this sets the volume at maximum in USB line out. I have mine off which is the default mode, a maximum volume setting in USB mode can cause damage to your hearing if you forget to turn down the volume when using line out.
You also have Scheduled power off, Double tap to turn off or switch on, the option to show volume at the top of your screen, and Vehicle mode. I switched off the double tap to turn on screen because it is an unnecessary use of battery power, given the alternative switch, the multi purpose wheel is just as effective.
You have the option to choose which buttons you want to enable or disable when the screen is off. This ensures that depending on your use, you can avoid accidental touches, in your pocket or bag, or even your mode of use, such as how you hold your DAP. Simply go into settings, General, Key-Lock, and you will see an animation of both sides of your DAP with the buttons shown, each button has an on-screen switch you can toggle on and off, to suit your purposes.
You also have the various options under Audio to select output, select phone out or line out. My experience is that the M7 sounded great when I fed it into my Xduoo MT604 tube amplifier, more below.
In terms of function the M7 is fairly familiar and easy to use.
The software operates smoothly on both the Andriod and Prime mode. With the 6GB of RAM, my library loads quickly and the entire system is fluid. However, I had issues with the software which seems to be related to my SD card. I formatted the card but it appears the speed of the card might be an issue, I will test it out and report back if the issue is related to the player, but I doubt it. I had no issues with my other SD card.
Screen: The 5 inch 1080p screen with its brightness adjuster - toggle in the drop-down menu - gets it fairly bright, although you can further increase brightness by choosing a white background as your wallpaper. Here again, it is a choice between prolonging the battery life and convenience. It is easily adjustable so I opt to save battery as my default mode, and increase brightness as and when I need to do so.
You get the usual option to select how long your screen remains on, but the screen off modes are three, off completely as in shut down and it takes about 1 to 15 seconds to wake. Once woken, you may choose to have the screen permanently on, showing your albums, Artists, or a particular track playing with album art. While playing, you may want to short press the wheel to place the screen in, what I call, a “bare essentials” mode. What this does is to have the screen on but with just bear essential information only, no, album art , just a black screen with white writing. The information I get in the bare essential mode, are at the top, volume, bit rate; in the middle, time and date, name of track, artist; at the bottom of the screen, I get the battery percentage showing. In the bare essentials mode the wheel works in all its guises, hence you can switch the screen on and off, shut down the entire player, and adjust the volume, as you please. The three buttons, if selected to operate in screen off mode, function as usual, play/pause; back and forward. That is indeed all I need when I am out and about, and if and when I need more information, all I have to do is to short press the wheel.
Sound Signature and Quality:
To my ears the tuning is quite beautifully done. The M7 is highly resolving, well defined across the frequency spectrum and gives you the impression of a high fidelity sound system with a slight uplift on the low end. What the M7 is not, is cold and analytical, it gives you a highly resolving yet melodic tuning.
Slightly emphasised bass I am told is the Shanling house sound.
The mid-bass bass is impactful, mature and very well defined, unless your recording or earphones are themselves bassy and you get what is recorded.
The M7 digs deep when the track has sub-bass that is visceral and potent. The bass delivered is precise yet the decay is natural depending on the quality of your recording.
Daniel Castro - I'll play the blues for you
Al Marconi - Innocence
Sub-bass is rendered gently but with potency.
On a neutral set of monitors midrange is full and incredibly melodic, without blurting out or shouting out at you. Clearly, you get more pronounced midrange if your monitors are so tuned.
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Ain't that a bitch.
The guitar solos just sound like they are floating.
Euge Groove - Slow Jam
The saxophone sounds so majestic with the piano gently caressing your ears in the background.
Treble is detailed and satisfyingly transparent, where your earphones or headphones are so tuned you get lots of air, making the sound spacious and open.
Brian Culbertson - Together Tonight
Just listen to the details brought out by the M7.
David Sanborn & Bob James - Maputo
The M7 is very good on technicalities, in that, the perception of instrument separation, dynamic range, imaging and sound stage is highlighted by this player.
Notes on the sound
Remember, it is, the quality of your recordings and your earphones and headphones which will show off what the technicalities of this player.
Another thing to remember is that each application you choose to playback your music has an influence on the presentation of your music. For example, the Shanling Music Player Application is more bassy than the Fiio Music Player Application. The PowerAmp Application is more bassy than the Nuetron App.
Streaming relies on the player connecting to your wifi, so it draws a bit more power to do the job and of course, obviously, the volume at which you listen to your music also has an effect on the rate at which your battery drains.
My experience
I had a pleasant time listening to my music on the Shanling M7, but I was not bowled over initially. The two things which got to me was the cover for the cause of the SD card being unseated, as I tried to replace the cover it presses into the SD card, unseating it. That was annoying, but you learn to handle that cover. I hope Shanling change the cover for the card slot or remove it altogether. [EDIT: Since publication, I was informed by a fellow M7 user that the cover can be taken off entirely, which resolves the issue. Thanks, very helpful] However, the other issue, the sound quality, was not an issue as such, as I thought the Player sounded ok. I then played around with the gain toggle and forgot it on High Gain.
The next time I plugged in my earphones, I thought it was a bit loud at 20, so I reduced the volume, but it seemed to me that the sound quality had become even better. I then realised that I was on High Gain, and in the past I generally listened on Low Gain with as much volume as I required on each set of earphones. I do not usually listen to music at high volume, I am happy with getting good isolation and raising the volume to a low to mid levels, which is why I did not feel the need for switching to High Gain.
I also thought it got hotter more quickly on High Gain, and at the moment it is a very hot summer where I live (no more than the original Fiio M11) such temperatures on the Player would be fine, even a pleasure to warm your hands in the winter) so I was not inclined to listen on High Gain.
I suddenly started to enjoy listening to music on my M7 DAP a whole lot more by switching to High Gain and lowering volume to 15% and more if required. It seems to me that the Player was optimised on High Gain, as the default and then the lower Gains took away a small amount but, to my ears, noticeable amount of SQ in the process of lowering the Gain. Now, on High Gain, with low volume, I just enjoy listening to music on my new Player, a Whole Lot More!
Desktop Experience: The results were mixed. I did not like the sound plug in to the Xduoo MT604 tube ampifier, which sounded a bit closed in. Which says more about the MT604 tha it does about the Shanling M7 The sound via Bluetooth to my DAC/Preamp and then to the MT604 was very pleasant. In both instances, the M7 was not heating up at all, it felt cold to the touch, which is very good to know.
Headphones and Earphones:
Blon B20
This is an open-back Planar Magnetic set of headphones which demand a lot of power. Lots of DAC/Amps did not do the Blon B20 justice, because the bass was subdued. However, with the M7 the Blon B20 bass was quite well defined and impactful.
TRI Starshines
Again, this set of earphones require a lot of power given the TRI Starshines’ Electrostatic drivers, again the M7 did a good job powering the Starshines beautifully.
Comparison
Original Fiio M11 : The Fiio M11 was a DAP of its time, it worked well and produces good enough sound. However, compared to the M11, the Shanling M7 seems to be all grown up. The sound quality has been upped a couple of notches.
Caution: Be careful do not blow your ears out!
In Conclusion
This is a nice sounding DAC/Amp with enormous reserves of power for most use cases. I love the quality of the build, the ergonomics, the sound quality.
Enjoy your music!
Shanling M7: Great Performer & a Proper Upgrade
Summary & Objective:
The @Shanling M7 is the newest release of the Shanling May 2022. This comes with desktop grade flagship DAC and promises superior performance compared to the previous M6 pro(21) and others and just short of the M9. It looks similar to M9 but somewhat smaller in size but performance-wise it's not too far away. Having used M6 Pro (21) I personally felt this to be a proper upgrade to the M6 pro (21) in terms of sonic performances.
Introduction:
The Shanling M7 comes with a single aluminum frame with glass panels on both sides and has the same wavy designs on the sides like the M9. It looks like a mini M9 actually by all means. It comes with ESS desktop grade flagship DAC ES9038PRO with Current Mode and can power all IEMs and a lot of the headphones easily too.
The Shanling M7 is priced at $1249.
Disclaimer:
This unit was bought by myself from @Shanling and they were good enough to give me a reviewer's discount.
Hence, all impressions mentioned here are my own honest opinions and I have not received any payments from anyone for this.
Design, Build & Features:
I wouldn't want to make this a very long review by describing each feature but for people who want to know here are some extracts from the Shanling website.
2. Aviation-grade Aluminum body frame
3. Qualcomm 665 octa-core CPU
4. Open Android 10 system
5. 1080p Sharp screen
6. Flagship ESS ES9038Pro DAC
7. In-House developed I/V conversion stage
8. Single board Acoustic design
9. 3.5mmSE& 4.4mmBalancedOutput
10. Up to 900mW @ 32 Ohm Output
11. 7000mAh Battery,
12. Playtime 10 hours SE // 8.5 hours balanced
13. Hi-Res 32bit / 768kHz & DSD512
14. 16x MQA Support
Specifications:
The Shanling M7 comes with $1249 price tag and the specifications are as below:
https://en.shanling.com/product/416
OR
https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/shanling/products/shanling-m7-portable-hi-res-android-player
Dimensions：129 mm*78 mm*20 mm
Weight：312 g
Screen：5-inch 1920*1080
System: Open Android 10
Hi-Res support：768 kHz/32 bit，DSD 512
Gain setting：3stages
Memory：LPDDR4X6GBRAM&128 GB ROM & Micro SD card slot
DAC：ESS ES9038 Pro
Bluetooth：Version 5.0
Bluetooth Codec Support
As Transmitter：LDAC/LHDC/aptXHD/aptX/SBC
As Receiver：LDAC / SBC
Single-Ended Output：
1. Output Power
Low Gain：0.73V@32 Ohm (17mW)
Medium Gain：1.88V@32 Ohm (110mW)
High gain：3.61V@32 Ohm (406mW)
2. Frequency Response：20 Hz -40 KHz (0.2 dB)
3. THD+N：0.0007%
4. Channel separation：75 dB @ 32 Ohm
5. Dynamic Range：126dB
6. Signal-To-Noise：126dB
7. Noise：>116 dB(<1.6 uV)（Low Gain）
8. Output Impedance：<1 Ohm
Balanced Output：
1. Output Power
Low Gain：1.46V@32 Ohm (66mW)
Medium Gain：3.35V@32 Ohm (350mW)
High gain：5.43V@32 Ohm (920mW)
2. Frequency Response：20 Hz -40 KHz (0.2 dB)
3. THD+N：0.0007%
4. Channel separation：115dB @ 32 Ohm
5. Dynamic Range：128dB
6. Signal-To-Noise：128dB
7. Noise：>113dB(<2.2uV)（Low Gain）
8. Output Impedance：<1 Ohm
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SOUND....
Items Used for this Review:
IEMs:
IEMs of different ranges:
below $300: 7Hz Timeless, 7Hz Eternal, @MOONDROP CHU, TINHIFI P1MAX
$500-700: Cayin Fantasy
$800 - 1000: @Sennheiser IE600, @DUNU-Topsound ZEN PRO, @CampfireAudio Dorado 2020
$1200 - 2500: @UniqueMelody MEST MKII, @Audeze Euclid
$3000: @Vision Ears EXT
Well these are the ones I have with me presently... and have used for the review.
Streaming Source: QOBUZ
Tracks Used:
The tracks I have used can be found from the below playlist that I have used and generally use for most reviews...
Shanling M7 Sound Impressions in Short:
The BASS:
The Tonality being warmish, Bass sounds just great. has enough details and is able to produce enough attack in the mid base region as well. In tracks like : "Anna R. Chie (Remastered) - Konstantin Wecker" and "Dreams (2001 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac" you can feel the the deep attack of the different instruments with just enough details. The thumps and slams are very enjoyable.
The MIDS:
The Midrange really just excels in terms of every single element. It is able to produce an good creamy smooth and textured midrange that is soothing to the ears while having enough details in it. The vocals are natural and both male and female vocals come with good amount of details. Instruments sounded natural. In tracks like: "Anchor - Trace Bundy" and "Ruby Tuesday - Franco Battiato" while you will love the overall midrange specially transients of the guitars, violins etc... instruments and the vocals.
The TREBLE:
This player though comes with a warm tonality & signature, however - it delivers treble in a superb manner. Nice & full with enough air but not peaky at any pit of time.
very enjoyable indeed.
STAGING & RESOLUTION:
The staging and resolution is just great and just the amount the track requires. Nothing artificial here. Tracks like: “ She Don't Know – Melody Gardot” or “Bohemian Rhapsody (live aid) – Queen” sound good & enjoyable. Resolution is also great coming from a flagship DAC and is better than most in similar price range.
Pairing:
I have found the M7 to have excellent pairing with all IEMs including some IEMs that have peaks in certain areas like 7Hz Timeless. All those peaks vanish when paired with M7 with the warmish tone that the M7 comes with.
Amplification:
The M7 seemed quite powerful and the quality of amplification seemed good also. Though not something extraordinary like Class AB or Class A, this is great for most use cases.
Comparisons:
Many people asked to compare this with the FiiO M17, though M17 being a lot more expensive coming at $1799. Both come with ESS ES9038PRO DAC chips. M7 comes with a single DAC chip while M17 comes with dual chips of the same. However, like they say - difference is in the implementation.
I had already done a comparative post in the facebook group of Head-fi which many people appreciated, liked & shared. Link to that post is below:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/headfi.org/permalink/10160144817889736/
@Shanling M7 vs @FiiO M17:
Build quality: Both players come in great build quality and has premium looks. However, the M17 is significantly bigger and heavier and not really pocketable or portable in nature. Hence, as far as portability is concerned - M7 gets the brownie points.
OS & Streaming capabilities: Both players come with Android 10 OS and support streaming apps.
Amplification: While the M17 is clearly the more powerful one, specially in desktop mode, however desktop mode cannot be taken into consideration when it comes to portability as it requires to be plugged in. When it comes to the quality of amplification, it seemed to me that the Shanling M7 had slightly clearer and more transparent representation while the M17 seemed much softer and not as transparent.
Sound performance: Despite the DUAL DAC chips on the M17, The M7 seemed better performing in terms of resolution, clarity, separation & imaging. The M17 had slightly better staging but was a lot brighter and did not pair well with bright IEMs. Hence, I would prefer the warmish sound of M7 based on the pairing performances and my personal preference.
Conclusion :
The superb performance of the Shanling M7 makes it a worthy upgrade over the M6 pro (21) or earlier. It performs way beyond it's price range and based on above comparison outperforms some higher priced players also. hence, from a price to performance ratio - this will get an easy recommendation specially given it's excellent pairing capabilities.
Summary & Objective:
The @Shanling M7 is the newest release of the Shanling May 2022. This comes with desktop grade flagship DAC and promises superior performance compared to the previous M6 pro(21) and others and just short of the M9. It looks similar to M9 but somewhat smaller in size but performance-wise it's not too far away. Having used M6 Pro (21) I personally felt this to be a proper upgrade to the M6 pro (21) in terms of sonic performances.
Introduction:
The Shanling M7 comes with a single aluminum frame with glass panels on both sides and has the same wavy designs on the sides like the M9. It looks like a mini M9 actually by all means. It comes with ESS desktop grade flagship DAC ES9038PRO with Current Mode and can power all IEMs and a lot of the headphones easily too.
The Shanling M7 is priced at $1249.
Disclaimer:
This unit was bought by myself from @Shanling and they were good enough to give me a reviewer's discount.
Hence, all impressions mentioned here are my own honest opinions and I have not received any payments from anyone for this.
Design, Build & Features:
I wouldn't want to make this a very long review by describing each feature but for people who want to know here are some extracts from the Shanling website.
Shanling M7 Portable Hi-Res Android Player
1. Wave pattern design from Shanling M92. Aviation-grade Aluminum body frame
3. Qualcomm 665 octa-core CPU
4. Open Android 10 system
5. 1080p Sharp screen
6. Flagship ESS ES9038Pro DAC
7. In-House developed I/V conversion stage
8. Single board Acoustic design
9. 3.5mmSE& 4.4mmBalancedOutput
10. Up to 900mW @ 32 Ohm Output
11. 7000mAh Battery,
12. Playtime 10 hours SE // 8.5 hours balanced
13. Hi-Res 32bit / 768kHz & DSD512
14. 16x MQA Support
Specifications:
The Shanling M7 comes with $1249 price tag and the specifications are as below:
https://en.shanling.com/product/416
OR
https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/shanling/products/shanling-m7-portable-hi-res-android-player
Dimensions：129 mm*78 mm*20 mm
Weight：312 g
Screen：5-inch 1920*1080
System: Open Android 10
Hi-Res support：768 kHz/32 bit，DSD 512
Gain setting：3stages
Memory：LPDDR4X6GBRAM&128 GB ROM & Micro SD card slot
DAC：ESS ES9038 Pro
Bluetooth：Version 5.0
Bluetooth Codec Support
As Transmitter：LDAC/LHDC/aptXHD/aptX/SBC
As Receiver：LDAC / SBC
Single-Ended Output：
1. Output Power
Low Gain：0.73V@32 Ohm (17mW)
Medium Gain：1.88V@32 Ohm (110mW)
High gain：3.61V@32 Ohm (406mW)
2. Frequency Response：20 Hz -40 KHz (0.2 dB)
3. THD+N：0.0007%
4. Channel separation：75 dB @ 32 Ohm
5. Dynamic Range：126dB
6. Signal-To-Noise：126dB
7. Noise：>116 dB(<1.6 uV)（Low Gain）
8. Output Impedance：<1 Ohm
Balanced Output：
1. Output Power
Low Gain：1.46V@32 Ohm (66mW)
Medium Gain：3.35V@32 Ohm (350mW)
High gain：5.43V@32 Ohm (920mW)
2. Frequency Response：20 Hz -40 KHz (0.2 dB)
3. THD+N：0.0007%
4. Channel separation：115dB @ 32 Ohm
5. Dynamic Range：128dB
6. Signal-To-Noise：128dB
7. Noise：>113dB(<2.2uV)（Low Gain）
8. Output Impedance：<1 Ohm
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SOUND....
Items Used for this Review:
IEMs:
IEMs of different ranges:
below $300: 7Hz Timeless, 7Hz Eternal, @MOONDROP CHU, TINHIFI P1MAX
$500-700: Cayin Fantasy
$800 - 1000: @Sennheiser IE600, @DUNU-Topsound ZEN PRO, @CampfireAudio Dorado 2020
$1200 - 2500: @UniqueMelody MEST MKII, @Audeze Euclid
$3000: @Vision Ears EXT
Well these are the ones I have with me presently... and have used for the review.
Streaming Source: QOBUZ
Tracks Used:
The tracks I have used can be found from the below playlist that I have used and generally use for most reviews...
Shanling M7 Sound Impressions in Short:
The BASS:
The Tonality being warmish, Bass sounds just great. has enough details and is able to produce enough attack in the mid base region as well. In tracks like : "Anna R. Chie (Remastered) - Konstantin Wecker" and "Dreams (2001 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac" you can feel the the deep attack of the different instruments with just enough details. The thumps and slams are very enjoyable.
The MIDS:
The Midrange really just excels in terms of every single element. It is able to produce an good creamy smooth and textured midrange that is soothing to the ears while having enough details in it. The vocals are natural and both male and female vocals come with good amount of details. Instruments sounded natural. In tracks like: "Anchor - Trace Bundy" and "Ruby Tuesday - Franco Battiato" while you will love the overall midrange specially transients of the guitars, violins etc... instruments and the vocals.
The TREBLE:
This player though comes with a warm tonality & signature, however - it delivers treble in a superb manner. Nice & full with enough air but not peaky at any pit of time.
very enjoyable indeed.
STAGING & RESOLUTION:
The staging and resolution is just great and just the amount the track requires. Nothing artificial here. Tracks like: “ She Don't Know – Melody Gardot” or “Bohemian Rhapsody (live aid) – Queen” sound good & enjoyable. Resolution is also great coming from a flagship DAC and is better than most in similar price range.
Pairing:
I have found the M7 to have excellent pairing with all IEMs including some IEMs that have peaks in certain areas like 7Hz Timeless. All those peaks vanish when paired with M7 with the warmish tone that the M7 comes with.
Amplification:
The M7 seemed quite powerful and the quality of amplification seemed good also. Though not something extraordinary like Class AB or Class A, this is great for most use cases.
Comparisons:
Many people asked to compare this with the FiiO M17, though M17 being a lot more expensive coming at $1799. Both come with ESS ES9038PRO DAC chips. M7 comes with a single DAC chip while M17 comes with dual chips of the same. However, like they say - difference is in the implementation.
I had already done a comparative post in the facebook group of Head-fi which many people appreciated, liked & shared. Link to that post is below:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/headfi.org/permalink/10160144817889736/
@Shanling M7 vs @FiiO M17:
Build quality: Both players come in great build quality and has premium looks. However, the M17 is significantly bigger and heavier and not really pocketable or portable in nature. Hence, as far as portability is concerned - M7 gets the brownie points.
OS & Streaming capabilities: Both players come with Android 10 OS and support streaming apps.
Amplification: While the M17 is clearly the more powerful one, specially in desktop mode, however desktop mode cannot be taken into consideration when it comes to portability as it requires to be plugged in. When it comes to the quality of amplification, it seemed to me that the Shanling M7 had slightly clearer and more transparent representation while the M17 seemed much softer and not as transparent.
Sound performance: Despite the DUAL DAC chips on the M17, The M7 seemed better performing in terms of resolution, clarity, separation & imaging. The M17 had slightly better staging but was a lot brighter and did not pair well with bright IEMs. Hence, I would prefer the warmish sound of M7 based on the pairing performances and my personal preference.
Conclusion :
The superb performance of the Shanling M7 makes it a worthy upgrade over the M6 pro (21) or earlier. It performs way beyond it's price range and based on above comparison outperforms some higher priced players also. hence, from a price to performance ratio - this will get an easy recommendation specially given it's excellent pairing capabilities.
Cat Music
great review
Gustavo1976
Great review. And comparing with M11 plus ltd about sound¿
asifur
@Gustavo1976 i don't have the m11 plus Ltd hence wasn't able to compare
