[emusic13]

Are there any reviews of Ultra?

 

[Shanling]

Are there any reviews of Ultra?

We sent out few samples, so should be coming out fairly soon.

 

[rantng]

Are there any reviews of Ultra?

https://headfonics.com/shanling-m6-ultra-review/

 

[emusic13]

https://headfonics.com/shanling-m6-ultra-review/

Maybe they'll have the M3 ultra review up as well soon

 

[RCracer777]

Yes you make some valid points but when your competition is Sony who will be releasing the NW-A306 sometime soon then you need to bring your A game. Sony is apparently addressing the one weakness of the A105 (battery life) with a larger battery, more efficient chipset and customized Android 12. It won't come with a hobbled Sony Music App like Shanling's Music App. No language issues with poor handling of special characters and assuming they are priced in the same ballpark it will be hard to choose the M3 Ultra over the A306. That's just the reality of competing in this DAP space. We need to wait and see the final makeup of the A306 but so far it seems like it should be a very solid DAP. The M3 Ultra should have the edge in power but on the software side Sony will be several levels above Shanling's offering.

I have owned the Q1 for over a year and I bought it after it had been on the market for a year and it still needed firmware updates a year in to address issues. My Sony A55 is light years ahead on the software side and thanks to the custom firmware sound quality is stellar. While I like the M1S in theory I am wary of taking a step back on the OS side from the A55 to the M1S if Shanling doesn't improve the MTouch OS from the Q1 and it needs alot of work. Looking forward to reading impressions on the M1S once it is released especially in regards to the OS.

Comparisons between the M3 Ultra and the A306 will also be interesting once they are both available. Also just read a very good review of the Fiio M11S which is about the same price as the M3 Ultra but has a larger 5" retina display and higher end dual ESS Sabre DAC chips. Unlike Shanling's Music App the Fiio Music is very well reviewed. After bad experiences with both the Fiio M7 and M9 I vowed never to consider another Fiio DAP but the M11S looks like more stiff competition for the M3 Ultra.

Fiio like Sony does a much better job on the software side than Shanling does and if sound quality is close to the M3 Ultra the software could make the Sony and Fiio DAP's better options in this price range. Looking forward to some real world comparisons down the road when all 3 are available.

Yeah, the comparisons between the new M3 Ultra, M11s, DX170, R5 Gen 2 and upcoming NW-A306 is something to keep an eye on as almost the entire mid-range DAP market seems to be getting a refresh atm. Guess it's a good time to be looking for a mid-range DAP.

I'll be honest and say I didn't know the NW-A306 was coming. I never really used the Sony players beyond trying them out in a store as I did need more power for my headphones than their A series could deliver. And I wasn't about to spend €1500+ to get a Sony NW1 series as my first DAP while the FiiO X7 Mk.II did have more than enough power at half of price (or a little less as I got mine during black Friday). And yes the FiiO Music app is pretty darn good for a music app, but it's not without it's flaws but I do prefer it to Hiby Music any day.

The M11s should be stiff competition with better DAC chips and more power but older CPU, OS. And for those who care the screen, while larger, is actually lower in in pixel count and density and isn't a retina display like you said. Retina is not a technology btw, it's the required PPI at a certain distance to make pixels invisible to the eye. Which for these types of devices it's generally accepted to be 300 PPI+ at 12", the M11s is at 293 PPI (1280x720) while the M3 Ultra has 355 PPI (1280x768). The M11s is close but not quite there while the M3 Ultra actually is retina. On a side not this also means that a lot of Apple iPad "retina" displays aren't retina at all as they are usually around 264 PPI or lower.

But for now I'm waiting on some reviews on the M3 Ultra as the are not available for me to try yet at the store I usually go to. The M6 Ultra has also disappeared form their site now, wonder what's up with that

 

[RCracer777]

You are totally missing the point of our argument. No one is asking for "blanket" compatibility *with* Prime mode just the ability to utilize as Android as what it is - an open platform. If I wanted a locked ecosystem I'd go Apple.

Everyone on this side of the debate understands that being able to use Prime comes with trade offs - no one, including Shanling, have been able to provide a rational reason for why they can't allow things like 3rd party Launchers without Prime functionality. If they're saying that in order to make Prime work they have to "cripple" or highly modify Android that's a different point. They should just come out and say that. My argument would then be how can an app like UAPP do essentially the same thing yet coexist peacefully in an "open" environment?

Personally I think it's not rocket science to do that but Shanling has chosen to spend as little as possible on software side, which is why I decided to just by a used LG G8X (less than $150). I get a miles faster processor, bigger/nicer display, camera, security, ability to connect via LTE, etc. and great sound via the on-board DAC. Is it as 'audiophile" as the M3 Ultra? probably not but if that last 5% of audio quality was that important I wouldn't be looking at any mobile device.

I originally wasn't going to reply but I'll clarify a few things.

No I didn't miss the point, going back through the posts shows you're complaining about the Prime mode compatibility with other apps. But I will grant your point that it does somewhat go against the openness of the android platform. And I agree, F Apple.

That said, android is not a open platform. It's core source code is open source (sort of) but that is not the same as open platform or free software as it's also called, where you can control everything. Very important difference. Open source simply means the code is developed by a community (which android technically isn't anymore) and available for free where you can make changes in the source code without copyright issues. But the implementation of a opensource software can be locked down by a manufacturer and the android core does often contain copyrighted software to make it work with the CPU, DAC's and other components in a device.

Source 1
Source 2

Anyway, I'm glad you've found a solution that works for you. Those LG phones work great for listening to music on the go (got a G7 myself) and if you want to more out of them in terms of sound quality or power, a external DAC AMP is always a option. Hope you enjoy it!

 

[fish1050]

Yeah, the comparisons between the new M3 Ultra, M11s, DX170, R5 Gen 2 and upcoming NW-A306 is something to keep an eye on as almost the entire mid-range DAP market seems to be getting a refresh atm. Guess it's a good time to be looking for a mid-range DAP.

I'll be honest and say I didn't know the NW-A306 was coming. I never really used the Sony players beyond trying them out in a store as I did need more power for my headphones than their A series could deliver. And I wasn't about to spend €1500+ to get a Sony NW1 series as my first DAP while the FiiO X7 Mk.II did have more than enough power at half of price (or a little less as I got mine during black Friday). And yes the FiiO Music app is pretty darn good for a music app, but it's not without it's flaws but I do prefer it to Hiby Music any day.

The M11s should be stiff competition with better DAC chips and more power but older CPU, OS. And for those who care the screen, while larger, is actually lower in in pixel count and density and isn't a retina display like you said. Retina is not a technology btw, it's the required PPI at a certain distance to make pixels invisible to the eye. Which for these types of devices it's generally accepted to be 300 PPI+ at 12", the M11s is at 293 PPI (1280x720) while the M3 Ultra has 355 PPI (1280x768). The M11s is close but not quite there while the M3 Ultra actually is retina. On a side not this also means that a lot of Apple iPad "retina" displays aren't retina at all as they are usually around 264 PPI or lower.

But for now I'm waiting on some reviews on the M3 Ultra as the are not available for me to try yet at the store I usually go to. The M6 Ultra has also disappeared form their site now, wonder what's up with that

I know the history of the term Retina coined by Apple decades ago to over hype their monitors. It was used in the review I read, just restating the review as I have never seen an actual unit (don't really need the technology described to me, been in IT/Computer Networking for 30 years). This is a DAP after all not a big screen computer monitor and Apple loves to use these terms to justify the insane prices they charge for their products, but I digress.

Given the DAP's intended use I really don't care that much about a small difference in screen resolution and would gladly trade that for better DAC chips. Lower resolution screens also have less battery drain and again I would trade that for screen resolution as well. I for one don't understand 4k screens on smartphones either, who needs that resolution on such a small screen? If Sony really has addressed the battery life of the A105 with the A306 (it certainly appears so) and I don't need the ChiFi DAP power that would be my choice. It should be the most complete and usable on first release of all these DAP's. I for one don't want to have to deal with a parade of firmware updates over a prolonged period of time when paying this much for a DAP. The other 3 will battle it out for sound quality and usability and yes how many firmware updates they will take to address issues and features. I fully expect the M11S to be pretty solid (reviews indicate it is) as Fiio tends to do a good job on the software side. Not familiar with iBasso DAP's but if they are still using Hiby for their OS then should be pretty good as well. For me the M3 Utra is the wildcard as Shanling tends to nail the hardware and I love the Shanling house sound. The question is the software as we already know it has issues from reading this thread. The question will be can you live with the software quirks and choose it over the competition?

 

[Rochambeaux]

I know the history of the term Retina coined by Apple decades ago to over hype their monitors. It was used in the review I read, just restating the review as I have never seen an actual unit (don't really need the technology described to me, been in IT/Computer Networking for 30 years). This is a DAP after all not a big screen computer monitor and Apple loves to use these terms to justify the insane prices they charge for their products, but I digress.

Given the DAP's intended use I really don't care that much about a small difference in screen resolution and would gladly trade that for better DAC chips. Lower resolution screens also have less battery drain and again I would trade that for screen resolution as well. I for one don't understand 4k screens on smartphones either, who needs that resolution on such a small screen? If Sony really has addressed the battery life of the A105 with the A306 (it certainly appears so) and I don't need the ChiFi DAP power that would be my choice. It should be the most complete and usable on first release of all these DAP's. I for one don't want to have to deal with a parade of firmware updates over a prolonged period of time when paying this much for a DAP. The other 3 will battle it out for sound quality and usability and yes how many firmware updates they will take to address issues and features. I fully expect the M11S to be pretty solid (reviews indicate it is) as Fiio tends to do a good job on the software side. Not familiar with iBasso DAP's but if they are still using Hiby for their OS then should be pretty good as well. For me the M3 Utra is the wildcard as Shanling tends to nail the hardware and I love the Shanling house sound. The question is the software as we already know it has issues from reading this thread. The question will be can you live with the software quirks and choose it over the competition?

Another big concern that pushed me back to phone based solution is the life cycle of Android based DAPs - it seems like they don't get any sort of OS "upgrade" and most are already starting out a few versions behind. For those that enjoy our streaming services or other Apps (other than the OEM provided ones) there's a risk there.

 

[fish1050]

Another big concern that pushed me back to phone based solution is the life cycle of Android based DAPs - it seems like they don't get any sort of OS "upgrade" and most are already starting out a few versions behind. For those that enjoy our streaming services or other Apps (other than the OEM provided ones) there's a risk there.

Yes I would agree if streaming is your preferred method of listening to music. But also are continued upgrades to the OS a worthy compromise over ultimate sound quality? If you are like me and have a large music collection or you like to do both then an Android DAP might be better especially if your phone has no expandable storage. I think the bottom line is we have options available and you simply need to choose the best option for your needs and one is not always better than the other just different. There will be compromises whichever way you go, you just have to be willing to deal with them.

 

[Rochambeaux]

Yes I would agree if streaming is your preferred method of listening to music. But also are continued upgrades to the OS a worthy compromise over ultimate sound quality? If you are like me and have a large music collection or you like to do both then an Android DAP might be better especially if your phone has no expandable storage. I think the bottom line is we have options available and you simply need to choose the best option for your needs and one is not always better than the other just different. There will be compromises whichever way you go, you just have to be willing to deal with them.

Since I can use UAPP on the phone I don't think I'm taking a quality hit.

 

[fish1050]

Since I can use UAPP on the phone I don't think I'm taking a quality hit.

That also depends on the audio hardware on the phone as well. No matter how good the app is if the phone sound quality isn't great then it won't sound great.

 

[nijfi]

I agree in part with your argument but you've taken it to the other extreme in your example. I bet tomorrow's doughnut & coffee money if you gave your nieces and nephews a decent USB dongle (like Helm Bolt) and the same headphones in a blind test they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and any DAP.

People (especially those that are not serious audiophiles) see expensive gear and *think* it sounds better because if it's 10X more expensive it has to, right?

Again, those that have spent years around the gear and source files might be able to hear and explain the diffeence but like pixel peepers in photrography most people aren't interested in turning an art form/hobby into a science.

In among the debate about sound quality between DAP's and mobile phones/usb dongles, there is a crucial user difference. That is wanting to keep music totally separate with undisturbed enjoyment away from the daily nagging annoyance of a mobile phone.

Now granted, you could buy an old LG phone and use it exclusively as a music player with likely little loss on sound quality of Ajay using a usb dongle, but I'd still rather go down the DAP route myself, if nothing else, for the option to use Balanced output.

Talking of which, further to my previous posts and having a few nagging doubts about Shanling, I recently pulled the trigger on a used ibasso dx300 and I couldn't be happier. A beautiful DAP on every single level!

 

[LakeOfTheWyles]

 

[zikarus]

Are the new M3U / M6U capable to run Roon Arc on them?

 

[Shanling]

Are the new M3U / M6U capable to run Roon Arc on them?

Coming with next firmware. We released it for M9 last week, other players will add it next.