[Lonelyers]

I had the opportunity to listen to Shanling M3, Cayin N6 and QLS QA360 yesterday, Here are my brief impressions, using 1964 V6-Stage:
 
Shanling M3: A very interesting Joystick control, which may appear weird at first but you would gradually get used to it (except for left handers, which would probably be more difficult to use).  A bit slow in getting the music to play (a 2-second-wait before the song starts playing, and switching to the next song can take a little time; but I heard from the shopkeeper that a new firmware is coming).  A rather warm and full sound signature, engaging, and the most musical (and arguably most good-looking?) among the three.  A reasonably wide soundstage and average imaging.  Powerful output.
 
Cayin N6: Heard that the player has quite a lot of bugs, but I did not encounter any during the short test.  The control is average - nothing to cheer about - but more responsive than the Shanling M3.  Some said that it looks like a washing machine, and I find the description quite fitting. 

 More analytical, better imaging and better extension than M3, warmish sound.  Relatively less engaging than M3, but still enjoyable.  Controlled and detailed.  Could show minor signs of sibilance in some songs when paired with V6-Stage - but this is probably owing to the CIEM itself.  Again, powerful output.
 
QLS QA360: The look and interface are ... unacceptable to me.  It looks like a really, really old music player - my friend said that the information displayed when playing a song looks like a screen displaying stock market details 

 But I have to admit that it is very responsive (better than the above two), and it is quite easy to use - but forget about Album Arts.  I did not get to test the WAVE-only firmware, which I heard is quite good.  It has a much more laid back sound than the other two.  Well-controlled, but I was not too impressed with the phone out, despite it being a more suitable for extended listening than the other two players (I felt that I would get tired after listening to M3 and N6 for an extended period of time - especially for M3.  But for 1-hour commute listening, I guess I would be fine).  However, this player really shines when it comes to the line out - a very clean and natural sound signature.  I almost pulled out my wallet because of the line out - it sounds even better than the line out of Fiio X5 - but I felt that I had to wait for the Lotoo PAW 5000 first, which should be coming out in a few months' time.
 
All in all, all three are rather impressive players, and could be considered as upgrades over Fiio X5 / iBasso DX90 if you ask me.
 
=======================================================
 
TL;DR
 
Without amp: Shanling M3 for musical and warm sound; Cayin N6 for comparatively less warm and more analytical sound.
With amp: QLS QA360 for clean and natural sound.  (But really heavy if used with an amp ...)

 

[AmberOzL]

Interesting. So you prefer fancy but slow UI over responsive quick but basic UI?
 
I myself prefer QA360's UI over those. The device works at lightning speed and there is not a single lag. Opening and closing is literally less than a second.
 
I don't want to get fancy looking stuff but it will give me cancer when I want to play around.
 
Though probably I am weird, I can't understand the album art fetish either. You "listen" to music not look at it.

 

[Lonelyers]

  Interesting. So you prefer fancy but slow UI over responsive quick but basic UI?
 
I myself prefer QA360's UI over those. The device works at lightning speed and there is not a single lag. Opening and closing is literally less than a second.
 
I don't want to get fancy looking stuff but it will give me cancer when I want to play around.
 
Though probably I am weird, I can't understand the album art fetish either. You "listen" to music not look at it.

 
Let me put it this way - I personally prefer the sound of QA360 (line out) over the other two; but for the UI, I really hope that QLS can make it look less "primitive".  I am not a big fan of album art (just pointing it out in my impressions) - in fact, a lot of the songs on my X5 do not have associated album arts (too lazy) - but QA360's interface, though responsive, looks like something from the 20th century.  The music playing screen is confusing - I hope the information can be displayed in a more organized manner, and I can get to see more characters in the song title, instead of waiting for the rollover ...
 
UI responsiveness is definitely a high priority; but I don't think manufacturers have to sacrifice player responsiveness for a better-looking UI.  After all, this is not QLS's first player - they can perhaps learn from Hifiman and Fiio in consulting the users when designing a UI.  They do not need to make it fancy-looking.  I am not looking for "special effects" like the Cayin N6 - with an animation when shutting down the player (which looks nice, but is unnecessary).  But if QLS could make the UI more modern - text only and no album art are fine with me, but perhaps a more colorful background and less-boring interface - it would make the player much more appealing to the general public.  I feel sad that some people may flee when they see a QA360 (bulky and looks like an old radio player) and its UI (which make people doubt if the player was really released in 2014) - that way, they would not try out the player, and hence would not realize that the player actually sounds quite good.
 
I may still buy a QA360 though, after trying out the Lotoo PAW 5000 ...

 

[bahamot]

  ...But if QLS could make the UI more modern - text only and no album art are fine with me, but perhaps a more colorful background and less-boring interface ...

Actually you customize the background and foreground colour to your liking from the preset colours.

 

[cleg]

but for the UI, I really hope that QLS can make it look less "primitive".  I am not a big fan of album art (just pointing it out in my impressions) - in fact, a lot of the songs on my X5 do not have associated album arts (too lazy) - but QA360's interface, though responsive, looks like something from the 20th century.  The music playing screen is confusing - I hope the information can be displayed in a more organized manner, and I can get to see more characters in the song title, instead of waiting for the rollover ...

I hope QLS won't change their UI

Actually, this very basic look is done on purpose, they making firmware for their DAPs running in single-threaded mode to reduce any possibilities of software impact on playback. And UI made simple in order to spent as few time on it's drawing as possible. This is really unique feature between other DAPs.

Of course, some tweaks would be nice (make track title smaller to fit more letters, etc.), but as for me, I'm liking response speed of QLS360, and I hope there won't be fancy firmwares with animations and flying toasters that will take 30 seconds to boot up.

 

[Loquah]

I've been playing with the HUM Pervasion for a while now and I have to say that it's a really nice player. I have a full review building, but the sound quality is excellent and the Android interface and associated software options are close to perfect. The only issues I have so far are that it has a slight hiss with sensitive (C)IEMs and may have an output impedance that alters the frequency response of some multi-BA IEMs (I'm hoping to confirm the actual OI soon).
 
The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both a little disappointing (Wi-Fi reception is a bit weak and the Bluetooth signal stutters when using the screen / interface, but is great when the screen is off), but as a pure audio player the Pervasion is excellent in terms of features and sound quality (especially at $350)

 

[pekingduck]

  I've been playing with the HUM Pervasion for a while now and I have to say that it's a really nice player. I have a full review building, but the sound quality is excellent and the Android interface and associated software options are close to perfect. The only issues I have so far are that it has a slight hiss with sensitive (C)IEMs and may have an output impedance that alters the frequency response of some multi-BA IEMs (I'm hoping to confirm the actual OI soon).
 
The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both a little disappointing (Wi-Fi reception is a bit weak and the Bluetooth signal stutters when using the screen / interface, but is great when the screen is off), but as a pure audio player the Pervasion is excellent in terms of features and sound quality (especially at $350)

 
How's the SQ of the HUM Pervasion compared to the Fiio X5? And what IEMs are they that you're hearing hiss with?

 

[Loquah]

   
How's the SQ of the HUM Pervasion compared to the Fiio X5? And what IEMs are they that you're hearing hiss with?

 
The SQ is a clear step better than the X5 for a couple of reasons:

• The soundstage is deeper and better defined due to the perception of more 3D space
• The FiiO X5 smears some cues in the soundstage (particularly higher frequency sounds like percussion) - the Pervasion doesn't do this at all
• The overall sound is equally as detailed, but with a more organic and natural sound

 
I sold the X5 after buying the Shozy Alien because it bettered the X5 in #1 & #2. The Pervasion matches the Alien in #1 and #2 and betters it for details and subtleties.
 
As for hiss, I hear it very slightly with the Noble K10 and Shure SE846. It's very slight (less than the Alien) and many won't even notice it based on my experiences chatting to Alien owners

 

[Loquah]

I've finally finished the review on the Pervasion: http://passionforsound.lachlanfennen.com/?p=1414

 

[hqssui]

  I've finally finished the review on the Pervasion: http://passionforsound.lachlanfennen.com/?p=1414

Excellent review, thanks
 
Quick question - does it have dedicated buttons to skip tracks?

 

[pekingduck]

 
Thanks! Sounds like a winner to me! Will definitely consider buying one for my bright IEMs! Do you happen to know the output impedance? I don't see it on HUM's site.
 
Quote:

   
The SQ is a clear step better than the X5 for a couple of reasons:

• The soundstage is deeper and better defined due to the perception of more 3D space
• The FiiO X5 smears some cues in the soundstage (particularly higher frequency sounds like percussion) - the Pervasion doesn't do this at all
• The overall sound is equally as detailed, but with a more organic and natural sound

 
I sold the X5 after buying the Shozy Alien because it bettered the X5 in #1 & #2. The Pervasion matches the Alien in #1 and #2 and betters it for details and subtleties.
 
As for hiss, I hear it very slightly with the Noble K10 and Shure SE846. It's very slight (less than the Alien) and many won't even notice it based on my experiences chatting to Alien owners

 

  I've finally finished the review on the Pervasion: http://passionforsound.lachlanfennen.com/?p=1414

 

[cleg]

I've been asked about FW update for Shanling M3, so I've decided to post it here, maybe it will be useful

For now, latest FW version, available on Shanling's chinese website is 1.10beta, I've re-uploaded it here: http://d.pr/f/1dmIV
Download it, unzip, copy FW file to root of MicroSD card (card should be formatted in FAT32)
Fully charge your player (not 100% required, but better to do)
In system settings menu, select "Update" and then press control wheel. Player will reboot and update itself.
Note, after update, menu will be again in chinese, so you'll have to select inglish in system settings again.

My M3 have 0.12beta before update, and new FW brings sleep timer and some lockscreen switch.

 

[Loquah]

  Thanks! Sounds like a winner to me! Will definitely consider buying one for my bright IEMs! Do you happen to know the output impedance? I don't see it on HUM's site.

 
No, it's not published anywhere I can find. It seems to be very low though because it interacts perfectly with both the Shure SE846 (9 ohms) and Noble K10 (35 ohms, but still multi-BA so likely high variance in impedance per frequency)
 

 
Excellent review, thanks
 
Quick question - does it have dedicated buttons to skip tracks?

 
Thanks! You can setup some player software (e.g. PlayerPro) to allow the digital volume buttons to act as hardware skip buttons.

 

[jrazmar]

The only DAP that I have with me is the good old Studio V3. Nowadays (regardless of outrageous pricing) where do you think does the V3 stand in the newer DAP lineup? I have not been following the Portable Source Gear thread for quite some time and when I came back, I saw a bunch of new mostly Chinese DAP that are way, way out of my budget (if ever I choose to upgrade). Does the V3 still has its edge solely on sound quality compared to let's say DX90, X5, AKs, etc? I'm an earbud guy so I don't intend to use the DAP with an IEM or big cans and no amp. Hope someone can enlighten me on this or give suggestions for upgrade route. With Spotify/Pandora getting popular these days, wifi connection would be a plus but not required. Cheers!

 

[KT66]

I have the 3rd still, I would say = to dx50, but its a close thing, and hard to compare. 3rd has amazing battery but no hi rez