ONIX Miracle - New Generation Hi-Fi Streamer

[MalinYamato]

How dare you?

at what price point are you willing to buy this set?

 

[Philimon]

at what price point are you willing to buy this set?

You cant put price on a miracle

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

USD 5000 !!! ZIt is way too expensive. What is the rationale behind such a very high price when you can get a Rasperry pi with Volumio3 that feeds into the fagship of ifi, Burson, Benchmark, or Ferrum?

Because people will buy it.

 

[bfin3]

Another product in the oversaturated part of the market. Please support the actually innovative M30. It has so much more potential.

 

[MalinYamato]

You cant put price on a miracle

what is the miracle?

 

[Philimon]

what is the miracle?

The ONIX Miracle

 

[newtophones07]

I wish Shanling would slow down on all the hardware releases and upgrade the Android software packages to "at least" A12 and also fix some of the various Shanling OS, WiFi and file directory quirks.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

My first thought:

you the man for this...my most favorite anime! I still have the toys to this from my youth!

 

[MalinYamato]

The ONIX Miracle

I dont see any miracle in this according to the specs provided. Shanling suddenly enters the croweded high end market of dac amps for headphones with a price well above most of the brands out there. This is a segment Shanling does not belong to, it belongs to the budget friendly layer. What Shanlng impress me with is their very small M0 Pro, the best of all protables DAPS at a very low price. I bought two of them. However in the high end segment there are a long list of makers that I would consider before Shanling. I have the flagship headphone amps of ifi and if ifi did not exist I would consider Burson and then many others. I am Japanese perfektionist and I basically dont buy Chifi but one exeption is SMSL with its flagship DACs line VMV.

 

[Wyville]

I dont see any miracle in this according to the specs provided. Shanling suddenly enters the croweded high end market of dac amps for headphones with a price well above most of the brands out there. This is a segment Shanling does not belong to, it belongs to the budget friendly layer. What Shanlng impress me with is their very small M0 Pro, the best of all protables DAPS at a very low price. I bought two of them. However in the high end segment there are a long list of makers that I would consider before Shanling. I have the flagship headphone amps of ifi and if ifi did not exist I would consider Burson and then many others. I am Japanese perfektionist and I basically dont buy Chifi but one exeption is SMSL with its flagship DACs line VMV.

There is such a huge cultural differerence between present Chinese superimposed by the CCP of Beijing and Japanese artists with respect to engineering and art. Japanese engineers never compromise, perfection is sacred, profit is not a priority, honor is. The efforts in making a katana is not at all for profit, it is for excellence and perfection, purity and the honor of your ancenstors - Kong Fu Tse.

Just to clarify a misconception, Shanling has been around since 1988 and has made high-end desktop gear in the past. Saying it doesn't belong to a segment where it started out in (and people still trade those classic Shanling amps, etc), seems a bit silly, wouldn't you say?

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

Really good idea. And really good look.

But here is my question : with a price tag set at 5k how many units do you plan to sell ?

I'd say the only one that will leave your warehouse will be the units you'll send to reviewers and the units that will end up on resellers shelves.

Does the base include a slot to add a hard drive ? No. Just a USB port... OUCH (unless I haven't seen it)
Does the base have an Ehternet connection to use it as a media rendered when the DAP is not plugged in ? No RE-OUCH ! (unless I haven't seen it)
Does the base have Wi-Fi to enjoy streaming in Hi-Res (and not LDAC or other codecs) ? No 3 X OUCH (unless I haven't seen it)
Does the DAP sport a flagship DAC when I'm on the run ? No, it is a mid-range DAC : AK 4493 4 X OUCH
Does the DAP include serious internal storage ? No. 64GB only. So I have to use a super slow SD card... 5 X OUCH
Does the DAP offer decent playback time ? 18h promised... with 3350mAH battery. I'd like to see proof af advertised time...
Does the DAP offer output power that will handle all HP and IEM's effortlessly ? Not really 230mW in Balanced with 32Ohm... 6X OUCH
Does the Stack sport the lastest Android OS ? No, it is a 3/4 years old system 7 X OUCH
Do you promise at least 2 Android genrerations updates with money-back guarantee ? Of course not... HUM, but OK no one does...
Does the DAP sport the latest Snapdragon chips to ensure buttery smooth operation ? No, it's a 4 years old mid-range chip 8X OUCH
Does the music player included allow to play gapless in streaming mode ? No OOOOUUUCCCHHH !
Does the music player display cover art when browsing through library ? NO
Does the music player allow me to sort my albums by date ? NO

All those are alot of "ouches" for a 5k device.

For 5k you can get a REAL streamer with headphone amp AND a real DAP with a more modern Android version, a faster CPU and a much more powerful amp. And you may even save about 1K even if you get high end products.

So I do not see this sell in masses. I'd say you're lucky if you manage to sell a dozen

At 2.4k I wold havbe maybe give it a thought. At 5k ? Not even a second

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

I understand why people are often critical when looking at Shanling product specs on paper, I have been too, but I also found that Shanling's products have been surprisingly good in practical use long term. The M8, although certainly not flawless, has been such a versatile and well-performing DAP. I have been surprised time and again how, when my main TOTL DAP falls short, the M8 always comes to the rescue. Recently, after a much newer DAP got accidentally damaged, I dusted off the M2X and found it still streamed Tidal and performed surprisingly well given its age and price point.

I'm not saying this to suck up to Shanling. It's just that in my experience on the long term, day-to-day use of their products, these outperform expectation and it has made me realise that many people (myself included) underestimate Shanling purely based on reading specs.

The Shanling M8 is as about all other Shanling devices : a superb device crippled by the most horrible software experience you can imagine and by the most stupid technical choice that you can imagine...

Which is a shame really... And I love Shanling : I have the M8, the M3x, the M2x, the M6 Pro, the M6 and I have had the EA5 for a while (but returned it because of it's serious limitations). But it is the exact same flaws on all of their devices

If I was to give them 2 advices that wsould be :
- listen to what your customers say and ask for ;
- hire a senior software developer and do not employ a part-utime intern.

Sorry for the somewhat "agressive" words

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

One quick question about this stack.
Can the Base be remote controlled by a smartphone ?
If so, can it be remote controlled even if the DAP is not plugged in ?

I must say that I am puzzled as to how this can happen, as there does not seem to be Wi-Fi or BT input to the remote.

And that question is of great importance.
Because it seems the craddle that receives the DAP is custom tailored for the dedicated DAP.
Should I break, or loose or get a malfunctiong DAP after a FW update, what do I have ?
No DAP and a 5k desktop DAC ?

Or is there a way to make this, say a renderer to direct music stream from a computer or smartphgone to it ?

It looks nice.
The idea is great.
But I think the concept requires a lot more refinement to be offered at 5k.
Considering the number of reactions, I think I am not the only on puzzled about this combo...

Regards.

 

[Wyville]

The Shanling M8 is as about all other Shanling devices : a superb device crippled by the most horrible software experience you can imagine and by the most stupid technical choice that you can imagine...

Which is a shame really... And I love Shanling : I have the M8, the M3x, the M2x, the M6 Pro, the M6 and I have had the EA5 for a while (but returned it because of it's serious limitations). But it is the exact same flaws on all of their devices

If I was to give them 2 advices that wsould be :
- listen to what your customers say and ask for ;
- hire a senior software developer and do not employ a part-utime intern.

Sorry for the somewhat "agressive" words

Then why the aggressive words to begin with? Especially if you are not interested in buying the Onix Miracle.

Your assessment of the M8 I think is wholly unfair. I agree that the software of the M8 is not as well done as it should be at that price point, but the M8 is far from crippled. I have used it extensively and while I was (and still am) annoyed at some bugs and the occasional freeze, it is nowhere near the frustration I have had with a very popular DAP from another manufacturer. That one reached the point where I simply felt I couldn't use it anymore. Know what my Backup was for that DAP? The M2x, which surprised me by still being able to stream Tidal without issues.

Your other posts don't come across as very sincere, to be honest. It is as if you are purposely looking for things to criticise, without having any actual information to share. Have you had an opportunity to demo the Onix Miracle and test the things you question here? Please remember that "being critical" is not the same as "criticising". Posting a lot of criticism based purely on specs is not very helpful to anyone. Helpful information comes from putting questions to the test and seeing whether or not practical use is consistent with expectation. I have seen a lot of instances where specs looked mediocre and performance was superb, as well as those where specs looked great and performance was subpar. That is why demos are so important. Nothing is as informative as actually trying something out for yourself.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Then why the aggressive words to begin with? Especially if you are not interested in buying the Onix Miracle.

Your assessment of the M8 I think is wholly unfair. I agree that the software of the M8 is not as well done as it should be at that price point, but the M8 is far from crippled. I have used it extensively and while I was (and still am) annoyed at some bugs and the occasional freeze, it is nowhere near the frustration I have had with a very popular DAP from another manufacturer. That one reached the point where I simply felt I couldn't use it anymore. Know what my Backup was for that DAP? The M2x, which surprised me by still being able to stream Tidal without issues.

Your other posts don't come across as very sincere, to be honest. It is as if you are purposely looking for things to criticise, without having any actual information to share. Have you had an opportunity to demo the Onix Miracle and test the things you question here? Please remember that "being critical" is not the same as "criticising". Posting a lot of criticism based purely on specs is not very helpful to anyone. Helpful information comes from putting questions to the test and seeing whether or not practical use is consistent with expectation. I have seen a lot of instances where specs looked mediocre and performance was superb, as well as those where specs looked great and performance was subpar. That is why demos are so important. Nothing is as informative as actually trying something out for yourself.

Hi,

I hear you.

Concerning the M8 : it is the DAP I use.
And it is probably the best sounding DAP I owned.
Loving and keeping a device does not imply blindness upon it's flaws...
I will not give those flaws here as this is not the place to do so.
I had the chance to get one "used" for 800€.
Despite it's unquestionable sound qualities (that some may not like) I think that is what it is worth...
Not more.

As I see no reason for why the "Miracle" is sold for 5000€.
Here is my point of view.
At a certain price tag, I think (but this is a purely personal opinion and I would understand that you would disagree) you are entitled to have high expectations.

Of course, amongst those expectations you have some concerning sound quality.
I have no doubt AT ALL that this device will sound good.
Like A LOT of other devices sold for A LOT less also do...

So the other expectations are :
- build quality (probaly top notch) ;
- use of only flagship components (the ESS 9039 Pro probably is, but sorry, the AK4493 in the DAP does not belong there) ;
- reliability (and as you know from the M8, Shanling's software does not belong inthat category) ;
- future proof design (at 5k I expect to use the device hassle free for a decade and hope to get a decent service in the second decade ; I DOUBT that a device powered by Android 10 will meet those expectations ; besides it seems to be designed to be used with the associated DAP, but of course I may be wrong and I am asking : what happens if the DAP stops working ? Will I be able to use the Base as something else than a DAC/Headphone amp and drive it with any other Android device maybe with an adaptor ? Will I be able to play files from the attached USB Drive ? If so, how will I do that as there is no BT/Wi-Fi to be seen on the pictures ? ) ;
- ergonomics (why not include at least 512GB of internal storage AND the ability to add a NVMe disk to the base ? Will there be a remote control (on all pictures I see there does not seem to be one)...

I am not saying that this device is not good.
It probably is...

But I think it has a lot of features missing.
Given all I (personnally) think is missing, I wonder about the price tag.
And at this price tag, with all the questions, missing features and probaly "flaws" (I had the EA5 from Shanling for a dozen days at home and returned it because it was simply unusable for more than 2 hours in a row...) I do not foresse a brilliant commercial future for this product. When it will be offred at a promo price or reconditioned for 1500€ maybe I'll give it a thought...
Until then, there a various alternatives (of course no direct competition) offered for less and with undoubtfully good sonics too.

As I already own the M8, I think that using it to power the Shanling H5 or the Shanling H7 will allow to have both of both worlds And I'll stay inthe Shanling stable I think I'll get an H7 to try it and see if it allows to improve the already good M8. It is alreayd available for less than 650€ and looks like a good bargain at the price...

What I am expressing here are :
- purely personal and subjective impressions based on specs alone (I will probably NEVER have the chance to listen to this) ;
- questions about some functionalities that would require an answer... I tend not to be too optimistic about the answers This is not "criticism" : just questions that I think I am not the only one to ask (for one) and that are rarely answered by reviewers (for second). And about my "criticism" about the Shanling M8 or other devices : those are all OBSERVATIONS from real life experiece as I happen to all own them... or used to own them. I haven't had the occasion to listen or to use the "MIRACLE". Did you ?

Everyone is free to disagree...

Regards.