Shanling H7 - High-End Portable DAC/AMP/Player, Featuring new AKM AK4499EX Flagship DAC

[armstrj2]

The spec says it's Open Android 10.

Wow, that is very interesting if that is the case. I would have thought there would be no way you could have even a stripped-down version of Android booted and playing music within a few seconds.

 

[McCol]

Thanks for the reply and the last issue will be pretty much annoying. From what you said, H7 may be in par or little inferior to their own midfi DAP Shanling M7.

I suppose it depends on your own listening preferences
There is another member who has suggested it competes with the N8ii which I guess in theory sits above the Shanling M7

My H7 is waiting for me to try tomorrow evening. I'll be spending a couple of weeks comparing to N8ii

 

[Scubadevils]

My H7 should land tomorrow, I’ll be very curious how it stacks up versus the M9.

 

[sutonpu]

I think I'll be lucky if I get it by the end of this year

I expect the sound to be a cool sound quality of the M8.

I'm really looking forward to it

 

[FooFighter]

I think I'll be lucky if I get it by the end of this year

I expect the sound to be a cool sound quality of the M8.

I'm really looking forward to it

If that's the case I am in

 

[armstrj2]

My H7 should land tomorrow, I’ll be very curious how it stacks up versus the M9.

Be interesting vs your LPGT too I think. H7 doesn’t sound a whole lot like M9 from memory, but as I said before, that memory is fairly unreliable!

 

[McCol]

For me I'm going to be happy if the H7 can surpass or compete with the ifi-Audio Gryphon.
As @armshas has discussed in his brief comparison, the H7 at times can compete on certain levels but its the N8ii's ability to change the sound that potentially gives it the upper hand.
I'm looking forward to comparing them.

 

[armstrj2]

For me I'm going to be happy if the H7 can surpass or compete with the ifi-Audio Gryphon.
As @armshas has discussed in his brief comparison, the H7 at times can compete on certain levels but its the N8ii's ability to change the sound that potentially gives it the upper hand.
I'm looking forward to comparing them.

I think that is a really good comparison. Apples to apples. Comparing H7 to a DAP isn't really the same thing at the end of the day. Both have pros and cons and it really depends on what you want from your device or what your use case is and that will influence your decision.

 

[FooFighter]

I think that is a really good comparison. Apples to apples. Comparing H7 to a DAP isn't really the same thing at the end of the day. Both have pros and cons and it really depends on what you want from your device or what your use case is and that will influence your decision.

Hmm, don't want to argue about the use case as that's pretty clear to have a full blown DAP with graphical user interface with integrated circuits and short transmission routes for connecting to the Streamer part one one hand and an external device needing to be connected with some usb cable to a mobile phone in the other case.

But talking only about SQ and certain attributes of sound why shouldn't that be comparable to a DAP?
Or are the mentioned use case details technically so much different that it impacts the SQ?
In case of using the SD card as a source it's even technically equal I d say as the USB connection as a bottleneck isn't needed.

 

[mark88888]

I think that is a really good comparison. Apples to apples. Comparing H7 to a DAP isn't really the same thing at the end of the day. Both have pros and cons and it really depends on what you want from your device or what your use case is and that will influence your decision.

Newbie question about the H7... why isnt it classified as a DAP? Does it need a separate source or amp? I thought it can take a memory card...?

 

[FooFighter]

Newbie question about the H7... why isnt it classified as a DAP? Does it need a separate source or amp?

See my comment above.
You need either an SD card or a computer / mobile phone as a source playing either from internal memory or using a streaming app like Tidal to be connected via USB.
That's why the Ifi gryphon is pretty much comparable from a use case point of view

 

[armstrj2]

Hmm, don't want to argue about the use case as that's pretty clear to have a full blown DAP with graphical user interface with integrated circuits and short transmission routes for connecting to the Streamer part one one hand and an external device needing to be connected with some usb cable to a mobile phone in the other case.

But talking only about SQ and certain attributes of sound why shouldn't that be comparable to a DAP?
Or are the mentioned use case details technically so much different that it impacts the SQ?
In case of using the SD card as a source it's even technically equal I d say as the USB connection as a bottleneck isn't needed.

I think the sq can be compared for sure, DAP or not.

The use case is different. It is not simple to compare one to the other.

If I want to stream with a DAP, I need one device.

If I want to stream with H7, I need it plus a smartphone and I need to connect via USB. Most would not consider that a good use case.

If we compare only sound quality then there is no issue with any of this.

My point, which you replied to, was that the ifi device has pretty much the same set of abilities outside of being a DAP so it is a very similar comparison. Both have the same features so which sounds better?

 

[mRaaghava]

I suppose it depends on your own listening preferences
There is another member who has suggested it competes with the N8ii which I guess in theory sits above the Shanling M7

My H7 is waiting for me to try tomorrow evening. I'll be spending a couple of weeks comparing to N8ii

Yeah. Preferences matter. But comparing a 3400$ product to a 800$ product. Probably it’s honeymoon period or he prefers AKM sound like me.

 

[armstrj2]

Yeah. Preferences matter. But comparing a 3400$ product to a 800$ product. Probably it’s honeymoon period or he prefers AKM sound like me.

Nope. I am just honest. And compare like for like without bias of price.

 

[Shanling]

Has it been mentioned if H7 is running purely on a custom low profile OS like e.g IFI Audio or is it "just" a ported Android from the DAPs?

Both has pros and cons.
I guess with a limited developer team it might be easier to maintain some derivates of the same (Android) platform.
Am wondering on the other hand if a custom low profile OS specialized on just decoding etc like Ifi is using is more appropriate for long term usage.

H7 is running our custom system, similar to our EC3 and based on our Mtouch core. It has nothing to do with Android.

Interestingly enough, some DAPs feature modes that turn off Android for alleged sonic benefit: Shanling has their pure music mode, iBasso has the Mango OS... If full Android is detrimental to high-fidelity audio - the primary purpose of the device - then perhaps it should be dispensed of altogether.

In our devices Prime mode is only for user convenience (users that are unfamiliar with Android), it has no impact on sound.

The spec says it's Open Android 10.

Sorry, this is mistake in the specs list, H7 has nothing to do with Android.