[Urubu]

@Shanling if you make this DAP  "rockboxable" ,be ready to sell and produce a lot of M2 ....................it's a dream of lot of people 

 

[nmatheis]

alpha421's thoughts on the M2.

First, I would like to thank nmatheis and Shanling for making this tour happen.  It's always great to be able to take part in these wonderful opportunities to audition gear in the quiet comforts of one's home.  Below are my impressions where everything is prefaced by IMO:

Shanling M2 brief points:

PROS

• Sexy and beautiful
• Size
• Weight
• Powerful (HG)

CONS

• Zero on-board storage
• Too many steps for non-sensitive transducers (current firmware).  Way too many rotations (10 full rations from 40-120).  I think the sweet spot should be 60-75 steps.
• One hand comfort for large hands
• UI and hardware controls centered around right hand use
• UI quarks

Settings, Source, Transducers.

• EQ off. HG (high gain).  When switching back/forth from the M2 and PONO for comparison, volume level matching was applied with crude app.
• Hirez (up to 24/192) and redbook FLAC files of mainly female vocals and live albums.
• Grado RS2, Aurisonics ASG1plus, Yuin PK1, Ortofon E-Q7, and Definitive Technology Incline speakers (not shown).

Impression Details:
Even before I received the M2, I already had a hunch that the sound would be great.  My first Shanling product of theirs was the PCD-3000A CD transport unit that I purchased about six years ago.  Sounded spectacular despite the so-so built in headphone amplifier.  Despite similar specs, implementation between the digital and analog domains is key, IMO.  I assumed that based on prior experiences with a CIRRUS DAC, the M2 would be bright with a digital voice, which was not the case.  Overall, I found the M2 a warmish sound, but not as warm as the Fiio X3 (original).  I found the bass a little loose and boomy on the X3 with a hint of grain which were nowhere to be found on the M2. 

In general, I found the M2 as a bassy, detailed, but with average sound stage DAP.  The bassy signature was most evident when I used the M2 LO with my Incline desktop speakers and compared it to the LO on my Meridian Explorer and PONO.  When it came to shear balls to the walls power, the M2 was miles ahead in HG mode. I'm talking ear shattering levels with my low impedance transducers.

When it came to ergonomics, well, us lefties are left in the cold (pun intended).  I have large hands and I was unable to use just my left hand and thumb to navigate the dial wheel in a comfortable manner.  When I was able to use just the back and menu functions on the dial wheel, part of my hand blocked the screen.  When I swapped to my right hand, the navigation experience was much better, but still not comfortable for me to use.  I thought the overall navigation of the dial wheel and its functions was fine but it was the placement of the wheel that didn't jive with me ergonomically.  I guess I'm use to past DAPs like the iconic iPod, Sansa, and HiSoundAudio Studio where similar dial type navigation is placed at the bottom center with the screen shifted to the top with little to no bias towards left and right hands. The more I played with the M2 dial wheel, the more I thought of no-holds barred solution in a form of a jog-push-type dial found on the digital volume control on the JDS Labs C5 or RSA Shadow.

Synergy came to play with my setups.  Some sounded sublime, others just so-so.  When comparing to my PONO, I'll whole heartily admit that I'm biased to it because I've owned it for while, and gotten used to the sound (brain burn in?).  Still, the PONO balanced with my Aurisonics ASG1plus and Yuin PK1 are my endgame portable setups according to my ears. I'm sure my quick and crude PONO balanced to SE adapter cable I made from the left over PK1 cable may have contributed to what I was hearing.  The following summarizes the synergies:

• E-Q7 - Hissy on HG. Not ideal for low volume listening. Female voices sounded a little nasally. Narrow stage. The airy sound layers that the E-Q7 is known for had a hard time shining threw. Sounded congested and veiled. Lacked synergy. Pairing not recommended. Then, for this setup pairing only, I changed the gain on the M2 to LG and everything I said about the pairing could be thrown out the window. The trademark vocals, details, separation and air of the E-Q7 shined - great pairing in LG mode only.

• Grado RS2 - Stage is average, but intimate. I found the highs slightly rolled off, but demonstrated wonderful PRAT.  With an increase in volume, I found myself in to-tapping groove. The bass quantity is a little emphasized, slightly boomy at times, but in a fun sort of way.

• HiFiMAN RE-252 - This is my most neutral iem in the stable. I found with low volume it resulted in quiet passages and lifeless sound.  Once the volume increased to the same level as the Grado, sound turned out for the better. Wonderful synergy. Bass is the tightest of amongst the iems. Wonderful PRAT. The technical merits of the RE-252 with it's extended bottom and top end is well presented with gobs of in-between details. As with my RS2, the M2 and RE-252 pairing, I experiences a slight treble roll off especially with vibration that occurs with the strumming of the guitar, or the finger snaps in Billy Joel's 'An Innocent Man.' The vocals is pushed slightly forward.

• Aurisonics ASG1plus (SE mode) - Not a good pairing.  Found the treble a little too tizzy and hard. Didn't make them sound natural like I'm accustom too and lacked the dynamics I'm use. Bass sounded boomy and loose. Vocals slightly recessed.

• Yuin PK1 (SE mode) - WOW.  The M2 makes the PK1 just sing at volume level set to 80 on HG. Truly a great match and best pair from the stable. Vocals didn't sound too upfront or veiled which is how I hear them when it is underpowered.  Overall nicely balanced and smooth.

In closing, the best pairing in my stable were the YUIN PK1 SE in HG, and Ortofon E-Q7 in LG.  Overall, I found the M2 very pleasing. The implementation of the analog stage and filter(s) is nicely done.  It's a relaxing DAP made to enjoy music.  However, like the Shanling M3 that I played with at a local Head-fi meet, the M2 is made for a right hand world. 

 

[newfavorite]

@Shanling just a quick technical question about the M2: is the Line Out taken directly from the MUSES8920 op amp, bypassing the TPA6120 headphone amplifier?

 

[Limor]

Urubu, M2 no need rockbox. It is independent product with comfortable FW. Also the rockbox is made by enthusiasts, not companies. You can try to do the port of rockbox just now    I asked only about implementation of music scrobbling in default FW.
 
nmatheis, i have already finished translation firmware into russian. I cheсked about three times with correction mistakes. I think all my work have done. I am sending xls table PM to you! 

Shanling, I am going to try explain term scrobbling. It isn't only rockbox privilege. Scrobbling has been in my iriver clix2 and another players that support MTP usb transfer (like iPod, cowon, zune and another.) I used this tool (http://sixones.com/projects/zenses/) for scrobbling from Clix2. There are other tools (for desktop or online) you can find on the internet. I haven't understood yet how MTP scrobbling works. I think you won't able to recreate MTP mode for M2, and you don't need
We have second way. Rockbox uses own algorithm for creating .log file. For recreating this we need to know file structure, isn't it ?)  I have this file from my Samsung ygh-925. I am trying to write some programmers who make service for downloading .log file from rockbox into Last.fm (like this http://uscrobbler.typedef.pl/downloads). I haven't got any answer yet. I am going to try write several others.
 
My opinion. .log file creates from information about played songs. It is name of artist, duration, and other. But also we need to know time of the day when the song has played. This information is critical for using last.fm scrobbling service. It is main problem for shanling FW, because it hasn't had any date or time of a day. For first you will have to add time and date into FW. I hope you will able to add  
 
I have got one little error with my M2. When the battrey discharged fist time i had connected M2 to charger (1.35 A 5V). But charging finished on 99%. I tried to charge by USB, but had been similar effect. 

 

[nmatheis]

Awesome Limor!

I told Shanling about the charging issue, as well. I *think* they're planning to fix it in the next firmware revision.

 

[Urubu]

So Guys i will make part of the Shanling club , i ordered mine 

 
 
Can't wait ,if u need french ,spanish or portuguese traduction ,i am here too !

 

[nmatheis]

Welcome Urubu. Let us know how you like it!

 

[Limor]

M2 doesn't play DSD 128, only 64, does it? I have tried couple DSD albums and only 64 plays.
 
My M2 is time to time doesn't want to wake up. I have to push reset button and it switchs on without any problem. It has happened about 3 times from bying. (week)

 

[Shanling]

  @Shanling just a quick technical question about the M2: is the Line Out taken directly from the MUSES8920 op amp, bypassing the TPA6120 headphone amplifier?​

Accurately, it is taken from the OPA2227 (low pass filter after MUSE8920) , bypassing the TPA6120.
 
Thanks.

 

[Shanling]

  M2 doesn't play DSD 128, only 64, does it? I have tried couple DSD albums and only 64 plays.
 
My M2 is time to time doesn't want to wake up. I have to push reset button and it switchs on without any problem. It has happened about 3 times from bying. (week)

Yes only DSD64. ​
 
Please continue to observe if the frozen still happens, and report to us.
 
Thanks.

 

[nmatheis]

Here's a link to fleasbaby's review: LINK

Enjoy all!!!

 

[nmatheis]

Just heard from Teo at LMUE. I suggested he give the M2 a try. He did and has been using the Shanling M2 as his daily driver DAP for its combination of SQ + small size + blind operation. Nice!

 

[Shanling]

Just heard from Teo at LMUE. I suggested he give the M2 a try. He did and has been using the Shanling M2 as his daily driver DAP for its combination of SQ + small size + blind operation. Nice!

A good news: we will release a surprise next week    about M2. Cheers ​

 

[nmatheis]

New FW in time for Christmas?

 

[Urubu]

can wait to try mine , the worst is it's in my house ......but in France ( iam in south america now) ,i will pick up him the end of this month ...............just for my birthday