[Shanling]

Okay so I bought M2X (I also own M0 but it's a bit too small and freezes from time to time). I won't talk about the sound because my ears can hardly hear a difference between this and my phone, I'll focus entirely on the software and build quality.

1. USB DAC is great. In M0 there was a small delay but there is zero delay with M2X.
2. I love the glassy back. It gives it that premium look
3. I don't really like the volume knob compared to M0. It's way too sensitive and a bit too easy to press. In M0 it's impossible to change the volume by slightly touching the knob but it's easy to do so in M2X. Because of this I often find myself changing the volume by 1 or 2 when waking the device. When you rotate the knob in M0, every next volume level is very apparent. In M2X it's more constant, smooth move.
4. Next track/previous track are harder to press than the pause/play button and they make that satisfying "click" sound while the middle button doesn't. I don't like this inconsistency. The middle button is a bit wider than the next/previous buttons but the difference is not big enough to feel it under your finger. The buttons could be a little more protruding but that's personal preference I guess.
5. Rewinding/fast-forwarding with the physical buttons is kinda weird. Firstly, you don't hear the music when doing it, so you don't know when to stop rewinding. I guess that's the only way the processor is able to handle it. Secondly, it works only if you're in the "now playing" screen.
6. This "Wi-Fi file transfer" :8888 website is in Chinese (which is weird because I use English in the player).
7. It's great we can name our playlists unlike in the M0, but why we cannot rename them after they are created?
8. I said it in the M0 thread and I'll say it again. It would be great if you gave us an option to turn off icons in the song lists so we can see more characters. This horizontal name scrolling it hard to pull off, I usually end up scrolling the list vertically.
9. It adds a weird space before "【" even tho there is no space in the file name. https://i.imgur.com/749HJNf.jpg
10. There are some characters it doesn't read (although they are quite uncommon so I don't blame them). For example "[Promare OST] Λsʜᴇs" looks like this - https://i.imgur.com/fbyxKVp.jpg
11. Didn't measure it with a stopwatch in my hand but feels like it scans files a bit slower than the M0? Kinda weird but not a bit deal.
12. It also applies to the M0 but I wish there was an option to turn off displaying album covers. I feel like it would speed up things a little.
13. I'm sad there is no Replay Gain. Come on, Shanling. It's 2019. Cheaper DAPs have it.
14. Update via wifi doesn't work. Or maybe it works but there is no progress bar so no way to tell if the device is downloading the update or not.
15. Songs sent through wifi transfer don't show up in the "Recently Added".

Overall score: 7/10.

5. Unfortunate limitation of current system setting.
6. I urged software team few times to make it bilingual.
7. Overall customization of playlists inside player is limited.
8. Not likely to have one switch that would be doing such a big change to structure of UI.
9/10. Software team is aware of problems with some special letters from different languages.
12. If you think loading album covers is slowing down player, you can change the playback interface to spectrum analyzer or analog decibelmeter to see, if there is any difference.
13. No update on that.
14. What exactly you mean by "doesn't work"? It should either give you message it's already on latest update or start downloading, when it shows progress of download.
15. Noted.

I've got a question for @Shanling or anyone who can answer. With these BLON 03 earphones,

https://www.amazon.com/HiFiHear-Earphone-Diaphragm-Headphone-Detachable/dp/B07TZ2NQCF

and the Shanling M2X

and this cable (or similar)...

https://www.linsoul.com/products/linsoul-hc-08

Would it be better to get the cord fitting the 2.5mm audio jack, or the 3.5mm audio jack? I believe that the 2.5 would would be "balanced", but to be honest I have never used a balanced cord before, and I don't know if it would be appropriate for the BLON and that cord or if it is even better. (I won't be using an amp, just the Shanling M2X).

Thank you to anyone who can help, and sorry for the newbie question.

There should be no problem using these IEMs with balanced 2.5mm cable (I personally always recommend to check if it's connected correctly with multimetr).

Overall people prefer sound out of balanced output on our players, in theory it's the maximum you can get out of the player. It can be downgrade only if the higher output impedance would bring any issue with connected IEMs (think sound changing in CA Andromeda).

 

[mark88888]

Hi @Slater91 and @Devh and @Shanling ,

Thank you very much for the responses! I guess I'll try the balanced cable. Cool.

Slater and Devh, what do you think of the BLON (BL 03)? Have you used them with a Shanling player... how about the M2x?

The BLONs are getting a ton of hype as you have seen. I don't know what to make of it... top of the line sound for like $35, could that possibly be right? I was about to spring for $1000 phones on 11/11, maybe the Fearless ROLAND, now I have no clue what to do. But if the BLON 03 are great it seems like a no brainer to get them considering the price. Anyway I'd be very curious to hear what you think about them (including the advice to change the cable and tips).

I have a pair of Ety ER4XR. Could the BLON's top them in any way?

 

[Test222]

What exactly you mean by "doesn't work"? It should either give you message it's already on latest update or start downloading, when it shows progress of download.

When I bought this DAP, it had firmware v2.1. I turned on wi-fi, it found the update and I confirmed I want to update. Then - nothing. Literally nothing happens, the pop-up disappeared and there was nothing indicating that the device is downloading the update. I ended up updating it manually via microSD card.

 

[Slater91]

Hi @Slater91 and @Devh and @Shanling ,

Thank you very much for the responses! I guess I'll try the balanced cable. Cool.

Slater and Devh, what do you think of the BLON (BL 03)? Have you used them with a Shanling player... how about the M2x?

The BLONs are getting a ton of hype as you have seen. I don't know what to make of it... top of the line sound for like $35, could that possibly be right? I was about to spring for $1000 phones on 11/11, maybe the Fearless ROLAND, now I have no clue what to do. But if the BLON 03 are great it seems like a no brainer to get them considering the price. Anyway I'd be very curious to hear what you think about them (including the advice to change the cable and tips).

I have a pair of Ety ER4XR. Could the BLON's top them in any way?

As a general rule: do not trust those telling you that very cheap products are better than (reasonably) expensive ones. Think of it this way: you have a product that can compete with $1000 headphones. Would you sell it for $35 or $900 (or even $1100, if you think it's better)? Now you see why sub-$50 headphones sounding better than $1000 headphones are not a thing. There are headphones that retail for $400 that are comparable to $600-700 ones (e.g. Blon B20, they're really good), but that's it. You don't have products competing with other products that 30 times the price. No company ever would totally destroy huge profits if they can get them.
In general, if headphones are sold at $35, that's because they are not as good as more expensive ones. In which ways? Technical ability (detail, soundstage, imaging, instrument separation), tuning (more significant peaks or dips, early treble or bass roll-off, etc), manufacturing quality, post-sale customer care and so on. Delivering headphones that are good in all these respects is hard and costs a lot of money, and that's part of the reason why the more expensive headphones usually cost more. I'm not saying that it's always the case, but it's a very good rule of thumb - the only notable exception being the Tin T2, which smashes most earphones under $200 in my opinion. That's the only IEM out of ~200 I've tried so far, though.
As for the specific question about the BL03, I have tried them briefly and I don't have a firm opinion on them yet. I have a fairly long list of products I have to try so they will probably sit in my ears on a more stable basis one week or two from now. I can tell you that I tried Shanling's own ME500 for a similar amount of time and they got me far more impressed though (and they're ~10x the price), if that tells you anything.
TL;DR: I am totally in favour of a "democratisation" of audio and of lower prices and I think that many affordable products are incredibly good. I'm not saying that expensive products are always better - that would be snob (and as a poor guy it would go against my own personal interest). But I think that it's the market that dictates the prices, so there's often a reason why some products cost less and other more.

Anyway: yes, I've used them with the M2X and they worked perfectly. The M2X is perfect for IEMs, even demanding ones such as the Tin HiFi P1.

 

[Devh]

Hi @Slater91 and @Devh and @Shanling ,

Thank you very much for the responses! I guess I'll try the balanced cable. Cool.

Slater and Devh, what do you think of the BLON (BL 03)? Have you used them with a Shanling player... how about the M2x?

The BLONs are getting a ton of hype as you have seen. I don't know what to make of it... top of the line sound for like $35, could that possibly be right? I was about to spring for $1000 phones on 11/11, maybe the Fearless ROLAND, now I have no clue what to do. But if the BLON 03 are great it seems like a no brainer to get them considering the price. Anyway I'd be very curious to hear what you think about them (including the advice to change the cable and tips).

I have a pair of Ety ER4XR. Could the BLON's top them in any way?

Thats a good question and Im expected to receive the BLON today. I do not want to post inappropriately because I no longer own a M2x as this thread is about that, however I upgraded to a M5s and have bought a balanced S cable for my Ety ER4 and there is a night and day difference with going balanced but I already knew that was going to happen based on the specs as it seems like these newer players take advantage of beefing up the balanced circuits and almost like they give you the unbalanced as a convenience.
I love my Etys even after auditioning many high end IEMs which I also think sound great but they just don't have that Ety signature sound that stands alone and will be timeless for many decades. So why did I buy the BLON, because they are only $38 and have a lot of hype behind it. I will not feel bad spending a ridiculous sum of money to be a collector of high end IEMs that gets tossed by the way side once they fall out of the hype of audiophiles chasing the next best thing. I have forever found lasting contentment with the Ety ER4S but I could use a little more sub bass flavor once in a while.

 

[mark88888]

Thanks for your replies guys.

@Devh , I look forward to hearing about what you think of the BLONs. It is relevant to this thread as I'd be using them with the Shanling. Also, this thread seems to not have much activity (not sure why... is the M2x unpopular?) so it's a good thing.

@Slater91 All you wrote makes good sense. But it begs the question, why do people post otherwise? Noted reviewers are posting that these are in fact as good as TOTL IEMs. People who I dont think are lying for free gear or shilling for anyone. So I dont quite get it, then.

 

[digititus]

The world of HiFi is full of expensive garbage. Price is a very poor guide for measured performance. There are certain Audio websites which measure such differences and it is clear that companies with well engineered products which publish their own measurement data are the ones you should place greater faith in rather than a price tag.

 

[Devh]

Thanks for your replies guys.

@Devh , I look forward to hearing about that you think of the BLONs. It is relevant to this thread as I'd be using them with the Shanling. Also, this thread seems to not have very little activity (not sure why... is the M2x unpopular?) so it's a good thing.

@Slater91 All you wrote makes good sense. But it begs the question, why do people post otherwise? Noted reviewers are posting that these are in fact as good as TOTL IEMs. People who I dont think are lying for free gear or shilling for anyone. So I dont quite get it, then.

Absolutely I will let you know from a Ety perspective. I have a friend that is a collector of high priced IEMs. He recently picked up the highly regarded Noble K10 which are $900 but bought them on a price drop of $600. We usually go head to head with our gear and I haven't told him about the Blon so I plan to put them in the mix and not let him know how much I paid for them just to see what happens.

There is a lot of hype in audio and often price doesn't correlate with value but price does dictate improvements that make one piece of equipment clearly better. Every so often there will equipment that by accident or a talented engineer is able to do more with less that embarrass the entire industry in terms of the hype they sell. I have seen and owned products like this and I like them much more than spending ridiculous amounts to be marginally better as it actually makes the listening enjoyment better to my ears being novel. When I buy something ridiculously expensive it makes me sad that I spent so much for so little that I get disappointed with sound quality improvement because I wanted more for my money.
With the Etys I don't have to worry about that because there is nothing that comes close to sounding like them.

 

[mark88888]

The world of HiFi is full of expensive garbage. Price is a very poor guide for measured performance. There are certain Audio websites which measure such differences and it is clear that companies with well engineered products which publish their own measurement data are the ones you should place greater faith in rather than a price tag.

So do you think its realistic that BLON 03 compete with IEMS 20 times the price, sound wise?

 

[digititus]

So do you think its realistic that BLON 03 compete with IEMS 20 times the price, sound wise?

Show me the measured performance of each IEM and only then can I answer that question. Reality comes through measurements and not expectations.

I know nothing of the BLON. I would also take the opinion of any reviewer extolling their virtues with skepticism

 

[mark88888]

With the Etys I don't have to worry about that because there is nothing that comes close to sounding like them.

Do you feel that they're flat-out better? Better than the Nobles, Andromeda, all the TOTL IEMS? If so, why bother with others... just for a change?

 

[mark88888]

Show me the measured performance of each IEM and only then can I answer that question. Reality comes through measurements and not expectations.

I know nothing of the BLON. I would also take the opinion of any reviewer extolling their virtues with skepticism

I don't know if you have any interest, but for example there are some measurements here:

 

[mark88888]

I have forever found lasting contentment with the Ety ER4S but I could use a little more sub bass flavor once in a while.

Have you tried the ER4XR? They are great... love them with the Shanling M2s. I'm pretty sure you'd get more sub bass flavor with them.

 

[Devh]

Do you feel that they're flat-out better? Better than the Nobles, Andromeda, all the TOTL IEMS? If so, why bother with others... just for a change?

Thanks for the question as it feels like therapy.
To my ears the Ety sound better than everything I have tried, money no object. When I hear other high end IEMs and headphone I have to admit that they sound incredible but after some time the bass is flabby in comparison to the Ety and it might just be a tradeoff where you get less ambient bass for more accurate and textured bass. Another thing I like about the Etys is the light weight which makes it less distracting that something is in my ears. No matter how much I listen to the Etys I cant seem to fault or get tired of them which often happens with new audio gear when the honeymoon is over. I often find that new remasters of old music surprises me especially with high resolution audio but it comes at a cost because if you play MP3s or not the greatest recordings the Etys are not forgiving and will spank your ears badly where other iems are more forgiving.

The reason why I want to try something else is for a variety of reasons one of them being that for my walks I don't want to ruin my Etys in the rain and the balance chord I got from China seems weak that with one tug is going to break.
If the Blon sounds good it will work well for my activity and might be fun to listen to. I often use my Etys to tune EQs by using it as a reference even though I may add more bass in the end but I try to get the vocals and highs to sound closer to the Ety and those that audition my systems (car and home) think they sound phenomenal so it will always be my reference for audio.

 

[Devh]

Have you tried the ER4XR? They are great... love them with the Shanling M2s. I'm pretty sure you'd get more sub bass flavor with them.

I haven't but interestingly enough that was my original plan A and now it's my plan B if the Blon dosen't work out. My problem right now is wanting a solid balanced cable with the 100ohm resister for my Etys that can stand up to abuse. Im certainly not against bass but it needs to be tight and fast. My home theater bass plays low but its also musical and articulate which is what is lacking with a lot of subs.