Hello Friends, So I spent quite a few hours A/B’ing between the two music players that I currently own, Shanling M3X and Cayin N3 Pro. Both the players are very different, come in mid-tier one being priced at like 340$ and the other at about 500$. One offers a fully customizable experience of Android 7(M3X) while the other offers a pure music experience but with an added benefit of Tubes on to go.
N3 Pro is actually the second Audio player in the industry to feature Tubes, first being the flagship N8 by Cayin(That I know of). Both the players offer a supreme build so I am not gonna go deep into it neither I am gonna tell you about the Android benefits over the Pure Music player of N3 Pro or vice versa. I am just gonna give my experience of sound between the two. We all know what android offers and what N3 Pro’s basic music player offers. So I will be diving right into the sound department. The sound experience is based on my usage of BQEYZ Summer using 3.5mm termination and DUNU EST112 using 4.4mm Balanced termination.
Driving Power:-
Both the players have more or less similar driving power. For DUNU EST112 I am at 30/100 volume on M3X(Low Gain), and 35/100 volume on N3 Pro(Medium Gain). BQEYZ Summer is at 50/100 on M3X Low Gain and at 45/100 on N3 Pro Medium Gain.
Tonality & Experience:-
N3 Pro itself offers three different sound output options for its users, Ultra-Linear, Triode, and Solid-State. All these three modes offer a warm tonality to the output, it’s just warmer on both the tube modes. It sounds very musical, with a smooth touch of warmth to the output. This warmth also adds a thick feeling to the vocals, making them sound more authorized and impactful. Instruments also have a heavier presentation. Bass thumps sound more powerful with the added weight to them. The presentation has an intimate feeling to it, everything sounds authorized and weighted. N3 Pro in my experience is more musical, warmer of the two.
M3X has a more neutral approach to the tonality, it also has a hint of warmth to itself. But it is nowhere near the warmth of the N3 Pro. The player has a more energetic presentation but slightly leaner tonality of the two with a more open presentation. It excels in technical performance such as presenting a wider stage, cleaner background, and better airiness between the instruments, or in simple terms, I find the output of M3X presenting a neutral approach with improved technical performance among the two.
Some Key points in some favorite tracks that led me to this experience:-
Hotel California, Hell Freeze Over By Eagles:-
The acoustic guitar, the bongo setup during the first 2 minutes and 8 seconds of this track has a heavier presentation on the N3 Pro, guitar strings, bongo hits have their impact right with a sweet musical tone and a heavyweight. But when the same track is being played on M3X, The airiness between the guitar strings during the first 30 seconds of the song is unmatchable, plus not to mention some songs sound excellent in a neutral tone rather than a thick warm tone, this is one of those songs. Loved it on M3X with its neutral approach and a wide airy presentation.
Nine Crimes, Damien Rice:-
Damien Rice is one of my favorite male vocalists, his voice has a musical feeling that keeps me engaged with his music. There is a piano being played during the first 30 seconds of this song, my god the experience on N3 Pro with its thick presentation of this song is out of this world. M3X tries its best to perform but man this is the genre that takes benefit of the N3 Pro’s musicality. I am in love with this song again <3 Oh sorry, I forgot after this piano comes a female voice, I guess we all know when it comes to warm musical vocals the emotional attachment is on another level. N3 Pro wins this genre hands down!!!
Speak Softly Love, Yao Si Ting:-
Talk about female vocals, Yao Si Ting in my experience has the best expression with her voice. Speak Softly Love is one of my favorite tracks by her. Starting with Acoustic Guitar followed by a lovely Violin during the first minute of the song. While I loved the warm tonality with Violin on N3 Pro, the airiness in an acoustic guitar is better on the M3X. Vocals have a slight benefit on N3 Pro with its warm tonality, but M3X presents such a lovely experience to me in this song with outstanding airiness and spacious presentation of the stage. It’s just hard to choose between the M3X and N3 Pro for this particular track as one offered a lovely tonality, while the other offered airiness to me.
Love Story(Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift:-
Taylor Swift is one of my favorite Pop artists. In this particular song, when the drum beats drop at around the 31-second mark feels so impactful and engaging with her vocals. This song has a cleaner, presentation on the M3X with an extra touch of energy. This added energy with the M3X makes this song sound lovely and enjoyable. N3 Pro has a smoother presentation with this track, M3X has an energetic one, I liked the latter.
In The End, Linkin Park:-
Complex track, many instruments, different layers of voice at the same time, you know where I am going with this right haha. Energy, separation of M3X is just outstanding here. But N3 Pro also marks its presence with added weight to the instruments and vocals that make them sound more impactful and engaging. To be honest, confused here about which one to choose among the two for this haha.
And this list of songs goes on and on, including more artists such as Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Daft Punk, some regional coke studio, and many more. Some songs I liked more on the N3 Pro, some more on the M3X.
Some Final Words:-
I am still confused about which I liked more among the two, on one hand, I liked the more authorized, weighted presentation of the N3 Pro honestly just loved its musical touch to the sound. On the other hand, I have the Shanling M3X that has better energy, a slightly cleaner background, and a more spacious presentation to my music. I actually knew all this before going the M3X way, I always needed it as my secondary DAP with a neutral approach to judge IEMs better. I am happy with both of them offering different tastes, it just makes me explore my music more!!!
I hope you guys liked this presentation, I tried my best to keep my words as simple as possible
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