Shanling M3X Portable Player - Our smallest Android Player

[rlw6534]

Fantastic, thank you very much!!

By the way @rlw6534 , it seems that this exact model isn't sold any more, not easily, it's sold out almost everywhere. I looked at a bunch of sites. So, if not available I'll get something similar.

Oops, sorry about that, I didn't really look very hard. I think any decent brand should work out fine for you. I have one from Hiby that I like as well.

https://store.hiby.com/products/balance-4-4mm-male-to-2-5mm-female-adapter

Your M3x and Etys should be an excellent combination, especially in the bang-for-the-buck area...

 

[mark88888]

Oops, sorry about that, I didn't really look very hard. I think any decent brand should work out fine for you. I have one from Hiby that I like as well.

https://store.hiby.com/products/balance-4-4mm-male-to-2-5mm-female-adapter

Your M3x and Etys should be an excellent combination, especially in the bang-for-the-buck area...

Oh, that looks great, maybe I'll get it. I also found this
https://www.amazon.com/HIDIZS-Balan...4.4+mm+pigtail+adapter&qid=1634658751&sr=8-21

...but I'm guessing the Hiby would be better...? Cool.

And, thanks. I hope so. I have already sampled a few tracks and it does sound very good, but I'll also have to get used to the difference as compared to the M2X. I'm hearing more detail for sure. Am hoping with the balanced cable it'll sound even better.

If you have any recommedations of headphones that have a lot of synergy with the M3x I'd love to see a name or so. I do have a pair of Sennheiser HD-600 and am looking forward to see if they can drive them and how they sound.

 

[rlw6534]

Oh, that looks great, maybe I'll get it. I also found this
https://www.amazon.com/HIDIZS-Balan...4.4+mm+pigtail+adapter&qid=1634658751&sr=8-21

...but I'm guessing the Hiby would be better...? Cool.

And, thanks. I hope so. I have already sampled a few tracks and it does sound very good, but I'll also have to get used to the difference as compared to the M2X. I'm hearing more detail for sure. Am hoping with the balanced cable it'll sound even better.

If you have any recommedations of headphones that have a lot of synergy with the M3x I'd love to see a name or so. I do have a pair of Sennheiser HD-600 and am looking forward to see if they can drive them and how they sound.

I'm sure the Hidizs would be fine relative to the others. As I said, I'm not really a believer that adapters make much difference as long as they are not cheap junk. The HD600 might be hard to drive unless you have a balanced cable. You may have trouble with the volume being too low. All you can do is try and see. I have HD6XX for my desktop rig but honestly I have not tried them with the M3X.

I personally use the Fiio FD5 with my M3X. I'm not an expert and probably don't have good enough ears (60 years old) to offer the best advise. With that said the DD FD5 would be a great contrast to the BA Etys if you want to experience both ends of the IEM spectrum. It really depends on what you like. Others may have better advice.

 

[mark88888]

I'm sure the Hidizs would be fine relative to the others. As I said, I'm not really a believer that adapters make much difference as long as they are not cheap junk. The HD600 might be hard to drive unless you have a balanced cable. You may have trouble with the volume being too low. All you can do is try and see. I have HD6XX for my desktop rig but honestly I have not tried them with the M3X.

I personally use the Fiio FD5 with my M3X. I'm not an expert and probably don't have good enough ears (60 years old) to offer the best advise. With that said the DD FD5 would be a great contrast to the BA Etys if you want to experience both ends of the IEM spectrum. It really depends on what you like. Others may have better advice.

Thanks for your thoughts, I'll look into the Fiios. Anyway, to me the Hiby converter does look better and I'll probably buy it. BTW, I'm also no spring chicken at around 50!

 

[rlw6534]

Thanks for your thoughts, I'll look into the Fiios. Anyway, to me the Hiby converter does look better and I'll probably buy it. BTW, I'm also no spring chicken at around 50!

Looks like I did try my HD6xx back when I first got my M3X. No problems but did use balanced cable:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sha...t-android-player.950199/page-41#post-16319551

 

[Shanling]

is so annoying,especially when listen to live concert music

new to chinese daps,

is this issue happens to all shanling daps or is just the m3x?

It's issue connected to our app.
Our MTouch players can do gapless.
Our Android players can do gapless if you use one of many third-party apps that offers gapless.

I noticed that while playing songs (regardless if the using the vu meter or album art on the display) , every time you move to a new track the background changes color. Is there any way to keep the background consistent on the display, rather than changing colors with each new track? I'd like to use a flat black background if possible.

Not possible to set just black background, it always changes colors depending on cover art

Hello @Shanling . OK, thank you for this. So, I was able to open the playlist in Notepad and then edit and copy the file stucture used in the M3X onto my M2X playlist.

Now, I have it saved as a Notepad file (text document), but I have no idea how to convert it back into a Playlist file that can be read by the M3X. I actually put the text file into the M3X playlist folder, but of course it can't read it. Thank you for any help you (or anyone else!) can provide.

You can open the file and then save it as the original .m3u file, do not save it as text file.

Hi everyone. Sorry for the multiple questions. Just bought the Shanling M3X and trying to figure a few things out.

So I use Etymotic ER4XR iems. I wanted to try to use the balanced output on the Shanling M3X for better sound, so I ordered a balanced cable for the Etymotic. However I just realized that it's a cord that fits a balanced 2.5mm socket, and the balanced socket on the Shanling is 4.4mm! (On the Shanling M2X, it was indeed 2.5mm. I guess bigger is better?)

I researched it and it seems that Etymotic does not make a headphone cord that fits a 4.4mm socket. My question is:

1. Can I use something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/PH-4X-4-4mm-Balance-Converter-Adapter/dp/B07Q7V8F4N/ref=sr_1_3_mod_primary_new?dchild=1&keywords=4.4mm+er4xr&qid=1634654239&s=electronics&sbo=RZvfv//HxDF+O5021pAnSA==&sr=1-3

and attach it to the 2.5mm Etymotic cord, and then get high quality, balanced sound through the 4.4mm jack on the Shanling? Will that work perfectly?

2. And if so, was it even necessary for me to order the 2.5mm balanced Etymotic cord? Could I have simply used a converter with the normal 3.5mm cord to make it fit a 4.4mm socket, or would that not work because it's not a proper "balanced" cord?

Hope this makes sense. Thank you.

Industry is slowly moving to 4.4mm, as it's simply better build (so you will not end up with broken 2.5mm stuck in connector).

1. Yes, adapters are just fine.

2. As @rlw6534 mentioned, never connect single ended 3.5mm to balanced output, you are risky damage to both of your devices.
I know you can find many adapters like that online, but they are either made for the old standard of balanced 3.5mm (old Hifiman days) or are simply made in bad faith, with hopes that customers will never complain. You can even find balanced cables made for headphones that can't be connected balanced, that's just a scam and dangerousl.

 

[mark88888]

Not possible to set just black background, it always changes colors depending on cover art


You can open the file and then save it as the original .m3u file, do not save it as text file.

Thank you for the advice about the adapters! Good to know. I may get the hiby one, if there's another that's also strongly recommended and available I'd be happy to hear about it.

Too bad that a black (or at least stable) background is not possible. I humbly request to have that included in a future update, I think it would be a great feature. I like to have the meter on the screen, rather than the cover art. The background changing from bright to dark with every song is odd and not great at night. With the M2X this wasn't an issue, it kept a stable background, as it should. Anyway thanks for letting me know.

As for the playlist.... OK, so... I edited the text in notepad, and I have it saved as a notepad file. So, I suppose I need to open it, go to "Save As", then choose "Save as type", then "All Files", then find the original .m3u file and save it as that. Is that the right way to do it, would that work? I'm away from that computer now, but will try it later, please let me know if I'm incorrect! Thank you.

 

[rlw6534]

As for the playlist.... OK, so... I edited the text in notepad, and I have it saved as a notepad file. So, I suppose I need to open it, go to "Save As", then choose "Save as type", then "All Files", then find the original .m3u file and save it as that. Is that the right way to do it, would that work? I'm away from that computer now, but will try it later, please let me know if I'm incorrect! Thank you.

I'm not that familiar with Notepad (Mac user), but you should be able to simply rename the file, making sure it has .m3u as the filename extension. Playlists are simple text files, they just need the correct extension to be identified by the player. No conversion needed.

 

[mark88888]

I'm not that familiar with Notepad (Mac user), but you should be able to simply rename the file, making sure it has .m3u as the filename extension. Playlists are simple text files, they just need the correct extension to be identified by the player. No conversion needed.

Thanks! I was able to figure it out and move the playlist, which is great.

I have another question or 3 but trying to go through the 90 pages here first before asking things that are very redundant.

I think the player sounds very good. I'm hearing more texture and depth and instrument separation and detail than with the M2X.

There are some songs in which I want to increase the bass a tick or 2. I'm using the Shanling native app, in prime mode. I tried the native equalizer but it seems to be not that good... am I wrong about that? If not, what are my options? I'd like to stay within the native Shanling app, but I know to get a better equalizer I may have to use a completely different interface and some other app... or not? Um. I do like the Shanling app and I have no clue about Android so I'm very happy I can just bypass it with this prime mode. But if necessary to increase the bass a little, in a high quality way... hm.

Anyway. Great player. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

 

[rlw6534]

Thanks! I was able to figure it out and move the playlist, which is great.

I have another question or 3 but trying to go through the 90 pages here first before asking things that are very redundant.

I think the player sounds very good. I'm hearing more texture and depth and instrument separation and detail than with the M2X.

There are some songs in which I want to increase the bass a tick or 2. I'm using the Shanling native app, in prime mode. I tried the native equalizer but it seems to be not that good... am I wrong about that? If not, what are my options? I'd like to stay within the native Shanling app, but I know to get a better equalizer I may have to use a completely different interface and some other app... or not? Um. I do like the Shanling app and I have no clue about Android so I'm very happy I can just bypass it with this prime mode. But if necessary to increase the bass a little, in a high quality way... hm.

Anyway. Great player. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

I believe most here (including me) would recommend USB Audio Player Pro (UAPP) as an alternative player. It fully supports the M3X in hi-res and MQA. It's not free but worth the cost IMO. It also has an add-in for PEQ that might better suit what you want. It streams Qobuz and Tidal natively as well. There is a limited trial if you want to test:

https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/uapp-trial

 

[mark88888]

I believe most here (including me) would recommend USB Audio Player Pro (UAPP) as an alternative player. It fully supports the M3X in hi-res and MQA. It's not free but worth the cost IMO. It also has an add-in for PEQ that might better suit what you want. It streams Qobuz and Tidal natively as well. There is a limited trial if you want to test:

https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/uapp-trial

Thank you. So... is it fair to say that most people here don't use the native Shanling interface/player for their music?
Whats the advantage of the UAPP, besides streaming music (which I don't think I'd do)? Does it... sound better? Does the equalizer work better? (with the Shanling one, I found that moving up one bar just a little bit made the entire sound at much less volume, and perhaps a duller sound).
Can I use my playlist with it?
Is it easy to install? I just downloaded the apk file to my pc. Can I just put in on the memory card and it'll show up as an app? (I've had a couple of different Shanling players, but never one with Android. I've never actually used Android anything before.)
Could I set the UAPP in a kind of "Prime Mode" like the Shanling, so it just comes on and dominates the system and system resources in the same way when I turn the player on?

Sorry for the questions. Of course, feel free to ignore. But thank you! This is very helpful.

 

[exile1973]

Thank you. So... is it fair to say that most people here don't use the native Shanling interface/player for their music?
Whats the advantage of the UAPP, besides streaming music (which I don't think I'd do)? Does it... sound better? Does the equalizer work better? (with the Shanling one, I found that moving up one bar just a little bit made the entire sound at much less volume, and perhaps a duller sound).
Can I use my playlist with it?
Is it easy to install? I just downloaded the apk file to my pc. Can I just put in on the memory card and it'll show up as an app? (I've had a couple of different Shanling players, but never one with Android. I've never actually used Android anything before.)
Could I set the UAPP in a kind of "Prime Mode" like the Shanling, so it just comes on and dominates the system and system resources in the same way when I turn the player on?

Sorry for the questions. Of course, feel free to ignore. But thank you! This is very helpful.

UAPP can stream tidal and qobuz and handle local files. Does everything you'd need including gapless. I find shanling app can only handle 5000 songs on a shuffle all songs run but uapp manages my 16000 no problem.

Can't speak for prime idea with it, but I have found it worth every penny. Not a lot and can use it on any android player and phone.

 

[alota]

UAPP isn't for streaming it is for local files in general. Does everything you'd need including gapless. I find shanling app can only handle 5000 songs on a shuffle all songs run but uapp manages my 16000 no problem.

Can't speak for prime idea with it, but I have found it worth every penny. Not a lot and can use it on any android player and phone.

it is for streaming too

 

[exile1973]

it is for streaming too

Tell me more... Can I use it with amazon?

 

[alota]

Tell me more... Can I use it with amazon?

tidal and qobuz