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Shanling M5 Impressions & Discussion Thread
Jul 31, 2016 at 5:23 PM Post #378 of 1,112
I've been listening to the M5 on and off this weekend and have come up with a few impressions. First off, let me just say that this is a very relaxing DAP to listen to. Highs are extremely refined but not for lack of detail, mids are full but not congested and the bass is smooth with perhaps a touch of bloom similar to the Cayin C5 amp's bass response (no bass boost). The only other DAP I have on hand is my Shozy Alien Gold so I'll do a little comparing to that. Also, I want to state that the only headphone I currently have to listen with is the HiFiMAN RE-262 which I know quite well. I've used my JDS Labs C421 (AD8620) to make up for volume loss between the DAPs as the 262 is quite difficult to drive for an IEM. Anyways back to my thoughts. Highs, which are already pretty smooth on the Alien, are simply outdone by the M5. The M5 does an amazing job of staying on the right side of sibilance and vocals are an absolute treat. The presentation works great for vocals as well. Compared to the Alien, the soundstage is noticeably smaller and more intimate but also less forward giving way to that relaxing sound. Nothing is ever in your face and despite the soundstage not being huge, everything is well separated and as I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't worry about congestion in the slightest even with something as warm as the 262. Now that I mention the warmth of the DAP, I would agree with another member who called the sound more musical than warm if that makes sense. The Alien is a warm DAP without question. Everything just appears to be sprayed in gold so to speak, and the sound is sweet but in a way it sounds slightly artificial in comparison. The highs are sparklier on the Alien and the bass is more aggressive and textured but can appear as a more "forced" hifi sound next to the M5. The M5 has such a smoothness to it's sound that no particular frequency dominates making it coherent enough that one will end up listening to the music as a whole rather than picking out certain aspects and that in it's own right is noteworthy and quite the praise for a DAP. Although neither fit the bill for me personally when paired with the 262, both DAPs have their strengths and are some of the best at what they do.
 
I'll throw down a quick comparison to the M2 since I've owned that briefly before the M5. The overall feel of the sound is very similar between the two. Like others have mentioned, the M5 has more refined highs, a somewhat meatier bass response and more body to the mids. The M5 is also more powerful but I'm not finding it to be completely dominating the M2 in this respect. Perhaps more break in is needed for the sound to open up more. I'm not too much of a fan of bright sounds and even though the M2 is pretty good at limiting fatigue, the M5 is simply a master of the chill.
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Aug 2, 2016 at 5:08 AM Post #381 of 1,112
I'm not sure if anyone has confirmed this already or not, but the Shanling M5 DAC does work with a smartphone via an otg cable. At least in my case it does (Nexus 6p). This probably become possible AFTER the latest firmware update but I'm not sure because I never tried it prior to upgrading. Just in case anyone was wondering about this feature before purchasing. Not sure if it plays nice with Iphones or not, but confirmed for stock android at least. I was surprised. 
 
 
Aug 3, 2016 at 6:06 AM Post #384 of 1,112
Looks excellent
 
Aug 3, 2016 at 3:27 PM Post #387 of 1,112
The copper looks like a DAP my grandpa would use lol he was into colors of that sort. I like the black for the M5, the silver on my M2 looked a little "low-fi" so I switched it up.
 
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