[Shanachai]

Good to know, the N5II is $500.00 here so out of my price range, I suspect an N3 level DAP would be all I would consider from Cayin price wise. Shanling I would probably be willing to pay more like the M5S. Not thrilled Shanling is sticking with the scroll wheel which looks the same as the M0. I would like to find out what functions the 3 buttons control and if they are customizable . I can only hope version 2.0 of the MTouch OS is improved in terms of usability over 1.0 on M0. Bigger screen should help but I will need to demo this for sure so hoping it makes it way to my neck of the woods when released and doesn't get crazy price wise. It bums me out that the A55 is MIA this weekend as it could be really interesting if Sony makes the right improvements over the A45.

What would you consider as said improvements? In other words what would you consider as shortcomings of the A45? (I am also in the market for a new DAP).

 

[abitdeef]

Good to know, the N5II is $500.00 here so out of my price range, I suspect an N3 level DAP would be all I would consider from Cayin price wise. Shanling I would probably be willing to pay more like the M5S. Not thrilled Shanling is sticking with the scroll wheel which looks the same as the M0. I would like to find out what functions the 3 buttons control and if they are customizable . I can only hope version 2.0 of the MTouch OS is improved in terms of usability over 1.0 on M0. Bigger screen should help but I will need to demo this for sure so hoping it makes it way to my neck of the woods when released and doesn't get crazy price wise. It bums me out that the A55 is MIA this weekend as it could be really interesting if Sony makes the right improvements over the A45.

Totally agree, I’d like to see the A55 myself. I also Kickstarted the Hidiz AP80 because I looks like a mini ak100 sort of and uses same amp/dac as M0 which I like. Lots of new daps in the pike.

 

[maira]

In other words what would you consider as shortcomings of the A45?

Soundquality.

 

[fish1050]

What would you consider as said improvements? In other words what would you consider as shortcomings of the A45? (I am also in the market for a new DAP).

I demoed the A35 and found it a little short on power and the A45 is the same power wise. I can't get my hands on an A45 so it may be better than the A35 in some areas. If the rumored move to USB-C from the WM-Port is true that would be a big improvement, longer thinner design might make the A55 better to hold. Unless it improved significantly with the A45 the boot time on the A35 was dead slow. The M0 including the 3 second click to activate takes about 10 seconds by comparison to boot. Found the A35 a little sluggish though I understand the A45 is better.

Of course all this is speculation regarding the A55 but it has been claimed Sony is using some more efficient components which could bump up battery life. Since Sony has managed to improve the power output of each new design I would have to assume they would on the A55 as well, especially given the power they got out of the ZX300. A newer version of bluetooth, perhaps 5.0 which has some big improvements over 4.2 and lets face it at this point Sony will need to shake things up given what we are starting to see from other manufacturers in this price range. I really found the A45 a step back in terms of some features over my A17, less battery life, no audiobook or podcast support, less onboard memory for the money, slower boot time. Didn't really need MQA support or better EQ since I don't use it. The A35 did sound a little better than my A17 but it wasn't enough to justify the missing features from my A17 and spending another $300.00

Bottom line with each new redesign Sony brings more parts from the higher end models down to the A series so we should see some stuff found in the ZX300 make its way into the A50 series. There does not appear to be a new ZX or WM upgrade in the near future as Sony has only submitted the A50 series for FCC approval for this year and given the long delay between the ZX100 and ZX300 Sony does not upgrade the higher tier models as often as the A series. This is Sony's chance to really make the A50 stand out against the competition. I mean for less than half the price the M0 is no slouch compared to the A45 in many areas and with firmware upgrades could offer some features the A45 does not like replaygain and audiobook support. Nothing breeds innovation like competition

 

[Luke Thomas]

Is sony the leader in the dap market?

 

[maira]

Folks, this Thread is about the Shanling M5s!

 

[HungryPanda]

or rather mere speculation about the M5s

 

[endgame4]

399$ ? @Shanling

That would match the 3000 Chinese Yuan target I read about a while back (in post #160 of this thread).

 

[Luke Thomas]

Folks, this Thread is about the Shanling M5s!

Folks, this Thread is about the Shanling M5s!

Gotcha, but what else is there to discuss?

 

[paddler57]

Gotcha, but what else is there to discuss?

Because who ever mentions the alternatives to the discussed player and how it would fair? I mean, that never happens...

 

[Luke Thomas]

Because who ever mentions the alternatives to the discussed player and how it would fair? I mean, that never happens...

Because who ever mentions the alternatives to the discussed player and how it would fair? I mean, that never happens...

yes and nice to know all our options and competitors offerings

 

[Shanling]

Yeah I have to say I liked the sound quality of the Cayin N3, luke warm on the buttons and not the best screen for sure. They just released their flagship N8 but no word on the N3 thread about a pending upgrade to the N3. Looks like it will be wait and see into next year for next DAP. The Shanling M3S was never released in Canada so I am hoping it will not be the case for the M5S and I will get a chance to demo it at some point.

@Shanling any chance you can chime in on availability for the M5S in Canada and why M3S has not been released here? You can buy the M3 but not the M3S which makes no sense and amazon.ca wants over $800 for it. Seems Shanling's distribution still needs some work in Canada.

M3s was never released in Canada because distributor never decided to carry them.
Hoping it will be better with M5s.

That would match the 3000 Chinese Yuan target I read about a while back (in post #160 of this thread).

It's always tricky to balance Chinese and internationals prices, Chinese sellers are quite different from the rest of the world.

 

[silverfishla]

@Shanling Why does only the M2s have Coaxial output and not the M5s?

 

[Shanling]

@Shanling Why does only the M2s have Coaxial output and not the M5s?

M2s has no coaxial output. Old M2 has. Same as old M5.

 

[deniska80]

@Shanling
When are you planning to start the pre-order?
I want to be one of the first owners))