[newtophones07]

I agree the form factor in the hand is perfect.

I am stuck between the Shaning M6 and the Hiby Pro 6.
Has anyone listened to both ?
I see above the Shaning M6 is similar to the older Hiby 6 so i am guessing the new Hiby Pro 6 is better than the Shaning M6.
Thoughts anyone ?
Looking to buy in the next 2 weeks.
My old dap that i have sold was the Fiio X7 and i loved that but wanted something new.

R6 Pro is way more powerful, a bit brighter (going off memory), more energetic if that makes sense, my device had noise (emi and background hiss), the R6 OS software is little more refined and it is 64-bit, mainly due to the Android OS version.

The M6 has better midrange, bass is quicker, better battery life, better form factor, better bluetooth and wireless strength, no noise, still needs some software updates imo.

The AK chips do have a different feel and sound to them, they can sound smooth, so take that into account if you loved the X7 (which is an older ess chip). So you may want to stick with the ess analytical sound.

Both are snappy in the UI, so that is a draw. Good luck.

 

[jacko5]

Many thanks for the above.
I may go for the Hiby R6 Pro as i like rock and trance music so that may suit me.
I listen with Shure SE535 Red in ear earphones.
Wifi wise i am within 50 feet or so.
I must admit the hiss/backgroung noise of the Hiby R6 Pro does worry me.
Will have to have a good think as any could be a £500 to £600 mistake.

 

[davidcotton]

Many thanks for the above.
I may go for the Hiby R6 Pro as i like rock and trance music so that may suit me.
I listen with Shure SE535 Red in ear earphones.
Wifi wise i am within 50 feet or so.
I must admit the hiss/backgroung noise of the Hiby R6 Pro does worry me.
Will have to have a good think as any could be a £500 to £600 mistake.

Just buy the r6 pro from amazon uk and return it if you don't like it.

 

[jacko5]

Just buy the r6 pro from amazon uk and return it if you don't like it.

True i could do that.
I can get the Hiby R6 Pro Stainless Steel version for £465 with discounts via Ali Express ( and hope it gets through customs without to much duty ).
That version is £799 on Amazon UK.
Will have a think as what to do.
Cheers for the info everyone.

 

[Shanling]

Our Chinese New Year holidays starts today. We will be out of office until February 3rd.


During this time, our communication will be significantly limited. We apologize for delay in replying to your posts and messages.


We wish you a happy year of the Rat.

 

[KarlAgathon]

True i could do that.
I can get the Hiby R6 Pro Stainless Steel version for £465 with discounts via Ali Express ( and hope it gets through customs without to much duty ).
That version is £799 on Amazon UK.
Will have a think as what to do.
Cheers for the info everyone.

The R6 Pro is pure power personified

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Anyone compare M6 with Hiby R5?

 

[nmatheis]

Anyone compare M6 with Hiby R5?

I haven't yet, but I'm considering doing a trade with an old headfi buddy who just purchased an R5 so we can each do an A/B comparison and see which we prefer. For myself, I'm already highly impressed with the smooth, warm-ish, enveloping sound of my M6. The descriptions I've heard of the R6 make me happy with the decision to go with M6 over R5 which is described as having a colder sound signature that also somehow lacks upper extension.

BTW, the Shanling app sounds really good to my ears. Hoping they implement gapless and faster library indexing soon!

Cons for the M6 are size, lack of full feature set on their Shanling app, totally meh screen protectors, no case included, and only one micro SD slot. It also has much lower battery life than my non-Android DAPs, but that seems a common "feature" of Android-based DAPs.

However the sound makes up for the shortcomings so far.

I do wonder how AQ Dragonfly Red or Cobalt sound in comparison. I remember Anyone Dragonfly Red sounding very similar to the original Cayin N5 which was very impressive for such a small device! Does anyone have both M6 and one of those Dragonfly DACs?

 

[battosai]

 

[EagleWings]

Okay some initial thoughts on the M6:

Hardware and UI:
- The DAP is huge for a $500 DAP. Almost as big as the WM1A. In my experience, most DAPs appear larger in the pictures, but end up being smaller in person. M6 is just the opposite.
- The screen protector was another disaster. It is more like a transparent skin than a screen protector
- UI is okayish. Not as refined as my R6. I don't understand the need for the Snapdragon 430 and 4GB of RAM here, when R6 does a better job with Snapdragon 425 and 3GB RAM
- Its a gesture based UI and it works 8/10 times. But in 2020, 8/10 is unacceptable, especially when other DAP manufacturers are offering better Android experience
- I loved the M2X for its usability. But so far, the M6 has been quite an opposite experience
- The volume wheel seems quite easy to use and so are the buttons on the other side. Buttons are large, easy to identify blindly and have a nice tactile click
- But I do like that it has both 2.5mm and 4.4mm Bal
- Also like the fact that the M6 uses a concealed micro-SD card slot. I hate the SIM-tray like slot on the Hiby R6, as well as the completely open slot on the Cayin N8. This is a very simple design feature but goes a long way on the long term use

Sound:
- Sound quality is very good for a $500 DAP
- The tone is on the neutral-warm/neutral-smooth side
- Separation, stage and other technical aspects, as expected for a $500 DAP
- No weird forward placement or 3-blob effect, when it comes to the stage and presentation
- Performance is on the same level as my Hiby R6 SS
- The tone and timbre is less digital on the M6 when compared to the R6
- R6 is a bit more dynamic sounding, more impactful with its bass hits and is bit more articulate with its notes
- In that sense M6 exhibits a sense of softness
- M6 seems to have a darker blackground and also seems to be have less haze compared to R6. Need to test further to confirm this though
- This DAP would pair well with bright/energetic/aggressive sounding IEMs

TL;DR: I like the sound and I wish the device was smaller and had a better Android experience

 

[thesheik137]

Okay some initial thoughts on the M6:

Hardware and UI:
- The DAP is huge for a $500 DAP. Almost as big as the WM1A. In my experience, most DAPs appear larger in the pictures, but end up being smaller in person. M6 is just the opposite.
- The screen protector was another disaster. It is more like a transparent skin than a screen protector
- UI is okayish. Not as refined as my R6. I don't understand the need for the Snapdragon 430 and 4GB of RAM here, when R6 does a better job with Snapdragon 425 and 3GB RAM
- Its a gesture based UI and it works 8/10 times. But in 2020, 8/10 is unacceptable, especially when other DAP manufacturers are offering better Android experience
- I loved the M2X for its usability. But so far, the M6 has been quite an opposite experience
- The volume wheel seems quite easy to use and so are the buttons on the other side. Buttons are large, easy to identify blindly and have a nice tactile click
- But I do like that it has both 2.5mm and 4.4mm Bal
- Also like the fact that the M6 uses a concealed micro-SD card slot. I hate the SIM-tray like slot on the Hiby R6, as well as the completely open slot on the Cayin N8. This is a very simple design feature but goes a long way on the long term use

Sound:
- Sound quality is very good for a $500 DAP
- The tone is on the neutral-warm/neutral-smooth side
- Separation, stage and other technical aspects, as expected for a $500 DAP
- No weird forward placement or 3-blob effect, when it comes to the stage and presentation
- Performance is on the same level as my Hiby R6 SS
- The tone and timbre is less digital on the M6 when compared to the R6
- R6 is a bit more dynamic sounding, more impactful with its bass hits and is bit more articulate with its notes
- In that sense M6 exhibits a sense of softness
- M6 seems to have a darker blackground and also seems to be have less haze compared to R6. Need to test further to confirm this though
- This DAP would pair well with bright/energetic/aggressive sounding IEMs

TL;DR: I like the sound and I wish the device was smaller and had a better Android experience

Too soon for my own impressions, but I think we definitely align a lot regarding the sound. However, on the UI, I find the performance better/smoother than my experiences with Hiby R6Pro, R5 or Cayin N6ii. Obviously there are many variables that affect this so people's experiences will vary. On gesture control, I'm not a fan either, but switching to the navigation button has made things a lot better. It's rather intuitive and easy to get used to.

And yes, the screen protector is an absolute joke, but whatever.

 

[newtophones07]

@EagleWings

Nice initial review. I agree on the smooth representation, and the spot on black background. This device has no noise at all. This DAP reminds me eerily of my wm1a, in a good way. They UI is very snappy to me, the hiccups are due to design choice, to use gestures.

A navigation bar and maybe a home button, would have been preferable imo.

100% agree on matching headphone/iem gear. I may pick up a campfire set, I bet the would go perfect with the M6.

 

[battosai]

While I mostly agree with the last few comments, there's one thing that we should emphasize more, it's the wireless connectivity. That's the main reason why I wanted to upgrade my R6 and sure enough, the Wi-Fi on the M6 is on another level. Overall very happy with the purchase and I am sure it will get better over time!

 

[EagleWings]

On gesture control, I'm not a fan either, but switching to the navigation button has made things a lot better. It's rather intuitive and easy to get used to.

Thank you. Btw, where is the setting for changing to the buttons instead of gestures? I tried looking under Display settings and I couldn’t find it.

While I mostly agree with the last few comments, there's one thing that we should emphasize more, it's the wireless connectivity. That's the main reason why I wanted to upgrade my R6 and sure enough, the Wi-Fi on the M6 is on another level. Overall very happy with the purchase and I am sure it will get better over time!

That’s a fair statement. M6 does have a significantly better WiFi performance over the R6.

 

[battosai]

You need to use an app for the soft keys. Problem is that it is only an overlay and it doesn't resize the screen so anything you need to touch on the bottom of the screen is kinda difficult to touch. I can make the soft keys disappear but that requires a very precise swap...