Shanling M8 Android Portable player

[tawmizzzz]

Excited to have a few days to demo the M8. Sadly it won't be burned-in so I'll give it a couple of days to warm up. But so far, off Turbo mode versus R8 turbo, a hint of more warmth and musicality in the bass and lower-midrange versus the R8's more technical upper-mids and lower-treble emphasis.

I imagine the staging here will open up over time, but pairing with Traillii so far is impressively musical. Brings mids forwards due to more intimate staging. Bass has good punch and rumble, although a bit "dirty" for now.

 

[szore]

Excited to have a few days to demo the M8. Sadly it won't be burned-in so I'll give it a couple of days to warm up. But so far, off Turbo mode versus R8 turbo, a hint of more warmth and musicality in the bass and lower-midrange versus the R8's more technical upper-mids and lower-treble emphasis.

I imagine the staging here will open up over time, but pairing with Traillii so far is impressively musical. Brings mids forwards due to more intimate staging. Bass has good punch and rumble, although a bit "dirty" for now.

Would like to hear impressions of the C9 too!

 

[Shanling]

Does the M8 unfold MQA on Tidal 8X? Would be most interested in the M8 if it does Tidal nicely...

Yes, M8 now supports 8x MQA.

@Shanling : I assume that there is no issue with QQ Music for the M8? That’s the other main use case for a DAP for me. Thanks

No problems with QQ music to my knowledge.

 

[Leviathant]

Latest issue I’m facing with this device.

- listening fine then the screen went black and wouldn’t come back on. Tried pressing all buttons, nothing.
- Hard reset
- screen is now on but lost all sound (tracks playing no sound). Random as hell!

To be honest this is the worst bit of audio gear I’ve ever come across in this hobby. Sound is good but so so so many bugs, and also feels so cheap in the hand (small issue). Very unimpressed so far. I might have to go back to my 6 year old laggy Sony ZX-2 which just exudes quality build and sound.

 

[subguy812]

Latest issue I’m facing with this device.

- listening fine then the screen went black and wouldn’t come back on. Tried pressing all buttons, nothing.
- Hard reset
- screen is now on but lost all sound (tracks playing no sound). Random as hell!

To be honest this is the worst bit of audio gear I’ve ever come across in this hobby. Sound is good but so so so many bugs, and also feels so cheap in the hand (small issue). Very unimpressed so far. I might have to go back to my 6 year old laggy Sony ZX-2 which just exudes quality build and sound.

Sometimes its just best to have to part ways, like I did with the Hiby R8.

 

[szore]

Latest issue I’m facing with this device.

- listening fine then the screen went black and wouldn’t come back on. Tried pressing all buttons, nothing.
- Hard reset
- screen is now on but lost all sound (tracks playing no sound). Random as hell!

To be honest this is the worst bit of audio gear I’ve ever come across in this hobby. Sound is good but so so so many bugs, and also feels so cheap in the hand (small issue). Very unimpressed so far. I might have to go back to my 6 year old laggy Sony ZX-2 which just exudes quality build and sound.

Maybe you just got a lemon, can you exchange it for a new one?

 

[RTodd]

Latest issue I’m facing with this device.

- listening fine then the screen went black and wouldn’t come back on. Tried pressing all buttons, nothing.
- Hard reset
- screen is now on but lost all sound (tracks playing no sound). Random as hell!

To be honest this is the worst bit of audio gear I’ve ever come across in this hobby. Sound is good but so so so many bugs, and also feels so cheap in the hand (small issue). Very unimpressed so far. I might have to go back to my 6 year old laggy Sony ZX-2 which just exudes quality build and sound.

Must be a lemon, never had any issues like you describe. Surprised this unit made it out of quality control. Hope you can return it, and get your cash back, or at a min a proper unit.

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Anyone know if this is compatible with a 1Tb MicroSD card? Anyone have any opinions on a descent SD card, im looking for something under $250?

 

[szore]

Anyone know if this is compatible with a 1Tb MicroSD card? Anyone have any opinions on a descent SD card, im looking for something under $250?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...qxa1_1t00_an6ma_extreme_microsd_1tb_card.html

You're welcome.

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Just received my Shanling M8...absolutely superb! On par with A&K SPK2000. Blows my A&K SP1000M away! Perfect balance between technicalities and musicality. Deep, rich, layered bass. Smooth, detailed top end. Excellent EQ...Dynamic, perfect timber... this is a WINNER, folks!

Congratulations to the Shanling team for delivering the goods!

Do you have both the Shanling M8 as well as the A&K SP2000? How do you feel they compare? If I already own an M8 is it worthwhile to buy a SP2000 or are they so similar that it would be redundant to purchase the SP2000 ?

 

[RTodd]

Anyone know if this is compatible with a 1Tb MicroSD card? Anyone have any opinions on a descent SD card, im looking for something under $250?

I have been using 1TB no issues.
SanDisk and Kingston both worked for me in the M8.
If you can wait for a sale to get a good price, and use a smaller card in the meantime.

On a 1TB card you can have literally thousands of hours of tunes, no way you will listen to that many hours before a sale.

1TB = 1,000,000MB
A FLAC consumes 5MB per minute
200,000 minutes = 3,333 hours
3,333 hours = 138 days

Reduce this by 75% if you want to store a mix of formats including larger HD file formats, still over 34 full 24 hour days.

 

[SMOoth Operator]

I had the dx220 max,I had the 1Z too in the past, now I have both M8 and the SP2000CU, first impressions is a very organic sound Dap, I only listen for 5 minuts, for my personal taste I perfer it to the Max, compared to the sp2k is very soon to make conclusions, I loved the 1Z but one of the things that I wasn't 100% satisfied was the output power for more hard cans, I think this is a turbo charged powered 1Z, after 5 minuts and without burn in I find this Dap top class

Any comparisons between the M8 and SP2000 would be appreciated. If I already have an M8 should I buy a SP2000? Or are they so close that buying an SP2000 would be redundant?

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Mine should be delivered today if all goes well.
Question : Is there a difference between android mode and prime mode sound wise using the shanling player?
Also has anyone played around the lowpass filters and found any difference?. favourite?

There is a big difference between a Low Pass Filter and A DAC Filter. They are not even close to being the same thing.

 

[szore]

Any comparisons between the M8 and SP2000 would be appreciated. If I already have an M8 should I buy a SP2000? Or are they so close that buying an SP2000 would be redundant?

I had the 2000 copper. The 2000 has better soundstage and more air but the.m8 has.more detail and musicality. Thats the bottom line...

edit: (IMHO).

 

[JSBachFan]

Anyone know if this is compatible with a 1Tb MicroSD card?

I had issues with a specific Sandisk 1TB card. But there was a solution. Please check page 143.