[Shanling]

so i used m m8 around 5 hours today, firmware 1.5 (newest).
apps: tidal, qobuz, uapp
result: absolutely no problems at all... i just relaxed and enjoyed a wonderful day with my empyrean and fiio fh7. what a great player.
of course, i may need an additional 50 hours to realize that i don't like this and that nitty-gritty things.
however, for the first handful of hours... i am very impressed and more than happy with it.

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but i would have 1 question already now:
fiio uses high and low gain + in ear and over ear mode
shanling hasn't this separation, only 3 different gains:
3 gains in balanced mode:

• Low Gain: 71mw@32Ω
• High Gain:184mW@32Ω
• Turbo Gain: 840mW@32Ω

what is the right mode for my 1) meze empyrean and 2) Fiio fh7
how can i "calculate" the right mode? i was not able to find a "right" solution.
so to be on the sure side, i left ot low on the fiio fh7 iem and on high gain for the meze empyrean. but i read somewhere that the meze empyrean would actually welcome the turbo gain.

thank you.

for the iem: low = good volume level at 50%
for over ear: high = need to make 80-85% to achieve what fiio m15 makes with about 50% (over ear mode) --> i need the turbo mode to achieve the same level of volume as with the m15.

Names for Gain settings are arbitrary. We could call it Tiny, Miniscule, Small and Gargantuan, it's meaningless and have no connection to how other manufacturers call their gain settings.

My recommendation: Set the gain setting in such a way, that it gives you accurate enough volume setting for the headphones you are currently using. For example for IEMs, I prefer lowest gain setting, just so I can set volume to exactly the ideal level.

In Settings, you can limit maximum volume level, just in case you are afraid that you might set the volume too high by accident.

 

[ImMcLovin]

Names for Gain settings are arbitrary. We could call it Tiny, Miniscule, Small and Gargantuan, it's meaningless and have no connection to how other manufacturers call their gain settings.

My recommendation: Set the gain setting in such a way, that it gives you accurate enough volume setting for the headphones you are currently using. For example for IEMs, I prefer lowest gain setting, just so I can set volume to exactly the ideal level.

In Settings, you can limit maximum volume level, just in case you are afraid that you might set the volume too high by accident.

Just to add, I do notice sonic differences or at least it seems that way between the gains so I choose whichever one pairs with IEM I am listening to. With IEMs, I go High or Turbo

 

[szore]

Latley I have been listening to low gain and higher volume on my IEMs.

 

[WDitters]

Question to the round.. Just out of curiosity...

Wondering what the concensus is about burn-in. The device I bought has roughly 40-70h on the clock using 2.5mm balanced and 3.5mm single-ended.. I however will only use the 4.4mm connector

So question 1 would be how many hours is generally considered to be a good period for burn-in of the M8 and question 2 would be whether those connectors individually also contain electronics that would benefit from burn-in?

Disclaimer: I am aware of the discussions about whether or not burning-in has any effect at all. So let's not go there

 

[szore]

Question to the round.. Just out of curiosity...

Wondering what the concensus is about burn-in. The device I bought has roughly 40-70h on the clock using 2.5mm balanced and 3.5mm single-ended.. I however will only use the 4.4mm connector

So question 1 would be how many hours is generally considered to be a good period for burn-in of the M8 and question 2 would be whether those connectors individually also contain electronics that would benefit from burn-in?

Disclaimer: I am aware of the discussions about whether or not burning-in has any effect at all. So let's not go there

I put over 100 hours of burn in on the M8. I had it, then months later I had a problem so they did a warranty exchange. When I got the new unit it was clearly 'looser' and not as tight and polished. I had the benefit of burning in one unit, then letting the second unit burn in naturally, so I have seen both. Plus when i got the new unit, it was easy to see the effects of burn in on the other unit. Burn in is a thing, don't let anyone tell you different. If you cannot hear the difference, then just don't worry about it!

 

[kleimart]

Has anybody combined the M8 with the Cayin C9?

 

[szore]

Has anybody combined the M8 with the Cayin C9?

check with @Whitigir

 

[kazekai]

@Shanling , any chance M8 will be updated to Android 8 or 9 so that streaming apps have a longer longevity?

 

[WDitters]

@Shanling , any chance M8 will be updated to Android 8 or 9 so that streaming apps have a longer longevity?

I have seen Snapdragon 430 devices supporting up to Android 8.1. Not sure about compatibility with newer versions of Android though.

 

[kumar402]

I am enjoying Shanling M3X a lot and I can only imagine how good M8 would sound with AKM chip and Shanling house tuning. However I only worry about the Android version on it. It’s an expensive DAP and I just wonder why is it on older android. I can understand that decision with M3X as it’s an entry level DAP but M8 is among flagships. Any specific reason behind 7.1

 

[kazekai]

I have seen Snapdragon 430 devices supporting up to Android 8.1. Not sure about compatibility with newer versions of Android though.

I hope @Shanling bump it up to at least Android 8

 

[Shanling]

I am enjoying Shanling M3X a lot and I can only imagine how good M8 would sound with AKM chip and Shanling house tuning. However I only worry about the Android version on it. It’s an expensive DAP and I just wonder why is it on older android. I can understand that decision with M3X as it’s an entry level DAP but M8 is among flagships. Any specific reason behind 7.1

I hope @Shanling bump it up to at least Android 8

Unfortunately right not we do not expect any Android upgrade for our 430 CPU based DAPs. It's out of capabilities of our software team.

 

[Twjones]

If the software team is truly incapable of updating the M8 to a newer Android platform, I would get a new software team I imagine the reality is that it is too low a priority for Shanling, which I would understand, but lament as a customer. I appreciate knowing, though, that an update is not in the cards.

 

[WDitters]

If the software team is truly incapable of updating the M8 to a newer Android platform, I would get a new software team I imagine the reality is that it is too low a priority for Shanling, which I would understand, but lament as a customer. I appreciate knowing, though, that an update is not in the cards.

There's always a risk that application developers bump minimum OS requirements for their apps to a higher Android level. As an example that's what happened with the Shure Aonic companion app, They suddenly went from Android 7 to Android 8....

Of course one could argue that the M8 just became end of life .. But I am not sure that all (recent) M8 customers would appreciate it if Tidal Qobuz and/or Apple HD suddenly would bump their minimum OS requirements to Android 8 or even 9 next week .... Especially not if (like what happened with Tidal recently) they would also change the login methods in the process / simultaneously ... That would suddenly cut off streaming functionality from the M8. For Tidal and Qobuz there would still be an alternative, UAPP. But what about Deezer HD? Apple HD? Amazon HD?

But then again that's (luckily) still a hypothetical situation. I just bought my M8 two weeks ago. I will keep my fingers crossed that such a scenario does not occur ...

 

[ClicketEKlack]

If that were to happen (no more streaming), I would sadly place my M8 in the trash and never buy another DAP ever again