And this is without the 100+ hours burn in!!So, M8 landed last night and I’ve spent the day getting to know it and trying it with a few IEM’s. I have to say, this is a fantastic sounding DAP and pairs up incredible well with most of the IEM’s I’ve tried so far.
Starting off with the Campfire Andromeda MW10, I can comfortably say that this is the best DAP I’ve ever heard with an Andromeda, period. Firstly, there is zero hiss, so it passes the main big hurdle when it comes to driving an Andromeda lol. Secondly, the bass. If you think an Andromeda can’t do good bass, well, you’ve obviously never heard it with an M8! I am hearing a fantastic sub bass leaning bass response with fast and clean mid-bass hits that are fully satisfying my inner basshead desires. The black background is helping the Andromeda show off it’s technical chops and imaging capabilities in all their glory. As usual with Andromeda, there’s loads of treble sparkle and air. Mids sound lush, full and detailed. If you own an Andromeda MW10, do yourself a favour and pick up an M8. You won’t be disappointed.
Moving to the Vision Ears Elysium, and now I fully understand why @Rockwell75 has been harping on about this pair up for the last few months. There is definitely some magic going on here. Like the Andromeda, the elevated bass response from M8 works wonders for Ely and I would be genuinely surprised if anyone thought Ely was bass light if they heard it driven with an M8. Now, I’ve heard Ely with even heavier bass from my Sony DMP-Z1, however the M8 is very close and I think in an overall sense, it sounds better with M8 than DMP-Z1. The added thickness and warmth in the mids from M8 brings out all that emotion that Ely is made to reproduce, and there’s enough treble excitement to keep the balance in check.
When I switched from MW10 to Ely, I thought it wouldn’t get better than this. But then I plugged in the Erlkonig, and hot damn, this M8 is now operating on a whole new level. The Erlkonig and M8 pair up is quite possibly one of the best synergies I’ve experienced in this hobby. I’ve mentioned this on the VE thread that I think Erlky really shines with a warm source (exception being the dx220 Max. No idea why that pair up was so good, but it was haha) and hearing it with M8 has doubled down on that impression. Vocals with Erlky and M8 are downright haunting and I’ve struggled to tear these away from my ears all day. Incredible.
Lastly I tried Traillii and I was expecting big things from this combo after reading a few other impressions, however I have to say that I wasn’t particularly impressed with this pair up. Don’t get me wrong, the bird sounds great out of basically anything, but I have heard the bird sing out of SP2000 and DMP-Z1 which sounds a fair bit better to my ears. The bass is very addictive, and the treble sounds fantastic, but the mids just don’t sound right to me with M8. I hear a bit of recession overall, and there’s a bit of dryness in the upper mids that loses a lot of the engagement factor that I’m used to with Traillii. I’ll try a couple of different cables and see if that helps at all. Oh well, can’t win them all I guess.
Overall, I am loving the M8 and it has made a hugely positive first impression on day 1. I’ll continue to try other IEM’s and report back over the next few weeks
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Shanling M8 Android Portable player
- Thread starter Shanling
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- shanling shanling m8
Does it change much after burn-in in your experience?And this is without the 100+ hours burn in!!
I think I appreciated some expansion in stage over the first 10-50 hours. Very hard to say though, given how awesome it sounded from the start.