Shanling UP4 & UP2 - Bluetooth 5.0 DAC/AMP with ES9218P, balanced output, supporting LDAC, HWA LHDC, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, aptX and AAC.

[Shanling]

I was planning to get the UP2... My requirements are low, just YouTube music from my Poco X3 phone to a pair of KZ ZS10 Pro...
That's why I spent the past few nights reading through all 80+ pages of this thread... Lol.... Now I regret if I should've done so or not.
I just wanted something simple that works when I switch it on... Not interested to tinker with all the settings and stuff... Just a reliable Bluetooth connection and decent sound quality.
Is it me or these products seems to have lots of intermittent issues? Or could it be those who had posted here are the minority who came in because they happen to encounter issues and the rest of the silent majority are good with it?
I'm not a techie so I'll be dead if significant troubleshooting is required just to get things working. Especially when the after sales policies from online purchases are generally crap, if u know what I'm saying... It's almost a buy and hope for the best scenario...

There were few firmware updates to UP2, so it's working quite bit better now.

If you are not interested in tinkering with settings, just pair it with your phone and you should be good to go.

And we have good sellers around the world, for example in Singapore it's Jaben. They will provide you with better customer support than random seller on Aliexpress.

 

[BenF]

There were few firmware updates to UA2, so it's working quite bit better now.

If you are not interested in tinkering with settings, just pair it with your phone and you should be good to go.

And we have good sellers around the world, for example in Singapore it's Jaben. They will provide you with better customer support than random seller on Aliexpress.

Do you mean UA2 or UP2? I don't see any firmware updates for UA2.

 

[Budgetconstraint]

There were few firmware updates to UA2, so it's working quite bit better now.

If you are not interested in tinkering with settings, just pair it with your phone and you should be good to go.

And we have good sellers around the world, for example in Singapore it's Jaben. They will provide you with better customer support than random seller on Aliexpress.

Thanks

 

[senorbroom]

Hi Shanling, could you please provide some guidance on which USB-C cables allowing charging and to use as a DAC on a Macbook? My new M1 Macbook only has USB-C ports and I've tried three USB-C to USB-C cables with the UP2 recognising none of them. I've tried a UGreen cable (https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07PLX342V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and a Samsung USB-C cable that came with their T2 SSD. If I try the Samsung USB-A to USB-C cable that came with the T2 SSD then I am able to charge from an iPad 12w charger.

I can imagine that it won't accept charging from a high-powered wall adapter but I don't understand why it isn't working with a Macbook port.

 

[Shanling]

Do you mean UA2 or UP2? I don't see any firmware updates for UA2.

Oh, I meant UP2.

Hi Shanling, could you please provide some guidance on which USB-C cables allowing charging and to use as a DAC on a Macbook? My new M1 Macbook only has USB-C ports and I've tried three USB-C to USB-C cables with the UP2 recognising none of them. I've tried a UGreen cable (https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07PLX342V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and a Samsung USB-C cable that came with their T2 SSD. If I try the Samsung USB-A to USB-C cable that came with the T2 SSD then I am able to charge from an iPad 12w charger.

I can imagine that it won't accept charging from a high-powered wall adapter but I don't understand why it isn't working with a Macbook port.

Sorry,we never tested Macbooks with our devices.
For charging, we recommend to use only chargers with USB-A output.

 

[dougms3]

Is there any plan to release an upgrade to the UP4 or maybe a higher tier device using the es9219c or other dac?

I have the up4 and the dual es9218 dacs are rock solid and performance is excellent but if there were an "up6" or "up8" lets say , with a higher end dac ... I'd buy it.

 

[senorbroom]

Oh, I meant UP2.

Sorry,we never tested Macbooks with our devices.
For charging, we recommend to use only chargers with USB-A output.

So you advertise it working as a driver-free plug-and-play USB-C amplifier (taken from https://en.shanling.com/product/239 - the product is even being promoted sitting on top of a MacBook) but you never actually tested it? Your website even says “easy connection with any USB-C cable” which is patently untrue.

I’ve worked out that if I plug an Apple male USB-C to female USB-A dongle and then plug the supplied USB-C to USB-C cable in then I am able to use it to charge and also as a DAC. Could you please ask one of your engineers to investigate why this is or otherwise stop promoting the product with something it can’t do.

 

[dougms3]

So you advertise it working as a driver-free plug-and-play USB-C amplifier (taken from https://en.shanling.com/product/239 - the product is even being promoted sitting on top of a MacBook) but you never actually tested it? Your website even says “easy connection with any USB-C cable” which is patently untrue.

I’ve worked out that if I plug an Apple male USB-C to female USB-A dongle and then plug the supplied USB-C to USB-C cable in then I am able to use it to charge and also as a DAC. Could you please ask one of your engineers to investigate why this is or otherwise stop promoting the product with something it can’t do.

I find it curious you completed evaded the fact that it could be an Apple problem, which most of the time it is. Apple, if you didn't know, is the type of company that will try to intentionally make non-Apple branded products incompatible with their crap so you have to spend more money on their brand.

While there are some minor issues with this device, just be glad theres a place for you to ask questions and receive support directly from the company on a public forum. Shanling has been around since the 1980s and are a very reputable company. Lets be civil and not act like an entitled douche that expects world class service because they're a prime member.

Or you could goto the Apple store with this problem and a moron that knows less than you from the "genius" bar, will most likely give you the finger with a smile and condescending tone of voice then make you wait 3 hours and tell you, you need a new macbook.

 

[Shanling]

Is there any plan to release an upgrade to the UP4 or maybe a higher tier device using the es9219c or other dac?

I have the up4 and the dual es9218 dacs are rock solid and performance is excellent but if there were an "up6" or "up8" lets say , with a higher end dac ... I'd buy it.

Yes, there is something new coming in the UP line

So you advertise it working as a driver-free plug-and-play USB-C amplifier (taken from https://en.shanling.com/product/239 - the product is even being promoted sitting on top of a MacBook) but you never actually tested it? Your website even says “easy connection with any USB-C cable” which is patently untrue.

I’ve worked out that if I plug an Apple male USB-C to female USB-A dongle and then plug the supplied USB-C to USB-C cable in then I am able to use it to charge and also as a DAC. Could you please ask one of your engineers to investigate why this is or otherwise stop promoting the product with something it can’t do.

Ok, so it seems it has some problem recognizing USB-C port on your M1 Macbook. Good to know that the adapter and using original cable works.

 

[dougms3]

Are you able to share the release date or when you will announce the release date?

Perhaps a preview or premonition of what is to come?

If we guess, can you tell us if its correct?

I'll go first, Quad es9038 dac with 30 hour battery life in half the size of the UP4 and it has a button thats shoots out a rainbow into the night sky like the bat signal when you need customer support.

 

[Holger Weiß]

For what it's worth:

So you advertise it working as a driver-free plug-and-play USB-C amplifier

That's how it works for me on several systems (including Linux).

 

[cel4145]

ASR's review of the UP4 is out. Amir said he could not get the unit to switch gain modes when used with windows as a DAC. Is this normal?

 

[holsen]

ASR's review of the UP4 is out. Amir said he could not get the unit to switch gain modes when used with windows as a DAC. Is this normal?

You switch gain modes with the with iOS or Android Controller App. All settings are changed and controlled with the companion controller app.

 

[cel4145]

You switch gain modes with the with iOS or Android Controller App. All settings are changed and controlled with the companion controller app.

You can switch gain mode on the device itself without using an app.

So you're saying that functionality is not possible in Windows?

 

[senorbroom]

I find it curious you completed evaded the fact that it could be an Apple problem, which most of the time it is. Apple, if you didn't know, is the type of company that will try to intentionally make non-Apple branded products incompatible with their crap so you have to spend more money on their brand.

While there are some minor issues with this device, just be glad theres a place for you to ask questions and receive support directly from the company on a public forum. Shanling has been around since the 1980s and are a very reputable company. Lets be civil and not act like an entitled douche that expects world class service because they're a prime member.

Or you could goto the Apple store with this problem and a moron that knows less than you from the "genius" bar, will most likely give you the finger with a smile and condescending tone of voice then make you wait 3 hours and tell you, you need a new macbook.

I began by asking a simple question: which is the best USB-C cable to use? I received the answer “we don’t test on MacBooks” (despite the fact the product is promoted as working on MacBooks). That’s not support. Yes, it potentially could be an Apple problem. If it’s an Apple problem it means the device is not plug-and-play for Apple devices and they should stop advertising it as such.

My main criticism is how incurious they are about it. I went looking for answers earlier in the thread and found examples of early users realising they were unable to charge from USB-C adapters. Shanling just shrugged their shoulders and said “use the supplied USB-A cable”. With the entire industry shifting towards USB-C ports and chargers don’t you think that attitude is a bit short-sighted? I just want to know why because then I can hopefully find a solution.

What is working:

• UP2 charges from Apple 5w charger (USB-A cable)
• UP2 charges from Ultimate Ears/Apple 12w charger (USB-A cable)
• UP2 charges from and works as DAC from Intel MacBook (USB-A cable)
• UP2 charges from and works as DAC from M1 MacBook (USB-A cable —> adapter —> USB-C port)

What is not working:

• UP2 unable to charge from USB-C chargers (USB-C cable)
• UP2 unable to charge/connect with M1 MacBook (USB-C cable)

I’m not an engineer but if I had to guess I’d say the UP2 is set to only expect a small amount of power and lacks the ability to negotiate a lower power delivery rate using USB-C. When it receives a USB-C cable input directly the high amount of power means it triggers some safety mechanism and won’t turn on. Does this sound about right, Shanling? Is this something you’re able to fix for future versions of your devices?