Shanling M3X Portable Lossless Digital Audio Player & USB DAC

Product Information

The M3X has all the connectivity options as any other android device. After the usual wired connectivity you can connect it to your PC via the USB cable and use it as a DAC too (Shanling PC app needed). In some ways, Shanling became a much better company after splitting from Hiby, but not because Hiby wasn’t great, but because Hiby offers a more limited support to their partners, compared to the support they can offer for their own DAPs.

In my opinion, if you are looking for a DAP that is warm-neutral, with full forward mids, snappy bass, and airy treble, the Shanling M3X Limited Edition should definitely be considered.Shanling M3X vs Shanling M2X (340 USD vs 220 USD) – The sound of M3X is much more open, forward, and has more life. M2X had little driving power, but that is not a problem on M3X, it can drive a ton of heavy headphones on Balanced, and M3X is what I would like to call a great offer at a great price. M2X is still nice and sweet, but a bit limited, and the way Android is implemented on M3X makes it a far better option if you’re into Tidal. You do get MQA as a bonus, and while I still don’t strongly support it, I do think it is a great idea to test MQA and make an opinion for yourself on whether you like it or not. I am an adept of critical thinking, so please also take all my works with a grain of salt, I do spend at least a month with every product, as per review policy, but that can’t compare to some things that are really important to you and you only, like certain features that are core for your usage. There is more and more software and hardware supporting this licensed codec and the M3X is considered one of the more advanced MQA streaming players in the market right now. Part 3 - Sound Configuration Settings​Here is where I describe the sound differences between different outputs, lowpass filters, gain modes, and DAC modes.

All tests are done using the balanced mode and linear phase fast roll-off filter aka the factory default. With Dual DAC on, you get better detail retrieval, better separation, more resolution, crispier notes. Battery life​Shanling claims 23 hours from single ended, 20 hours from the single ended dual DAC mode and 19 hour via balanced. I didn’t attempt to run the device through a full 19 hours to see where it ended up but it did make through my normal work day via the balanced output with 60-ish percent left by the end of the day. I would assume that the claimed battery life times are fairly correct.I also own an Astell & Kern Kann which in terms of "multimedia" offers much less even if it belongs to a much higher price range than M3X. With full Android and all the advanced features, of course, we are able to hook this DAP up to other USB devices. Like what we have experienced on the M8 and M6 series, there aren’t any issues connecting to other USB devices also no sudden volume changes or pops that will make you jump. At the bottom of the DAP, the M3X hosts a USB/DAC port as well as a single micro SD card slot (supporting up to 2TB of storage). DAC ใหม่ใน M3X มาพร้อมกับการรองรับฮาร์ดแวร์แบบเนทีฟ ที่รองรับเทคโนโลยี MQA ซึ่งช่วยให้รองรับการเล่น MQA ได้อย่างเต็มที่ถึง 16x rendering เพื่อรับประโยชน์สูงสุดจากการเล่นเพลงสตรีมของคุณ MQA (Master Quality Authenticated)

impressed if we remember the price range of this DAP. I also liked the focus, present but always pleasantly soft and tending to warm. The sound in general is however in its totality quite neutral with (as already mentioned) a tendency to warm always pleasant and never over the top.Before the detailed sound breakdown, I want to tell you that the difference between the bal. and unbal. output is bigger than I thought it would be. I am using the same cable with the same earphones and hearing much better layering and a wider, deeper soundstage from the balanced output. The single-end sounds somewhat linear, somewhat compressed compared to the balanced and the difference is not negligible. Features: 16x MQA unfolding, Bluetooth both ways, AirPlay, Wifi… You name it, the M3X Limited has it. However, I find that the WiFi here takes a bit longer than expected to connect to 5Ghz Wifi bands. Do keep that in mind as I find it annoying at times.