Aune M1s – Balance, Detail & Value
Website: Aune
Full
details and specifications can be found here
Price (MSRP): U$D 250.
Available
from Auneaudio store and Venture Electronics (Veclan)
The Aune M1s
unit arrives in a simple hassle free box which includes the basic accessories,
a USB to micro-USB cable and a pair of screen protectors. The latest package might
include a silicone case too; it can also be purchased separately at the price
of ~$10.
Build
quality & Design:
Build
quality on the Aune M1s is very solid and feels very durable. The whole chassis
is made of a very sturdy and thick aluminum material, 100% CNC type (supposedly).
The strong material also makes the M1s a heavy unit that might push the limits
of truly portable players. The size is actually comfortable to carry around,
being a larger than wider than the similar large DAPs. The finish is plain,
discreet and smooth; though still has some edges towards the back panel.
On the front
panel there’s the 2.4” screen, which is sharp enough but nothing fancy, just
simply a 2 color one (grey/white). Just below are placed the main playback and
navigation controls, ‘Home’ on left, ‘Back’ on right and the 4-pad control for
‘up’, ‘down’, ‘left’, ‘right’ and the circle ‘Ok/Enter’ button just in the
middle.
On the right
side, there are the power button which is also used as screen on/off, and the
volume up and down just below. A small reset button in the middle and then the
Micro SD slot towards the lower part. Finally, at the bottom part there’re the
micro-USB slot for both charging and transferring, and the two output options,
3.5mm for both headphones and lineout and the 2.5mm balanced one. Nothing on
the left and upper sides.
UI, Navigation
and Firmware:
Using the
M1s player is very simple. Unlike the many portable players from Chinese
companies with their complex and sometimes annoying, non-friendly interface,
the M1s is so comfortable and easy to use. It actually reminds a lot of the
famous little Sandisk Clip Plus for is simplicity and easy going interface.
With the Home button it is possible to get back to the main screen with a
single click and then back to the playing screen with just pressing it again.
The Back button helps to go back to the just previous screen and also to the
playing screen if located at the main screen as well. Navigation through menus
can be done with the up/down buttons or with the left/right to get to the previous/next
page on the whole list which just makes things even faster.
The last
firmware 1.06 version is very stable, never frozen or crashed so far. Not the
fastest response, but cannot be called slow. On this current 1.06 release it’s
possible to setup the playback controls even when the screen is off, which should
help in saving the battery usage. It is also possible to select various
playback options, including continuous playback to the next folders.
Supposedly,
the M1s presents an extra special “sound filter” feature with 3 different
tuning options. Unfortunately, it seems to work only with DSD type of files.
Moreover, the ‘gapless playback’ doesn’t seem to work with every file type either.
And one extra complain would be that the M1s turns off after a few minutes of
pausing the music, and it cannot be setup otherwise, and it won’t resume
playback when turn on again, but start from the beginning of the last played
track.
PC connectivity
and file transferring:
There is no
internal memory on the M1s and the whole file handling is made via the micro SD
card. When off and connected to the PC the player is immediately recognized as
an extra memory unit (the micro SD card). Even the system upgrade is made by
simply adding the firmware file to the card and then selecting the upgrade
option on the player settings.
Battery,
Hiss:
Battery life
is rated around the 10 hours, which seems fairly accurate, but mainly when used
on lower volume with easier to drive earphones. The M1s is a quiet DAP No hiss
was noticed even with most sensitive in-ear sets (including Custom IEM), and
even from the balanced output, which is slightly louder.
 |
| M1s w/silicone cover |
Volume
& Power:
The volume
steps go from 0 to 100. The player also features 3 gain levels, low, mid and
high, that would give even a higher scale when needed for more demanding sets.
There is also an interesting fact with the current 1.06 firmware version that
wasn’t in the previous two; it’s possible to choose between two upgrade files,
“less aggressive” and “more aggressive” volume curve, which basically mean a
slower or faster volume gain between each step. Might be a useful feature
depending on the headphone in use.
As for the
driving power of this Aune DAP, it can handle higher impedance stuff pretty
well; the VE Zen 2.0 was no challenge here, and even both Sennheiser HD600 and
HD650 could be driven to a fairly effortless level, though I’d personally still
recommend a decent extra amplifier for these open-back cans. The HD25 II, on
the other hand, sound fantastically nice out of the M1s, a pair that usually
asks for some portable amplification at least.
 |
| M1s & Wagnus Bluemoon 2.5mm cable |
 |
| M1s & VE Monk+ Candy (3.5mm) and Espresso (2.5mm) |
Sound
impressions
Technically,
the sound quality out of the M1s is superb for its price. From lows to mids and
up to the upper treble the M1s doesn’t stop to amaze with its fantastic level
of detail, speed, accuracy and excellent dynamics. Be it a low budget earphone or
a more expensive model, the M1s manages to surprise with its high gain in pure
overall sound quality. Starting from the low-end it offers great depth and
effortless extension down to sub-bass with a high control and accuracy that
goes up to mid and upper bass notes, sounding very clean and noticeable taking
down the extra mid-bass bloat out of warmer or bassier sets. It is faster and
maybe a bit softer in impact, but the more aggressive nature of the DAP doesn’t
sound missing in fullness and note weight. Yet, the most noticed improvements
are in the speed and dynamics; listening to hybrid type IEMs is much easier out
of the Aune as it tends to improve the typical (if any) drivers type
incoherence issues bringing better harmony.
The midrange
gets even more interesting. The clarity and detail are simply outstanding, and resolution
is boosted up by a high margin. Nonetheless, the M1s still manages to maintain
a delicate and more refined presentation. The instruments’ separation is
excellent with better dynamics and positioning. The midrange still remains
neutral, uncolored and flatter all the way up to the lower treble, while
sounding simply more liquid and transparent. Voices also gain more detail,
however the tonality of the DAP is slightly to the colder side of things, and
thus the sweet and warmness can be missing with more mid-centered sets.
The highs
gain a stronger emphasis which starts from upper mids to the whole treble itself.
As such, the M1s does rate under the “bright” sounding DAPs. There is
definitely extra energy and more sparkle with most of the earphones or
headphones tried through the M1s, however the treble control and definition is
very good, and rarely sounded harsh or more sibilant. There were some
exceptions, mostly with more V-shaped sets, such as the Fiio EX1 or RHA MA750
where the sound got even more fatiguing than usual, but not annoying with other
bright IEMs like the VE Duke or Sennheiser HD600 over-ear. Treble extension is
superb and even more noticed than the bass extension which is already good.
The
presentation is ample and the M1s is very resolving but also revealing like
trying to present a more analytical sound with a very wide stage with more than
average depth. The stage dimensions are not overly vast but very impressive for
the price, and definitely surpass even more expensive portable players. Clarity
is top notch and even the smallest the micro details are so easy to perceive.
As mentioned, the tonality is more towards the cooler side, and while very
liquid and dynamic, the M1s is less organic sounding than the PAW5000 or the X5
2nd Gen.. The PAW5000 wins in midrange richness and mainly in the
vocals presentation with a smooth and sweeter texture. The X5, on the other
hand, gives some extra weight to instruments and sound has a bit more 3D
surrounding effect. They both sound ‘more musical’ than the M1s (at least in
Single output), but even though, none of these pricier DAPs can match the micro
detail and stage out of the Aune.
 |
| M1s & PAW5000 |
The Balanced
Output
Switching to
the balanced 2.5mm output on the Aune M1s brings out a very strong improvement
on the whole sound quality and presentation. Basically, it starts from just getting
technically better in every single aspect from extension on both ends to pure
quality in each frequency with a higher refinement on the overall sound.
Nonetheless, they were very good examples of what the balanced mode is capable
of. While the level of detail on the single output was already impressive for
this M1s player price, it simply gets even more amazing as it goes “balanced”.
It may be considered even more analytical in its ability of showing every
single micro detail in a much effortless way with better control, and despite
being even brighter in tonality it’s still more forgiving, more delicate and
resolving. The gain in dynamics is impressive as well and the higher speed and
layering makes it sound even more musical in a certain way. The bass is
noticeable softer in impact but tighter and better textured. The midrange feels
slightly more forward but it’s more about the more open and airy sound. As
expected, the right and left separation is better defined giving a wider stage
effect with a more accurate image. It is also worth mentioning that the volume
is higher on the balanced mode, but yet with a darker and cleaner background
even from the more sensitive CIEMs. Compared to the PAW5000 2.5mm balanced
output the differences are strong. The Lotoo didn’t showed much improvement on
the balanced form. On a brief audition of the newest Fiio X5 3rd
gen, while the balanced gain is better than with the PAW5000, it still doesn’t
reach the same level of the M1s. It could be considered a pretty much flawless
sound if you can get the right setup for it.
 |
| M1s & LZ A4 (stock cable) |
Summary
The Aune M1s
is a very impressive addition to the portable audio market. While the main
contenders keep adding new features like touch colorful screens, wireless
Bluetooth playback, DAC option and more, the M1s has skipped all of that and
simply focus on giving the best sound quality for the money. The build quality
is very strong and the interface, while too simple, is very easy to handle. The
firmware is very stable as well, though there’re certain features that should
be fixed like the power-off timing and the gapless playback. The battery too, could
still be better when compared to other players that can last around 15 hours
and more on a single charge, and like the rest of the Aune players there’re no
EQ options. Yet, the best part of the Aune M1s is the balanced output which
rises its sound quality even much higher and gives a much better value as a
simple portable player.