REVIEW - Shanling M0
Specifications
- Size: 40*135*45mm
- Screen: 1.54 inch, 240*240 high definition touch screen
- Weight: ~33g
- DAC model: ESS Sabre ES9218P
- Battery time: up to 15 hours
- Standby: about 30 days
- Charging time: about 2 hours
- Battery capacity: 640mAH lithium
- Storage: Micro SD only, maximum support 512GB
- Output port: 3.5mm
- Output power: 80mw@ 32
- Output impedance: 0.16
- Channel separation degree: 70dB
- Recommended earphone impedance: 8-300
- Frequency range: 20HZ~20KHz
- Distortion: 0.004% (A-Weighting, output 500mV)
- Signal to noise ratio: 118dB (A-Weighting)
- Bottom noise: <3uV (High gain)
Price: $99~109.
Purchased from MusicTeck.
Great customer
service and the package arrived in just a week time which is quite a record
considering the usual customs delays.
Unboxing...
The package includes the USB cable (Type A to Type-C), manual and warranty card.
Design
The Shanling M0 is among
the smallest portable audio players on the market. The design is not just super
compact but also very cute, and probably a selling point for the M0. Build
quality is not left behind. The unit is very well built with a whole CNC
aluminum machined chassis (including the volume wheel) in a very smooth finish.
The shape is well rounded on every single corner too. The square shape and low
weight (<40g) is also very pocket-friendly and ultra-portable.
The M0 is not just
compact but also very minimalistic. The front side consists of the small
~1.5" LG touch screen of tempered glass. The screen resolution is not too
high with just 240*240 of display, though the brightness can be set high
enough. Color depth is average but nothing to complain about for this small
form factor.
At the bottom there are
two different connections for multiple uses, USB Type-C socket to the left and
3.5mm plug. The USB port can be used not just for charging and access the micro
SD, but also for DAC function, while the 3.5mm port can be set as output for
extra amplification.
To the left, there is
the hidden micro SD card slot and reset button, well protected by the plastic
cover. There is no internal storage on the M0, though it should support up to
512GB cards. Only tested with 128GB Samsung card and no issues so far.
Finally, the right side
holds the small control wheel used for volume adjustment, power on/off if held
a few seconds and screen on/off on single press. There are extra 2 functions
that may be assigned to this button by user preference (see next section).
User Interface &
Software
The interface is very
simple. Apart from the volume wheel there are no physical controls and everything
is managed by the small touch screen. It may sound that this makes things
simpler, but in practice, the lack of the basic playback controls can be a
disadvantage. Not a problem when using Bluetooth sets, but the 3.5mm plug does
not respond to in-line controls.
The wheel can be set to
2 extra functions by user preference, play/pause, next or back track; useful,
but still limited. Moreover, the wheel lacks accuracy when adjusting the
volume, usually jumping two steps instead of a single one. It is annoying but
not a serious issue as the volume changes are very low from one step to another
and probably something that could be fixed by a next firmware release.
Using the Shanling own MTouch
OS the navigation with the small touch screen is easy and the response is
fast enough most of the time. You start with five different round tiles at the
home screen and can go back to any previous menu with a short swipe to the right.
The small screen can only show four lines a time, which is quite acceptable.
In theory, it is also
possible to go back to the home screen by single touch and hold on any screen
or menu for a few seconds. However, in practice this feature is far from being
perfect and can be more than frustrating; sometimes it works just fine, but
others there is no response regardless what part of the screen is touched.
Moreover, while the scrolling through lists is fast, it is also too sensitive
and on a slight swipe up or down it will go to the end or top of the list;
problematic when scrolling through long file lists. Also, if a folder or file
name is too long for the screen, then it is possible to scroll the whole line
text by a short swipe to the left; this must be made with lot of care, because
if missed it will scroll to the beginning or end of the current list.
The software on this M0 already
arrived with the last 2.42 version. And good news that so far the system is surprisingly
very stable, no freeze and never needed to reset the unit after a month of
daily use.
Below the different
screens and menus:
Playback screen(s)
Home screen(s)
Playback settings
System
Wheel shortcuts
Volume bar
Themes
Battery
Rated to perform up to
15 hours. A fair statement when using only the wired 3.5mm output with easy to
drive gears with a volume level of around 30 (out of 100) and on low gain.
However, the numbers will drop drastically when using any wireless feature even
at lower ~20 volume steps, where the battery may hold up to around 10 hours.
And if used as source for a DAC or amplifier then it will drain the battery even
much faster.
Charging time is
actually fair and may take to ~2 hours to fully charge. The USB Type-C does not
support fast charging.
Bluetooth performance
The M0 features a 2-way
Bluetooth connection, so it can be used either as transmitter or receiver,
supporting up to BT 4.1 version with common codec like SBC, AAC, AptX (not HD)
and now various LDAC options. I used it mainly for streaming music to some
portable earphones and headphones like the u-Jays Wireless, Zolo Liberty+
(total wireless) and the Soundcore Spirit pro for more active use. The paring
is not always immediate even with devices already listed on the M0. Once paired
the M0 automatically adjust to the best BT codec available. Connection is
usually good but not perfect. The BT antenna appears to very sensitive, so if blocked
a little bit there are some short interruptions on the music playback and it is
very annoying when it happens. Otherwise, it can work continuously for some
hours.
As receiver, it worked
fine with a couple of Samsung Galaxy phones, and the BT connection was actually
better than when used as transmitter.
Either way, the volume
can be adjusted by the M0 wheel, though the EQ won't work (not that is worth
anyway).
DAC usage
The M0 also features a
bidirectional USB interface, so can be used either as external DAC, and might
need to install extra drivers. It works fine and the playback can be done as
usual through the M0 controls.
Also, it is possible to
use the M0 as source for an extra DAC; however, the volume is fixed to maximum
so it is useless if used with something as the Dragonfly. Moreover, the battery
is drained very fast too.
Sound Quality
The M0 rates a low
output impedance and expectedly pairs pretty well with easy to drive gears with
usual low impedance up to 32ohm and standard sensitivity of ~100db. It can
drive any kind of IEMs, dynamic, multi BA or hybrid sets to more than an enough
loud level without showing signs of distortion. Earbuds too are well powered as
long as they rate up to 64 ohm, and didn't have problem to drive some
headphones like the u-Jays, P55 Vento or even the Meze 99 Classics. Moreover,
there was no hiss and the background is rather quiet with low floor noise.
Some of the gears
used include the iBasso IT01, Dunu Falcon-C, FLC 8N, final E4000 and CustomArt
Fibae 3, Periodic Audio Be. For larger wired headphones, the Meze 99 and
briefly the SoundMagic P55 Vento (v3).
Inside, the small
Shanling M0 adopts an ESS SABRE ES9218P DAC chip, found of a few good
smartphones and on other small portable players as well, but of course with a
sound tailored by the company.
Sound-wise, the
presentation is clean and mostly linear from lows to highs. It is not a
neutral, flat reference sounding portable player, but does compete well within
the $100 price. While there is not much coloration to the sound either, the M0
shows a noticeable lift on the mid-bass region for a bit fuller note on lower
instruments. Easy to catch with any headphones that have a north of neutral
bass response but not a serious bass boost with heavy-bass sets. Extension is
limited without much sub-bass rumble or depths, but on the other hand the
upper-bass is quite controlled and clean when reaching the lower midrange.
Layering and texture are decent, and speed is actually good when paired with
nice dynamic drivers.
The midrange is neutral
if a just bit laid-back. There is not much emphasis on either instruments or
vocals, and while the tonality is neither too cold nor too warm it can sound a
bit of dry and lean. The level of air and separation suits well for the price;
better than a few sub $100 options but clearly below than more dedicated DAPs
that cost 2 or 3 times more. Transparency is good enough with a fair level of
detail.
The treble has good
control with just little boost on the low treble area for extra energy and
sparkle, trying to impress with more detail and added fun factor. Extension is
decent with just a small roll-off at the higher registers. There is not much
room to complain about in terms of treble quantity; however, the quality is not
as positive. The timbre is kind of off and more importantly it sounds kind of
artificial; not a big issue when paired with more affordable earphones of
around the $100 mark, but if going higher it will sound quite 'synthetic' and
simplified.
Soundstage is limited,
lacks expansion and width with a more 2D effect, though the channel separation
is good. It works good enough with IEM or closed headphones sets on lower
budget that don't have a large stage presentation, but with higher stuff it
will sound very closed and limited.
As reference, the Lotoo
Pico or xDuoo X10 are more expansive, and yet the M0 sounds more spacious and
airy than the Nano D3 or Fiio M3K; so pretty much it fits well to its price
range.
