Disappointed with Shanling CD80

[SergiyYves]

I received that cd player a week ago. I connected it to my DAC by optical SPDIF. I was satisfied with the quality of sound, however I marked some clicks between the track that appeared from time to time. Another issue marked was the absence of gapless playback. I wrote to Shanling the guy from the support answered me extremely fast, however his answer wasn't positive. He said that they know about the issue with optical SPDIF but their SW development team don't have answer when it will be solved. About the gapless they said it's a hardware limitation and the problem cannot be solved. I don't understand this position. This directly impact listening experience and customer satisfaction.

 

[DVDdoug]

Well, it's their hardware! I've got "gapless" concert and crossfaded CDs (come of them I burned myself) and there is no pause or click between the track markers, just as there are no gaps between DVD chapters.

My $100 CD/DVD/Blu-ray player doesn't have those problems. But it doesn't have any kind of built-in display, analog or S/PDIF outputs... Only HDMI

 

[Roland68]

I received that cd player a week ago. I connected it to my DAC by optical SPDIF. I was satisfied with the quality of sound, however I marked some clicks between the track that appeared from time to time. Another issue marked was the absence of gapless playback. I wrote to Shanling the guy from the support answered me extremely fast, however his answer wasn't positive. He said that they know about the issue with optical SPDIF but their SW development team don't have answer when it will be solved. About the gapless they said it's a hardware limitation and the problem cannot be solved. I don't understand this position. This directly impact listening experience and customer satisfaction.

For me, newer CD players like these are factory new, cheap junk. Cheap computer drives are usually installed.

Just look for an old used TEAC VRDS cd player with digital output in this price range. These are tanks with quality. You can't even buy something like that for €5,000 today.

 

[SergiyYves]

For me, newer CD players like these are factory new, cheap junk. Cheap computer drives are usually installed.

Just look for an old used TEAC VRDS cd player with digital output in this price range. These are tanks with quality. You can't even buy something like that for €5,000 today.

My wish was to play MQA-CD when I bought that cd player.

 

[Brian Hall]

My wish was to play MQA-CD when I bought that cd player.

Why would you want to play inferior quality lossy 13 bit MQA CDs instead of real 16 bit CDs that are lossless?

 

[SergiyYves]

Uhm – maybe I missed something here ... As this device surely has an in-built DAC, my first attempt in order to track down the problem, would be to check the output of its analog out cinch connections.

I contacted Shanling. They confirmed that the issue existe on optical SPDIF output, player also has in built DAC and RCA analogue outputs on these outputs the issue didn't appears. Concerning the gapless playback Shanling confirms HW limitation.

 

[Roland68]

My wish was to play MQA-CD when I bought that cd player.

MQA is output by every CD player or digital CD transport via the digital interface. It only requires a DAC that can process MQA via this digital interface.
There is no processing in MQA that can happen before the digital interface.

So you can really use any CD player with a digital interface (preferably SPDIF over RCA/COAX) as a digital CD transport for MQA.

 

[JeremyFife]

Send it back, if you have that option. Life's too short to spend time worrying about CD players.

 

[Sokel]

Find an old Pioneer DV-656 or similar in good condition for peanuts.
These type of players was rock solid and the plus is you can play SACD too.

I still use a DENON DVD5000 after 15 years from time to time.

 

[SergiyYves]

Send it back, if you have that option. Life's too short to spend time worrying about CD players.

From Ukraine it will cost a fortune

 

[Roland68]

From Ukraine it will cost a fortune

Better an end with horror than a horror without end.
Shipping with the Ukrainian Post to France about 28 €, to China about 45 €. The loss in value when selling used will be much greater, especially if problems become known.

Very robust and reliable players, e.g. Onkyo DX-7355, Technics SL-PG4 etc. are available used from 50 €. An excellent SACD player, such as the Sony DVP-NS900V for €100-200 and the Teac VRDS devices.

A functioning SPDIF interface has been a solved problem for 39 years. If a CD player can't do that...
It indicates that Shanling is using some cheap standard solution for cheap DVD players with a known problem with SPDIF output in this player. That's why shanling doesn't have a solution.
The drive is a very affordable DVD slot-in drive, not to say cheap. What does a slot-in drive, which will always leave traces on the CD at some point, have to do with a high-quality CD player?

 

[JeremyFife]

From Ukraine it will cost a fortune

Understood, hopefully you find a good solution for you - good luck!

 

[fuzzy_logic]

What a shame, but thanks for sharing your experience. It blows my mind that anyone would design a cd player that doesn't have gapless playback. I almost purchased the Tangent CD II player a couple of years back then noticed reviews mentioned there were gaps between tracks, so immediately crossed it off the list! It's often not mentioned in technical specifications, so you either have to rely on reviews or asking the manufacturer.

 

[SergiyYves]

I send the e-mail to Shanling that I would like return back the cd that doesn't support cd red book, no answer. By the way I got Audiolab 6000 CDT, no objection, with my Denafrips Ares II it play my cds "like analogue"

 

[MCH]

I send the e-mail to Shanling that I would like return back the cd that doesn't support cd red book, no answer. By the way I got Audiolab 6000 CDT, no objection, with my Denafrips Ares II it play my cds "like analogue"

To be fair, it doesn't bear the "compact disc" red book logo.
But that isn't an excuse. @Roland68 nailed it before. Solved technology from decades ago and now these people come to reinvent the wheel at eye watering prices... I hope customers realise soon and there few cases like yours. Good luck!

 

[SergiyYves]

I think it's something like "mauvais ton" from hi-fi manufacturer to do not offer these basic functions to cd player

 

[PenguinMusic]

Hi,

Shanling offers products that sound really good to human ear (do not know about measures).
But their customer support is simply the worst I have ever seen in the whole audio industry in years.

Here are some of the problems I ran into with several of their devices :

- SOFTWARE
Totally useless : lack of features (sorting albums other than alphabetically ; browsing through artist gives a list of tracks, not albums ! ; no cover art when browsing through the files ; no gapless playback when streaming...) and totally unstable (connection to device lost every 5 minutes) ; use of outdated Android versions

- SOFTWARE TEAM
That team is the hugest vaporware I have ever seen. If you ask me, the software is composed of a part-time intern that changes evey 3 months...

- HARDWARE
Totally unreliable : remote control not working after 3 months ; Wi-Fi connection not usable after 8 months...

Shanling knows to make DAPs. They should stick to that. And let go all the rest unless they really want to invest in the innovation. But they just decide to create anew device and release it without any interrogations about how to support it. Better to some brands releasing less devices but testing them thourougfully before they release them.

As a conclusion, I think Shanling should be forbidden to sell devices in Europe or outside of China. I think all they are doing does not comply to European consumer protection laws.

 

[Snoopy]

Well don’t buy stuff like this from china. Amazon or audiophonics.fr if you are in Europe

 

[PenguinMusic]

Hi,
Bought it from an authorized reseller that is 18km from my home.
Device sounds gorgeous...
But it takes time to figure out it does not really work as advertised...
SO the delay to return it was long gone :-(
Regards.

 

[Diupen]

Well, it's their hardware! I've got "gapless" concert and crossfaded CDs (come of them I burned myself) and there is no pause or click between the track markers, just as there are no gaps between DVD chapters.

My $100 CD/DVD/Blu-ray player doesn't have those problems. But it doesn't have any kind of built-in display, analog or S/PDIF outputs... Only HDMI

I'm living the same situation. By the end of the day I preferred my older bluray player connected to an external DAC.