Shanling M0 Pro DAP Review

[respice finem]

On the IEM jack or the 6.35 mm?!?!?!

On the IEM jack. OK, the tracks I tested it with go to -10 dB, but still a surprise for me. Latest firmware, player is foobar2000.
EU, 230V mains if that matters. AutoRefLevel is left at default = on, all DSP functions off for the test.

 

[pseudoid]

There is a more recent unit, the Shanlin M1S.

They must be running out of model numbers or the competition is fierce, in the far-east:
FiiO M11S portable MediaPlayer; seems very new and has all the latest chips-n-salsa but at $400.

 

[Tom C]

Interesting, but you asked for a small, standalone device with which you can make phone calls while jogging.
A cellular enabled watch is just that.

Yes, that’s right (ofc), and you don’t have to stream. The watch has memory that you can load with music files, and not have to use the cell connection, if you don’t want.

 

[EJ3]

Interesting, but you asked for a small, standalone device with which you can make phone calls while jogging.
A cellular enabled watch is just that.

Not me. I wasn't the one that asked for that.
I don't jog, or run. (
(except about 59 years ago, when I was involved in boxing for sport & fitness).
I swim, though.
In a running river or a tidal creek.

Remember, I said that I can only get a cellphone signal if I stand in a certain spot on my deck.
(which is 12 feet high [same as the floor of the cabin {or 800 square foot house, depending on how you look at it}]), as sometimes the river over flows the bank & I have to park a 1/4 mile up the driveway & use a small Jon boat that I would be carrying on my 2000 Nissan Frontier truck's rack with a 1963 Evinrude 5 & 1/2 HP outboard get to the cabin).
Yes: one knows about the flood stages of the river about 2 days before it floods, depending on who much it rains, in the middle and northern parts of the state (or by simple observation of the rivers increasing speed & rising & therefore: when to take the boat from underneath the cabin & put it on the truck's rack.
Also, I do have a 40" 1080P flat screen TV at this location & get 36 over the air channels at this location.
But the cell phone signal is a different story.
Not that I care about it, the point of owning this place is to not be bothered.

 

[EJ3]

It's the Leatherman of the audio world

I primarily want to use a DAP to send the audio signal from my music into a stereo system in my truck or cabin & listen to my music over my speakers.
In the truck or in the cabin & on the deck.

 

[staticV3]

Not me. I wasn't the one that asked for that.
I don't jog, or run. (

Right! My bad.

 

[billou5767]

There is a more recent unit, the Shanlin M1S.
It seems better (and pricier), hope to see a review at some point.

lunch as same time

a little better in test but price x2

bigger screen but button in

 

[EJ3]

Right! My bad.

I went back & looked at my earlier posts to see if I had somehow inferred that I was a runner.

I have been in a car accident (100% their fault but I gave them a 45 MPH T-bone when they made a left turn in front of me)

The Dr.s have put me on cyclobenzaprine, meloxicam & tramadol.
And sometimes it makes me not feel right.
I find that when I do what they say, I need to check what I am saying or typing more, lest it come out not saying what I want it to.
Glad to se that it wasn't something I said that caused your post to be in my stuff.
Cool, I'll be glad when I have taken the last one of these damn pills. Maybe I will still be hurting but I would rather hurt than take these damn things.

 

[Haydos]

"Fine" with me, though I don't quite understand the purpose of such players, considering everybody has a portable player already, which is a smartphone. Maybe to save space on said smartphone?

its good for storing my illegal music

 

[billou5767]

"Fine" with me, though I don't quite understand the purpose of such players, considering everybody has a portable player already, which is a smartphone. Maybe to save space on said smartphone?

few smartphone have quality and enought power to drive like this little dap : apple or 500/1000 § phone

battery soldered and price on portable

price extra 1/2/300 gb memory on portable

not easy app for music , no dsd

the time you dont use portable , you save it live

more and more

if you have same quality , 3.5 jack , drive 80 ohm , removal sd , on 300 buck portable : tell us

samsung have made a DAP wich was one of his portable without gms , sd card , battery removal very good

 

[Phorize]

"Fine" with me, though I don't quite understand the purpose of such players, considering everybody has a portable player already, which is a smartphone. Maybe to save space on said smartphone?

I have a similar players for my children for playing audiobooks and music. No way they are getting smartphones.

 

[Frankie-Shanling]

It's fascinating that it can function as a DAC and also drive other DACs. It appears to act as a battery-powered dongle for other devices. I'm curious if it can be charged using your phone. In that scenario you could listen to music from your phone through it, and when you're concerned about your phone's battery life just disconnect it and listen directly from this device. If possible I can see it being useful in that case.

There is switch on USB DAC function, you can run it completely from its battery or have it also charge.

Nice thing about it is the 2 tb of microSD storage availability, though if you actually put 2-3 thousand flac albums on the card, I think you might have a hard time finding and retrieving any particular one of them.

In my experience over the years, users with the biggest libraries switch to folder browsing, where you can create your custom sorting that makes it fast even on the smaller screen of M0 Pro.

I have the non-Pro M0 and I have 24,534 tracks in my FLAC collection. MusicBee automatically transcodes the FLACs to VBR MP3 and syncs and new ones with the M0 when I connect it to my PC (I have the same setup for my phone and tablet but using OPUS instead of MP3).

I currently have 172GB of MP3s on the 512GB microSD in the M0. Disconnecting the M0 from my PC causes it to update it's library. This happens at a rate of roughly 2,000 tracks per minute, so it currently takes 12-13 minutes for it to finish updating (I think the same task in Power Amp takes a couple of minutes on my phone and tablet)

I don't find it that hard to scroll through my library, sure it's a bit fiddly, but you can slide your finger up and down the right side of the screen to rapidly scroll through the list.

*edit* I may have over estimated the speed of the M0, it's been going for 7 minutes and it's done 11,000 tracks, so under halfway.

Just a bit of info, the automatic update can be disabled, if it would annoy anybody to do it every time you disconnect from PC.
And users that go with folder browsing can ignore it completely, having immediate access to the files.

@amirm you can use any trrs 3.5 jack and some soldering to make an adapter, it uses the same pinout as HiFiMan and QLS361

M0 Pro is using 5 pin TRRS, we do not recommend using it with the old 3.5mm Balanced standards.
We designed M0 Pro with the 5 pin TRRS, as it allowed for compatibility with both standard 3.5mm earphones and balanced through the adapter.

 

[pseudoid]

So I can go on my deck & stand in one particular spot to get cellular? Or mount it on a post in that particular spot.

+

Not me. I wasn't the one that asked for that.

Who ever asked [ ], would this work as such a device:

There is this new gadget called the "Humane" with their introductory model "AI Pin" that is about to be available (for order on 2023/11/16) starting @~$700.
This start-up is by x-Apple employees, with billionaire investors.
The unit's monthly fee comes to ~$24, and includes Tidal.

just asking?

 

[staticV3]

M0 Pro is using 5 pin TRRS

TRRS is 4pin.

Does the M0 Pro use 5pin TRRRS or 4pin TRRS?

 

[CedarX]

TRRS is 4pin.

Does the M0 Pro use 5pin TRRRS or 4pin TRRS?

5-pins, compatible with 4-pin (SE + Mic) TRRS:

EDIT - Forgot to mention: this the 3.5 to 4.4mm adapter for the M0 Pro that you buy separately.
I haven’t checked how it is wired... The M0 may also leverage the ES9129 impedance measurement feature [EDIT: ES9219 doesn’t have this feature—was confused with the ES9280/9281 codecs] to “infer” what is being connected: 3.5 SE, CTIA/OMTP 3.5 + Mic, or this Bal. adapter.

 

[Frankie-Shanling]

TRRS is 4pin.

Does the M0 Pro use 5pin TRRRS or 4pin TRRS?

5-Pin TRRRS

5-pins, compatible with 4-pin (SE + Mic) TRRS:

EDIT - Forgot to mention: this the 3.5 to 4.4mm adapter for the M0 Pro that you buy separately.
I haven’t checked how it is wired... The M0 may also leverage the ES9129 impedance measurement feature to “infer” what is being connected: 3.5 SE, CTIA/OMTP 3.5 + Mic, or this Bal. adapter.

This is pinout, if anybody wants to make their own adapter or connect headphones directly:

Left +
Right +
Left -
Right -
Ground

 

[fgfgfg]

5-Pin TRRRS

I missed that BS, you should've include it to EVERY player then

 

[CedarX]

I missed that BS, you should've include it to EVERY player then

Where did you see that Shanling is trying to create a new standard? To me, it’s their answer to a non-trivial problem: how to fit a SE and a Bal headphone output in something the size of the M0? A smartphone is enormous compared to the M0, yet most have given up the HP out due to (allegedly) lack of space…

 

[fgfgfg]

how to fit a SE and a Bal headphone output in something the size of the M0?

Solution right in the first message: 3.5 TRRS, nothing special, not a new design, same features except GND for 4.4 which could be ONLY used for SE&XLR conversion
Furthermore, no earphones are using GND, so what's the purpose? They could use SPDT to repurpose pins for BAL, SE, SE+MIC, they could use same principle as E1DA PowerDAC: negative outputs are held at bipolar zero.

 

[CedarX]

Solution right in the first message: 3.5 TRRS, nothing special, not a new design, same features except GND for 4.4 which could be ONLY used for SE&XLR conversion
Furthermore, no earphones are using GND, so what's the purpose? They could use SPDT to repurpose pins for BAL, SE, SE+MIC, they could use same principle as E1DA PowerDAC: negative outputs are held at bipolar zero.

Can the rings & sleeve of a 3.5 TRRS be positioned to be compatible with both SE and Bal. output?

There was (are?) DAPs with “proprietary” Bal. 3.5 TRRS, but these were precisely not compatible with SE 3.5 TRS or SE TRRS (with mic.): they had a separate 3.5 TRS for SE and a 3.5 TRRS for Bal.

As for the E1DA PowerDAC, you omit one detail: it also requires an adapter… 2.5 TRRS SE (PowerDAC) is no more “standard” than 3.5 TRRRS Bal. (M0).