Shanling UA2 Aborted Review (DAC & Amp)

[Frankie-Shanling]

Oh, too bad you didn't send us email or even PM me here on forum, could have looked at it before you posted this.

Original post also was missing any info if you used it with the Windows drivers.

Is this mfr in any way related to Topping or SMSL?

No, we have nothing to do with these two companies, apart from being in same region of China.

UAC1 toggle? Wonder if it has to do with getting the PS5 to recognize it as an external sound device. UAC2 isnt supported which is the majority of devices out on the market.

It works at UAC2 at standard, you switch it to UAC1 only when needed (For some phones / Nintendo Switch)

Garry Shanling?

No, he was Shandling. But we sometimes get mentioned by accident on Twitter due to this.

I already use an app obviously but I dont see the need to use their prop app instead of any common music playing app aka NeutronMP, etc. No way!

There is no need to use the app. At default it's set to high gain, with full range of volume available. The companion app is there just in case you wanna customize it more than you can with other such devices. (limit volume range, gain, channel balance, digital filter).

 

[Jimbob54]

Ah, ok i see.
Fail.

To be clear, it is @Bullwinkle J Moose view that it "should" reset when connecting to a different device . I dont believe that is the view of many readers here or indeed Shanling.

By that view, the E1DA dacs should also fail as they have that same feature. An app enabled volume limit that "sticks" between devices, app installed or not, until you manually change it or reset the device. Again, I dont see this as being a problem and not a problem for anyone buying new (as it ships at max output). It may, as Bullwinkle has suggested, be an issue for anyone buying second hand that cant get/ dont want the app and the previous owner applies the limitation.

 

[tomtoo]

To be clear, it is @Bullwinkle J Moose view that it "should" reset when connecting to a different device . I dont believe that is the view of many readers here or indeed Shanling.

Ah, ok i see. Not fail.
My thought would be, it should not reset automated but should have a reset button.

 

[Jimbob54]

Ah, ok i see. Not fail.
My thought would be, it should not reset automated but should have a reset button.

I totally agree. a physical factory reset button as well as app control would remove the issue. Im just not sure it is an issue that needs sorting.

 

[tomtoo]

I totally agree. a physical factory reset button as well as app control would remove the issue. Im just not sure it is an issue that needs sorting.

No dont think its needet, but would be nice.
I just like if you can factory reset things.
Androide changes, you not know how long the app is supported, things like that you know.

 

[PeteL]

No? The European union already sets volume limits of 85dB (A-weighted) for any phone and pairing headphone/earphone sold in the EU while allowing the possibility of increasing the limit by the user later on.

so the responsibility is no longer on;y on the user anymore, there are regulations in place to make sure kids aren't blasting music like crazy and damaging their hearing.

Absolutely but this is not a headphone, this is made to accomodate many headphones. Should we Ban all amps? Many are able to supply much more extreme levels than this. An amp cannot possibly know the sensitivity of what you plug in it! So what do you feel should be the maximum output voltage of an analog output that allow to plug headphone in?

 

[abdo123]

Absolutely but this is not a headphone, this is made to accomodate many headphones. Should we Ban all amps? Many are able to supply much more extreme levels than this. An amp cannot possibly know the sensitivity of what you plug in it! So what do you feel should be the maximum output voltage of an analog output that allow to plug headphone in?

this is a different topic and discussion. Which i have no interest in investing in.

 

[PeteL]

this is a different topic and discussion. Which i have no interest in investing in.

No problems, but you are the one that opened the discussion, by asking the question if it was ok that a product out of the box can damage hearing of earphones. Different topic?

 

[Dr Schweinsgruber]

This is an "aborted" review of the Shanling UA2 portable DAC and headphone amplifier "dongle" (adapter). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $85.

The UA2 looks like any other dongle except that it has an unusual button to change USB mode from 1 to 2:

View attachment 144187

It has both balanced (2.5mm) and unbalanced (3.5mm) outputs which is nice.

The reason this is an aborted review is that no matter what I did, I could not get anything close to the rated output:

View attachment 144188

Switching to balanced out doubled this to just 0.1 volt.

Playing with Windows volume control would make a difference between zero and roughly 50% but nothing above that. I hooked up a Sennheiser HD650 to it to make sure there is no instrumentation error and same low volume issue persisted there.

Not sure if this is a firmware bug/regression or broken device. I have had fair number of requests to test this device so I thought I post this just in case others run into the same issue.

I will be on the look out for another one to test and should those results be different, I will update this review. For now, this is just an "FYI."

Must be broken. The output of mine is huge...used with a MacBook.

 

[anphex]

Hmmm this is one unfortunate review and thread. I think it's unfair leaving the thread like this and let search engines put it at the top of their search results when looking for reviews of this gadget. I would suggest either this thread gets hidden or a do-not-crawl tag if possible until you can review a working unit. As others said it's a pity the support wasn't contacted before posting this. But it can still be fixed, no hard feelings

 

[staticV3]

Must be broken. The output of mine is huge...used with a MacBook.

It's not broken. The forum member who sent the UA2 to Amir used the accompanying App to limit the DAC's output.
This limit is stored on the unit itself and stays active no matter what USB host you use, so that's what Amir was left with.

 

[JJB70]

If you set a volume output limit then locking that into the device unless reset via the app is completely sensible. Why would you use the feature (and I completely get why people would do so) and then have to reset it every time you plug it in or use it with a different device? That would be a stupid implementation. The device is shipped ready to use without the app and Shanling are clear on their website that advanced features are accessed via the app. There is nothing wrong with this device. How it will measure I have no idea but it will function out of the box and based on experience with other Shanling products probably be a well made product that customers will be happy with. I find it disappointing some are blaming Shanling and inferring there is a serious problem with this product based on the user using advanced settings to limit output and this not being recognised.

 

[Saidera]

If it's not the maker's serious problem, it could be ours, and anyway, try taking a look over at headfi where users are having trouble with the latest PC drivers from Google Drive that Shanling linked there.

In a way this thread builds suspense for the outcome of a re-review of UA2.

 

[Bullwinkle J Moose]

This dongle may be perfectly acceptable to some of you and you are free to give it a pass

For me, I'm done with all the hoops manufacturers put in the way for me to jump through, and for me, it's a FAIL regardless of how well it measures

 

[JJB70]

This dongle may be perfectly acceptable to some of you and you are free to give it a pass

For me, I'm done with all the hoops manufacturers put in the way for me to jump through, and for me, it's a FAIL regardless of how well it measures

What hoops?

 

[staticV3]

What hoops?

If you buy a used UA2 and the previous owner happened to set a hardware volume limit using the App, then you would have to install the App as well to reset that limit.

 

[JJB70]

If you buy a used UA2 and the previous owner happened to set a hardware volume limit using the App, then you would have to install the App as well to reset that limit.

But that's not a manufacturer hoop, it's a common scenario for many products. If you buy second hand then the previous owner could have played with the settings. As someone else has stated, a factory reset switch could be useful but fundamentally this product follows the general trend in using an app to control advanced settings. If you don't want to use those settings then don't, it works out of the box. If you don't want to have to download an app to revert settings to default then don't buy second hand but this is hardly unique to this product and to describe it as a manufacturer putting hoops in the way is hardly correct. Even the real technophobes are now pretty comfortable with the idea of using apps to configure advanced settings, or alternatively just ignoring them

 

[JJB70]

Using an app is a lot easier for most than playing with dip switches or opening the case to swap jumpers over, both of which were quite common when advanced settings relied on physical controls

 

[amirm]

Oh, too bad you didn't send us email or even PM me here on forum, could have looked at it before you posted this.

If you had sent me the product, that is exactly what would happen. I would have shown you the measurements and asked you for feedback prior to publication. This is a courtesy I provide to manufacturers who volunteer to have their products tested. To the extent you did not do that and left it to me and membership to fund acquisition of the product, then I publish what I find as a service to that member and the membership at large.

Had you sent me a product and then told me an app had caused the levels to go down, I would have scolded you for a) not being clear in documentation this could happen and b) not providing for a hardware reset. Plenty of products have persistent settings like active professional speakers and AV Receivers. In all cases, they allow you to do a factory reset which I always do prior to testing.

For your product, I thought there would be such a thing but all I found was the USB button. I played with that but it didn't obviously solve this problem. You need to update the firmware to allow that button to be used as a reset, e.g. by holding it down 10 seconds or something like that.

Ideally there would also be an indication on the device that the volume is not at default level, say with an LED, but I understand that increases power consumption.

Your are a small company and could disappear tomorrow. This hardware can't become obsolete if your app disappears with it with the next update of Android OS. There must be a hardware reset.

Remember, almost no other dongle works this way. So there can't be an expectation that the user figures all this out especially given lack of documentation. I appreciate the benefit it provides but you need to be very strong in documenting and providing work-arounds. Throwing this at my feet as if you have done the perfect thing is not proper. I tested your dongle just like all other dongles. It is not my job to think of possibilities that simply don't exist with countless competing products.

I actually went searching for this online. Read a bunch of posts, etc. but nothing came up. With this thread available, people running into this at least can find out what is going on. It also helped me figure out what was going on when member kindly post the possibility of the Android app changing this. Had I not post this, that information would not have come to light -- again because of incomplete documentation and indication on the device.

Note that the article clearly says it is "aborted" and finishes with it is an "FYI." And that is what it was. My attempt to test your device and not being able to get it to work like dozens of other dongles have.

I suggest going back and improving the documentation. While you are at it, please put a copy on your website.

 

[Deleted member 2702]

If you had sent me the product, that is exactly what would happen. I would have shown you the measurements and asked you for feedback prior to publication. This is a courtesy I provide to manufacturers who volunteer to have their products tested. To the extent you did not do that and left it to me and membership to fund acquisition of the product, then I publish what I find as a service to that member and the membership at large.

For me, Amir's "procedure" is totally fair and understandable.