Audiophilepure

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“Shanling did an excellent job with this DAP! The pricing is fantastic for the quality received and it is punching way above the list price. The battery life is very good and the UI is not problematic at all for me. It offers slight customization in what icon folders will be front and center on the home page and also feels fantastic in the hand in terms of build quality.

The only lacking aspect is the relatively basic EQ system which is just not good enough for the very good fidelity offered from the system’s hardware. I hope they can improve that in future products. Beyond that, the M5s is a fantastic midtier DAP. I will certainly be recommending it to enthusiasts looking for something in the $500 range.”

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“This is the real, typical solid state output. It delivers punch power and everything has impact and control. For a solid state output it is very musical but it isn’t as musical and smooth as the tube output is, logically. The SS headphone out at this level of course is clean and precise, if not it wouldn’t be a high end unit. At the same time it isn’t the neutral and analytic kind of sound you expect form a flagship. It’s more musical, full bodied and comes with a smooth delivery. Something that will strike you right from the start is the excellent stereo image and L/R balance.

Bass is somewhat elevated but not too much. The detail and layering is good, as well as the separation. The mids are detailed, well layered and have that smooth, musical delivery. It’s maybe my favorite part of the N8, though the bass section isn’t far behind. There are DAPS that present more air and spaciousness but the N8 is no slouch here either. The solid state treble section is energetic and lively, but like the bass and mids it has this musical twist and slight smoothness so it will never sound harsh or sibilant or aggressive.”

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“As an Android player, the FiiO M9 gets a modern processor from Samsung, the Exynos 7270. It’s faster than the old Mediatek SoC previously in use and that’s one of the main reasons the player feels snappy. More than just a processor, it’s a full system taking charge of the many aspects of the player. That’s how the M9 became compatible with 24-bit Bluetooth transmission or how it’s able to transfer your music in WiFi directly now.

As for the FiiO Q5, the brand also employ futuristic technology like this multi-layered PCB. Each layer is only 0.08mm wide and that alone is already impressive, even more if you recall how tough it might be to isolate the chips from all this parasites waves. Gone are the days WiFi and Bluetooth polluted your audiophile experience, the FiiO M9 is fully shielded now.”

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For the first time since the iBasso DX50, the brand chose to use one DAC only. It’s the “former flagship DAC AK4495” released in 2015 by Asahi Kasei a very potent DAC capable of decoding 32bit files as well as DSD files, if the processor allows it.It’s a full symmetrical stereo DAC from the Verita series, the one bragging velvet sound every time. Quoted from AK website :
“Five digital filters are integrated into the AK4495(…) and a newly integrated super slow roll-off filter having emphasized characteristics, providing a wide range of choice in digital filters.”To summarize, even up to this day, it’s a very good DAC with a 105dB THD on paper and 111dB THD with the DX120, thanks to an additional 7V supply.”

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“As mentioned before, Astell&Kern has two outputs. I have mostly been using the 2.5 mm balanced one, as most of my cables are terminated to that plug. I will go over the differences between balanced and unbalanced later. One thing up front though. I know people say balanced makes no difference. While I agree that there is no general rule for that, I say, it is all about the implementation. The circuit matters. I know balanced outputs that outperform the single ended one, and I also know single ended one’s that sound better than their symmetrical counterpart. It’s all about the components used and how well they act with each other.”