Review: Shanling M2S – Tiny Musical Wonder

SHANLING M2S – SOUND

Before I start I should remark right off the bat; just like it’s rich features, Shanling M2S has a very good and rich sound for the money. What you have is a warm and analogue sounding DAP, with a good clarity and resolution. It’s quite different from it’s rivals like Cayin N3, which is more on the flatter side with a detailed sound. Shanling M2S on the other hand, reproduces the sound on it’s own musical way. Easy-going and smooth.

BASS

Lows have good definition and they’re quite prominent when needed. But they’re a little bit on the softer side, instead of a hard punch. Of course I don’t have very high expectations for this budget levels, but I can say that lows have a better touch than Cayin N3. Hits are not very hard and they don’t go very deep. Even so, they hang quite well and extension is very good. Also, decay is longer and better than N3 to me. I think for this type of sound, they managed to nail the bass because if lows had more emphasis, this could’ve been a muddy DAP I imagine, as it has enough bass presence as it is. I wouldn’t bring up a flaw for lows of M2S as they sound very good for this price.

What I liked the most about it is the mid-bass region. In my experience, for these price levels the market either goes for a deficient mid-bass presentation for the sake of a roomy and more separated sound. Or, they just can’t balance it and you can have a mid-bass hump with bassy or meaty phones. Not the case with Shanling M2S. It gives a nice mid-bass response so that the sound feels complete, and it doesn’t go over the edge to cause a midbass hump. In addition, mid-bass region have a good separation from mids, which is always a good thing. M2S has a very good balance right there. In “Brothers In Arms” of Dire Straits (DSD), I really enjoyed the bass guitar notes particularly, which is nice.

MIDS

Mids don’t have the greatest definition or resolution with M2S but they have great tonality and musicality combined. I would say M2S goes to a warmer way of things, with a smoothed out sound and darker tonality. This is a matter of personal taste of course and as I like warm sounding DAPs, I enjoyed my time with it. IEM or headphone pairings can also play a part as usual, so I can recommend a IEM like Noble Savanna with it’s great mid presentation. It has open and a little bright mids with real good clarity. So pairing it with the musical M2S gives great results. As M2S has a rich and full sound with mids.

Mids have good separation from bass region, especially mid-bass, as I mentioned right above. So this DAP gives you an enjoyable music experience for warm sound lovers. Not the same can be said for analytical folks who love a little more brighter and open sound reproduction. Despite this darker tone, mids still have good enough resolution. All you need to do is pairing it with a IEM which has good and open mids.

TREBLES

As you can easily guess, highs are a little bit behind with M2S. Too much? No, I don’t think they’re too laid back but if you prefer the cymbals to be more in your face, than you may not be satisfied. This is the least focused part of the spectrum, as the emphasis is more on bass and mids. But make no mistake, highs still have some energy and resolution. The extension is not great but I’ve no problems with it for this budget level. On the other hand you may prefer more extended trebles, but I don’t think we should be that nitpicky. You can easily forgive that with it’s other strengths, sonic and user experience-wise.

Once again, I think Shanling managed a very good balance here, just like the bass department. A little more laid back highs and boom, this could’ve been a veiled DAP and many people could’ve eliminated it for other choices. But no, this is a greatly balanced player over the entire spectrum. Even though Cayin N3 has better extension on highs, I would prefer this one. As N3 lacks the bass and tonality compared to M2S, as well as the user experience. This is of course my opinion, as your choice could be otherwise. Just like the mids, I recommend a bright sounding phone here to extract a good treble response.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

I wouldn’t consider Shanling M2S as a technical sounding player. Even so, it has some good technical prowess for the money to talk about. First off, I realized it has a nice sound stage for this level. Both width and depth are quite nice and it gives a very good ambiance to the listener. Imaging is very good as well, given that 3D feeling is present most of the time, especially with DSD files. I think M2S performs great with DSD and if you have a good DSD archive I recommend it.

Thanks to the good bass response the dynamism is also good with M2S. The sound has a sweet weight especially with phones that have good and controlled bass presence. Of course the dynamism is not all about the bass, and with it’s slightly laid back trebles it takes a small hit, as you miss some sparkle and energy. That’s why I recommend a IEM like Savanna as it gives more justice to this DAP.

It has a quite good separation and background is just enough dark to have a nice imaging. Naturally the background is not perfectly clean, given the price level, but still good. There’s no hiss that I’ve heard so it has a very good noise floor. The detail retrieval is one of the surprising points of this tiny player as it can extract good amount of information from the recording. Again especially with DSD files it sounds awesome in terms of that. So it sounds very detailed but because of the warm character sometimes you might not notice it.

Another plus of M2S is the great output power. It drives my Audeze EL8’s easily, which my Sony ZX2 cannot easily do. So you can even drive many headphones to substantial volume levels, which is astounding from this tiny sweet player.

SHANLING M2S – FINAL WORDS

I really like the M2S from Shanling. It’s ultra pocketable and a great alternative for walking around or doing some sports. With the Bluetooth feature you can connect your phone, throw it in your pocket and use it as a wireless solution. You’ll have a great sound too. No doubt about it.

The form factor, great design and build quality, rich feature set and very good sonics makes this DAP an instant recommendation from me in this level. I think this’ll make it to our DAP recommendations page in a very short time. You heard me Mr. L!

 

4.3/5 - (57 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

21 Comments

  • Reply August 4, 2017

    Eli Segal

    Is there a player that can reasonably drive the hd650?

    • Reply August 4, 2017

      dale thorn

      Looking at the specs, I see this:

      Output power: 130mw @ 32Ω / 112mw @ 300Ω

      What’s interesting about this power spec (if true) is the output power doesn’t drop a lot even when the impedance goes 10 times higher. If it’s true, then when the 650’s impedance peaks in the bass, it should have plenty of spare power. If it’s true of course.

      • Reply August 5, 2017

        Shanling Audio

        On our official webpage we list it as 12 mw @300Ω, probably website you found it made mistake when putting in specifications.

        • Reply August 5, 2017

          dale thorn

          OK – then not a good match for Senn HD650.

  • Reply August 30, 2017

    zoro

    m2s va cayin n3 ?

    • Reply September 1, 2017

      Berkhan

      I mentioned N3 in the context many times.

  • Reply October 9, 2017

    Fabian

    If streaming FLACS from my Xperia Z5 via Bluetooth and Aptx to this M2s and connected Audio Technica EC700 will It receive the bluetooth data with aptx from my Xperia or without it,just simple Bluetooth ?

  • Reply October 9, 2017

    Berkhan

    If the phone has the AptX support, than it will be AptX connection.

  • Reply October 18, 2017

    Salman Saeed

    M2s vs N3
    In Overall comparison.

  • Reply October 31, 2017

    Alex

    Hi! I need your help., Shanling M2s vs Cayin N3, i listen jazz & vocal., which player beter for musically & width audio range..? Many thanks!!

    • Reply October 31, 2017

      Berkhan

      What’s your headphone?

      • Reply August 22, 2018

        Ade

        Which player better, n3 or m2s for
        my ATH-AR 3BT ? Thanks..

  • Reply May 23, 2018

    Klaus E. Werner

    Hi Berkhan,

    I’m in search of a good driver for my Fiio F9 Pro – which are a bit on the brighter side in the treble department.

    From your description it sounds that the M2s might pair very well with the Fiio F9, right? The slight weekness of the M2s (too melodic/warm) might soften the harsh 8kHz peak of the F9.

    Background: My Xduuo X3 died on me last night, and anyway the combo was too harsh for some pieces like eg Chester’s voice in Linking Park’s Crawling.

    • Reply May 23, 2018

      Berkhan

      Hi,

      Yes, it’s a good match with the F9 but I recommend to upgrade a better IEM then F9 firstly.

  • Reply May 24, 2018

    Klaus E. Werner

    Sorry,

    my fault mixing them up: I meant the F9 Pro.

    Initially I was drawn to the Fiio X3 MkIII, which is supposed to be an ideal pairing for the F9 Pro, but the laggy software/interface did not convince me.

    Thanks for your patience!

    • Reply May 24, 2018

      Berkhan

      Would be very nice with the F9 Pro.

      But I’d recommended you to go for the M3s instead. Much better player.

      • Reply May 24, 2018

        Klaus E. Werner

        Now that I’ve read your review of the M3s, it definitely seems the better offering.

        Thanks for your advice!

  • Reply December 21, 2018

    Serge

    M2s. The audio quality is on par with iPhone 4/5/6. Low/High Gain modes are equal from SQ perspective. Steep lowpass filter should be preferred. One minor tech. issue spotted. Audio measurements that matter – http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/audio-quality-of-shanling-m2s

  • Reply May 20, 2019

    Dharma

    Hello guys, if I would like to pair it with Grado SR125e, Edifier H185, or Swans Hivi D1010 which all of them were mid-centric, should I go with Hifiman HM650 or this M2s? I used Calyx PaT currently and sometimes switching with the internal DAC of Macbook Pro

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