Shanling M0s Digital Audio Participant Assessment: Tiny Tunes Carried out Dust Low cost

Do you bear in mind the iPod Shuffle or iPod Nano — these tiny music gamers barely bigger than a postage stamp? The Shuffle had no display, simply buttons and music. The Sixth-gen Nano had a tiny display, however it was nonetheless all in regards to the music. The Shanling M0s is mainly a modernized model of that 2010 Nano — additionally with a touchscreen — and including USB-C, high-res audio and even Bluetooth. Better of all, it consists of expandable reminiscence through a microSD slot for considerably extra cupboard space than simply about any iPod.

7.5

Shanling M0s

Like

• 
  Tiny
• 
  Excessive-res audio suitable
• 
  MicroSD and USB-C

Do not like

• 
  No button lock
• 
  Not for fumbly fingers
• 
  Often laggy menus

With glorious match and end, the M0s feels properly made and has a surprisingly good design for one thing small and cheap. It is simple sufficient to place all of your music, even high-res lossless as much as 384 kHz at 32-bit, on a high-capacity microSD card, and have hours of tunes with zero web entry required. 

It isn’t fairly as straightforward to make use of because the best portable media players, however the M0s has some helpful high-end options for below $100. Suppose you’ve a set of high-res audio information, and even only a assortment of MP3s gathering digital mud. In that case, the M0s is a cheap option to get pleasure from them with out the distraction or annoyance of an web connection.

{Hardware}

• DAC: Cirrus Logic CS43131
• Headphone amp energy: 60mW@32ohms (claimed)
• Excessive-res suitable: as much as 32bit/384kHz
• Bluetooth codecs: aptX, AAC, LDAC (plus the required SBC)
• File codecs: DSD, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3, WMA, AAC, M4A
• Storage: microSD
• Battery life: 10h (claimed)
• USB DAC mode: Sure
• Display screen: 1.54-inch, 240×240 decision
• OS: Proprietary

The M0s (and for the report, that is M-zero-S) is impressively small for one thing with a display. It is larger than a postage stamp, however not by a lot: 43.8x45x13.8mm, or in Freedom Items 1.72×1.77×0.54in. A single scroll wheel on the unit’s facet controls the amount and can be a button, turning the M0s on or off. Utilizing the management looks like winding a watch and is actually quicker at altering quantity than buttons. I want there was a lock for it, although, since you may by chance alter the amount if it is bouncing round in your pocket. Within the menus, you possibly can add double- and triple-click performance to the wheel’s button press. You’ll be able to customise these to play/pause tracks or skip ahead or backward.

Inside is a Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC and an amp able to 60mW at 32 ohms. The latter is decrease than Shanling’s dearer M0 Professional, which is visually very related however has a 4.4mm balanced output and 240mW. Whereas primarily a conveyable media participant, you possibly can allow a USB DAC mode which helps you to stream higher-quality audio out of your laptop by way of the M0s. There isn’t any Wi-Fi, nor are there any apps. That is an old-school media participant: an iPod reborn in 2024.

It isn’t one thing I feel most individuals would do, however you can too use the M0s as a Bluetooth receiver. On this use, you’d join the M0s to your telephone, and you then’d join your wired headphones to the M0s. Appears a bit excessive to me, however the choice is there. I could not get the operate to work with my Pixel 7, however Android connectivity and app compatibility is usually a wildcard. 

In a particularly uncommon characteristic, you possibly can manually choose what Bluetooth codec you need, from the bottom SBC to AAC, aptX (simply the usual model), and even LDAC.

Usability

The small display does make the M0s slightly harder to make use of than, say, the massive display on the Sony NW-A306. Not having to slog by way of the Android working system with a sluggish processor makes the general expertise about the identical. The M0s is not as easy as a contemporary high-end telephone, however it scrolls quick. Maybe, too quick. If there’s some particular music you need to hear, and you’ve got an enormous assortment, it may be slightly time-consuming to seek out and choose it. If the UI had a option to choose by letter, that not less than would make issues quicker and fewer annoying.

There isn’t any desktop software program, so if you wish to make a playlist you may have to do this by deciding on the songs within the participant’s OS. That is straightforward sufficient since you possibly can simply swipe to a display to take action whereas taking part in the music, or deciding on a menu that is accessible subsequent to the music title in the primary listing.

There is a stunning quantity of energy within the tiny M0s. Rated at 60mW into 32 ohms, I used to be capable of get loads of quantity even powering massive Audeze LCD-3 planar-magnetic headphones. It would not have ear-splitting quantity, however greater than obligatory and way over the Sony NW-A306. You probably have particularly hard-to-drive headphones then it won’t be sufficient, however I doubt most individuals with headphones like that might take into account a sub-$100 audio participant.

In any other case, the sound was… properly, no matter I put into it. Lossless FLAC tracks sounded nice, prehistoric 128kbps MP3s gave the impression of 128kbps MP3s. A devoted USB amp would possibly offer you marginally higher sound, however at the next worth with decrease portability. Not having the facility problems with the dearer NW-A306 is actually a win for sound high quality.

Tunes 2 go

The Shanling M0s slots in someplace between the ultra-simplicity of the Sony NW-E394, and the way more advanced NW-A306. Because it has way more options, most notably Bluetooth and expandable storage, it is a greater deal than the NW-E394 whereas being barely much less straightforward to make use of. I would not give the M0s to an aged relative on the lookout for moveable music, for instance, the display is simply too small to navigate with out a number of digit dexterity. That, and the often laggy interface generally appears to disregard swipes (though disabling the lock display in the primary menu helps).

For somebody on the lookout for a cheap music participant, one thing that is extremely moveable and is total straightforward to make use of, the M0s is improbable. You’ll be able to go for that totally old-school expertise with wired headphones or earbuds, and the Bluetooth choice is offered if you would like it. You probably have an enormous library of music, particularly FLAC or different high-res music, it is a nice option to play your tunes on the go whereas staying offline.

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