Shanling - EC Mini

I have been using the ec mini for a couple of days. Initially I was unable to get the analog output which one needs to dig into the menu and switch on. There was also a hard reset which I had to do due to the player suddenly becoming unresponsive.
But when I started my serious listening sessions playing cds, connecting with my Chord Mojo, a broad smile came to my face. The sound is superb, precise, insightful yet warm and full. Although the in built dac is good but it is slightly too warm and slightly less incisive for my taste. The Bluetooth with LDAC is also wholesome and enjoyable. It is physically heavy and well built and I hope for it to last a long time.
Thank you Headphone Zone for bringing to the market such a versatile and practical product.

Wonderful USB charging and a battery so mobile. Needs a steady surface so it's not a discman. But CD quality over USB is amazing into my topping dx9. CD player needs a firmware upgrade, a few resets and it's playing beautifully. Great CD warmth and a great way to actually own your music. Glad for this CD resurgence. Highly recommended.

Packing and accessories:

Shanling EC Mini comes in an attractive blue colour box giving the user an enjoyable unboxing experience. The real size image of the player’s top view embossed on the box is a beautiful touch. The unit is securely packed with lot of foam material. The only accessory included is a USB cable along with four tiny gel pads to be attached to the bottom of the player. There is a quick start guide and a small size Shanling product catalogue included in the box.

Design and build quality:

The player is well build and really heavy at around 1.27kg for its size 19x15X3.5cm. It has a very simple and plain design. An 5.5x2cm touchscreen display placed on the top appears very small. But serves the purpose well. Considering that this is a battery operated device, the small screen size is well justified. Songs search forward and backward buttons for CD playback are placed near the display on the top of the unit.

The front face has the slot for CD loading along with power, volume and CD playback buttons with 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm unbalanced headphone outputs located on the left side. The rear side has RCA pre amp-out, micro SD card slot and a Bi-directional USB C DAC input/output which serves as both input and output for USB digital audio. Another USB C port is present for charging purpose only. Other than this there are charging indicator light, a reset switch and a ‘In Vehicle mode’ button. When this button is enabled, EC Mini will automatically power on once it detects charging. It will also automatically power off once charger is disconnected or turned off.

Usability:

The player may not be suitable for use on the go like the early Sony Discman models, but ideal for indoor use. Considering the small size and the range of features this unit offers, it is pretty easy to use. The slot CD mechanism is smooth. The buttons on the front appears little cluttered at first look but I didn’t face much difficulty in using them.

The touchscreen display is located on the top. Small size of the display means there is some ‘getting used to’ required. Users with big fingers might find it little uneasy to navigate. The menu is simple with options for touch CD playback, input and output selection, gain and equalizer settings. The unit offers 2 levels of gain.

Using this player as CD transport with an external DAC does not require any specific change in setting. Just connect the external DAC to the Bi-directional USB DAC input/output port and the EC Mini will automatically detect and display a message ‘Audio Connected’ on the screen. The process is smooth but this is not mentioned anywhere in the quick start guide.

Sometimes the player may stop abruptly while in operation and all the buttons may go unresponsive. This happened once during my first 2 days of usage and it was quite frustrating. This is where the reset button on the rear side comes in handy. The button is too small and need a sim card ejector pin to operate. Pressed the button once, the unit got reset and came back into action immediately.

Since this device is not WiFi enabled, firmware updates can be made only by downloading the update file from Shanling website and placing it in a micro SD card. Also I wish this player has an option to power through DC adaptor bypassing the battery for desktop use. Sony Discman models from back in the days always had this option.

Sound:

I am not an expert in putting the nuances of sound in words. While listening through headphones by connecting to the 3.5mm unbalanced output, the unit sounded crisp, clean, detailed and transparent. Once connected to the 4.4mm balanced output, I noticed an increase in volume and slight improvement in overall sound. Using the player as CD transport with Shanling EM7 made the sound even better reflecting the fine qualities of EM7. Overall a very nice sounding player at this size. My listening experience so far is entirely by playing audio CDs and did not try local digital files or external source. Works fine with Bluetooth but the sound quality is not in par with playing CDs directly.

Conclusion:

Overall, Shanling EC Mini is a nice little product. With its very good build and sound quality, this is an ideal player for someone who is looking to add a CD player to their desktop headphone listening set up. This can be used as standalone player or as a transport with other DAC/Amplifier. It shines at both. Moreover it can be used as a headphone DAC/amplifier by connecting to other sources or streaming through Bluetooth.