Shanling - UA1

Bought this in Jan 2021 to play music from phone which has USB type C output. It does serve the purpose on the phone as I can use my normal 3.5mm jack cans. However, after having used this product for around a week, I don't see much difference in sound signature or the sound stage. The audio quality does not improve that I could register it.

To validate this I connected the UA1 to a Macbook pro and a HP Elite laptop respectively. Cans used for listening: AKG 245 (32Ohm), Grado SR60 (32 Ohms), and few in-ear headphones.
Songs played: Few hits from MJ, Daft Punk - Get lucky, Gloria Gaynor, Some albums from AR Rahman (Swades, Bombay, etc), Album from Adele.
I have listened to songs using Spotify (Hi Res), Tidal (HiRes), some Flacs / CD’s that I have of the above songs.

Now I would like to say that I’m no audiophile or close to it, but I do understand music.

To me frankly, UA1 only makes sure that you can use the output the audio of a laptop/phone from a USB type C/A and therefore you are not relying on the hardware of that laptop/phone. And it does that job pretty well. However, the DAC, at least for me does not make any considerable change to the audio quality (and I am referring to the soundstage mostly).

I have used other DACs (Dragon Fly Red, Cambridge Dac Magic) and I pretty well know the difference that a DAC brings to the plate.

For a price tag of INR 4K, I was expecting at least some sort of improvement, but it doesn’t do that. I guess for a good improvement to sound, one has to invest in quite more amount. My advice: Dac Magic rocks.

So to summarise:
If I was looking for a device that provides USB connectivity with no consideration to sound quality improvement, I would buy UA1. However, if I was looking for a device that provides USB connectivity with a decent DAC, I would look elsewhere.
At this stage I so wish that stores in India offered a return option. This is the best thing about stores in US, where one can try the product and if not found useful, has the option to return it. I know the cons to the business with this, but yes it’s a wish.

Using it on soundmagic e11c performance slightly increase not by big margin, volume level does increse a lot.

Bought this as my phone has no 3.5 mm jack so needed it and paired with my RHA S500 and the sound quality is good.

This small dac/amp by Shanling features an ES9218P Dac by ESS that provides a very rich sound experience with clear mids, highs and slightly boosted bass. Use this tiny wonder with USB Audio Player Pro.

Cons
Output power is just 80mW per 32 ohm, hence not suitable at all for demanding headphones.

The replacement experience with Headphonezone was really great.
Though my issue is not resolved the same unit is sent back mainly because the shanling UA1 doesn't work well with my google pixel 2. Issue is the clipping sound in the left channel. Headphone zone tried it's best to reproduce the issue

I have been using this for a day, continuously for 10+ hours and I have been comparing it with a normal dongle that comes with any mobile and also with Astell and Kern XB10 Bluetooth reciver / DAC. The headphones i used was RHA t10i and Grado GR10e in ears. I thought of seperating my thoughts into categories. Here are those, in the order of my observation.

Design / Build :
Built decently well enough to last longer than your mobile does. Design is good too. Little bit of heft, that might be uncomfortable for few, keeping it in the pockets. Braided cable, doesn't feel cheap and fairly flexible. USB dongle provided, can be used as a DAC for Computers as well.

Compatibility:
It is very much compatible with most devices eith USB-C port. Though, I don't see Microphone in the headsets supported for voice calls. Tried with different mobiles.

Sound quality:
This device is great for amplification of mid impedence headset. Frequency response is great. Bass feels accurate, tight and punchy. Some people might feel it underwhelming. Although this is my personal opinion. Remember, sound is somewhat subjective. If you have a bass heavy headset, this works brilliantly well. Mid range is greatly presented for the price and doesn't over power other frequencies. Highs are good but there are times that it feels a little bit on the harsh side. Nothing unpleasant though.

Comparisons:
Compared to the dongle, it is instantly better. Compared to XB10, the XB10 is overall better sounding as It doesn't exaggerate any of the freq's. But the battery life take a great hit while listening to high quality music files.

Conclusion:
Overall, this is a great amp for the size as ut powers my RHAs brilliantly. And for the price point, a definite step up from a normal dongle. If you want to go for XB10s of the world, the current price is around 7k. If you are budget confined and if you ask me is it worth streaching, i would say no. And as for Shanling's own Bluetooth DAC's, it'll sound similar as per my guess. If you are ok using it plugged to the device directly and if you want a good quality DAC without spending a fortune, the UA1 is a great option, keeping in mind that this should be used with a good quality headphones / iems to get its full potential out. Overall a good buy. But if you put a gun on my head and ask, I'll go with XB10's for its sound quality, though I might need a power bank for it separately. Lol.

The sound quality of this cute little amp/dac is just mesmerizing, Every each and little details are present, the soundstage is excellent. Just plug with a proper pair of IEM/Headphone 🎧; then you are good to go for musicHeaven