I thought that using DAC would make a huge difference than without using the DAC. But thats not the case here. There is not much of a difference here. The major difference is the volume, that with DAC it goes far beyond the headphones capability which results in distortion due to over volume. When kept at low volume, I couldnt here much of a difference.

Headphone used : Sony MDR-XB55AP

I am in no sense an audiophile, but since Apple Music lossless was introduced I reluctantly decided to go down this rabbit hole. Sound quality is great, build quality is not that great. Soundstage seems okay. I used KZ-ZSN PRO and Bose QC 35 ii in wired mode without DSP (as I said not an audiophile) with these. And the DAC does seem like a significant step up from the previously used apple lightning to 3.5 adapter. Delivery was not smooth mainly due to Bluedart, but the overall experience with Headphonezone was good.

UA1 pro is okay as android usb to 3.5mm. Insane power and but variable Freq response. I felt on Android some kind of power saving kicks in probably and makes freq response V shaped shrill and mids totally degraded. On pc freq resp is balanced.

My phone has super user privileges and exclusive control of usb dac. So no limitation at android level but shanling firmware is to blame for bad Android audio quality

In line call buttons, on headphones won't work 🥲.
Firmware in the ua1 pro is weird in volume control. Linear scale is low gain mode. Logarithmic is high gain mode 😂

Edit:- after 2 weeks I find my 7t pro built in dac more "musical" than this, though it produces more details but vocals completely loose natural timbre and feels digital or metallic in balanced iems.

For headphones, 7t pro inbuilt DAC doesn't have sufficient energy but this one has insane power. But raw power doesn't make music lively.
U need good ears for this discernment

I've been trying to find alternatives for wired output music since my phone didn't get a 3.5mm jack and I finally stumbled upon this DAC. I've coupled this with Poweramp and downloaded some of my favorite albums encoded in FLAC. What can I say? Music has never been better. Even better than the traditional 3.5mm jack output. Even at the highest volume, there's not a bit of distortion. It might seem loud to some people at the start but for an audiophile(although I'm a beginner), you'd hear things which weren't evident before. It's like moving from 60Hz screen refresh rate to a 120Hz. There's just no turning back. If you're phone doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, and you listen to a lot of music(wired!!), this is an upgrade that you need to make your life filled with music sound amazing.

A downside might be that it uses the battery from the phone to work, but hey, you and I both chose to give up a 3.5mm jack. Kuch paana hai toh kuch khona hai lol.

I'm using a Oneplus 9r coupled with the Shanling UA1 Pro. The headphone is an Audiotechnica ATH M-50x. I hope these last a long long time. Totally worth the money I've invested. Also, at this cost, they're one of the best you can get.

Being a beginner, I might not be able to talk about the technicalities of shanling UA1 with great depth. I paired this DAC with BLON 03, I couldn't notice a very drastic difference while listening on my mobile device, but on a laptop (macbook) it's simply amazing! It's enhanced the IEMs experience in a way that the music sounds way cleaner, noticeably louder and detailed. The build is good, but a bit hard to plug in and out. Even though DACs are primary used for enhancing the listening experience, the mic not working become a problem while commuting.

Hi Raghav,
First I'd like to say I'm sorry I can't give a review before using the product throughly. After using it for many days now I'm going to write my honest feeling.

For all the people who listen to music most of the time at work, home in all the places and doesn't have 3.5mm jack on your phone, they definitely use this dack & 3.5mm headphone instead of a type c headphone. It really enrich your music quality and comfort of listenting.

Now if I'm gonna say it really give you all the spectrums, low-mid-up scales properly then it'll be lie. It really amplifies your music. If you never used a DAC before then it'll open more sounds which you have never could listen before on the same song. You can see the difference as soon as you starts using it.

I've to agree with other users who are using it for the full volumn the sound starts to hurt in ear and gets distorted. The sound is very good till 70-80%. For me, on my phone I listen at 30-40% and in my laptop at 10-20% and it's more then enough. But I'd like to say if you are using DAC then you definitely doesn't need to go full volumn.

According to the price I can say the sound quality can be more good.
HEADPHONE I'M USING: KZ-ZSN PRO

The dongle works just fine on Android. The amplification is mind blowing. It makes movies a great experience. However the Soundstage is not as impressive as the amplification. Still this great looking, portable dac is definitely worth every penny. With good IEMs it can give superb sound and extend the Soundstage of the IEM. Highly recommended overall.