hey this is my first time using a DAC, but i can say this is quite amazing. I've bought unboxed one rather than new. I've paired them with CCA-PLA13 and they together do the job. I'm using my mac for listening and first it is difficult for me to adjust the sampling frequency and you can do that by accessing Audio MIDI Setup in applications folder and select the DAC you've attached and select the required there. Trust me you can feel a lot of difference when compared to your regular ones. I am using airpods pro for regular listening and I can feel a lot of difference here, you can hear every detail of the song. Its worth a try for beginning of your journey. Planning to have a balanced cable soon as this also supports 2.5mm output.

This review comes from someone who has never used an external DAC. I might sound extremely biased as this is my first experience but I swear to God listening through this got me to write down this review.

From my teenage years I would always invest in decent headphones and earbuds from Sennheiser. So I know the importance of good headphones to get a good music experience. It's been a year since I owned a
Sennheiser CX 300S and a HD 598 SE. I thought Music could never have been better but boy was I wrong, Shanking UA2 has completely brought a new listening experience. Apart from the sound clarity and volume amplification. I could notice I do not get fatigued listening for hours. There's something about Shanling UA2 that gives you a warm heavenly feeling. I would definitely recommend this to someone who would want to get started on their DAC journey. The same song I have listened to forever got me feeling like my first experience!

How to get warranty claim request i selecting warranty claim request from headphoneZone Shanling product list is not opening how to select product with opening shanling product and without this i can't put my warranty claim request ...... i buyed shanling UA2 from headphonezone after 5 months great performance little more battery draining from phone but great sound quality after 5 months the i am facing problem of automatic music pause how to solve this problem and how to put warranty request

awesome sound!!

Really thankful to hpz team, for the recommendations, thank u for existing and doing what u do.
Raghav Sir and team, u guys are like celebrities to me!

i am not an audiophile, just love to listen music. It has elevated my whole experience of listening to music to a whole new level.
Its my 1st time listening experience via 2.5mm balanced output, and boy-oh-boy.. amazing detailing, no looking back to 3.5mm earphones.

my setup - blon bl-03 + UA2 + one plus nord

This is my 2nd DAC. Previously I was using Venture Electronics Odyssey. There is a huge difference in detailing, sound stage, depth, resolution and sound signature. I just love to hear music, watch movies movies and play games with this UA2. Thanks to Headphone Gurus for helping me out in choosing the right product which will make a perfect pair with the KZ ZAS IEM.

I am ordered Shanling UA2 for my KZ ZSN PRO X with tripowin zonie cable 2.5mm balanced the improvements more then expected after using these dac everything more added more bass tighted more clean vocal more everything added more and improved sound stage imaging and the dac is to much powerful before dac i am using my KZ ZSN PRO X on 80% 90% volume with some distrotion after 70% volume and after using dac shanling UA2 only have 30% 40% volume sounds amazing without any distrotion any siblance only 1 con is its taking much power from Smartphone taking lots of battery

I have never really used an audiophile headphone setup till about a week ago. But after getting a pair of hifiman planers, I chose the UA-2 to drive them. And boy am I blown away. This hardly 2-inch long amplifier adds so much life to the planers. There is more than enough headroom for amplification using the balanced 2.5 and does great justice to the dynamics of these openbacks. I am loving every bit of sound it is producing. Great buy, especially because of the cost and the size. For best results use the 2.5mm balanced output, the 3.5mm sounds good, but does not have the same amplification headroom.

Works well. To make it work correctly with windows you have to download specifically the UA line of drivers from shanling. Then in sounds, properties set the levels to the highest, otherwise it'll be stuck with 44.1khz 16 bit. Soundstage is decent for form factor and I don't hear noise. Used with HD 598SR and Final A3000 (balanced). Great for phone.

I read many reviews over the internet and decided to go with it. The sound quality is excellent with amazing clarity. I'm using it with my laptop and very happy with the balanced sound signature.

As a dongle DAC for your phone, the Shanling UA2 is a pretty good device. It has a reasonably powerful amp, good specs for the DAC, a low noise floor, and a mode switch for connecting to consoles. The detachable cable also makes it suitable for PC/Android or iOS use.

However, it has a couple of shortcomings. One of them is the USB-C port on the device is unreasonably tight, which should put undue stress on the port and the cable being plugged in over time. Second, the LED indicator for sample rate is set deep into the body and hard to see. It also occasionally just turns off for no apparent reason.

Third, and most importantly, the UA2 is poorly shielded against interference from smartphones. This is not an issue if you are going to use it with a PC or a tablet with no SIM but if you use it with a phone then every time the phone connects to the network there is very audible interference coming through the single-ended 3.5mm output. I have tried two different USB cables with it, one USB-C to USB-C that comes with the device and a separate Fiio Lightning to USB-C cable and both have the same issue so it's not a cable thing but poor RF shielding on the UA2 itself. For a device designed to work mostly with smartphones, this level of shortcoming is rather silly. I also don't remember this being an issue with the UA1, which was completely silent. I haven't checked the balanced output on the UA2 but I can't see how noise captured by the device itself will be resolved by the choice of cable.

This last issue is worth considering if you're purchasing this DAC but otherwise it's a fine device for the price.

I bought this portable DAC as I heard a lot of good impressions about it. Though having Astell & Kern Kann DAC, & Chord Mojo which are my daily drivers this dongle DAC was the new addition.

I bought the silver color so that it looks different and prominent and is a real eye catcher. The small led light changes accordingly to the file resolution being played which is very handy.

Built quality is very good and well deserved.
The best triumph card of this dongle Dac is it has a balanced 2.5mm port as well as a 3.5mm port for you to use your gear accordingly.
However, once you are used to the balanced port you will never look back at the 3.5mm.
The Soundstage increases and volume power is higher in the balanced port.

Now coming to the sound quality. Wow! Never thought that this small usb stick size dongle DAC will have so much power and joy to give to the listener.
I am indeed very impressed with the huge Soundstage and crispy bass and super clean vocals and highs. The mids are very prominent and over all the quality of sound is indeed a pleasure to listen to for hours.
I use it with the MacBook Air with Audirvana and as well as with my Galaxy smartphone using the UApp for Tidal through the USB output. Its super 👌

The portability is good and you can carry it along with either of your other devices, laptop or smartphone.

I used this DAC with the desktop setup both with the Alex Cavali tube amplifier as well as with the Burson solid state amplifier and let me tell you it was as if you are listening to the Mojo or the Kann. I mean the sound and imaging was almost identical.
Sometimes I feel if I had known earlier I I would have avoided investment in the flagship like Mojo or A&K Kann. This dongle is very close to both of them and I can call it a little brother of the Chord Mojo. ( Sorry Chord Electronics and A&K if you are reading this)
My impressions are after listening to DSD256, DSD128, DSD64, FLAC , MQA files and it has been sampling the files correctly with correct led indicator.
I don't have a DSD512 file to try which is its highest limit packed in a small size of this dongle DAC.
This is one of the best dongle DAC available.
Cheers

This review is after 1 month usage., Because am not able to give positive nor negative , intially my mindset was like that
I bought these because of hyped reviews, and it's using the same chip of AQ Cobalt which is 30k & this is 7k only
Also using Ak XB10, Fiio K1 Dac

Am not able find the difference between these 3 dacs ..mild ..I felt
But after started using NEUTRON MUSIC PLAYER , switching on its 64 bit processing & Resampling - Audiophile mode
My Audio Technica M40x sounds like never before in just 60% volume , (Ak Xb 10 dac 100% volume is low compared to UA2 60%)
And because of this much power it's provides, the mobile battery drain very fast, that's why taking 1 star out

I have the same problem as Sameer Uddin in the reviews. The status indicator light doesn't change colour at higher sampling frequencies. It should turn green in my case (picture). But it always stays blue.