Shanling M6 Ultra is the fifth model of the M6 series, and the only model that uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 and four DAC chips. Today, I will share with you the one-week experience of Shanling M6 Ultra.

• $739 – Check latest price on AliExpress, Amazon US or other Amazon countries

01/ Appearance Design

The size of Shanling M6 Ultra is 127*77*18mm and the weight is 263g. The unibody is made of aviation-grade magnesium-aluminum alloy material, which is exquisite and flawless in workmanship and has a delicate touch.

The top of the player is equipped with a 3.5mm single-ended and a 4.4mm balanced interface, the bottom is a USB interface and a memory card slot, and the upper and lower ends are affixed with tempered glass layers.

On the top of the right side is the volume knob with integrated buttons, and on the left side are the three physical buttons for the previous/next song and pause. The pause button in the middle is larger than the other two buttons. Although it is only a small detail, it is very helpful for blind operation.

The biggest highlight of Shanling M6 Ultra’s design, or what impressed me the most except for the auditory level is the 1920×1080/441PPI 5-inch Sharp LCD screen. Delicate and vivid effect, even at the highest brightness is not dazzling.

02/ Battery Life

Shanling M6 Ultra is equipped with a 5650mAh capacity battery that supports QC3.0 fast charging. Officials claim that the single-end battery life is 13.5 hours, the balanced end is 9 hours, and the bluetooth transmission is 58.5 hours. There is not much difference between the measured balance output battery life and the official announcement value, and the battery life and charging speed are basically at the average level among players of the same grade.

It is worth mentioning that the M6 Ultra generates a relatively large amount of heat during playback, but it has not been found that the system operation and sound have been significantly affected.

03/ Audio Hardware

In terms of audio hardware configuration, Shanling M6 Ultra adopts a new design scheme. The QUAD-DAC parallel architecture is equipped with 4 AK4493SEQ chips, and the amp circuit is a new design based on the OP+BUF architecture. The configuration of M6 Ultra and Shanling M6 Pro are the same as OPA2211 low-pass filter, BUF634A high-speed buffer, etc., and the difference is DAC chip, OPA1612 adder, etc.

04/ Sound Description

Soundstage: The soundstage of Shanling M6 Ultra has a very good vertical extension, which can make the sound of the instrument more stretched. It also allows vocals to be opened in a full and delicate way at a comfortable distance. I think the horizontal sound field is a disadvantage of the M6 Ultra, or because the excellent performance of the vertical sound field makes the horizontal sound field not so good.

High Frequency: The quantity sense of high frequency is relatively full, which makes the high frequency of M6 Ultra very tuneful. For example, the solo of piano and orchestra is transparent and not exciting.

Mid Frequency: It should be the area with the strongest sense of energy in tri-frequency, especially the frequency band where the mid-high frequency and mid-low frequency are connected, which adds a lot to the sound of Shanling M6 Ultra. The texture of the instrumental music is no longer the dull and straight line sense, but full of full sound. The vocals mainly come from the mid-frequency part, which is full, extended and clear.

Low Frequency: The quantity sense and transient response of very low frequency are good. The quantity sense, elasticity and extension of the low frequency are also excellent.

05/ Driving & Collocation

The single-ended output power of Shanling M6 Ultra is 240mW@32Ω, and the balanced end is 720mW@32Ω. After the actual matching experience, the earbuds in my hand can achieve a very good driving effect without even using high gain under the balance port.

The driving force of Shanling M6 Ultra basically belongs to the first echelon of similar products. At present, it is difficult to have earbuds on the market that it cannot drive. In terms of style, Shanling M6 Ultra is good at using the characteristics of earbuds, and earbuds with too many high frequencies may mask some advantages in low frequency. Therefore, I suggest to use earbuds with balanced or more low-frequency quantity sense to show the characteristics of both sides to the greatest extent.

• $739 – Check latest price on AliExpress, Amazon US or other Amazon countries