Today, we have James’s review of the Shanling M8T, a new Android 13 and dual Jan6418 microtube flagship digital audio player priced at $1499.
Disclaimer: This sample was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I thank Shanling for their support.
Click here to learn more about Shanling products previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This article follows our current scoring guidelines which you can read in more detail here.
The Shanling M8T is the brand’s first tube DAP, though certainly not Shanling’s first tube product, as the company has 37 years of experience implementing tubes in their HiFi gear.
This is a welcoming detour from their solid-state DAPs with a new, engaging tube timbre and 3 different sound profiles that you can switch with its enhanced decoding section.
The M8T also seems good value with a price of $1499, almost half the M9 Plus’s SRP, but closer to the M9 in design than the M8.
With the M8T, it feels like Shanling has completed what the M8 tried to achieve by blending high-resolving power with enhanced, rich harmonics.
I found the overall product experience very enjoyable and unique. For those fond of the M8 or seeking a lush, immersive sound experience that cannot be offered by solid-state amping, this is something you shouldn’t miss.
Features
Tubes
The M8T houses two military-grade JAN6418 tubes on top of the device, for a smooth and engaging tone in the output.
You can also choose not to use the tubes simply by switching back to transistor amping, featuring Shanling’s own I/V stage using the ADI ADA45253, OPA1612 for LPF, and ADI AD8397 for high current output.
You can toggle between Linear and Super-linear modes when using the tubes. This means three sound profiles are available, and each tonal profile is very audibly unique.
The M8T can output 500mW for SE connections and 1125mW on a balanced connection over 32Ω loads, which is sufficient for most portable gear.
DAC
The M8T is equipped with two flagship AKM AK4191EQ modulators and two AK4499EX chipsets. Jitter control is further enhanced with a discreet AK4191EQ for each channel, unlike other implementations using just one piece of AK4191EQ between two AK4499EXs for D/A conversion.
There are also two KDS active crystal oscillators clocked at 90.3168MHz and 98.304MHz, coupled with a custom-programmed FPGA controller for enhanced jitter control.
The decoding rate is a maximum of PCM 32bit/768kHz and DSD1024, basically the highest we can get. DSD ISOs in various formats are supported and can be replayed swiftly with the built-in player app.
With XMOS USB decoding solution, USB decoding supports up to PCM 32bit/768kHz and DSD512.
Design
Shanling announced that the M8T is now their new flagship DAP with the M9 Plus discontinued last summer. The M8T comes close in form factor when compared to the M9 Plus.
The M8T is marginally heavier than the M9 Plus at 383g, which is still considered very light and portable for its size.
With warm lighting through the recessed, vented heat-dissipation shield for the tubes, the M8T looks the coolest among all of Shanling’s portable DAP designs. It is a smart move to let the tubes replace the secondary screen to give it a unique look from the rest of the lineup.
The 6″ Sharp HD screen with 2160*1080, Full HD resolution is also captivating, with dense pixels and sufficient brightness even under the sun.
The rest of the housing design follows the wavy design language of the M9 Plus and is carved out from a block of aluminum. On the back, there is a luxurious-looking matte glass panel which feels great to the touch as well.
The color scheme is consistent with the older M8, feeling smoothly machined with a matte sandblasted finish.
I/O
The M8T has done away with the legacy Shanling swappable jack system from the M8, so it is possible to quickly swap between single-ended and balanced terminations.
The bottom side houses a USB-C socket for charging or connecting to laptops for decoding, and on the left side is a card slot, this time without a cover for easier access.
Controls
The control layout on the M8T is pretty much identical to the M9 Plus, with the volume control doubling as an on/off button on the right, and navigation buttons on the left.
Clicks are very clean with sufficient volume steps for fine adjustment. My only small complaint would be the clicking sound of the physical buttons being slightly loud, nevertheless it does feel solid in terms of build.
Control and swiping actions are generally smooth with adequate RAM and a fast MCU and you can play some minigames and run various music apps on the device. The experience is close to navigating on a mid-tier phone, allowing fast scrolling and loading a long list of albums promptly.
In addition, you can use the Shanling Eddict Player App to remote control the device from other iOS and Android phones.
Battery Life
The M8T supports QC3.0 and PD2.0 for 18W charging, and with its 8350 mAh Battery it can play up to 15.5 hours on an SE connection and 13 hours on balanced. If you use it as a Bluetooth receiver it can even work for up to 96 hours.
Switching between Transistors and Tube Mode on Balanced output, using Medium gain, I still have around 45% battery after roughly 4 hours of listening, which is quite decent considering the output is quite powerful.
Packaging & Accessories
The M8T comes in a similar style but with much more compact-sleeved packaging than the M9 Plus, and also without the fancy wooden box.
This is very reasonable considering the price difference, and in the box, you will find user manuals, extra screen protectors, and a USB cable for charging, just enough to get the unit up and running.
Software
With a Snapdragon 665 MCU, 6GB DDR4 RAM, and 128GB ROM powering the open Android 13 OS with global SRC bypass on the M8T, it is certainly a more refreshing, flagship-like experience when comparing it to the M9 Plus that runs on Android 10.
It far surpasses the M8 that runs on Android 7, a slower MCU, 4GB of RAM, and a smaller screen.
On another note, the M8T also boots up pretty fast. This is easily one of the fastest DAPs in the market, ideal for those with a large music library and who want the fastest experience available.
Android 13
With Android 13 it enhances the UI/UX quite a bit compared to Android 10 on Shanling’s older DAPs.
Icons and dropdown menus are customized for quicker access to some key functions. The rest is similar to Android phones, so I don’t think anyone would need a user manual for this player.
The M8T is also pre-installed with Google Play Store and APKPure so you can download various apps right away and without region-locked restrictions.
Running AnTuTu Benchmark v10.4.4 on the M8T it scores slightly over 230000. It is likely that the newer Android OS is dragging down the scores a bit but we can see the CPU and MEM scores remain pretty high for a DAP.
Features
Dual Modes
Dragging down from the top bar you can see buttons that allow you to toggle between Transistor Mode and Tube Mode.
It takes only 3 seconds for the Tube Mode to be active, but requires a bit of warm-up sound optimal, so it is best to turn it on for 10 minutes before using it extensively, otherwise, you can listen with the transistor mode instantly.
When using the Tube Mode, another button will be undimmed to allow you to select between the Triode and Ultra-Linear modes.
In practice, they give 3 different output colorations which I will cover in more depth in the sound section.
Multiple Working Modes
From the drop-down menu, you will find a Work Mode quick access button, allowing users to switch between Android Mode and Prime Mode.
Prime Mode force closes other apps and services and runs only the player app, the Bluetooth amplifier (receiver) mode, USB Decoding mode, and Airplay receiver mode.
In each mode, the DAC filters can still be adjusted for a more nuanced audio output.
Shanling Music App
I would recommend using the in-built Shanling Music App which offers a smooth experience with some nice visual effects.
Features include the cover art view, VU-meter visualizations during playback, Synclink mobile remote control, and wireless music transfer from the PC.
You can also connect to your NAS server under the same network using the Shanling Music App and playback the files hosted over there swiftly.
Sound Impressions
I burned in the M8T for more than a week with the following sound impressions of the M8T completed using the Westone Audio MACH 80, the DUNU Falcon Ultra, Oriolus’s Mellianus, Earsonics Switch 300 PRO, and Shanling’s HW600 planar headphones.
Summary
The M8T carries the warmth enjoyed by many on the M8 but is getting more natural, resolving, dynamic, and richer in harmonics this time with actual tubes being implemented.
There is also a stronger sense of depth and clarity in all modes, and since there are 3 different modes with varying tonality, I will go through them one by one below.
The experience is quite new and refreshing as you can feel vastly different timbres on the different and synergize well with different pairings.
The two Sub-Modes when switched to Tube Mode are also very distinct in timbre. I believe any listening can instantly tell the difference as it is much more obvious than Class A/B switching.
The M8T has over 1000mW in the output for each channel, so there is sufficient power to drive most IEMs even at middle to low gain.
With the 3 different sound modes, it is also very easy to pair with different IEMs, shaping the output in unexpected ways not achieved by transistor amping. Not to mention you can switch back and forth to compare.
Tube mode – Triode Sub-Mode
This mode delivers warmth and vocal harmonics in a mellow way which is a total flipside to the transistor mode. It sounds slightly more M-shaped, as the mids get more attention and the treble feels more polished, which aligns with my expectation of tube amping.
The mid-bass decays airily and attacks with a full, soft punch, and the vocals are empowered with richer harmonics and air but without overly boosting the body, so it still sounds balanced.
The rich texture together with ample power in the upper mids sounds uplifting, rendering elements across the mids livelier and more stereophonic.
This mode works equally well for both male and female vocals, as well as instrumentals, sounding more pronounced, textured, and expressive with more air. Acoustic guitars are also sounding richer with vibrato resonances more clearly heard.
Tube mode – Super-Linear Sub-Mode
Switching to the alternative Super-Linear sub-mode from the drop-down menu produces a darker sound and a thicker bass response
This experience reminds me of the ‘EXTRA BASS’ button on some old Sony Discmans, though the M8T sounds much more defined and controlled in the bass when it gets energized.
By thickening up the fundamental frequencies and taking away some of the treble’s brilliance, it provides a darker, less intrusive overall tonality.
The added weight in the lows allows bass instruments to stand out, coming closer to the front stage, and helping vocals to sound meatier with more body.
This mode is more relaxing and polished in the treble than the other two options. The bass gets more attention than the mids, which is not as elaborated as in Triode mode. Sub-bass rumble is highlighted, sounding more layered and pronounced.
I find this mode more enjoyable with indoor recordings, quartets, and acoustic instruments that sound powerful, full-bodied, and organic.
Transistor Mode
Switching to the pure transistor amping mode allows the M8T to completely bypass the tube amping circuitry, sounding cleaner in the background, thus enhancing dynamics, especially when tested with higher-pitched vocals.
The bass impacts are firmer with a cleaner decay, and treble transients are also presented clearer, resulting in a better sense of openness and precision.
Vocals, on the other hand, are less colored and more separated from the backing as the harmonics aren’t as emphasized.
This neutral-warmish tuning is enjoyable with common streaming content including pop and various vocal works. The more extended treble also allows it to capture air and ringing harmonics in the higher register clearer, especially with larger orchestra ensembles.
Staging & Dynamics
Out of the 3, the Transistor mode has a more V-shaped tendency, thus sounding more expanded in staging. It is also the strongest in dynamics with a faster, more precise transient response and a darker background.
Tube modes are as resolving in the mids and lows but sound more rounded in the upper register. The staging is more confined with the mids being more favored.
The vocal image is more distinctly outlined in the Triode mode with the perceived depth strengthened by the elaborated decays. In both Tube modes, the upper vocal frequencies are smoothly blended with the backing, although it doesn’t sound as clearly outlined, it feels much lusher and mellow.
Another interesting observation with the Super-Linear mode is that the stage gets deeper, despite some air in the treble sounding diminished. This gives bass instruments as well as dark voices stronger focus and texture and is very different from the Transistor mode’s tonality.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
