Shanling

With UA5, we are pushing our UA line into a bit different category. While UA1 and UA2 worked nicely as simple USB Audio dongles, UA5 is quite a bit closer to your bigger portable DAC/AMPs.UA5 adds volume wheel for an independent volume control, small screen for an easy access to multiple settings directly on the device, full-size 4.4mm balanced connector instead of fragile 2.5mm, fully balanced audio circuit, SPDIF digital output for use with other DACs and special Hybrid battery Power mode, to reduce battery drain from your smartphone.UA5 provides a better sound quality for your smartphone and a better user experience when connected to your computer.Hybrid Batter Power modeWhen enabled, certain sections of UA5 will still be running on USB power, like USB Controller and FPGA. But the crucial parts of DAC and amplifier will instead use a cleaner power from the battery.In our testing, this set-up proved helpful in three scenarios:Consistent analog performance and noise floor, independent from the quality of USB power of the connected device.Reduced power drain from the connected device, which can be crucial when running it with smartphone.Reduced power demand allows for a compatibility with certain devices, that are normally unable to provide enough power for USB DAC/Amps.UA5 is of course capable of running in a standard USB Powered mode, in which the battery is completely disconnected and all sections of UA5 runs out of USB power. UA5 will automatically switch to this mode when the battery runs too low.

UA3 joins our highly popular line of UA models and it marks an important point for Shanling, as it will be our first model using a brand-new DAC from the relaunched line of AKM DACs.For many years, AKM DACs were the core part of Shanling’s audio designs, as they played a crucial role in delivering our house sound to all our fans. But following the fire at AKM’s factory in 2020, we had to look for alternative solutions, being unsure about the AKM’s future. It affected most of our releases in 2021, but we managed to transition successfully, keeping the strict Hi-Fi standards we have been building up for past 34 years.In early 2022, AKM relaunched their line of DACs and we immediately started working on new designs, diving into the possibilities of this updated generation of DACs. UA3 is first of these designs, utilizing a freshly released AK4493SEQ DAC, for the first time bringing the sound of AKM into our UA line of portable DAC/AMPs.UA3 builds upon the popular UA2, but takes over some features from the UA5. Balanced output is now using a more robust 4.4mm connector, we added hardware buttons for volume or playback control and the power output was improved to match the UA5.

Portable USB DAC/AMP