Shanling M3 Ultra Black

Same compact-sized portable player, now with an upgraded Android platform and a new audio circuit.

On the outside, M3 Ultra follows closely its predecessor. Staying at 4.2-inch screen, for the ideal balance between system usability and device portability. Aluminium frame keeps the same overall design, just with a few small adjustments, including a new solution for the MicroSD card door. And offering a standard combination of 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced outputs.

On the inside, that’s where all the important things changed. Android platform was upgraded to the octa-core Snapdragon 665 and Android 10, refreshing M3 for swift system response and app compatibility going forward. Of course, still combined with our Android Global Lossless Output (AGLO) system for an ideal Android sound performance. We even adjusted Bluetooth, switching to a newer 5.0 version.

Audio section is still based around a pair of ESS ES9219C DACs, but M3 Ultra builds a more robust circuit around them. Two Ricore RT6863 were added to serve as dedicated headphone amplifiers, allowing the player to deal easier with the headphone load and resulting in reduced distortion, increased dynamic range and overall improved clarity. Lot of attention was also put on the used ELNA Silmic II capacitors, as they proved to be crucial in the sound tuning of the M3 Ultra, as we attempted to tune it more in the line with our house sound.

M3 Ultra overall sounds a bit warmer and more relaxed than the original M3X, while managing to improve on the technical aspects of the sound.