Do you keep in mind the iPod Shuffle or iPod Nano — these tiny music gamers barely bigger than a postage stamp? The Shuffle had no display screen, simply buttons and music. The Sixth-gen Nano had a tiny display screen, but it surely was nonetheless all in regards to the music. The Shanling M0s is mainly a modernized model of that 2010 Nano — additionally with a touchscreen — and including USB-C, high-res audio and even Bluetooth. Better of all, it contains expandable reminiscence by way of a microSD slot for considerably extra space for storing than simply about any iPod.
7.5
Shanling M0s
Like
Tiny
Excessive-res audio suitable
MicroSD and USB-C
Don’t love
No button lock
Not for fumbly fingers
Often laggy menus
With wonderful match and end, the M0s feels properly made and has a surprisingly good design for one thing small and cheap. It is simple sufficient to place all of your music, even high-res lossless as much as 384 kHz at 32-bit, on a high-capacity microSD card, and have hours of tunes with zero web entry required.
It is not fairly as straightforward to make use of because the greatest transportable media gamers, however the M0s has some helpful high-end options for below $100. Suppose you have got a group of high-res audio information, and even only a assortment of MP3s gathering digital mud. In that case, the M0s is a cheap approach to get pleasure from them with out the distraction or annoyance of an web connection.
{Hardware}
Assuming your information have it, the M0s reveals the duvet artwork of the music enjoying.
- DAC: Cirrus Logic CS43131
- Headphone amp energy: 60mW@32ohms (claimed)
- Excessive-res suitable: as much as 32bit/384kHz
- Bluetooth codecs: aptX, AAC, LDAC (plus the required SBC)
- File codecs: DSD, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3, WMA, AAC, M4A
- Storage: microSD
- Battery life: 10h (claimed)
- USB DAC mode: Sure
- Display screen: 1.54-inch, 240×240 decision
- OS: Proprietary
The M0s (and for the file, that is M-zero-S) is impressively small for one thing with a display screen. It is greater than a postage stamp, however not by a lot: 43.8x45x13.8mm, or in Freedom Items 1.72×1.77×0.54in. A single scroll wheel on the unit’s aspect controls the quantity and can also be a button, turning the M0s on or off. Utilizing the management seems like winding a watch and is definitely quicker at altering quantity than buttons. I want there was a lock for it, although, since you may unintentionally modify the quantity if it is bouncing round in your pocket. Within the menus, you possibly can add double- and triple-click performance to the wheel’s button press. You possibly can customise these to play/pause tracks or skip ahead or backward.
The one enter, apart from the touchscreen, is the scroll wheel that doubles as a button.
Inside is a Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC and an amp able to 60mW at 32 ohms. The latter is decrease than Shanling’s costlier M0 Professional, which is visually very related however has a 4.4mm balanced output and 240mW. Whereas primarily a conveyable media participant, you possibly can allow a USB DAC mode which helps you to stream higher-quality audio out of your pc by the M0s. There is no such thing as a Wi-Fi, nor are there any apps. That is an old-school media participant: an iPod reborn in 2024.
It is not one thing I believe most individuals would do, however you may also use the M0s as a Bluetooth receiver. On this use, you’d join the M0s to your telephone, and you then’d join your wired headphones to the M0s. Appears a bit excessive to me, however the choice is there. I could not get the perform to work with my Pixel 7, however Android connectivity and app compatibility could be a wildcard.
In a particularly uncommon characteristic, you possibly can manually choose what Bluetooth codec you need, from the bottom SBC to AAC, aptX (simply the usual model), and even LDAC.
Usability
The principle menu of the Shanling M0s. The sub-menus are smaller and require high quality finger management.
The small display screen does make the M0s a little bit tougher to make use of than, say, the large display screen on the Sony NW-A306. Not having to slog by the Android working system with a sluggish processor makes the general expertise about the identical. The M0s is not as easy as a contemporary high-end telephone, but it surely scrolls quick. Maybe, too quick. If there’s some particular music you wish to hear, and you’ve got a giant assortment, it may be a little bit time-consuming to seek out and choose it. If the UI had a approach to choose by letter, that not less than would make issues quicker and fewer annoying.
There is no desktop software program, so if you wish to make a playlist you may have to try this by deciding on the songs within the participant’s OS. That is straightforward sufficient since you possibly can simply swipe to a display screen to take action whereas enjoying the music, or deciding on a menu that is accessible subsequent to the music title in the primary checklist.
The underside of the Shanling M0s with it is USB-C connection, 3.5mm headphone jack, and microSD card slot.
There is a shocking quantity of energy within the tiny M0s. Rated at 60mW into 32 ohms, I used to be in a position to get loads of quantity even powering huge Audeze LCD-3 planar-magnetic headphones. It would not have ear-splitting quantity, however greater than vital and excess of the Sony NW-A306. If in case you have particularly hard-to-drive headphones then it may not be sufficient, however I doubt most individuals with headphones like that might take into account a sub-$100 audio participant.
In any other case, the sound was… properly, no matter I put into it. Lossless FLAC tracks sounded nice, prehistoric 128kbps MP3s appeared like 128kbps MP3s. A devoted USB amp would possibly offer you marginally higher sound, however at the next worth with decrease portability. Not having the facility problems with the costlier NW-A306 is definitely a win for sound high quality.
Tunes 2 go
The again of the Shanling M0s.
The Shanling M0s slots in someplace between the ultra-simplicity of the Sony NW-E394, and the way more advanced NW-A306. Because it has way more options, most notably Bluetooth and expandable storage, it is a greater deal than the NW-E394 whereas being barely much less straightforward to make use of. I would not give the M0s to an aged relative in search of transportable music, for instance, the display screen is simply too small to navigate with out plenty of digit dexterity. That, and the sometimes laggy interface generally appears to disregard swipes (though disabling the lock display screen in the primary menu helps).
For somebody in search of a cheap music participant, one thing that is extremely transportable and is general straightforward to make use of, the M0s is incredible. You possibly can go for that totally old-school expertise with wired headphones or earbuds, and the Bluetooth choice is obtainable if you would like it. If in case you have a giant library of music, particularly FLAC or different high-res music, this can be a nice approach to play your tunes on the go whereas staying offline.
In addition to protecting audio and show tech, Geoff does picture excursions of cool museums and areas around the globe, together with nuclear submarines, plane carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile highway journeys and extra.
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