Here I didn't think I'd have much to say when my insistence on IR remote meant I'd be using a COS D1 for D/A conversion and analog volume so the EM7 as just an SD transport, albeit with well-stocked can juice. Whilst I know that digital transports (can) differ sonically, that delta tends to be rather more modest. Alas, I had to eat those 'more modest' M&M. For reasons I frankly fail to fathom—voilà, three 'f' for the fortississimo of my ignorance—the Shanling sounded immodestly fuller, more substantial and in the treble rather more burnished and resolved. Having changed naught else, I couldn't believe my good fortune. I hadn't gone after the EM7 to improve my sound. I'd only meant to replace another transport of lately erratic behaviour like we replace a jittery lightbulb—a commodity transaction with a primary view on restoring functionality. That I'd gone with a different brand was just to change things up. Was this due to the linear power supply and/or higher-spec oscillators? No idea. Satisfaction needs no understanding just like falling in love needs no parental approval. The experience is validation enough. I was tickled pink.
But there was more: the claimed 7wpc/32Ω of Immanis or Susvara power allied to high gain selected in the menu. Where FiiO's R7 has five gain modes, the Shanling only has low, medium and high. Enter the difference between power in watts; and gain in dB. One determines our engine's redline where stepping on the gas no longer does more. The other is the amplification factor whereby an input voltage of, say 0.8V, multiplies by a gain of, say x 4 to create an output voltage of 3.2V. With 'cold' recordings captured at a median of -30dB, HifiMan's OG Susvara and Raal's Magna could max out. With 'hot' recordings close to digital 0, I might sit at 85/100. Maxing out had no impact on sound quality. Nothing distorted or strained. It just didn't get louder. Swapping to Susvara Unveiled and Immanis built in small extra headroom. Once an HE1000 Unveiled jacks in, even bangers on 'frosty' tracks should have enough range on the dial. That said, the raw 7-watt spec is misleading. It doesn't couple to a 'turbo' gain mode option beyond 'high' which very inefficient loads may want. To repeat, running out of loudness tarmac is not synonymous with any hit on sonic quality. It's just a rev limiter that could kick in sooner than desired. Just so, owners of €9-10K radical loads banking on redundant gain are unlikely to pursue an EM7 in the first place. They will look at my ~€3.5K FangSound Dionysus with 40wpc/32Ω and hi-gain option of x 14.5.
With more muscle-amp inventory like an Enleum AMP-23R and Cen.Grand Silver Fox in the house, I certainly didn't need this Shanling to pull extremist double duty. My brief detour into outlier loads was simply a reality check to curb unreasonable expectations. With that handled, let's finish up with what was likely down to discrete headphone gain/drive and less negative feedback than FiiO's opamp-based THX modules in my R7; plus a linear power supply. Whilst NFB can generate shiny distortion specs and low output Ω, it can also render dry atmospherics and a somewhat clipped gait like a Lippizaner show horse with braided mane and tail. That's great for control and dry-cleaned crispness, less so for flow, suppleness and textural generosity. Decays and tone colours too can take a hit. It's on that score and its interactive values that the Shanling showed my resident FiiO R7 a clean set of heels. Despite its half width making this a compact component, sonically it's of full width.
That doesn't make it warm per se, just farther along the teleportation beam whence image outlines flesh out not just in flat colour panes but depth relief. As John Darko likes to remind me, my default word for that is 'juicier'. It's a familiar of 'wetter' but I find it more communicative. Already in the hand, a juicy fruit has different give than a hard unripe one. Once we eat it, not only is it a very different sensation but the flavour profile has more layers to be more intense. In short, compared to a FiiO R7, the Shanling has riper tone textures and greater timbre differentiation. Whilst its Android 10-based OS is rather more basic than FiiO's subsequent R7 iteration, its sonics are more mature and – well, bigger. Seeing how my primary reason for this purchase was the touch-screen digital transport aspect, getting a serious headphone amp too is a welcome extra that I shall exploit with the HE1000 Unveiled and FiiO FT7. In high gain, those park me at 45/100 with regular fare so headroom galore. Now beam me up, Scotty. There's no more intelligent life down here in this self-referential gutter of the very pleased oldie but goodie. That's talking about the EM7. What were you thinking?
