Shanling - UP2

hi, Its an amazing experience for the sound quality at this price point with aptxHD and LDAC , however there is no charger provided and using the regular USB-C charger is a concern. There is no feedback to the user if the device is charging or not and red light indicator is not visible everytime. Even after charging it for an hour or so at time the device does not switch on leading to anxious moments if its dead.

I was hoping for a lot more power from a dedicated amp, albeit a portable one. I have a mac book pro as my source and a senn HD598 soon to be replaced by a beyer 770 pro 80ohm. The average power output from this device makes me very skeptical this will even meet the bare minimum requirement for the beyers, let alone bring out the best in them.
They are not entirely to be blamed though. They have been very transparent with their specs. I guess I just paid 5k to get a frame of reference by knowing what 67mW of power feels like. I'd be careful with an amp that pushes less than 100mW, that too 80ohms, moving forward.
This is, however, my initial impression. I'll be back with an update after I burn in this device for at least another 200 hours.

I used the HIdizs Sonata II before moving on to this and I can say it is an undoubted upgrade. It definitely has more power than Sonata (though Sonata isn't that bad either), but the real difference is in the presentation. While the Sonata was cluttered and forward, this is more laid-back and detailed. I had a V30 before this and I can safely say that it matches the SQ of V30 in high impedance mode (V30 was a little brighter I feel). I'm not sure if this will be enough for power hungry earphones, but most of my collection is under 50 ohms with high sensitivity. So it shouldn't be a problem at all. My only real gripe is the control knob, which is manageable but not the most elegant mechanism...lots of accidental clicks already. Otherwise, an absolutely a great buy.

Although it supports different codecs, If you phone doesn't support that you will be screwed. If you phone supports LDAC and Aptx it will lock onto LDAC by default. You have to go to developer option and Manually change. Even if it supports Aptx Low Latency I found that gaming through this won't be a good idea.I played pubg using UP2 using Aptx LL and LDAC, still a there is tiny lag. It's not a deal breaker because the Latency depends on many factors ( Which smartphone you are using , Interference between other singnal etc) But I still didn't get the perfect latency while gaming. For media it's Perfect for me. I plugged my V-Moda Crossfade LP2 and that tiny thing packs quite punch 😊 I would give a five star if I got perfect latency while gaming

My Gear: Sennheiser HD 599SE + Shanling UP2
Codecs heard: AptxHD, LDAC
Streaming service: Spotify Premium at "Very High" quality.

Personally, I do not have a point of reference, as this is my first AMP DAC. However, as far as being an Amplifier goes, it does the job perfectly well! 👍🏻👌🏻
The issues however are well noticable (and wanted to make me reduce my rating to 3, but at the given price, 4 is okay).
Issues:
1. The device comes with default firmware version of 1.2.5 which is extremely buggy. You WILL HAVE TO upgrade the firmware as soon as possible.
2. Firmware upgrade works only via PC. The Shanling Controller App fails each time you try to upgrade the firmware.
3. After upgrading, the volume remains the same as what it was the last time (thankfully), but the multi-functional button is absolutely unable to set the expected volume instantly.
For ex: If you turn the knob once clockwise, it will not increase the volume (you will have to turn it twice), but then if you turn the knob counter-clockwise, it will reduce the volume instantly.
This is the most irritating thing when the volume you wish is to be set.
4. There are occasional delays when starting to play a song, or when one song ends and another begins. This happens almost randomly, so it's hard to pinpoint to a specific time when it happens.

I may upgrade later on if the volume thing starts bothering me too much.