Shanling M8T Flagship Digital Audio Player with Built in Tubes

The Shanling M8T is Shanling’s flagship Android music player and the first to bring the tube sound of its CD players and amplifiers, a feature of Shanling designs for 37 years, to a portable player. Two JAN6418 tubes join two AKM AK4499EX DACs, each paired one-to-one with an AK4191 modulator, and three output modes, transistor, triode and ultra-linear, give three sound characters, with up to 1,125mW into 32Ω balanced. A 6-inch Sharp screen, Android 13, an 8,350mAh battery and two-way Bluetooth complete it.

Deep black design

Inspired by Shanling’s Heritage models and following the style set by the M9, the main chassis is CNC-machined from a single piece of aircraft-grade aluminium, with an intricate wave pattern on the sides. The 6-inch Sharp touchscreen, 1080 × 2160, gives stunning colour and wide viewing angles and blends into the deep black body for an elegant, sleek look.

Flagship DAC circuit

The M8T pairs each flagship AK4499EX DAC with its own AK4191 delta-sigma modulator. This one-to-one pairing avoids the clock-signal distortion that can appear in simpler designs where two DACs share one modulator, for a cleaner sound, especially with hi-res files. Shanling’s engineers tuned it for a solid, smooth sound, combining the legacy of the original Shanling M8 with the demands of today’s hi-fi world. It plays PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit and DSD1024.

Dual JAN6418 tubes

A pair of low-voltage, power-efficient JAN6418 tubes is suspended in a custom anti-shock structure that eliminates microphonics, adding extra charm to the M8T’s sound.

Transistor, triode or ultra-linear

The audio circuit can run in pure transistor mode, bypassing the tubes, or in triode or ultra-linear tube modes: transistor is dynamic and hard-hitting, triode adds a little warmth, and ultra-linear is thick and smooth.

A traditional op-amp headphone amplifier

• In-house I/V stage: ADI high-speed, low-noise amplifiers in a highly optimised I/V stage, with every resistor and capacitor carefully matched, and extra anti-noise shielding around the DAC section.
• Low-pass filter: OPA1612 op-amps with thin-film resistors and Panasonic tantalum capacitors, for more efficient I/V conversion and even lower distortion.
• Headphone amplifier: the classic ADI AD8397 gives high current output, with a slightly warmer presentation and a highly transparent sound stage.
• Custom FPGA: upgraded Japanese KDS active crystal oscillators at 90.3168MHz and 98.304MHz with the fourth generation of Shanling’s algorithm, for better accuracy and performance.

Full power for any headphones

Three gain levels and highly precise volume control let the M8T drive a wide range of headphones, from sensitive in-ear monitors to demanding full-size planars: up to 1,125mW (6V) into 32Ω balanced and 500mW (4V) single-ended in transistor mode, and 950mW and 420mW with the tubes.

Android 13 and streaming

The upgraded Android 13 system is open to all apps and assures many years of updates and wide compatibility. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 octa-core processor with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, plus microSD up to 2TB, runs it smoothly, and Shanling’s AGLO gives bit-perfect output in every app. A Qualcomm WCN3980 module provides 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi with MIMO for fast, stable streaming, with DLNA and AirPlay; the Eddict Player app on Android or iOS works as a remote control; and over-the-air updates keep it current.

Battery, Bluetooth and USB

The large 8,350mAh battery plays for up to 15.5 hours single-ended or 13 hours balanced, and charges quickly with Quick Charge 3.0 or Power Delivery 2.0 at 18W. Two-way Bluetooth 5.0 sends to wireless headphones or turns the M8T into a Bluetooth DAC/amp for a phone or tablet, with LDAC, AAC and SBC both ways (Shanling quotes up to 96 hours for Bluetooth transmission), and an XMOS XU316 USB input makes it a USB DAC for a computer at up to 768kHz/32-bit and DSD512. It is certified Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless.

Good to know

• In the box: M8T, charging cable and quick guide. Colours: black or copper.
• For a smaller Shanling player with an AKM DAC, see the M5 Ultra.