Shanling M5 Ultra AK4499EX + AK4191 MTouch Digital Audio Player

The Shanling M5 Ultra is a portable music player inspired by Shanling’s flagship M9 Plus and focused on pure sound quality. AKM’s flagship AK4499EX DAC and AK4191 modulator, the I/V stage from the M9 Plus and a balanced amplifier built on Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 chips give up to 1,100mW into 32Ω, making it one of Shanling’s most powerful portable players. It runs Shanling’s fast MTouch system with Wi-Fi for DLNA and AirPlay, two-way Bluetooth 5.2 and up to 11 hours of battery, in a sharp new aluminium body.

A new, sharper design

In a significant departure from Shanling’s classic rounded design, the M5 Ultra embraces a modern style full of irregular shapes, pronounced edges and light-bending angles, with an aluminium frame and glass panels in black or silver. A 4.7-inch 720 × 1280 touchscreen, three hardware buttons and an illuminated volume wheel, which you can set to warm orange or deep blue, keep it easy to use.

Flagship AKM chipset

The M5 Ultra pairs the AK4499EX DAC with the AK4191 modulator and adapts the same I/V conversion design as Shanling’s flagship portable player, tuned by experienced engineers drawing on Shanling’s 36 years of hi-fi history. Shanling describes the result as the best of the traditional Shanling sound in a portable package: smooth and slightly warm, with deep sub-bass, a rich soundstage and plenty of detail.

Advanced hi-fi audio design

Many of its components come from Shanling’s popular H5 and H7 portable DAC/amps, an approach that differs from standard Android players:

• Amplifier: Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 for extra driving power.
• I/V conversion: AD4523, inspired by high-end designs and adapted from the M9 Plus.
• Low-pass filter: OPA2211 op-amps for ultra-low noise.
• Parts: high-precision resistors (0.01%) for thermal stability, Panasonic tantalum capacitors and Elna Silmic II capacitors.
• Clock: a third-generation FPGA with Japanese KDS active crystal oscillators at 90.3168MHz and 98.304MHz and the fourth generation of Shanling’s algorithm, for accurate decoding of PCM and DSD.
• USB: an XMOS XU316 for a true hi-fi USB DAC function.

Versatile, powerful amplifier

Up to 1,100mW into 32Ω balanced matches Shanling’s most powerful high-end portable player at a significantly lower price, and drives everything from demanding full-size headphones to the most sensitive in-ear monitors, with three gain settings: 70, 280 or 1,100mW balanced and 23, 92 or 315mW single-ended. Six digital filters and PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit and native DSD512 complete the audio side.

MTouch on Ingenic X2000

Shanling’s in-house MTouch system, developed and improved over more than six years, is simple, fast and focused purely on music playback. The Ingenic X2000 platform at its core keeps it nimble with low power use and little heat. Music plays from a microSD card, and the M5 Ultra also works as a USB DAC.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the Eddict app

Connect to your network and the M5 Ultra appears as another endpoint in your home streaming system, with DLNA, AirPlay, NAS playback and over-the-air updates, ideal for connecting it to a bigger system. A new wireless module gives two-way Bluetooth 5.2 with LDAC, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC: send music to wireless headphones or speakers, or use the M5 Ultra as a hi-fi Bluetooth DAC/amp for your phone. With SyncLink, the Eddict Player app on Android or iOS controls playback remotely and browses the whole microSD card.

A bigger battery

To feed its power-hungry components, the M5 Ultra has a 6,000mAh battery managed by a proprietary PMU chip: up to 11 hours single-ended, 9 hours balanced, 32 hours as a Bluetooth transmitter and 528 hours on standby, with faster 15W charging. It is certified Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless.

Good to know

• Music plays from a microSD card; there is no built-in music storage.
• The optional leather case is sold separately.
• In the box: M5 Ultra, USB-A to USB-C cable, front and rear screen protectors and manual. Colours: black or silver.
• For Android and streaming apps, see the Shanling M7.