Sound analysis.

To my ears M3s has a neutral full body clear detailed sound with a smooth tonality tilted a little more toward the warmer side. A few years back, DAPs used to have a more differentiated tonality which made it more challenging to pair them up with different sig headphones. Now, more manufacturers tune their DAPs to have a more neutral tonality, with a tilt toward brighter or warmer side, giving a user an option to color the sound further with either external dac/amp or different signature headphones. In my opinion, it’s always better to start with a closer to neutral baseline sound and then to go from there.

I was also pleased that Shanling now features a low output impedance, making their DAP friendlier in pair ups with different multi-BA and hybrid IEMs. As a result, I found no issues affecting the sound like I have heard it with M2s. I tested M3s with many IEMs (from low to higher impedance) and a handful of full size (from planar magnetic to some more demanding higher impedance open backs, like R70x) and found this DAP to have a great bass extension, full body lower mids, clear, detailed, smooth, organic upper mids, and a treble with a nice level of sparkle. Keep in mind, you will hear a sound variation depending on headphones sound signature, but these observations above are the “common denominator” of what I hear between all headphones I used for testing.

Also, I found M3s to have a good dynamics expansion, the sound never felt compressed or congested, and it has a wide soundstage with a moderate depth that doesn’t expand too far out of your head, giving you a more elliptical space around you.

Furthermore, when comparing M3s single-ended vs BAL output, I can certainly confirm a higher power, noticeable by about 7 volume clicks which I had to crank up when switching to SE. Also, I found BAL soundstage to extend wider, as well as BAL output having a touch more sparkle in treble.

Comparison.

In the following comparison between Shanling M3s and other DAPs, I made sure to specify if it was done using SE (3.5mm output) or BAL (2.5mm output). As usual, I try to volume match between DAPs when doing a comparison, and try different pairs of IEMs and full size to find common trends in sound analysis

M3s vs M2s (SE) – M3s has a more revealing, slightly brighter tonality while M2s sounds smoother. M3s sound is more dynamic and due to a more revealing (brighter tonality) I also hear it to have better layering and separation. The perception of M3s soundstage is a little wider, but it could also be due to more sparkle and airiness in the upper frequencies. Another noticeable difference is M3s having a tighter sound with a blacker background, suggesting an improved SNR (confirmed 115dB M3s vs 108dB M2s). In terms of the functionality, they are identical. With a design and performance, M3s has under an ohm output impedance, additional higher power balanced output, and bigger battery with improved playback time performance. Of course, price difference should be taken into consideration, and perhaps some of the advantage of M3s are not necessary if you are looking for the smallest DAP or the smallest digital transport.

M3s vs Cayin N3 (SE) – Well, I can’t tell them apart, everything from a tonality to a soundstage expansion, and layering/separation of the sound is nearly identical. Furthermore, these have a nearly identical functionality, down to no internal storage with only uSD expansion, a very similar Hiby sw/fw, external hw control buttons, and two-way Bluetooth with HibyLink support. The deciding factor here will be a price difference with N3 being $130 cheaper, while M3s having a balanced output with a higher power to drive more demanding headphones.

M3s vs FiiO X5iii (BAL) – M3s has a wider soundstage, more revealing transparent sound with a brighter crisper tonality, and blacker background. X5iii is smoother, warmer, not as layered or transparent. Other than that, M3s only has one external uSD card while X5iii has internal 32GB storage and dual uSD card expansion. Also, M3s only has 2way Bluetooth and HibyLink support, while X5iii has Bluetooth and WiFi support with Google Play to enable streaming. Again, price difference should be taken into consideration as well.

M3s vs Aune M1S (BAL) – Both have a wide soundstage, transparent sound with excellent retrieval of details. When it comes to tonality, M1S is a little smoother, warmer, and more musical, while M3s is more neutral in comparison. Both don’t have internal storage, only uSD expansion. M1S is playback only device, while M3s adds 2-way Bluetooth and HibyLink support.

M3s vs theBit Opus#1 (BAL) – Very similar soundstage expansion, similar level of transparency and detail retrieval, M3s tonality is a little more neutral and more natural, in comparison to #1 having a little more mid-bass impact and brighter treble. #1 has internal storage and dual uSD while M3s only has uSD expansion. As a bonus, M3s adds 2-way Bluetooth and HibyLink, while #1 doesn’t have anything extra up their sleeve.

M3s vs L&P L3 Pro (BAL) – very similar soundstage expansion, similar level of transparency and detail retrieval, also very similar tonality from mids to treble, but L3Pro has more mid-bass impact and a bit smoother lower treble. Also, both have a single uSD card expansion, while L3 also has 32GB of internal memory. Even though L3 has a touch screen, you can only tap on it, can’t swipe it, while M3s uses a wheel and buttons for navigation. Also, L3 is audio playback only device while M3s adds 2-way Bluetooth and HibyLink support to pair up with a smartphone and wireless headphones.

M3s vs Cayin N5ii (BAL) – I hear N5ii to have just slightly wider soundstage and a little better dynamic expansion. In terms of tonality, N5ii is a little leaner while M3S has a fuller body, but in general they are not too far off. While M3s only has one external uSD card, N5ii offers internal memory and 2 uSD cards. Both have BAL output and external hw playback controls as well as a physical volume wheel. Also, both have Bluetooth for pair up with wireless headphones, plus M3s has access to HibyLink. One big difference, N5ii has is a touch screen while M3s doesn’t. Plus, N5ii supports WiFi and Android along with Google Play store which gives you access to apps, while M3s can only “stream” music by means of two-way Bluetooth with a HibyLink connection from a smartphone to control M3s.

Conclusion.

First, I would like to give Shanling a pat on the back for listening to their customers when it comes to output impedance. It’s not a showstopper, can be fixed with iEMatch dongle, and you can read my M2s review to find out more details. But the fact that Shanling listened to their customers and improved their headphone amp section to ensure low output impedance is a big plus. I personally found M3s to be a rather noticeable step up from M2s. Perhaps it looks almost the same from outside, except longer, has a similar OS, single uSD, two-way Bluetooth and HibyLink support, but going up with dual AK4490 DAC, balanced 2.5mm output with a higher output power, improved battery performance, and improved sound performance is more than enough justify M3s as an upgrade from M2s.

Perhaps M3s doesn’t have a touch screen and it’s not Android based with app support to stream audio. But there seems to be still many audio enthusiasts who are fine with buttons and navigation wheels, preferring a design with a smaller footprint. In the last few years Shanling made a name for themselves with M1 and M2s, as two very compact pocket friendly DAPs. Now, they took it up another notch by updating the design to be more competitive on audio performance level with other mid-fi DAPs, and I think they succeeded. They are facing a stiff competition, though they do have a few tricks up their sleeve with a balanced output, high power, two-way Bluetooth, and HibyLink, and a very competitive pricing. So, make sure to take all these Pros and Cons into consideration when you are deciding on your next pocket friendly DAP.