HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La Headphone System – Brilliant Electrostatic HIFI Delight
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La is a 2300 USD Electrostatic headphone system, composed of the Mini Shangri-La Headphones which cost 1100 USD, and the Electrostatic Amplifier which costs 1500 USD, with the system having a better price combined than if you bought each individually. Today we are going to review the mini Shangri-La, and compare the system to other headphones driven by high-end amplifiers, including Crosszone CZ-8a Enhanced (1700 USD) driven by Burson PlayMate 2 (544 USD), HIFIMAN He1000SE (3500 USD) driven by HIFIMAN Prelude (2499 USD), and Audeze MM-500 (1699 USD) driven by Dethonray Listening M1 (2599 USD).
Introduction
HIFIMAN decided to launch the new Mini Shangri-La at a similar price to the Jade II system that we reviewed years ago, and with a much improved ergonomic, build quality, and sonic quality, drawing in technological advancements developed while they were working on refining and launching the Shangri-La Jr and Shangri-La Sr Headphone systems. HIFIMAN is known to develop a big part of the new technologies we see these days in audio, being one of the leading companies investing in research and development, but also have a large coverage for public relations and solving warranties, being serviced quickly and offering generally one of the best pride / performance ratios we’re seeing in the audio industry, with their products. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Big Thanks to HIFIMAN for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
PROs – Super build quality, comfortable and lightweight headphones, excellent performance, gentle and refined sound, smooth textures and relaxed tuning, 20 kHz top-end extension, stepped volume control with perfect channel balance. Price Performance ratio is very good for an electrostatic amplifier.
Cons – It gets warm if the AMP is turned on, regardless whether music is playing or not.
Product Link
Official Link – https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/mini-shangri-la.html
You can grab one here, once they become available on Amazon – https://amzn.to/4dofJlq
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
It is slightly unusual for me to review a headphone system instead of a pair of headphones or an Amplifier, but Mini Shangri-La is a system that only works as it is, and electrostatic systems are like this in general. Don’t worry, if there will be a new electrostatic system launched in the future, I will combine both the Mini Shangri La Amplifier and the headphones with the components of the other system, so as we progress in reviewing, our experience, expertize and the library of products we are referencing and using grows too.
Mini Shangri-La is a rather simple in person system, with multiple technological advancements underneath to support the release of such a strong new system. Starting with the headphones, we have a Nanometer thickness Diaphragm used in the headphones, and this makes the membrane ultra light, more responsive to signal, and also gives it that beautiful green color we see in photos. To ensure proper conductivity, the headphone diaphragm is coated with nanoparticles, and to protect this sensitive but huge diaphragm, we have a nanometer protection layer which is acoustically transparent.
The Mini Shangri-LA Amplifier relies on Transistor High Voltage Direct Output, and it is a large and very heavy unit, with a thank-ish build quality. The amplifier has two wheels and a symmetrical design, offering a selection wheel on the left side, allowing you to select between the RCA input and the XLR Balanced input, and a large stepped volume wheel on the right side. This stepped volume wheel has perfect volume control and perfect channel balance even from the lowest volume, and it offers 22 steps of volume for the Mini Shangri-La. There are two electrostatic headphone outputs at the front of the amplifier, and it is the kind that grows really warm towards hot during usage, as electrostatic headphones use high voltage to move the membrane of the drivers, allowing for far improved dynamics and impulse response compared to their planar or dynamic counterparts.
To Amplify the electrostatic headphones, Mini Shangri-La uses a Linear Power Transformer, which gives it most of its weight, and it comes combined with a Disce=rete component fully balanced Preamplifier part, and a Transformer-free signal path for pure audio reproduction. The signal path of the Mini Shangri-La uses a switch between the inputs, with a Buffer, Low Pass filtering, and the Four-Channel Volume Attenuator being implemented before the bias high voltage amplification, and each balanced output is always balanced even if you are using the RCA inputs. This means that theoretically, the Pre amplification allows the power amplifier to always have the best case performance, at the cost of an increased power consumption and more heat being generated. This being said, Mini Shangri-La is not hotter than most Electrostatic systems I’ve seen to date and most run hotter than it.
To be a bit more specific the Headphones are super light, at 320.2 grams, being some of the lightest headphones out there, while the Amplifier is really heavy, at 5.82 kg. The Bias Voltage is between 550V and 650V, and the Headphones have a Push-Pull Electrostatic design with a planar design, with a frequency response between 7Hz and 90 kHz. Although this is standard, I want to mention that using the Mini Shangri-La adds no delay to a desktop system, so you can watch movies and play games in real time, there is no added delay in the signal path, and there is no self noise to the amplifier. This means that when no sound is playing, you hear absolutely nothing. No buzzing, background noise floor, nothing, it is completely silent. Although there are not a lot of volume steps, you can use a DAC with volume to set it, if you need, but for me the 22 steps are more than enough to get where I want to be.
On a subjective level, the headphones are incredibly light and comfortable, the headband does a great job at distributing the weight, while the cable is flexible and has a hard protection for the wires inside. The cable is also extremely long, allowing you to place the amplifier somewhere near you, but not on your desk, as it is a really tall and heavy AMP. There is zero passive noise isolation, and the incredibly thin diaphragm is actually see-through if you shine light through it, the technological achievement of making thinner drivers being helpful with the sonic reproduction. As Mini Shangri-La has volume control, it works well with any kind of DAC, both with and without volume control, and as it takes standard XLR inputs or RCA inputs, it also works well with most equipment out there. I noticed no issues with it, with the only thing I should mention is that it grows quite warm during usage.
To test the Mini Shangri-La, I have paired it with multiple DACs, including Dethonray Listening M1, HIFIMAN Serenade, FiiO K9 PRO ESS, Burson PlayMate 2, Creative sound Blaster AE-9, HIFIMAN EF400, SMSL DO200 PRO, and Musician Pegasus II R2R DAC. Generally speaking, Mini Shangri-La is not sensitive to source noise and to DAC noise, the Amplifier does a stellar job at filtering the noise, it is also not super sensitive to DAC quality, but if using an R2R DAC I recommend using it in OS mode, as the sound is already refined and gentle and having an R2R with NOS can make it extra soft. My favorite DAC pairings have been with HIFIMAN Serenade, Dethonray Listening M1, and SMSL DO200 PRO, and I generally left the DAC at maximum volume and have used the Mini Shangri La AMP to set the volume.
Sound Quality
Overall Signature – I want to consider Mini Shangri-La the ultimate and absolute detail revealer, it shows the compression level of a song instantly, it shows how much detail is in a song instantly, but does so in a gentle fashion that makes it easier to enjoy with all music styles, from Classical, to ACG and EDM, basically having a natural midrange that works really well for female voices , guitars, pianos and synths. The bass is on the neutral side, tight and clean, with no veiling, but the lower midrange being neutral means that male voices are on the more open end of things, while female voices are absolutely superb, bright, brilliant, open and detailed. I remember complaining about Jade II and the limited bass extension the system had, but I can feel both my ears vibrating and the headphones vibrating on my head with bass-heavy tracks like War2, so Mini Shangri-La is not just capable of creating bass, but it sustains a strong low-end, with no distortion, as long as the song really calls for it. HIFIMAN designed the first electrostatic I get to spend quality time with, which actually has a proper bass, and this here is a big enough achievement that no other company managed yet. Overall, the signature is satisfying, deep and colorful, vivid, and brilliant. You don’t even need good music, I find Mini ShangriLa to put real life into my Kesha and commercial pop songs just fine.
Bass – Starting with the place where all the other electrostatic headphones fail, Mini Shangri La achieves a satisfying, deep and powerful bass, but tight in presentation, quick and controlled. There is no loss of control or distortion regardless of the volume you’re listening at, with Shangri-La being able to paint both lush EDM songs, Pop and even classical just fine. There is a tendency of music to sound on the neutral – open end of things rather than dark and heavy, so you can either use a darker sounding DAC, fuller sounding DAC or even DSP, as I noticed that there’s a large headroom with Mini Shangri-La, both pure loudness and in how much bass they can produce when it is called for.
Lower midrange is kept neutral and controlled, with that zero veil kind of presentation, but with a really natural bass, as you’d hear with acoustic music, bass which can make electrostatic drivers vibrate, the combo is fully able to deliver on every front and end. With a default tuning that is neutral, you never get bass bleed or bloat, but deep-end reaches 20 nicely with EDM music, where Mini Shangri-La is as capable of producing bass and punch as HE1000SE is. The sound is not shrill or cold, rather the midrange has a bit of warmth and a pleasing tune to the bass.
Midrange – Mids are always the magic with Electrostatic headphones, and although HIFIMAN over delivered in the bass department, they did not forget the magical mids that Electrostatic headphones can produce, this being the strongest and most forward part in the sound of Shangri La. You can expect both male and female voices to be intimate and close to you, although the other instruments can be pushed and sound as if coming from far away from you. At first, I found the male voicing to be on the brighter side, emphasizing tenors and higher sounding voices more, but with a bit of burn-in, and with getting used to the sound, both male and female voices are simply superb. Mini Shangri-La emphasizes atmospheric and beautiful sounding music a lot, so anything that’s refined, gentle and beautiful will be many times over more impressive and emotional, more dynamic and you will hear more detail, but not in the traditional technical way that most headphones handle things.
Shangri-La has an ethereal, atmospheric way of presenting instruments, gives more space, width and air for sound to breathe, and that huge driver moving with precision can recreate shimmery percussion instruments and pianos far more faithfully than anything else I heard to date, especially in the price range. I would recommend Shangri La far more if you plan on enjoying something beautiful. Shangri-La mini is the most transparent, most natural sounding headphone I can recommend if you need perfect tonality in the midrange, and it applies absolutely no coiloration to the sound, this colorless signature being the hardest to describe as I’m used to calling out what’s not there or what’s too much, but when a headphone actually presents sound perfectly transparent, I can only state their strength, but with little examples or other descriptives.
Treble – Almost as much as there is midrange, we have a bright, clean, and open treble that extends for ages, ShangriLa having no plans on ending the extension before 20 kHz, or even higher, but the treble has a softer, gentler texture, which sounds realistic, clean and dynamic. While I say this rarely, I think truly appreciating classical music is a matter of hearing it live, or with really good equipment, as I am slowly coming to the conclusion many audiophiles have, that Classical music is the hardest to reproduce faithfully, and with the same emotion, and clear story that it has when played live. Mini Shangri La has a maximum treble presentation, distance in particular is emphasized when it comes to the background instruments. The room you’re listening in does not matter much, which is surprising considering how little Shangri La isolates, and how much they leak, but the huge drivers present all of the information you’re supposed to hear directly, and I got the same tuning and technical ability both in a sonically treated room, larger room and smaller room too.
Volume Control – Volume control was a bit problematic with Jade II, and I am happy that we are now exploring each chapter of the sound separately, because I was never sure if I made things that clear back when I reviewed Jade, but Mini Shangri-La has perfect volume control. The sound starts with a low, but super gentle, refined and clear presentation. At medium volumes, you get a full saturation for details, bass presence, depth, but also resolution and clarity. At really high volumes, the sound stays controlled, clean and has zero distortion, which is rather excellent, as Mini Shangri-La allows me to blast metal, rock and EDM, both acoustic instruments and square waves at over 110 dB at ear level, with no noticeable increase in THD. All in all, Shagri-La mini is one of the few electrostatic headphones that I heard which can actually keep their cool, control and low distortions at ultra high volumes, and this makes me happy every time I press play, I really like to kick in some live concert experience sometimes in my room. Shangri La Mini has such a good control and clarity at low volumes, that I also have to confess it is one of the few headphones that makes it acutely clear what the singer is saying, what the information is in music, that I don’t really feel the need to pump the volume as often as I do with most headphones.
Dynamics / PRaT / Textures – I never quite understood where Electrostatic headphones are at with the textures, as most of them push the midrange forward so much that you don’t get the time and space to hear micro details and textures, but with Shangri La, it is instantly clear, this is a headphone that has instant impulse response, I would describe their sound as lightning fast, there’s no lag of the driver, and this sets the sound free of any grain or strong textures, but also gives music a gentle, refined and pure texture, transparent to how the instrument would sound like in reality. Violins can be both harder and softer, pianos are generally soft and pleasing, crystalline and extra clean, while male voices are always free of any grain or hoarseness. Shangri La is somewhat softer and gentler than the vast majority of headphones, but reveals more details than them as well, due to the much larger driver, and the lighter driver, and the much higher voltage controlling the driver, allowing for better precision.
Soundstage – If you can imagine a headphone that’s both huge, humoristically large and airy sounding, but which also brings forward voices and keeps the singer personal with the listener for most tracks, you’re already imagining how ShangriLa Mini sounds like. This is a headphone that doesn’t force separation, so instruments blend together cohesively, but each instrument is insanely detailed and crisp, while space has strong separation between foreground and background, with the lead instrument and voice always playing close to the listener, the other instruments creating the atmosphere and space around you, playing and filling in your head like a concert hall. Background instruments can come from really far away but for the lead voices you always hear the singer close to you. This is an interesting effect I noticed only with Shangri La, but as it has a perfectly natural tonality, and presents music with utmost transparency, once a singer has any kind of effect applied to their voice, you really notice that, it is extremely obvious and this makes Shangri La Mini great for music work, if you want to hear music as if you were in an open space with the band playing around you rather than listening to headphones.
Comparisons
This is a good moment to mention that there’s a good difference between electrostatic setups and traditional headphones. As Electrostatic headphones are rarer, they are usually far pricier than having a traditional headphone setup, and the electrostatic technology itself is not new, but has been refined recently, with far improved reliability and better sonic results, thus the increase in price for newer electrostatic headphones and amplifiers. This being said, HIFIMAN offers a whole electrostatic Headphone + AMP setup that has the level above what you typically can purchase at the same price for a standard setup, although you will need a DAC for the system. Generally speaking, the DACs I have used for the setups have either been the ones inside of the DAC/AMP, or either SMSL DO200 PRO or Musician Pegasus II. When doing a comparison with a DAC/AMP, I have connected Mini Shangri La to the DAC, so the comparison is more fair, and so we can eliminate the DAC performance as a differentiator.
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La System vs Crosszone CZ-8a Enhanced + Burson PlayMate2 (2300 USD vs 1700 + 544 USD)
Build – Shangri-La is a lighter headphone than CZ-8a Enhanced, but it offers zero passive noise isolation and leaks all the sound playing inside, while CZ-8a Enhanced offers a fair amount of passive noise isolation and doesn’t leak all of the sound to the outside. PlayMate2 can fully drive the CZ-8a Enhanced, and is a great DAC, here acting as the DAC for the Mini Shangri-La system. Both headphones have soft earpads, but Mini Shangri-La has more space for my ears.
Sound – There’s more soundstage width and depth in the Mini Shangri-La, but it also has a more refined sound, softer impact, and it has a bit of handling noise compared to CZ-8a Enhanced and their much thicker plastic. The cable of Mini Shangri-La is not detachable, which is a bit of a pity, but most electrostatic headphones have permanent cables, and replacing the cable of CZ-8a Enhanced is possible only with cables from Crosszone themselves. CZ-8a Enhanced has a more colored sound, the midrange is not quite as natural, it is thicker, a bit more veiled, but the resolution and technical detail is still super impressive. By comparison, Mini Shangri-La has a far stronger detail, resolution and clarity, sound is airier, lighter and snappier, faster and impulse response is quicker. The texture is a bit more refined and more relaxed as presenters by Mini Shangri-La, while CZ-8a Enhanced has harder sound, more hitting force, more bottom to the low-end, while Mini Shangri-La has stronger instrument separation and a more realistic / natural / personal voicing for both male and especially female voices.
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La System vs HIFIMAN HE1000SE + HIFIMAN Prelude (2300 USD vs 3500 + 2499 USD)
Build – HE1000SE is made with a sturdier frame, designed to be taken outdoors, having more protection on the driver side, but as there are no reliable electrostatic portable amplifiers, Mini Shangri-La goes for full blown comfort, and the headband is relaxed, the earpads offer my ears more than enough space, both headphones being comfy, but Mini Shangri-La feeling quite a bit lighter helps a lot with the comfort in the long run. HE1000Se is more sensitive to amplifier quality, and source quality, so unless you go for Prelude in particular, they can sound brighter and lack the depth, precision and presence that Prelude gives them. Overall, HE1000SE is better prepared for a walk outdoors, while Mini Shangri-La is a bit comfier. Being able to add aftermarket cables to HE1000SE is a bonus, as they can improve the comfort, but the default cables of the Mini Shangri-La are super nice. .
Sound – Sonically, you can hear how each technology presents each sound, Mini Shangri-La sounds brighter, more open, wider and has more throw, both laterally, and also in the dynamics, where it can recreate detail and resolution with ease. HE1000SE is darker, sounds fuller and with the Prelude, it has a stronger overall impact too. HE1000SE sounds more acute, it gives you a more right now feeling, while Mini Shangri-La takes the wheel, puts you in the backseat, and shows you the whole story, it takes you for a ride, allowing you to enjoy every little part of it, without asking you to be right in the action. The more musical and ethereal a sound is, the better Shangri-La sounds, while HE1000SE can draw in more action, for rock, metal and speedy music.
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La System vs Audeze MM-500 + Dethonray Listening M1 (2300 USD vs 1699 + 2599 USD)
Build – MM-500 is surely more solid, made to survive any harsh studio conditions, for mixing, mastering and music work, but this makes them bulkier, heavier, and they have smaller earpads, while Mini Shangri-La has an entire real estate for my ears to reside. The default cables of Mini Shangri La are better, it is less microphonic and more flexible. I like using both, MM-500 is conveniently easy to drive, and practical to take outdoors, while Mini Shangri-La is more comfortable to use on the PC, posing very little weight on my neck and back.
Sound – Sonically, the two are quite different, MM-500 goes for ultimate precision, high impact, and a boodler bass, with more rattle and rumble, while Mini Shangri-La sounds more atmospheric, refined and expands the soundstage more in both width and depth, offering a stronger instrument separation. MM-500 has a more dry sound, which means it can get fatiguing faster, Shangri La is much smoother, more fluid, texture is more natural, it does not fatigue or force you to hear anything that’s not supposed to be there. The magic of electrostatics is that you can hear everything, smoother and cleaner than with planars or dynamics, but it is always really rich and enjoyable, without being distorted like Tube sound usually is.
Value and Conclusion
The price / performance ratio of Mini Shangri La is excellent, for the money you get both the electrostatic headphones which are comfortable, and a powerful amplifier, which is practical to use, and despite the heavy weight, looks quite nice, and combines nicely with HIFIMAN EF400, if you’re using it as a DAC, as well as allowing you to place the AMP farther away, since the cable of the headphones is really long. All in all, the setup is well worth the money, and Mini Shangri La is currently one of the most affordable Electrostatic setups that I know of, and a fully recommended purchase.
Before the end of the review, the setup impressed me so much, that it is the first I will be adding to the Audiophile-Heaven Hall Of Fame, as is rightfully receives this award, being one of the most interesting, highest performance and well priced products that I reviewed to date, with unique and powerful new tech, unseen before at this price range, with the performance also being much higher than the price would suggest.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a way to enjoy music just a bit more, if you want to dig deeper into why people love electrostatic headphones and electrostatic headphone amplifiers, and if you want to experience a natural, gentle, refined and fatigue-free sound with the perfect midrange, a quick and tight bass, with good impact in the lows, and a bright, airy but relaxed treble, Shangri-La Mini should be at the top of your list, as one of the best combos the world has seen, for a price that usually only gets you a high-end AMP or pair of headphones, but here you get both.
Product Link
Official Link – https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/mini-shangri-la.html
You can grab one here, once they become available on Amazon – https://amzn.to/4dofJlq
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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