Shanling UA6 Flagship Portable DAC / AMP – Technically Revealing Power Sound
Shanling UA6 is a $159 USD Dongle DAC AMP with 4 x CS43131 DACs inside, a fairly high driving power, and what Shanling considers to be the peak of USB Dongle DAC technology. Today we will review the UA6 In-Depth and study its performance, how it generally compares to other dongle DAC AMPs and if it is worth considering as your next music companion.
Introduction
Shanling is a popular brand from China known for their high-end designs and music players, but they are growing in popularity for music lovers on a budget, thanks to their excellent dongle DAC/AMPs and ultraportable units pushed on the market lately. 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. Huge thanks to Shanling for providing us with the sample for this review.
PROs – Technical, precise sound with strong detail and crisp resolution. No distortion even if you’re listening at the maximum available volume, and it has good separation between instruments, with a strong layering and spatial separation.
Cons – Reveals artifacts in songs easily and has a technical, quick sound. Very neutral and flat in the frequency response considering that everyone expects Shanling to have a warmer and fuller sund.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/41aMWhC
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oDqtknf
Build Quality/Aesthetics
To communicate with you, UA6 has a 1.3″ color display with multiple font and theme options, allowing you to configure the experience you’re having with it slightly. You can actually rotate this display 360 degrees, so it can be oriented either way. The heart of the UA6 is a Quad Core pump of sound made of 4 Cirrus Logic CS43131 DACs, which can decode high resolution signals up to 32 Bit / 768 kHz and DSD512. Those can run in Dual DAC or Quad DAC modes, depending on how much energy you need to save. There’s also the chance of using the balanced headphone output that will provide the best sound UA6 has to offer.
There is a minimalistic 220mAh battery inside of the UA6, and this is a feature you cannot turn off, as it helps bypass the power requirements of smartphones that don’t like a high power draw, like Samsung phones and iPhones. This battery also provides a clean, buffered power supply for headphones and IEMS, enhancing the sonic performance of the Ua6.
The two headphone outputs of the Ua6 are vastly different, both in driving power and versatility. You can use the 3.5mm headphone output both to drive headphones, or to generate a SPDIF signal, and it has a maximum driving power of 110mW / 32 OHMs, while the 4.4mm balanced output has a maximum output power of 320 mW / 32 OHMs. You can switch the UA6 to a UAC1 for Switch and other consoles, from the menu. Also a pretty important distinction is that the Single Ended output has almost half the channel separation but also half the output impedance, as the SE output has a channel separation of 68 dB, and an output impedance of 0.6 OHMs. The balanced output has an output impedance of 1.2 OHMs and a channel separation of 129 dB. Everything else is comparable, except for the fact that there is a low gain and a high gain. I find I need high gain for most IEMs and headphones and I recommend sticking with it.
To get the most out of UA6, you can use the Eddict music player from the Android App Store, but the iPhone version of the app will not have exactly the same features as imposed by Apple and their limitations. Ua6 comes with a high-quality cable included in the package, and it has an LED light on the front, below the display, to show what data rate it is currently decoding. There’s also control on the side of UA6, and the buttons even work in Windows, and all Android Phones I tested. The middle button is a playback / enter / menu key, while the other two keys are a plus and minus key you can even configure the actions thereof from the menu.
USB DAC / Subjective Usage
There seems to be a minimal USB DAC delay going on, but it is not seriously noticeable with most live content. This delay is lower than most optical interfaces have. UA6 has the effect of turning off the audio while it is not playing anything, so while you will never hear a noise floor coming from it, it cuts the first quarter of a second when you resume playing something, including windows system sounds.
I experienced no artifacts or usage issues. There is a case you can purchase for UA6, but it is not included in the default package, and I can see the unit scratching as it is made of aluminum and has a fairly edgy outer design. There is no heat generated by the UA6 regardless of the headphones or IEMs it is powering, and it has a good driving power from the balanced output, while the SE output does not sound quite as good.
I can’t say I am noticing the power draw on Samsung S23 Ultra, everything works as expected. I would recommend getting some kind of case that allows you to strap the UA6 to your smartphone for a better usage, as pocketed usage can push on the Type-C ports of both the phone and the Dongle DAC AMP. In fact, this has always been a peeve issue of mine with DAC/AMPs, it is hard to use those without damaging them if on-the-go.
Sound Quality
Pairings – I’ve been using UA6 with both my smartphone, but also my PC Windows computer, and I have paired it with a wide selection of IEMs and Headphones including Erzetich Thalia, Palma DHS-1, Erzetich Mania 2024, Sennheiser Hd 490 PRO Plus, Simgot EM10 Dream, Campfire Moon rover, T+A Solitaire P-SE, Rose Technics QTX, Soundz Flame, Soundz Avant, and Audeze MM-100. UA6 handles easier to drive headphones really nicely, and it has no audible noise with IEMs, and there is plenty of power, dynamic and punch. UA6 can struggle with very hard to drive headphones, like Solitaire P-SE, but while it doesn’t get them very loud, the sound has good foundation and control, with a low THD, admirable qualities from a smaller, portable unit like UA6. Even doing something extreme like using the maximum volume will show a controlled, clean sound with no audible distortions, and the headphones for this have been HIFIMAN Susvara and SJY Horizon.
Overall Signature – Although in the high-end Shanling is known for a warm and smooth sound, most of their entry-level units have been rather neutral and sharp in tuning, and this is a trend even more evident with UA6, which is fairly neutral, has a sharp and crisp treble extension, and although it has a bit of extra warmth compared to dead neutral levels, it is not warm and bloomy by any means, like Shanling H5 is, and it is more comparable to FiiO K9 PRO ESS in tuning, fairly flat and high-resolution, revealing details and information from music, even when you’d likely hope that music had a little bit less. This means Ua6 is not a forgiving dongle DAC AMP and it is pretty technical in sound. Although unusual, the smoothest sounding filter is the Non-Oversampling one, and I highly recommend it as all the other filters sound quite aggressive and reveal harshness a bit too easily in most of my music.
Bass – Starting from the bottom, UA6 is a slightly warm sounding DAC AMP, but for the most part I would consider it neutral and clean, with a good control for the bass, showing a really low distortion and high control even up to very high volumes. With a clean output, you can tackle the advantages of headphones and IEMs that are already basshead, but it won’t turn a neutral one to the dark side of the musical spectrum any day soon.
Midrange – The most beautiful part of the UA6 sound is in the midrange, where it has outstanding resolution and details, great even when you forget the entry-level price point, with a strong micro detail and texture revealing ability, and a beautiful rendering for both male and female voices, and a really strong spatial separation between instruments. This works really well for pop, EDM, electronic music and even rock, but the signature is a bit too revealing for harsh music styles like technical death metal. Male voices are grainy and coarse, as UA6 reveals a lot of texture and grain easily, while female voices are more crystalline and smoother, so UA6 emphasizes them quite a lot, creating a pleasing signature for female-led songs, including J-Pop, J-Rock and Cabaret.
Treble – The treble extension of the UA6 is very good, it has a sharp, crisp there with a strong edgy end up top, no roll-off, and a strong presence of cymbal crashes, and reflections of instruments that have harmonics up top.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Shanling UA6 has one of the best controls at high volumes, it has a low distortion, strong driving power up to the maximum available volume bit, it is never shouty or distorted. The sound is as good even at low volumes, where it is smoother, a bit flatter, but also reveals less of the bad in music, so you can enjoy older albums more easily if you know you listen quietly. Overall, it is peak performance for a dongle DAC AMP. The volume is evenly spread across the steps available, and you get fine control for both IEMs and headphones.
Dynamics Handling – UA6 handles dynamics nicely, it is a fairly dynamic and punchy sounding dongle, especially if paired with IEMs and easier to drive headphones like Erzetich Thalia, Erzetich Mania V2024 or Palma DHS-1. The sound is generally vivid with a colorful and saturated, contrasty midrange.
PRaT / Textures – Shanling Ua6 sounds technical and revealing in the textures, it can easily reveal grain and harshness in songs, including a very fine revealing ability of the micro textures and micro details in each song. This is present and obvious especially at higher volumes, where UA6 sounds really clear, having a quick impulse response with a quick decay, resulting in a fairly dry and precise sound that’s very studio-like.
Soundstage – Although the quick impulse response is generally reserved with the soundstage, it aids in creating excellent spatial separation between instruments, Ua6 has outstanding imaging and instrument separation, sounding detailed in the staging too. The soundstage is natural-intimate in size, and most instruments sound close to the listener, except for the far background which plays around the listener, projected in a more distant layer. Layering is great, and there is no exact foreground and background layer, but a rich selection of layers, each instrument having its own space and layer playing in.
Value and Conclusion
Shanling Delivers a very capable dongle DAC AMP with a neutral and clean sound, strong treble extension and good dynamics, and a small, but quiet design that doesn’t get too hot and won’t consume all the juice in your phone, basically offering a dream for a dongle DAC AMP user, all for a very fair price, with strong value.
At the end of the day, the only thing missing from the UA6 is the transport case being included in the official sale package, but otherwise, it is a versatile, complete dongle DAC/AMP that is fit to be considered peak performance for a dongle DAC AMP, unless you want to go with a heftier, more substantial purchase like Shanling H5, which is the next step in the portable journey, with a strong driving power and punchy, vivid sound.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/41aMWhC
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oDqtknf
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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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