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Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones

With the Shanling ME700 Five-driver Hybrid High-end Earphones, the top model in the field of in-ear headphones is now available from Shanling, which is now being joined by a little brother, the new Shanling ME700 Lite.


In recent months, the headphone segment has clearly been dominated by the topic of wireless. More and more manufacturers are partially or completely dispensing with cables in many of their models, in all areas from over-ear to on-ear to in-ear headphones. Bluetooth instead of cable is therefore in the focus, but there are still a few solutions that rely on cable in the classic way. Most of these are headphones that are aimed at a particularly demanding clientele, who therefore want the best possible quality, which Bluetooth cannot yet offer despite the latest technologies.

Of course, the Chinese company Shanling has also long had headphone models with Bluetooth in its range, but the latest model, the new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones, relies on cable. As the name suggests, this is the little brother of the Shanling ME700 Five-driver Hybrid High-end Earphones, the manufacturer’s top model. The new Shanling ME700 Lite is clearly based on the concept of the top model, and the features of the new in-ear headphones are also quite remarkable.

The new Shanling ME700 Lite also uses no less than five drivers, whereby four so-called Balanced Armatures Drivers in combination with a dynamic driver are used in the proven manner.

The Balanced Armatures Drivers are responsible for the upper and middle frequency range and the Dynamic Driver for the bass range, whereby a Titanium Diaphragm Dynamic Driver is used for a particularly accurate reproduction.

Special attention must be paid to the crossover in such a hybrid construction in order to guarantee a seamless transition and thus a coherent sound image.

The manufacturer specifies an impedance of just 16 ohms for the new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones, so that they can be used with a wide range of mobile devices without any problems. The sensitivity should be 109 dB and the frequency range that these in-ear headphones can reproduce is between 20 Hz and 40 kHz.

The manufacturer states that a very special sound characteristic was chosen for the new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones. They have chosen a tuning that has a neutral sound in principle, but focuses on clarity and precision. In direct comparison to its big brother Shanling ME700 Five-driver Hybrid High-end Earphones, which is designed for relaxed, hour-long music enjoyment, the Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones is said to offer a more energetic sound image, as the manufacturer himself puts it. The reason for this is clear: the new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones is intended to address a slightly younger, broader target group that prefers this type of tuning.

The new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones once again feature housings with a special design, using 3D printing. The actual housing is white, with a high-gloss finish, while the logo in gold and the chrome-plated stainless steel connections of the cable add attractive accents. The cable also picks up this design.

Speaking of the cable, from the developers’ point of view it is of great importance when it comes to the sound image desired here. They decided to use a Gold-plated Copper & Silver-plated Copper Hybrid Cable, which means that they are using high-purity copper conductors coated with silver on one side and gold on the other. The cable has a practical length of 1.3 m and ends in a 3.5 mm stereo mini jack plug. MMCX connectors are used at the other end, so the cable can be removed in a few easy steps and replaced if necessary.

A selection of different earpieces, which are included in the scope of delivery, ensures a high level of wearing comfort. The new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones come with three different types in three sizes each, so there should be something for every taste or requirement.

Also included is a cleaning tool and a leather carrying case.

The new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones should be available in specialist shops shortly. The manufacturer is quoting a recommended retail price of € 499,- for these new in-ear headphones.

Getting to the point

The Chinese company Shanling, of course, like many other manufacturers in the personal audio device segment, has long since been offering not only headphone models with cable but also with Bluetooth. However, the latest model, the new Shanling ME700 Lite 5-Driver Hybrid Earphones, is again based on cable. As the name suggests, this is the little brother of the Shanling ME700 Five-driver Hybrid High-end Earphones, the manufacturer’s top model. The new Shanling ME700 Lite is clearly based on the concept of the top model, and the features of the new in-ear headphones are also quite remarkable.

Manufacturer:Shanling
Distribution:NT Global Distribution GmbH
Price:€ 499,-

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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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