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Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player – The best of old and new…

Hi-res Audio is by no means limited to the listening room alone, and portable Hi-res Audio players do not require much budgeting either. Solutions such as the Shanling Q1 Portable Hi-Fi Music Player can even be described as proven lifestyle solutions with impressive features.


Shanling is one of those providers who have been making sure for years that Hi-res Audio is “mobile”, and in a price range that seems attractive to as many consumers as possible. The product range of the Chinese offers a wide selection of portable Hi-res audio players, all of which are available at very attractive prices, but many of which have very remarkable technical specifications and impressive features.

This also applies to the Shanling Q1 Portable Hi-Fi Music Player, for example, which the company has been offering for a few weeks now and which is now experiencing a quite striking update immediately after its market launch, making it even more exciting.

The Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player can and should even be described as a lifestyle device, as the developers and designers deliberately focus on a form factor that makes it virtually predestined as an everyday companion. In addition, a design was chosen that conveys a certain retro touch and offers the player in various colors. The dimensions also fit, as the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player is virtually tiny. Nevertheless, it has all the features that a modern portable hi-fi player should have.

“Best of old and new” is how the manufacturer himself describes the new Shanling Q1 Portable Hi-Fi Music Player, and states that the design was inspired by the 1940s and 1950s. A softly rounded housing with subtle pastel tones and chrome accents are supposed to distinguish the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player and represent a clear alternative to the futuristic, technical and thus, from the designers’ point of view, very cold design language often chosen in this field.

The Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player actually measures no more than 52 mm in width, 75 mm in height, and 16.5 mm in depth, making it a mere 133 g.

The housing is built in a particularly robust construction completely from one piece of a special aluminium alloy.

The front takes up the whole of the 2.7-inch touchscreen display, which offers a resolution of 360 x 400 pixels and thus guarantees simple operation. This is protected by scratch-resistant, tempered glass. On the sides there are some essential buttons for playback control and a rotary encoder is also included, although this is intentionally reminiscent of a clock’s dial.

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The heart of the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player is the Shanling MTouch OS, now in its third generation.

Audio data is stored on microSD cards, whereby the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player supports media with a storage capacity of up to 2 TByte.

The Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player is able to process all relevant audio formats, whereby data in Linear PCM format with up to 32 bit and 384 kHz, but also DSD is supported. Signal processing is performed by means of the ESS Sabre ES9218P DAC and an output stage optimized for particularly high signal fidelity. The manufacturer itself promises impeccable hi-fi sound and states that the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player can be used with a variety of headphones without any problems. In the data sheet, the output power is specified as 80 mW into 32 ohms, with the recommendation that headphones should have an impedance between 8 and 300 ohms.

Headphones are connected via a 3.5 mm stereo mini jack plug.

As an alternative, Bluetooth is also available, whereby Bluetooth 4.2 is used and the corresponding module can be used as a transceiver or receiver. Not only does it support SBC, AAC and LDAC for sending and receiving, but of course headphones that support the aptX codec can also be used.

A USB port is also included, which is not only used to charge the integrated battery, but also to convert the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player into an external USB DAC for direct use on a PC or Mac via the USB C port. However, not the full resolution is supported, but “only” Linear PCM with up to 24 bit and 192 kHz.

With the latest firmware update, which Shanling will provide immediately after the launch of the new Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player, many exciting features are added.

For example, the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player is now able to be connected to the network via WiFi. As a dlna-certified UPnP streaming client, it is equipped to play back audio data directly from the network. But that’s not all, Apple AirPlay is also supported. The new Shanling Q1 Firmware v2.0 will also ensure that further firmware updates can be made directly “over the air”, i.e. “wirelessly” via the network.

The integrated 1,100 mAh battery should ensure that the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player has a playing time of no less than 21 hours. It should be fully charged again after only two hours. The standby is indicated with 25 days.

As already mentioned, the new Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player is offered in different color versions. The customer can choose between Black, Creamy White, Turquoise Blue, Forest Green and Fire Red. It should also be emphasized that the manufacturer also offers a protective silicone case suitable for this portable hi-fi player.

The recommended retail price for the new Shanling Q1 Portable Hi-Fi Music Player is only € 119,-.

Getting to the point

The Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player can and should even be described as a lifestyle device, because the developers and designers deliberately focus on a form factor that virtually predestines it as an everyday companion. In addition, a design was chosen that conveys a certain retro touch and offers the player in various colors. The dimensions also fit, as the Shanling Q1 Portable HiFi Music Player is virtually tiny. Nevertheless, it has all the features that a modern portable hi-fi player should have.

Manufacturer:Shanling
Distribution:NT Global Distribution GmbH
Price:€ 119,-
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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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