This flagship hi-res audio player comes with two tubes and double DACs

Shanling has launched a new flagship hi-res audio player – the Shanling M8T – with dual DACs and twin tubes on board. It's a high-end player with a serious specification, and follows in the footsteps of the well-reviewed M8 from 2020. Shanling is ending production of its M9 Plus this summer, so the M8T will take its place as the firm's flagship portable player.

The tubes are the headline feature here. That's a first for Shanling's portables but not for the brand – it's used tubes in its amps and some CD players too. Here the tubes are a pair of low-voltage JAN6418s in a custom anti-shock enclosure at the top of the unit, and you can bypass them if you'd rather listen in pure transistor mode.

Shanling M8T hi-res audio player: key features and pricing

The operating system is Android 13 with support for third party apps, and the display is a sharp 6-inch LCD panel with full HD (2,160 x 1,080) resolution. Inside there are two AKM AK4499EX DACS paired independently, which Shanling says eliminates clock signal distortion that can appear with simpler double-DAC setups. Hi-res audio formats are supported to 768kHz/32-bit PCM and DSD 1024.

There are three listening modes here – transistor, triode and ultra-linear – and you can output to both standard and balanced headphones. The large 8,350mAh battery is capable of 15.5 hours with standard single-ended headphones, falling only slightly to 13 hours for balanced output.

The Wi-Fi is dual band for smooth connectivity, and the Bluetooth is two-way so you can use the player as a Bluetooth DAC and amp. It can transmit LDAC as well as SBC and AAC.

If you're familiar with the previous model, the M8, the new M8T is very slightly larger and heavier: it weighs 383g and is 147 x 82 x 22mm.

The new Shanling M8T has a US price of $1,499 and is currently retailing in the UK for £1,499 (about AU$2,965).