The Watercooler-- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first

I have been considering getting into IEMs more as normal work from office resumes all around me.

I currently own the Kann Alpha and have been considering upgrading, mostly due to the Alpha's rather smallish screen.

I am not one to be overly possessed by pride of ownership. If someone shows me a better product than what I own, I will usually try to sell mine and get the better one (within reason, of course).

I wanted to like the Shanling M8 over the Kann Alpha because the latter’s screen is small and O/S is mediocre at best. I had the opportunity of trying the M8 recently at a meet-up with a fellow HeadFi-er and friend.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I have to report that M8 sound signature was in no way more preferable to me, than the Kann Alpha’s. In fact, I might far prefer the Alpha’s sound to that of the M8, iBasso DX300, and other comparables.

Brief impressions: Kann Alpha VS Shanling M8

Build: About equal. Both are well-built DAPs.

Aesthetics: The M8 is much prettier. The larger screen is nice to look at as is the nice shape to the device.

OS: The M8 O/S is as bad as the Alpha’s if not worse. God, its slow. Very slow.

Sound Quality:

• They are both “colored” (in fact, I don’t know what isn’t. We should stop using this word as audio reviewers, as it confuses more than it clarifies).

• I noticed a roll-off at both ends of the FR with the M8, particularly with the Thieaudio Monarch OG. The subbass roll off was more noticeable with an IEM that has insane amounts of subbass. Note that the roll-off was only noticeable in A/B-ing. It’s not noticeable if you are only running the M8.

• The Alpha has a tighter bass, noticeably more defined, and a crisper treble, while maintaining a natural, pleasant midrange.

• The M8 sounds relatively more midrange forward and “relaxing” but in a way that made metal and rock music sound unsatisfactory to me. So this was not relaxing-sounding in a good way, but in an attempt to be “natural sounding” that works better with vocal-based genres than others. Eletronica didn’t sound right to me, the way it did on the Alpha.

• Also important to mention that the Alpha does some amazing vocals.

Overall, I still prefer the Alpha for SQ and I dare say, the OS. Once I got used to side loading Tidal and Qobuz on the Alpha, its actually snappier than the M8, which also has issues with Tidal and Qobuz apps for many users (as per the M8 headfi thread it seems).

Sources: Sony DMP-Z1 | Sony WM1ZM2 | Brise Tsuranagi Transducers: Campfire Trifecta + Effect Audio Centurion | Dita Perpetua + Dita Celeste | Aroma Fei Wan (Incoming) + PW Audio Orpheus YT Channel: Amplify Audio Show