Disclosure: I’d like to thank Shanling for sending me the UP6 for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and Shanling had no say or input on the contents of this review.

The UP6 is the latest ultra-portable Bluetooth DAC/Amp from legendary hi-fi audio company Shanling, which is a staple in the audiophile world for everything from DACs to digital audio players. It’s been roughly 4 years since Shanling released the predecessor to the UP6, the UP5, but they’re set to make the UP6 their flagship compact Bluetooth DAC device. At $199 USD, the Shanling UP6 has lots of competition, as many excellent portable Bluetooth DAC/Amp devices have come out in that time. Let’s get into the review, then, and find out where the UP6 stands.

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• Shanling UP6
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• USB-C to USB-A adapter
• Manual and warranty documentation

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The moment you take the UP6 out of its packaging, there’s an immediate sense of quality in the materials used. The entire body is crafted from durable aluminum, giving it a substantial feel despite weighing just 51 grams. I have the Indigo color version, but Shanling also offers the UP6 in grey. The indigo color looks rather unique in my opinion, helping it stand out from all the other black or silver audio products.

The sides of the UP6 have an interesting heatsink ribbed design that not only helps the UP6 look like a serious audio device but also makes it easier to grip. And no, the ribs do not feel sharp at all. The rectangular shape of the UP6 means it’s easy to hold and comfortable to use, and the whole device just feels solid, even the controls all have excellent tactile feedback.

Speaking of controls, they are all located on the right side, which includes the power button, down button, multifunction button, and up button. The controls are practically designed in the sense that it’s easy to tell them apart by just feeling them. The power button is a circle, and the multifunction button is slightly smaller than the up and down buttons. Straightforward and uncomplicated, just the way I like it.

The top of the device has the USB-C input, and the bottom has a 4.4mm Balanced connection, a 3.5mm SE connection, and a built-in microphone. The front of the UP6 has a large glass panel that contains a 1.54-inch LCD display, an NFC sensor below the display, and an LED indicator below the NFC sensor.

The UP6 measures in at 70mm x 39mm x 14mm, making it extremely pocketable and portable, though it is larger than other portable Bluetooth DAC/Amps. Here are a couple of pictures of the Shanling UP6 beside the Qudelix 5K and FiiO BTR13:

Optional Leather Case

Shanling offers an optional leather case (approximately $15 USD) that deserves serious consideration if you’re picking up the UP6. The light brown case (also available in black and blue) fits snugly around the device, providing a few mm of padding on all sides for protection against potential drops and scratches. It also transforms the UP6 from a modern, industrial-looking device to a classy, understated one. The smooth leather finish complements the UP6’s premium material without adding significant bulk. One thing that I do not like about the case is that it makes it a little harder to feel for and press the buttons on the side, as they end up being deeper when the case is on.

And for those interested, no, it does not look like Shanling will be offering a case with a clip. While personally that doesn’t bother me, I do know there are many people who like to clip their DAC/Amps to their shirts or pants when out and about. Hopefully, Shanling does offer one in the near future, as many other companies do offer this for their devices.

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Dual DAC Chips and Output Power

The Shanling UP6 employs dual ESS ES9069Q DAC chips, which are paired with dual SGM8262 amplifier chips. This gives the UP6 a lot of versatility in output power, allowing you to use less power to prolong battery life or more power to drive more demanding headphones. The UP6 allows you to select single DAC or dual DAC mode (only applies to the 3.5mm SE connection), as well as Low or High gain. In terms of actual power output, this is what those mode combinations result in:

• 3.5mm SE
  • Low Gain: Single DAC 45mW @ 32Ω, Dual DAC 180mW @ 32Ω
  • High Gain: Single DAC 48mW @ 32Ω, Dual DAC 195mW @ 32Ω
• 4.4mm Balanced
  • Low Gain: 155mW @ 32Ω
  • High Gain: 626mW @ 32Ω

I had no issues driving any of my IEMs, whether they are planar, DD, or hybrid driver configs. More importantly, there was no background hiss or noise either. Headphones are a similar story with the UP6 being able to drive everything from the Sennheiser HD 620S (3.5mm SE) and HD 660S2 (3.5mm SE and 4.4mm Balanced), HIFIMAN Sundara (3.5mm SE), and Meze 105 AER (3.5mm SE). Only ever needed to use Low Gain mode as well, meaning the UP6 is a seriously powerful little DAC/Amp.

Bluetooth

Powered by Qualcomm’s QCC5125 chip with Bluetooth 5.2, the UP6 supports an impressive codec lineup:

• LDAC
• aptX Adaptive
• aptX HD
• aptX Low Latency
• Standard aptX
• AAC
• SBC

This extensive codec support means that regardless of your source device, you’ll enjoy the highest wireless audio quality possible for your setup. That being said, it would have been nice to see Shanling utilize a slightly higher-end Qualcomm chipset and give us aptX Lossless,  but with the inclusion of LDAC here (and the lack of many aptX Lossless capable sources), it’s not really a deal breaker in my opinion.

Lastly, the Bluetooth range is very good. I was able to walk from my home office to my kitchen (roughly 10 meters) when using LDAC, and the UP6 maintained the connection to my Sony NW-ZX707. No dropouts and no noticeable drop in audio quality. The experience was the same when connecting the UP6 to my FiiO BT11 using aptX Adaptive and aptX HD. No disconnects or dropouts, just a solid Bluetooth connection.

Battery

The internal 950mAh battery delivers approximately 6.5 hours of playback through the 3.5mm single-ended output and 4.5 hours when using the 4.4mm balanced connection, according to Shanling. My experience essentially mirrors these numbers. With easy-to-drive IEMs or headphones on the 3.5mm SE connection, I was able to stretch the battery life to just over 7 hours while in low gain and single DAC mode, as well as not using the screen very much. Even then, 6.5 to 7 hours of playback time for the 3.5mm connection is just fine in my opinion, but I think 4.5 hours for the balanced connection is on the lower end, especially when something like the FiiO BTR13 can achieve 10+ hours.

The UP6 requires just under 2 hours for a full charge, and it can be charged while powered off with an indicator displayed on the screen to keep you aware of the charging progress. I was hoping to see an option to limit the battery charge to 80% to help preserve battery health, but no such option is present.

For my use cases, the battery life of the UP6 is just fine, but it’s definitely something you need to be aware of so you can judge for yourself.

Companion App

Shanling’s Eddict Player companion app, available on both Android and iOS, expands the UP6’s functionality in useful ways. Through the app, you have access to all the settings like you normally would have through the UP6’s menu UI, but you can also access firmware updates (Android app only) and create a custom EQ profile using the Graphic Equalizer. It’s currently limited to 10 bands, and Shanling is promising an update to enable Parametric EQ functionality in the near future.

The built-in equalizer offers preset profiles including Pop, Folk, Jazz, Rock, Classical, and Blues. The one custom EQ slot must be modified through the app, and then can be selected using the device’s own UI menu.

Here are some screenshots from the app:

Menu System

By holding the multifunction button for just over a full second, you gain access to the UP6’s menu. Within the menu system, you have the following options:

Gain Level: Low or High

DAC Mode: Single or Dual (only applies to the 3.5mm connection)

PCM Filters:

• Linear phase apodizing
• Linear phase fast low-ripple
• Linear phase slow roll-off
• Minimum phase fast roll-off
• Minimum phase slow roll-off
• Minimum phase slow low dispersion
• Minimum phase
• Linear phase fast roll-off

Set Font: 5 different options

Balance: L/R balance

Brightness: 0-10

Screen-Off: 5min, 60s, 30s, 15s, Never

Screen Orientation: 0°, 90°, 180°, 270°

Switch Mode: Off/On (enables or disables UAC 1.0)

Car Mode: Off/On

Charge: Off/On (enables or disables charging when powered on and plugged in. Can still charge the UP6 when it is powered off).

EQ:

• Off
• Custom
• Blue
• Classical
• Rock
• Jazz
• Folk
• Pop

Boot Volume: 0-64 (the volume the UP6 is set to when powered on)

Factory Reset: Yes/No

Upgrade: Yes/No

About: Displays current firmware and Bluetooth versions

Here’s a short video walkthrough of the menu system and UI:

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The Shanling UP6 is very easy and intuitive to use, though it does have some quirks and bugs, which I’ll get to in a bit. Powering it on it is insanely fast to pair to the previously connected Bluetooth device. On top of that, it also has an NFC sensor so that you can quickly and easily pair your smartphone or other NFC-enabled device.

Once paired, you can now play audio via Bluetooth to the UP6. In Bluetooth mode, the display of the UP6 shows the codec, artist name, song name, current time stamp, and total track time. There’s also a Play/Pause indicator on the top right of the display. The LED indicator color references the currently connected codec, making it easy to see at a glance instead of having to turn the screen on.

Playback control is as follows: the multifunction button works as a play/pause button, up button short press is volume up, with a long press being previous track, and down button short press is volume down, with a long press being next track. It’s simple enough to memorize quickly, and I found my muscle memory was quick to adjust to the button options. The buttons can also be used to answer, end, or refuse a call.

Side note, the UP6 does recognize the in-line controls if your cable has them.

When being used in USB mode, the current playback sample rate is displayed on the screen, and the buttons work exactly as they do in Bluetooth mode. When using the UP6 with a Windows 11 computer, no drivers are needed, though Shanling does offer a Windows driver that includes ASIO support and a simple control panel.

The UP6 can be used with game consoles as well, thanks to the toggle that enables UAC 1.0 support. I used the UP6 with my PS5 and Nintendo Switch, no issues with either console. Note that in UAC 1.0 mode, you are limited to a maximum of 16-bit/48 kHz playback support.

The screen itself is the right size and displays the right amount of information, in my opinion. It gets fairly bright at its brightest setting, and is even somewhat viewable when in direct sunlight. I do like that you can change the orientation of the screen, as it allows for more flexibility to connect to different devices.

As for the quirks and bugs, they do exist, but are not deal breakers. On the quirks side, if you have the UP6 connected via Bluetooth, there is absolutely no way to switch it to use the USB connection for audio unless you disconnect your source device from Bluetooth first. There is no way to do this from the UP6 either, it has to be done from the source device. I understand not wanting to implement something like disconnecting Bluetooth if you plug the UP6 in via USB, as you may want to simply charge it while listening, but I really would have liked to see a way to enable/disable Bluetooth on the device, or even just disconnect a connected device. Since I do use my smartphone a lot with the UP6, every time I turn on the UP6 with the intention of using it with my desktop or laptop via USB, I have to go into the Bluetooth settings of my smartphone and manually disconnect the UP6 from it. Only then is the UP6 is recognized as a USB audio device.

Another quirk is that there is no pure desktop mode, meaning that when the UP6 is plugged in, you have to choose to either always charge the battery or never charge the battery. While it’s not intended to be used as a desktop DAC/Amp, the option to power it only through USB would have been a nice addition, as it helps preserve battery health.

As for bugs, when in Bluetooth mode and the artist and song info are displayed, if you do anything to change what is displayed on the screen, such as adjusting the volume or going into the menu, the song info goes blank until you change the track. Turning the screen off and then on does not trigger this issue, which leads me to believe it is simply a software bug.

Lastly, regarding USB audio support, while the specs for the UP6 indicate it is able to support a 768 kHz sampling rate, Windows only recognizes up to 384 kHz. This is with the Shanling drivers installed as well. Not sure if this is a bug or if a setting needs to be adjusted somewhere, but it is what I noticed.

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The Shanling UP6 presents a balanced sound signature best described as neutral, clean, and transparent. What I appreciate most is how it doesn’t color my IEMs or headphones. What I hear is how my headphones and IEMs should sound, with nothing intruding upon them or holding them back.

The clean note presentation and black background particularly benefit detail-oriented IEMs and headphones, allowing them to shine without interference. I found the UP6 paired exceptionally well with my Simgot EA1000 and Sennheiser HD 620S. The HD 660S2 is also another favorite of mine to use with the UP6, since it really is powerful enough to drive it. And the recently reviewed KBEAR Cepheus KB16 sounded fantastic, showcasing this IEM’s excellent sub-bass and detailed midrange.

Regardless of whether you’re using Bluetooth or a USB connection, both sound simply excellent.

The Shanling UP6 has a built-in SiSonic microphone with cVc (clear voice capture) 8.0 noise cancellation, powered by the Qualcomm chipset. The microphone only works in Bluetooth mode and is not recognized when in USB mode, which is disappointing. As for call quality, it really isn’t bad. In quiet environments, I was told that my voice was clear, though slightly compressed or muffled. In environments with more background noise, like street traffic or coffee shops, it’s not really that usable, as the microphone did not isolate my voice enough. It’s a nice feature to have, but it’s not something I would be buying the UP6 for.

The Shanling UP6 enters a very crowded market of portable Bluetooth DAC/Amps, but its $199 USD price point puts it in an interesting spot. You have FiiO’s BTR17 with aptX Lossless and PEQ support, but it costs $20 more. There’s iFi’s GO blue at $199, but it lacks EQ support and has less output power. And then there’s the fan favorite Qudelix 5K at $109 with its excellent software and PEQ support, but it lacks a 4.4mm balanced connection and has much less power.

I don’t think the UP6 is breaking any new ground, but I do think it executes its core functions extremely well. It has a 3.5mm SE and a 4.4mm balanced output with a ridiculous amount of output power, excellent build quality and material choices, and a very practical design for everything from the buttons to the LCD display. It’s also highly compatible with the majority of devices thanks to UAC 1.0 support. And at the end of the day, and this is the most important thing, it sounds fantastic. All of that puts it in a rather sweet spot compared to the competition.

Battery life is the most disappointing aspect. Technically, it’s just fine in my opinion, but many other comparable devices give you a few hours more playback time. Switching from Bluetooth to USB functionality is more cumbersome than it needs to be, and the bug with the song name disappearing when in Bluetooth mode is annoying. The lack of PEQ support (at least currently), when many competing devices support this, also seems like an oversight.

All things considered, none of the above issues are deal breakers for me. They may be for you, which is why you need to judge for yourself whether the UP6 is worth the investment for your use case. For anyone seeking to elevate their mobile listening experience without carrying bulky equipment, this little powerhouse deserves serious consideration, in my opinion. It does so many things right that I can confidently recommend the Shanling UP6 as one of the best overall portable DAC/amps currently available for under $200.

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