Shanling UP5 Portable Bluetooth DAC Amplifier: ESS ES9219C and Qualcomm QCC5120 smaller than a cigarette pack
The Shanling UP5 is the company’s flagship portable Bluetooth amplifier. The device is larger than a USB dongle, but with dimensions of 39x68x14 mm it will be an easy addition to any smartphone.
A small but informative OLED display was placed on the case, and control is limited to only two elements: a multifunctional encoder (you can turn and press it) and a play button that “understands” short, long, double and even triple presses.
The DAC built into the UP5 is based on a dual ESS ES9219C chipset with FPGA and KDS crystal oscillators. Digital audio resolution can be up to 32 bit / 384 kHz PCM or DSD256. The product delivers 240 mW of power to 32 ohm headphones.
In addition to the USB Xmos connection (on the XUF208 chip), the novelty also works via Bluetooth using the Qualcomm QCC5120 5.0 module. With it, Shanling UP5 supports high definition LDAC4 LHDC, aptXHD, low latency aptX, aptX, AAC and SBC codecs.
In addition, the UP5 understands MQA16x audio. Also Shanling UP5 can work in car mode as a Bluetooth receiver. The device is equipped with Knowles SiSonic omnidirectional microphone.
There are three options for connecting headphones to the UP5: balanced 4.4mm and 2.5mm jacks, or unbalanced 3.5 mm jacks. With a USB connection, a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 120 dB is promised. At the same time, the Shanling UP5 battery will allow you to listen to music for 15 hours through an unbalanced connection and 11 hours through a balanced one.
In the U.S., the Shanling UP5 portable Bluetooth amplifier is already available for pre-order for $180.
