Shanling Releases The SM90 Streaming DAC

All Image Credit: Shanling

Shanling has released the SM90, a compact Android-based streaming DAC. This latest model is smaller and lower cost than the SM1.3.  Physically the SM90 comes with a 5″ 1080p touchscreen that gives access to streaming apps, library navigation and virtual VU meters. It is available in a black or silver finish.

The SM90 supports; Qobuz Connect, Tidal Connect and will shortly be Roon Ready. Other supported apps include; Apple Music, Apple Classical, Amazon Music, Spotify, KKBox, Presto and Radio Paradise, plus NAS, DLNA and Apple AirPlay 2. Shanling’s own Eddict Player is also available, both as the on-device player and as an iOS and Android companion app for remote control.

Internally the SM90 operates on an Android 12 platform running on a Rockchip CPU with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Network connectivity is available via Wi-Fi 6 or Ethernet. There’s also an internal SSD slot, USB drive playback and Bluetooth 5.2 with LDAC, aptX HD, AAC and SBC support.

For internal D/A conversion, Shanling uses dual AKM AK4493S DAC’s paired Texas Instruments OPA1612’s for the analogue output stage that drives both the RCA and XLR connectors. Clocking stability and accuracy in maintained using two in-house developed FPGA clocks that support 45.1584MHz and 49.152MHz. Bit-perfect audio is handled via Shanling’s proprietary Android Global Lossless Output (AGLO) technology. Android normally resamples everything to 48kHz before it reaches the DAC, Shanlings’ AGLO bypasses that at the OS level, allowing third-party streaming apps pass audio through unaltered. This ensures direct unaltered output of PCM up to 768KHz and DSD 512.

No switched mode power supply here! This new design uses a low noise, all analog power supply that is built around a high quality 35watt toroidal transformer.

Rear panel connectivity includes; analog stereo RCA and XLR outputs, 1 x coaxial and 1 x TOSLINK digital outputs, plus 1 x coaxial, 1 x TOSLINK, 1 x USB DAC and 1 x HDMI ARC digital inputs. Additional connectivity includes; 1 x Ethernet RJ45 and 2 x USB 3.0 for audio. Expansion via the internal SSD slot is located in the bottom panel and supports M.2PCIe SSD’s.

Features A Glance: