Shanling Q2 Combines Quad DACs With Pocket-Size Control

Shanling has introduced the Q2, a compact portable hi-fi player that combines touchscreen operation with a separate touch-sensitive control wheel. Despite measuring just 80 × 50 × 13.5 mm, the player includes four DAC chips, balanced headphone connectivity, dual-band Wi-Fi and bidirectional Bluetooth.

Four Cirrus Logic DACs and two headphone outputs

The Q2’s audio section is based on four Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC chips. Wired headphones can be connected through either a conventional 3.5 mm unbalanced socket or a 4.4 mm balanced output, allowing the player to accommodate both common portable terminations.

Through the balanced connection, maximum output power is specified at 425 mW into a 32-ohm load. Shanling has also included Low and High gain settings, giving users a choice of amplification modes when pairing the Q2 with headphones of different sensitivities and power requirements.

Supported digital audio formats extend to PCM at resolutions up to 768 kHz/32-bit and native DSD up to DSD512. These decoding limits position the Q2 to handle a broad range of locally stored high-resolution music files without requiring conversion to lower sample rates.

Touchscreen meets Click Wheel navigation

MTouch OS runs on an Ingenic X2000 processor and is presented through a 2.09-inch touchscreen. Music browsing and playback can be controlled directly from the display, while a separate Click Wheel provides another way to move through menus and adjust volume with a finger swipe.

This dual-control arrangement is notable in such a small device. The touchscreen provides direct access to the interface, while the dedicated wheel can handle frequently used adjustments without relying exclusively on on-screen controls.

The enclosure combines an aluminum-alloy frame with a glass rear panel. Overall weight is 83 g, reinforcing the Q2’s focus on portability rather than the larger form factor commonly associated with more elaborate digital audio players.

Expandable storage and bidirectional USB

Music storage is handled through a microSD card slot supporting capacities up to 2 TB. No built-in storage capacity is specified, so the expandable card slot is the stated option for carrying a local library.

The USB connection operates in both directions for digital audio. The Q2 can therefore receive a digital signal for playback through its own audio hardware or send digital audio to another compatible device. This flexibility lets the player serve as more than a self-contained source while retaining its pocket-size design.

Wireless playback, reception and network support

Wireless connectivity includes dual-band Wi-Fi on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. AirPlay, DLNA and QPlay are supported for network-based playback and device integration.

Bluetooth 5.2 is also bidirectional, meaning the Q2 can transmit audio to wireless headphones or speakers and receive audio from another source device. Its supported Bluetooth codecs are SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD and LDAC.

Battery life varies by connection type. Shanling specifies up to 13.5 hours when using the 3.5 mm headphone output and up to 12.5 hours through the 4.4 mm balanced connection. Bluetooth playback using LDAC has the longest stated operating time at up to 16.5 hours. Actual endurance may depend on volume, file format, gain mode and wireless use, although no further battery-test conditions are provided.

With four CS43131 DACs, balanced output, extensive high-resolution format support and two-way wired and wireless audio functions, the Shanling Q2 fits a broad feature set into an 83 g chassis. USD pricing and detailed regional availability have not been specified.