MAGICAL SYNERGY — OBRAVO RA-C-CU & SHANLING M8

WHAT

The Obravo RA-C-CU ($10,000) is a TOTL IEM not unlike the TOTL super cars—the Bugatti Chiron, Ferrari 488 Pista, Koenigsegg Jesko, Lamborghini Veneno, and Pagani Zonda Revolucion. And when its needs are dutifully met, as outlined above, its owner will be greatly rewarded with next-level musicality, transparency, and engagement.

You must, however, remember the needs of the oBravo RA-C-CU. Of course, the price of admission is substantial in the extreme, however, those able to indulge, like the owners of the super cars listed above, will find incredible, musical enjoyment from which it may be difficult to escape. Perhaps not unlike the goddess CIRCE’s island—Aeaea.

I very highly recommend the oBravo RA-C-CU as the best IEM, to date, far surpassing the talents of its EAMT-2C sibling, though it will not wow straight out of the box, as does the EAMT-2C. You must, however, remember the needs of the oBravo RA-C-CU and exercise a wee bit of patience, during its 200-300 hours of burn-in. We, Audiokey Reviews, happily award the oBravo RA-C-CU our DIAMOND award, our highest, for its magnificent musicality, transparency, engagement, its top-to-bottom extension, its wood, copper, and ceramic materials design, brilliant engineering, and its transcendence of the IEM category altogether. The oBravo RA-C-CU is more than just an IEM (see planar headphone, electrostatic headphone).

The Shanling M8 ($1,659) is an extraordinary “Portable Music Player” more detailed and extended than the DX220 AMP1 MkII, more musical and engaging than the Cayin N6II/A01, and it is as powerful as some desktop systems (and more transparent). The iBasso and the Cayin are both quite stellar, highly rated DAPs, the M8, however, is on another level altogether in what it brings to the rendering of one’s music. 

If you are a music lover, and for me, I imagine that in every music lover there is a bit of the romantic, the artist/poet—engaged or frustrated—the habituated realist, and the lover of all things beautiful, then this may well be your last DAP or “Portable Music Player.” In some ways it will be soothingly reminiscent of vinyl played upon a good turntable with, perhaps, more detail than a good turntable, not a great turntable, would offer. And, of course, this is my subjective opinion. 

The Shanling M8’s many features, its voice and outstanding musicality, the transparency on offer, its build quality, design, and its ability to bring forward enough power to drive the oBravo RA-C-CU (93dB, 182Ω), are astonishing! Perhaps it is, after all, a desktop system misnamed or masquerading as a DAP. That said, the Shanling M8 is but the third product to receive our GOLDEN KEYNOTE award for excellence

WHY

Both the Obravo RA-C-CU and the Shanling M8 provide an individual performance that lifts them both far above their respective product niches—IEM, DAP. However, in alliance they are incredibly synergistic even though from a cost perspective they do live in different economic climes. Regardless of that fact they make incredible beautiful music together and if that is what you seek and can afford the combined price ($11,659), you have our highest recommendation. We welcome the Obravo RA-C-CU and the Shanling M8 to our Magical Synergies catalog. And you may well see them both aligned with other components here as well.