The most surprising thing we found with the MC3000 is its tonality. Most CD players and amps these days are pretty close to neutral, but in comparisons with various familiar references we consistently felt that this unit had a distinct lift in the upper midrange. For reasons we can only conjecture (measured response is as flat as the proverbial pancake) there's a slight, but consistent lift to female voice and the fundamental frequencies of many melody instruments, which gives the sound a highly appealing lightness of touch.

As a slight potential downside of that, bass isn't necessarily the most immediately gripping we've ever heard, but it's got some decent heft to it when required and unless your speakers are already a bit marginal for bass quantity and quality, it's unlikely to make or break the MC3000's appeal.

It's also good to report that there's some fine rhythmic drive in evidence, with plenty of life and 'kick', plus excellent timing integrity between the registers. High treble is clear and precise, not markedly forward or recessed though occasionally a touch dry. Power delivery is assured and confident, though overload is distinctly obvious when it does eventually occur.

Confident performer

That's the nuts and bolts of it. The practical result of all this is a sound that is invariably strong on melody and basic communication, with enough detail and analytical skill to convey accompanying instruments with convincing layering and spatial precision.

We have some slight reservations about the ultimate level of detail and for sure there's ground lost in this department to the best standalone CD players and amps in the £500 to £1,000 bracket. The sound is just a little hazy at the edges, not in an offensive or obtrusive way, but just perceptibly on those odd occasions when one tries to hear exactly what is happening in the middle, or at the back, of a mix.

We'd hazard a guess that both this and the tonality qualities noted above are down to a small, but not quite vanishing amount of low-harmonic distortion which we found on test – just enough to give a little subtle colour to the sound.

We felt the FM tuner is decent, rather than outstanding – its rejection of interference from nearby stations isn't brilliant and in urban situations this can be an annoying drawback. As for the iPod dock, the sound from it largely follows the performance with CD, suggesting that most of the character is in the amplifier part of the unit.

There are more advanced all-in-one units available, but Shanling's combination of audiophile and user-convenience features is well-judged for the space-constrained audio buff and we're happy to give the MC3000 a cheerful recommendation.