You do make some pretty valid points, I do apologize that these didn't cross my mind then. When I was reviewing the Q1, I had the habit of just listening to music either by album or by shuffle. However I went and looked at the Q1 again to see the playlist thing.

- Yes, using the Q1 itself to make playlists is cumbersome. Though I have been wondering if you ever did update the firmware on the device as I'm not sure how it was after the updates, also the Synclink off the phone app does it quicker and easier. I know it's not a solution if you're an iOS user since the shanling music app doesn't have a version for that platform (yet, at least), but it's leaps easier and quicker to make/export/import playlists through there.

- I have to be honest, I didn't face any issue with the artist/title metadata as I had been editing them through my Sony's syncing iTunes-like software. I'm not sure if it's out of sheer luck that my editing did fix that issue before I would notice or what but I didn't come across it.

- Regarding the UI, I'm also asking if you have tried the new firmware (I made a follow up article here with all the changes from the updates three months later here: https://medium.com/@asatiir/shanling-q1-three-months-later-d3a7f266e023), because while it still has a few things that need ironing out they made significant improvements on the responsiveness of the UI.

It was my first DAP review, so mistakes were bound to happen. I do apologize again for not being thorough enough and I will be in future reviews, I will include a pointer to this response in the article.

Thank you.