[Knov015]

Hi everyone, I need help with my Q15. I kind of did a hard reset (holding down the power button until the unit resets) and now it identified itself as Q15 Devkit, and software device is adjustable. I need help to return it back to just Q15, not 'devkit'.

Edit: Okay, I read through the thread and see a few others having similar issues as well, so I tried fiddling with the settings.

Can someone explain what the MQA mode does? Does it consume more battery with it on? I don't use MQA files, so should I leave it on? I noticed on my iPad that I need to put the device as MQA on and uac2.0 so that software volume is fixed. But, if I turn MQA off, software volume is adjustable again...help.

 

[jclyle]

Can Q15 firmware be updated using the FiiO Control App? This review says it can:
https://moonstarreviews.net/fiio-q15-portable-dac-amp-review/

Browsing this thread, there is only references of firmware updates when connected to a Windows computer.

Is there no Mac support if updates can't be done using the app?

 

[Ichos]

Can Q15 firmware be updated using the FiiO Control App? This review says it can:
https://moonstarreviews.net/fiio-q15-portable-dac-amp-review/

Browsing this thread, there is only references of firmware updates when connected to a Windows computer.

Is there no Mac support if updates can't be done using the app?

From what I know, you can use the app to update the Bluetooth firmware only. For the USB firmware you have to use a windows computer.

 

[wynand32]

Okay, so I got my Q15 the other day and have been poking around. I don't have a ton of experience with DACs, but it's replacing an iFi Hip Dac 3 and sounds much better to my untrained ears.

Edit: Actually, I've discovered that the issue below happens if I have the USB-C cable plugged into a device when making the switch. If I unplug, switch MQA on and off then things are better. I have to turn the volume up much further on my iPhone than my iPad, but it's working a lot better.

Anyway, I'm having what appears to be a problem. When I have it plugged into my iPhone 15 Pro Max via USB-C and in desktop mode (also in phone mode) and switch MQA off, things get wonky. When MQA on, the iPhone volume is fixed, as expected. Switch MQA off and the iPhone's volume is variable. Again, as expected.

However, volume drops to an inaudible level. I can turn the volume all the way up on my iPhone and turn the Q15 volume to well over 100 and I can barely hear anything. Doesn't matter what I have PEQ set at and gain is at Ultra High. I'm connecting via 3.5mm unbalanced for now, 4.4mm balanced cable on the way.

I understand that there's reduced volume with MQA turned off, but to that degree makes no sense. I'm using a Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed, for reference.

Any ideas what's going on?

 

[kdy17]

Guys, I've bought q15 and I can't play hi-res files in foobar. I installed FIIO USB DAC driver, but is won't play dsd output, only PCM.
Moonriver plays all without any problems
Please help to set it up properly

UPD: found the problem - needed to change settings in U-AUDIO from UAC1 to UAC2 . all works well now

 

[mrfat59]

Guys, I've bought q15 and I can't play hi-res files in foobar. I installed FIIO USB DAC driver, but is won't play dsd output, only PCM.
Moonriver plays all without any problems
Please help to set it up properly

The topping driver kit includes instructions for setting up dsd in foobar. https://dl.topping.audio/drivers/Topping_Driver_installation_and_use_guide562.zip But I didn’t like the sound, it sounds better in audacious. https://audacious-media-player.org/

 

[skates15]

Hello everyone.
I bought a Q15 and have a question on how the Bluetooth work.

My setup is using the included USB data cable from my Android Pixel 6 phone to the Q15, streaming Amazon HD music and Tidal as the music apps. Both the Q15 and headphones are paired to the phone.

I'm trying to wrap my head around whether or not the Q15 is actually streaming to the headphones since it and the headphones are both paired to the phone.

I thought that the headphones would have been paired to the Q15, not the phone, but that's not the case.

Question: since the headphones and Q15 are both paired to the phone, isn't the phone actually streaming the music from the Q15 and if so, isn't the music from the Q15 and the sound from the Q15 being changed to whatever the phone renders to and therefore I'm missing all the goodness of the Q15?

I hope this makes sense and any help is appreciated in understanding my setup.

Thanks.

 

[wynand32]

Hello everyone.
I bought a Q15 and have a question on how the Bluetooth work.

My setup is using the included USB data cable from my Android Pixel 6 phone to the Q15, streaming Amazon HD music and Tidal as the music apps. Both the Q15 and headphones are paired to the phone.

I'm trying to wrap my head around whether or not the Q15 is actually streaming to the headphones since it and the headphones are both paired to the phone.

I thought that the headphones would have been paired to the Q15, not the phone, but that's not the case.

Question: since the headphones and Q15 are both paired to the phone, isn't the phone actually streaming the music from the Q15 and if so, isn't the music from the Q15 and the sound from the Q15 being changed to whatever the phone renders to and therefore I'm missing all the goodness of the Q15?

I hope this makes sense and any help is appreciated in understanding my setup.

Thanks.

Okay, I suspect that I might have been suffering under the same misunderstanding as you are. From what I can tell, the Q15 can't send audio to Bluetooth headphones, as I thought, rather it can connect to a source (i.e., a phone) via Bluetooth and then send audio out over the headphone jack. So the Q15 is a wireless extender, if you will.

What it won't do is stream audio via Bluetooth to a pair of headphones. In order for that to work, the Q15 would have to be connected via Bluetooth to your headphones. I tried pairing two headphones with the Q15 with no luck.

I was hoping I could connect to my iPhone via USB-C and then to my Sony Bluetooth headphones via LDAC and get better wireless streaming quality (theoretically) than I get from my iPhone, which is limited to AAC. Apparently, that's not the case.

 

[jsmiller58]

Okay, I suspect that I might have been suffering under the same misunderstanding as you are. From what I can tell, the Q15 can't send audio to Bluetooth headphones, as I thought, rather it can connect to a source (i.e., a phone) via Bluetooth and then send audio out over the headphone jack. So the Q15 is a wireless extender, if you will.

What it won't do is stream audio via Bluetooth to a pair of headphones. In order for that to work, the Q15 would have to be connected via Bluetooth to your headphones. I tried pairing two headphones with the Q15 with no luck.

I was hoping I could connect to my iPhone via USB-C and then to my Sony Bluetooth headphones via LDAC and get better wireless streaming quality (theoretically) than I get from my iPhone, which is limited to AAC. Apparently, that's not the case.

Definitely the Q15 cannot broadcast over Bluetooth. It can only receive.

 

[wynand32]

Definitely the Q15 cannot broadcast over Bluetooth. It can only receive.

Yeah, so I've discovered. I'm not sure why I thought otherwise. It doesn't matter much to me, but I thought it would be a nice feature to have.

 

[skates15]

What it won't do is stream audio via Bluetooth to a pair of headphones.

Thanks for the clarification. I just assumed I would pair the headphones to the DAC, oh well.

I can use the 3.5mm line out but its not ideal as most of the time it will be BT.

back it goes, unfortunately.

Any recommendations on a DAC that will broadcast HiRes audio via BT?

Maybe I should be looking at a DAP instead?

Edit: I can post these questions in the help/recommendations forum instead (reading the new member faq).

Thanks to both of you for the quick response, much appreciated.

 

[wynand32]

Thanks for the clarification. I just assumed I would pair the headphones to the DAC, oh well.

I can use the 3.5mm line out but its not ideal as most of the time it will be BT.

back it goes, unfortunately.

Any recommendations on a DAC that will broadcast HiRes audio via BT?

Maybe I should be looking at a DAP instead?

Edit: I can post these questions in the help/recommendations forum instead (reading the new member faq).

Thanks to both of you for the quick response, much appreciated.

Out of curiosity, why do you want a Bluetooth streamer? Your phone supports all the meaningful Bluetooth codecs, including AptX HD and LDAC. Do you have a pair of headphones that supports more? It’s possible that you’ll get the same quality simply connecting to your headphones from your phone.

I was interested in it because my iPhone only supports AAC.

 

[skates15]

Out of curiosity, why do you want a Bluetooth streamer? Your phone supports all the meaningful Bluetooth codecs, including AptX HD and LDAC. Do you have a pair of headphones that supports more? It’s possible that you’ll get the same quality simply connecting to your headphones from your phone.

I was interested in it because my iPhone only supports AAC.

I wanted to retain the sound of the AKM DAC all the way thru to my BT headphones and assume now that I can't get that sound signature if the device is paired to the phone, also assuming the phone takes the QT15 BT stream and replaces the AKM sound with whatever the phone has before sending the BT signal to the headphones.

Perhaps the phone passes thru the AKM DAC sound to the headphones?

 

[sofastreamer]

I wanted to retain the sound of the AKM DAC all the way thru to my BT headphones and assume now that I can't get that sound signature if the device is paired to the phone, also assuming the phone takes the QT15 BT stream and replaces the AKM sound with whatever the phone has before sending the BT signal to the headphones.

Perhaps the phone passes thru the AKM DAC sound to the headphones?

That wont work anyway, as if you are using a bt headphone, it will receive a digital data stream and convert it to analogue with its own build in dac. The sound of the akm happens when it converts a digital data stream into an analogue signal and passing this thru an analogue output stage. You would need to grab this analogue signal from the line out (dont know if the q15 has an analogue line out tho) and than reconvert it to digital in order to send it to your bt headphone. Even if the akm adds a slight warmth to the sound it would be ever so slightly that i doubt a simple bt headphone (which one?) would be able to pick it up. And even if so you would need your phone the q15 ( or any other avalable dac amp combo and an analoque to digital converter and another Bluetooth transmitter. Dont think its worth it. Better get a competent cabled headphone or just use your phone and bt headphone and use some eq. Honestly thats the most "special" idea i read in almost 20yrs into headphones.
Probably it would be useful to read what happens to a digital stream and which stages it passes before you are able to hear it.

 

[BS5711]

Hard to know where to start with the bluetooth issues above !

You can’t play hi res music via bluetooth. You can play CD quality with the right gear but both the sending and receiving devices need to have the latest and greatest lossless capable codecs and will need to be all but on top of each other to actually get the highest possible data transfer rate to make CD quality possible.

LDAC in the very most favourable of circumstances is sort of close to having the data capability to send something approaching lossless CD quality.

While looked down on by many AAC is actually very good. Apple aren’t idiots and they know what is needed for bluetooth to sound good. If you were told what to listen for in the right parts of the right music you might pick up subtle differences between AAC and LDAC but even that isn’t a certainty. At a normal ‘enjoying the music’ listen especially when out and about when bluetooth is likely to be used I bet you couldn’t tell the difference if actually tested properly, that is blind ABX and volume matched accurately.

In fact with AAC, LDAC or other decent bluetooth codecs it is likely to be difficult to differentiate them from lossless CD quality without dissecting the sound to pick up tiny differences due to artefacts. That is just fact based on our auditory system works. Additionally Hi Res lossless is an answer to a problem that doesn’t exist in terms of simply playing music, again, our auditory system can’t differentiate them. It has applications in music production but I know nothing about that so will withhold comment.

Any “night and day difference” in sound quality between bluetooth and lossless or lossless and hi res or even bluetooth and hi res will be due to perception because you expect it to sound better or because the volume isn’t exactly the same between the outputs being compared not due to an actual substantial audible difference. Volume matching is critical to assessing sound and just by ear isn’t good enough except for the most dramatic obvious differences.

If you want bluetooth with wireless IEM just go straight from your phone. The sound quality will be governed by the bluetooth IEM. There is no place for a Q15 or any other similar device in that application. The bluetooth functionality of the Q15 and similar requires the phone or other source device to send bluetooth to it then listen from it via wired IEM or headphones.

Regarding DAC sounds signatures. Again perception is going to dictate that more than reality. I wonder how many people would think a certain DAC sounds a certain way if they weren’t told beforehand ?