[brjoon1021]

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[brjoon1021]

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[Someguy420]

Just got M15i. Haven't owned any dongle DACs before so no comparisons. Tested it with Arya Stealth. Sounds like a regular IC amp. Clear, low noise, detailed, neutral, not much body. As far as driving Arya Stealth, well it does, barely, not always. On high gain over 60% vol I start to hear clipping on some loud tracks. It's above my normal listening volume. I'd say about 35-40% is the max where it still can drive Arya Stealth nicely. Those percentages make no sense, don't have db meter, but it's around the listening level when playing music for background during work. Anything louder than that, symptoms of underdriven planars start to show.

Well, it's better than M1 MacBook Pro. Better in every way. Tonality wise quite similar.

Will it compete with desktop amps with power?
No

Is it better than M1 MBP or lugging around desktop amp when working away from desk?
Yes

Edit: I used balanced 4.4 and I EQ (-5db)

 

[Polky74]

Just got M15i. Haven't owned any dongle DACs before so no comparisons. Tested it with Arya Stealth. Sounds like a regular IC amp. Clear, low noise, detailed, neutral, not much body. As far as driving Arya Stealth, well it does, barely, not always. On high gain over 60% vol I start to hear clipping on some loud tracks. It's above my normal listening volume. I'd say about 35-40% is the max where it still can drive Arya Stealth nicely. Those percentages make no sense, don't have db meter, but it's around the listening level when playing music for background during work. Anything louder than that, symptoms of underdriven planars start to show.

Well, it's better than M1 MacBook Pro. Better in every way. Tonality wise quite similar.

Will it compete with desktop amps with power?
No

Is it better than M1 MBP or lugging around desktop amp when working away from desk?
Yes

Edit: I used balanced 4.4 and I EQ (-5db)

If you need a small amplification boost and use the M15 (desktop mode) you can try to help it with a step-down switching power supply which increases its power by 25%/30% like the one that gives you this:


https://pulwtop.com/products/pulwto...0gbps-ports-for-imac-macbook-pro-air-ipad-xps

On Amazon you can find it with the PulWtop brand, while on Aliexpress with the Minisopuru brand but they are the same.

 

[Someguy420]

Hmm, interesting. I checked System info for USB devices.

No voltage is provided, so I assume it's 5V (could really be anything else due to new USB standards). But according to it M15i is only drawing 100mA (0.5W) and iPhone 500+1900mA = 2.4A (12W). Couldn't test it physically, there's really no place for me to stick my multimeter into.

I guess any dongle with PD would work for upping the power. But unfortunately I don't have any on hand at the moment.

EDIT: I plugged it into desktop PC. It now definitely can drive Arya Stealth with decent volume. So much for that special "i" providing good compatibility with Apple devices...

 

[JML]

What iPhone are you using? From what I've just read, the iPhone 15 can now output significantly more power to accessories than previous Lightning models, up to 4.5 watts @ 5V to accessories via USB-C.

I also found this comparison video about dongles with the iPhone 15, including the Questyle M15:

 

[Someguy420]

What iPhone are you using?

12 mini. Don't have Lightning-USB C cable so can't test it atm. USB port info is from 15'' MBP M1.

Can confirm what they said in video. High or low gain doesn't matter. It starts clipping at same loudness. No clipping with desktop PC.

If I get bored one day I might make a small cable. 1 side into M15 and 2 into MBP: one for data, other for power (with USB PD controller). As MBP is clearly able to put out more than 10W through USB. I'm sure Questyle could fix this issue with a firmware update though.

A USB PD controller

 

[Polky74]

12 mini. Don't have Lightning-USB C cable so can't test it atm. USB port info is from 15'' MBP M1.

Can confirm what they said in video. High or low gain doesn't matter. It starts clipping at same loudness. No clipping with desktop PC.

If I get bored one day I might make a small cable. 1 side into M15 and 2 into MBP: one for data, other for power (with USB PD controller). As MBP is clearly able to put out more than 10W through USB. I'm sure Questyle could fix this issue with a firmware update though.


A USB PD controller

Most likely it is a power shortage problem and therefore it will be very difficult for Questyle to be able to remedy it with a firmware update. Many have solved the problem with an Apple certified accessory and a small power bank that powers the dongle with two advantages. The first is to supply the right amount of current to the dongle and the second is to not make it weigh on the iPhone's battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Char...sprefix=iPhone+Camera+ada,aps,189&sr=8-3&th=1

 

[JML]

There's a ddHifi OTG lightning adapter that can send signal to a dongle via USB-C and accept power input. It's the ddHiFi TC28i.

I have one on the Classified Forum for sale. It might address the issue; if you're interested, send me a PM and we can work something out.

 

[Someguy420]

That would be exactly what I'm looking for. Except I don't care much about lightning, more USB C. I don't want to use M15 with my phone, more with my laptop when I don't feel like working behind the desk.

 

[JML]

ddHiFi makes two OTG adapters for charging and signal. The one noted above is for lightning ports on pre-iphone15 models. The other is for USB-C: USB-C out to USB-C signal & power via USB-C

TC28CPro USB-C to USB-C OTG and Power Adapter​

$29.99

USB-C to USB-C OTG and Power Adapter
Enjoy music while charging
Side socket highlights user friendliness
Pro-level shell craftsmanship

 

[hnafiem]

Is there anyway we can get the latest/factory firmware file of the current m15i? My m15i suddenly is being detected as ‘ESS Audio Device’ or something instead of M15i after trying out a few usb c cables to connect to my iPhones and iPads. Now I get no audio output. Is there a way we can reflash the firmware on it again? @Questyle

 

[Someguy420]

I downgraded firmware to M15. No difference in sound or power compared to M15i firmware. You can download at: https://www.questyle.com/language/en/downloads-en/

Only difference I can note is functionality of LEDs. M15 uses either led 1 or 2. M15i uses led1 or (led1 and led2 together).

I asked them for M15i firmware and they haven't replied in a week.

 

[hnafiem]

I downgraded firmware to M15. No difference in sound or power compared to M15i firmware. You can download at: https://www.questyle.com/language/en/downloads-en/

Only difference I can note is functionality of LEDs. M15 uses either led 1 or 2. M15i uses led1 or (led1 and led2 together).

I asked them for M15i firmware and they haven't replied in a week.

I tried both firmwares from that site and the other one that is like their online shop ones that seemed to have a slightly newer fw.

Now it definitely works with my iPad Pro that has usb c. But it doesn’t work on my iPhone that is still lightning even with their official cable interconnect. So I’m kinda torn on what to do now. It’s so weird that their official site has no official support for the m15i yet.

I hope they reply to us about the official firmware for the i versions of the dac.

Edit: I tried using an official Apple Camera Adapter one time. And now it connects to my iPhone again… and a third party cable works. But not the official Questyle Lightning cable? Huh? Why?

 

[Someguy420]

Apple compatibility with this DAC is something else indeed. I'll let you know when they answer to my inquiry for newer fw.