Questyle M15 Impressions
Price: $250
Unit kindly provided for review courtesy of @Questyle.
Admittedly, I've never been too enthusiastic about dongles; Apple's dongle mostly equating to "it's good enough, case closed" for my purposes. But then in Singapore, I had the opportunity to demo a couple of higher-end dongles, and this was followed by Headphones.com sending me some more to review in a round-up. In both instances, the dongle that's stood out to me like none other is Questyle's M15.
I will disclaim that differences between sources tend to be quite subtle to my ears (and I am prone to exaggerating to better illustrate nuances); however, the M15 is one of the few portable sources that makes a more noticeable difference in a good way to me. Its presentation will likewise appeal to listeners who are looking for a more musical but Hi-Fi sound. And by this, I am implying that the M15's presentation is no doubt colored; however, it's not skewed to the extent of something like iFi's GoBar which has a pronounced V-shaped coloration to my ears. By comparison, while the GoBar comes off as somewhat artificially boosted in the bass and lower-treble, the M15 hits the sweet spot of sounding mostly authentic it terms of its timbre. Bass is perhaps a hair boosted, although not to the degree of the inflated quality the Apple dongle exhibits in the bass. Midrange is more or less neutral with exemplary texturing characteristics; enough texturing to make even a higher-end DAP, like my DX300, sound smoothed over in decay. Now, I wrote "mostly authentic" because a possible point of contention that becomes apparent with closer listening is the M15's treble response. It seems to have a slightly excessive bump from around 10-15kHz. Cymbals have a splashy characteristic to the way they crash and decay, albeit with a good sense of weight behind their transients (thus circumventing the "crushed" quality to dynamic range or "etch" to timbre that plagues lesser sources). This is opposed to say, the DX300, which puts more emphasis on the 15kHz+ frequencies for a more airy, ambient treble presentation. Or as opposed to the Apple dongle which generally is quite reserved if not smooth throughout the entire treble. The M15's brightness in these regions is more or less an "I can live with it" ordeal, as I often associate presence in these regions with an increased sense of dynamics - which, make no mistake, the M15 has in spades.
Indeed, the dynamics and the detailing on the M15 are quite commendable. There is some minor bass blurriness and upper-treble splashiness (at least in comparison to my DX300), but the midrange of the M15 really shines true for a general sense of fidelity. And for dynamics specifically, the M15 actually makes most other dongles I have on hand right now sound flat; heck, even the DX300 to some degree. Imaging would probably be where the M15's biggest weakness lies. Its center imaging is fairly standard; ironically, the Apple dongle probably has a more pleasing (albeit blobby) center image to me, especially with my U12t where vocals seem to pop outwardly by an inch or two on Apple's dongles for whatever reason. Layering on the M15 is likewise mostly average; certainly better than the Apple dongle, but by no means something that catches my attention like with the DX300.
Now, the elephant in the room: is the M15 worth its steep $250 MSRP? Well, to be frank, I don't think any of the high-end dongles that I've tried are "worth it". It must be noted that the M15's practicality is, well...not ideal. It's quite literally an elephant of a dongle, and I struggle to see myself using it on the go (which, it just so happens, is mostly the point when you're pairing one of these dongles with your phone). I'd probably use it at home from the comfort of my desk or in bed. But as close as you can come to the "worth it" metric in terms of raw sound quality, the M15 delivers as one of the most impressive devices within its niche that I've heard. In fact, it handily outperforms a lot of lower-tier DAPs for sound quality (and I've stacked it against my much more expensive DX300 repeatedly as testament to the M15's performance), so I think it's definitely worth giving a listen if what I've described seems to be up your alley.
All critical listening was done out of the 3.5mm jack with the Symphonium Helios and 64A U12t, as they have flat impedance curves.
Price: $250
Unit kindly provided for review courtesy of @Questyle.
Admittedly, I've never been too enthusiastic about dongles; Apple's dongle mostly equating to "it's good enough, case closed" for my purposes. But then in Singapore, I had the opportunity to demo a couple of higher-end dongles, and this was followed by Headphones.com sending me some more to review in a round-up. In both instances, the dongle that's stood out to me like none other is Questyle's M15.
I will disclaim that differences between sources tend to be quite subtle to my ears (and I am prone to exaggerating to better illustrate nuances); however, the M15 is one of the few portable sources that makes a more noticeable difference in a good way to me. Its presentation will likewise appeal to listeners who are looking for a more musical but Hi-Fi sound. And by this, I am implying that the M15's presentation is no doubt colored; however, it's not skewed to the extent of something like iFi's GoBar which has a pronounced V-shaped coloration to my ears. By comparison, while the GoBar comes off as somewhat artificially boosted in the bass and lower-treble, the M15 hits the sweet spot of sounding mostly authentic it terms of its timbre. Bass is perhaps a hair boosted, although not to the degree of the inflated quality the Apple dongle exhibits in the bass. Midrange is more or less neutral with exemplary texturing characteristics; enough texturing to make even a higher-end DAP, like my DX300, sound smoothed over in decay. Now, I wrote "mostly authentic" because a possible point of contention that becomes apparent with closer listening is the M15's treble response. It seems to have a slightly excessive bump from around 10-15kHz. Cymbals have a splashy characteristic to the way they crash and decay, albeit with a good sense of weight behind their transients (thus circumventing the "crushed" quality to dynamic range or "etch" to timbre that plagues lesser sources). This is opposed to say, the DX300, which puts more emphasis on the 15kHz+ frequencies for a more airy, ambient treble presentation. Or as opposed to the Apple dongle which generally is quite reserved if not smooth throughout the entire treble. The M15's brightness in these regions is more or less an "I can live with it" ordeal, as I often associate presence in these regions with an increased sense of dynamics - which, make no mistake, the M15 has in spades.
Indeed, the dynamics and the detailing on the M15 are quite commendable. There is some minor bass blurriness and upper-treble splashiness (at least in comparison to my DX300), but the midrange of the M15 really shines true for a general sense of fidelity. And for dynamics specifically, the M15 actually makes most other dongles I have on hand right now sound flat; heck, even the DX300 to some degree. Imaging would probably be where the M15's biggest weakness lies. Its center imaging is fairly standard; ironically, the Apple dongle probably has a more pleasing (albeit blobby) center image to me, especially with my U12t where vocals seem to pop outwardly by an inch or two on Apple's dongles for whatever reason. Layering on the M15 is likewise mostly average; certainly better than the Apple dongle, but by no means something that catches my attention like with the DX300.
Now, the elephant in the room: is the M15 worth its steep $250 MSRP? Well, to be frank, I don't think any of the high-end dongles that I've tried are "worth it". It must be noted that the M15's practicality is, well...not ideal. It's quite literally an elephant of a dongle, and I struggle to see myself using it on the go (which, it just so happens, is mostly the point when you're pairing one of these dongles with your phone). I'd probably use it at home from the comfort of my desk or in bed. But as close as you can come to the "worth it" metric in terms of raw sound quality, the M15 delivers as one of the most impressive devices within its niche that I've heard. In fact, it handily outperforms a lot of lower-tier DAPs for sound quality (and I've stacked it against my much more expensive DX300 repeatedly as testament to the M15's performance), so I think it's definitely worth giving a listen if what I've described seems to be up your alley.
All critical listening was done out of the 3.5mm jack with the Symphonium Helios and 64A U12t, as they have flat impedance curves.
