QLS QA360: Another DSD-capable DAP

[sonickarma]

  Man the Sony XBA-3 iem's pair ridiculously good with the QA360LE, I've never been very fond of the XBA-3, they sound tinny, thin, analytical and unnatural in tone with my other dap's, but when hooked up to the QA360LE (WAV 1.4.02) suddenly it has body and everything comes together for a very detailed yet full sound, I'm going to buy the newest model XBA-300 to see how they fair.
 
It's looking like QA360LE can get the best out of gear that is overly resolving or analytical, (note it doesn't add bass or reduce treble) it tames them into submission, not neuters them, you hear all their detail, but the QA360LE has this vice like "control" over the headphones you plug into it, the original QA360 didn't have this, it was more free flowing in sound, QA360LE is more rigid, less liquid, more controlled, every note is distinctly measured in force, yet full of body, and separated from next note, while original QA360 kind of had the beginning of each note glued to the last note, not congested at all, just liquid in flow, which has it's own sonic advantages the LE can't have, but QA360LE's control and presentation lead to a more powerful contrasty sound, better defined spatial imaging and a slightly larger feeling sound stage, anyway so far QA360LE is an awesome bit of kit.
 
But I'm still burning it in so these impressions are subject to change, I like listening to a dap for the whole burn in, and if my impressions change later (which usually happens) then it's interesting to compare to my original impressions.

Did you get the QA360LE or your QA360 Modded ?

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  Did you get the QA360LE or your QA360 Modded ?

 
Got an LE, going to open it up later to see what's inside 

 

[sonickarma]

   
Got an LE, going to open it up later to see what's inside 

Cool - I got mine modded and they replaced the screen with the word mod at the bottom, I sort of miss the original signature a bit - TBH

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  Cool - I got mine modded and they replaced the screen with the word mod at the bottom, I sort of miss the original signature a bit - TBH

 
Yeah I'd understand why, original could be considered more musical depending on preference, in the end it's all about preference and pairing, I do feel the LE is more impressive from a resolution point of view, for example I found switching digital filters on the LE makes a bigger difference than it used to on the original from memory, and a bigger difference also compared to my other dap's with changeable digital filters, this makes LE feel and sound very high end to me, a more audible digital filter switch means the system as a whole is more transparent, particularly the dac section, it's just a way cool dap for me.

 

[sonickarma]

   
Yeah I'd understand why, original could be considered more musical depending on preference, in the end it's all about preference and pairing, I do feel the LE is more impressive from a resolution point of view, for example I found switching digital filters on the LE makes a bigger difference than it used to on the original from memory, and a bigger difference also compared to my other dap's with changeable digital filters, this makes LE feel and sound very high end to me, a more audible digital filter switch means the system as a whole is more transparent, particularly the dac section, it's just a way cool dap for me.

Yeah the signature is definitely more mature and refined/detailed in the Mod/LE version

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  Yeah the signature is definitely more mature and refined/detailed in the Mod/LE version

 
If you can get your hands on XBA-3 this combo alone is making the LE worth while, whenever I switch to another iem I get disappointed, there is some legendary synergy going on between LE and XBA-3, It really did make me instantly purchase XBA-300 after listening, and I've had XBA-3 for about a year and not been a fan of it, hah. Basically XBA-3 was very "BA sounding" with my other daps, but with LE it doesn't sound like BA, or DD, just sounds like music!
.

 

[sonickarma]

   
If you can get your hands on XBA-3 this combo alone is making the LE worth while, whenever I switch to another iem I get disappointed, there is some legendary synergy going on between LE and XBA-3, It really did make me instantly purchase XBA-300 after listening, and I've had XBA-3 for about a year and not been a fan of it, hah. Basically XBA-3 was very "BA sounding" with my other daps, but with LE it doesn't sound like BA, or DD, just sounds like music!
.

Thanks I will try it out, I did have a Z5 but the fit was too weird for me so sold it.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  Thanks I will try it out, I did have a Z5 but the fit was too weird for me so sold it.

 
I had a Z5 also, I didn't like the fit or the sound, bit much bass and the treble didn't have enough information in the 6-8khz area, same problem I had with westone's W60 treble.

 

[sonickarma]

  
I had a Z5 also, I didn't like the fit or the sound, bit much bass and the treble didn't have enough information in the 6-8khz area, same problem I had with westone's W60 treble.

 XBA-3 or  XBA-H3 or XBA-30 ?

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

XBA-3, they are small and light, same size as westone iem's but worn cord down, I bought them ages ago because I liked that the BA's were made in Japan by Sony, then for the next model XBA-30 Sony changed the BA's to being made in Thailand
 
XBA-300 is also Thailand, only Z5 and original XBA line are Japan made BA's. At least Sony design and make their own BA's instead of using hearing aid BA's from Knowles and Sonion, which every other company use (except Shure).
 
XBA-3 has less distortion than XBA-30 if you look at Rin Choi's measurements, and less than Z5 also, I believe XBA-3 to be lowest distortion BA iem ever made from all the measurements I've looked at, that's why I bought it, it's a technical masterpiece, but I just didn't like the sound. Until now!
 
XBA-3 BA's have measured 0.1% distortion compared to BA's from Knowles and Sonion which measured 1% distortion, just fyi even the XBA-30 has way less distortion than the BA's from Knowles and Sonion. Sony make good BA's 

 
Although their latest BA's in Z5, A3, XBA-300 have higher distortion than the BA's in XBA-3 and XBA- 30, because they are using a new BA design called linear drive, sound is more detailed and coherent, but due to design it has higher distortion, as well as creates dips in frequency response which the original BA drivers in XBA-3 and 30 don't have. But even with the linear drive technology Sony BA's still have less distortion than BA's from Knowles and Sonion, which haven't even tried to advance the design of BA's like Sony has.
 
Overall, XBA-3 is essentially the pinnacle of what a triple BA iem should be, and imo it is better than W60, which has less treble extension, (only measurs to 11khz) while XBA-3 measures to 17khz, and XBA-3 doesn't have a dip in treble at 6-8khz like W60 and Z5 have, as well as no distortion in XBA-3. W60 does have a more "textured" bass and mids than XBA-3, due to the 3x dual BA's in W60, but it also results in frequency dips due to crossover issues, xba-3 has far better frequency response in all areas bass-mids-treble, and it's texture is also improved paired with QA360LE to make a really excellent sound.

 

[sonickarma]

  XBA-3, they are small and light, same size as westone iem's but worn cord down, I bought them ages ago because I liked that the BA's were made in Japan by Sony, then for the next model XBA-30 Sony changed the BA's to being made in Thailand
 
XBA-300 is also Thailand, only Z5 and original XBA line are Japan made BA's. At least Sony design and make their own BA's instead of using hearing aid BA's from Knowles and Sonion, which every other company use (except Shure).
 
XBA-3 has less distortion than XBA-30 if you look at Rin Choi's measurements, and less than Z5 also, I believe XBA-3 to be lowest distortion BA iem ever made from all the measurements I've looked at, that's why I bought it, it's a technical masterpiece, but I just didn't like the sound. Until now!
 
XBA-3 BA's have measured 0.1% distortion compared to BA's from Knowles and Sonion which measured 1% distortion, just fyi even the XBA-30 has way less distortion than the BA's from Knowles and Sonion. Sony make good BA's 

 
Although their latest BA's in Z5, A3, XBA-300 have higher distortion than the BA's in XBA-3 and XBA- 30, because they are using a new BA design called linear drive, sound is more detailed and coherent, but due to design it has higher distortion, as well as creates dips in frequency response which the original BA drivers in XBA-3 and 30 don't have. But even with the linear drive technology Sony BA's still have less distortion than BA's from Knowles and Sonion, which haven't even tried to advance the design of BA's like Sony has.
 
Overall, XBA-3 is essentially the pinnacle of what a triple BA iem should be, and imo it is better than W60, which has less treble extension, (only measurs to 11khz) while XBA-3 measures to 17khz, and XBA-3 doesn't have a dip in treble at 6-8khz like W60 and Z5 have, as well as no distortion in XBA-3. W60 does have a more "textured" bass and mids than XBA-3, due to the 3x dual BA's in W60, but it also results in frequency dips due to crossover issues, xba-3 has far better frequency response in all areas bass-mids-treble, and it's texture is also improved paired with QA360LE to make a really excellent sound.

 
Cheers for the comprehensive overview.  You are a legend
Looks like XBA-3 needs to find its way to me quickly!

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Yeah I'm a bit of a tech head, always researching, I try to find measurements before buying iems, or find measurements and pcb photos of a dap before buying. Not always possible unfortunately, need to gamble quite often, which results with gear ending up in the classifieds as usual, biggest fail so far was investing in a ciem, custom art harmony 8 pro. yikes was that not worth it.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Here's inside QA360LE, looks basically same as original, I didn't take a look at the other side of the pcb.
 
Edit: I asked Clark the CEO of QLS, he says major change is high quality LDO power chips (the small rectangular chips with 5 legs), and he says the other major change is "confidential". Also I'm guessing the special production process for the LE is primarily to do with channel matching the components. Overall, awesome stuff. Really interesting how the sound quality has evolved with so little physical evidence, makes you think that you really don't know the quality of the parts going into most daps, QA360LE is top stuff.
 

 

[dip registered]

Hey guys. Anyone using this with the Mojo?
 
I'm interested in the pairing and I'm looking into cable options. I'm familiar with optical, but what does the coaxial cable look like? Is the cable I would be looking for a Coaxial 3.5mm to Coaxial 3.5mm? 

 

[jmills8]

Hey guys. Anyone using this with the Mojo?

I'm interested in the pairing and I'm looking into cable options. I'm familiar with optical, but what does the coaxial cable look like? Is the cable I would be looking for a Coaxial 3.5mm to Coaxial 3.5mm? 

yep