QLS QA361 impression thread

[DaveStarWalker]

About the filters - and the tuning mode with the qa361 -, I think about those two very best choices:

1/ Short Delay Slow ~ Mellow
2/ Super Slow (NOS) ~ Bright (my previous recipe)

I think the very, very best choice is the first one.

Better of all world (textures, definition, clarity, density, precision, dynamics, separation*) : not really a "warm" or a "mellow" profile (treble not affected), but more density and tactility than the "bright" mode...

I don't know if this option exists with others DAPs than the QA361 ?

Also, I don't know exactly how this tuning mode works technically. Subtle equalization? It seems to be too subtle but... I just don't know...

*The main Achilles heel of the "super slow mode" ; alone with ultimate clarity and ultimate refinement (in comparaison to). There, I don't see what else to do, more or better...

Well...

Obviously there was only one stuff I hadn't tried...

Super Slow (= NOS) ~ Mellow (tuning)... And (...)

And this is the best result. No contest...

Pure psychological blockage, I expected something honeyed, too sweet, too soft, too... mellow (in conjunction with the NOS mode)...

All my deepest apologies...

But not at all, it's quite the opposite.

Badass (but natural) mode on....

More seriously, it's curious and the terms are very... misleading.

The tuning mode "mellow" is dense, textured, but very opened (no treble limitation), airy and refined. Super pure.

Anyway, if you're still playing with the "bright" mode, give this a try, and either in "Short Delay Slow" or at the very end "Super Slow" filter.

I think you'll get the idea very quickly what I'm trying to say here.

P.s. : On the other hand I don't know how these "bright" or "mellow" tuning modes work, while there is no "neutral" mode proposed (unless one of these two modes is the "neutral" mode ). There is no measurement anywhere, and it seems to be exclusive to QLS...

 

[DaveStarWalker]

Just a tiny ajustment :

High Voltage (instead of "normal" : depends of the iems concerned). A little bit bite (general), and clarity (same), and autority (bass, sub), and articulation (same). That's all.

So :

Super Slow ~ Mellow ~ High Voltage ~ Low Gain

And... Happy Good Year !!!

 

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

I asked QLS if they are working on a QA361 successor and got a no, they will be focusing on portable dac/amp like their QLS MUB1.

QLS is currently working on the MUB5, which will be a larger more advanced dac/amp with R2R dac! Will be an instant buy from me.

I am not disappointed as I really like the QLS MUB1 as it has a more enjoyable sound profile, tons of power (8.3v, 1.1w) and so much convenience and versatility. I plug it into my PC via USB when I am at the office (no audio latency), and when I go out, I unplug and switch it to bluetooth and it auto connects via LDAC to my phone, again no audio latency, and call me a koala but I can hardly hear a difference between USB and LDAC as the source, and I'm the type of person who can generally hear small changes like digital filters. So the DAC stage is doing a stellar job at removing jitter. Using your phone as a wireless source is amazing.

 

[Escudos999]

I am about to put up cor sale a boxed QA361 (black with brown case) in mint condition with 'like new' battery health. Please DM me if you are interested in buying.

 

[Escudos999]

I am about to put up cor sale a boxed QA361 (black with brown case) in mint condition with 'like new' battery health. Please DM me if you are interested in buying.

Now for sale in Classifieds and on eBay £229 or best offer.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Can we revive this thread for a second?

Cool, thanks, this is needed.

I've had a bunch of sources, and this tiny magical device using wav only firmware is easily top 2. it's so small, the sound is just insane. so so good. and I'm losing my mind over it.

HOW?! just HOW??

just from power specs alone:

10.4vrms, 320mw@300 ohms?!? and that's not even using double high.

Idk, I'm kind of losing it over this, it makes no sense.

I compared it using the hd660s and fiio ft1 to the acro ca1000 I lent to my friend a while back.

The difference is so stark. The scaling, staging, musicality, tuning, is so much better on the qa361.

the acro is incredibly bright in comparison.

AND I'VE YET TO TRY IT OUT OF BALANCED!

have you seen the acro? that thing is massive! the SE of the qa361 beats the balanced output from the acro easily. and I just can't wrap my head around it.

for around 200-250usd, if one doesn't use android and has his files sorted & turned into wav, this is by FAR the best audio purchase he can ever make.

Gonna get an npaudio modded xm5 in the future and compare, along with getting my npmodded 1a back and comparing.

Very high chance of sending this tiny beast to get modded too.

 

[b000merang]

Can we revive this thread for a second?

Cool, thanks, this is needed.

I've had a bunch of sources, and this tiny magical device using wav only firmware is easily top 2. it's so small, the sound is just insane. so so good. and I'm losing my mind over it.

HOW?! just HOW??

just from power specs alone:


10.4vrms, 320mw@300 ohms?!? and that's not even using double high.

Idk, I'm kind of losing it over this, it makes no sense.

I compared it using the hd660s and fiio ft1 to the acro ca1000 I lent to my friend a while back.

The difference is so stark. The scaling, staging, musicality, tuning, is so much better on the qa361.

the acro is incredibly bright in comparison.

AND I'VE YET TO TRY IT OUT OF BALANCED!

have you seen the acro? that thing is massive! the SE of the qa361 beats the balanced output from the acro easily. and I just can't wrap my head around it.

for around 200-250usd, if one doesn't use android and has his files sorted & turned into wav, this is by FAR the best audio purchase he can ever make.

Gonna get an npaudio modded xm5 in the future and compare, along with getting my npmodded 1a back and comparing.

Very high chance of sending this tiny beast to get modded too.

I agree 100%.
A few weeks ago I had the chance to plug my new AA Composer into the RME ADI-2 DAC FS which is a well known and stable studio DAC (directly via usb from my MacBook).
Unfortunately the adi2 has only SE output.
But the comparison was another good chance for my qa361 to proof its great power and performance. In high volt and double high I heard no difference between the 2 sources.
Ok, it’s not a huge desktop setup and the Composer is really easy to drive, but for me it’s confirmed the love to my qa361 again

 

[justsomesonyfan]

I agree 100%.
A few weeks ago I had the chance to plug my new AA Composer into the RME ADI-2 DAC FS which is a well known and stable studio DAC (directly via usb from my MacBook).
Unfortunately the adi2 has only SE output.
But the comparison was another good chance for my qa361 to proof its great power and performance. In high volt and double high I heard no difference between the 2 sources.
Ok, it’s not a huge desktop setup and the Composer is really easy to drive, but for me it’s confirmed the love to my qa361 again

yeah man.. this thing is just insanely good.

QLS are releasing the mub5 sometime in the future, r2r discrete ladder, dc in for more power but..... it's a BT dac/amp. So disappointing. if only it was a player, or even a dac/amp with sd card that can play locally and controlled through bt.

The potential was there, we were robbed

 

[DaveStarWalker]

The QLS 361 is my daily companion

Such an incredibly good dap

 

[justsomesonyfan]

yeah man.. this thing is just insanely good.

QLS are releasing the mub5 sometime in the future, r2r discrete ladder, dc in for more power but..... it's a BT dac/amp. So disappointing. if only it was a player, or even a dac/amp with sd card that can play locally and controlled through bt.

The potential was there, we were robbed

 

[DaveStarWalker]

Honestly, the only flaw about the qa361, is the 3.5mm balanced jack format for the balanced plug...

That's all

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Hello, anyone using the wav 1.0.6 firmware? I've had bugs with it for a while, in SE it seems that from time to time it will get completely stuck and clip the same part over and over again.

on BAL, specifically on bright!! when listening to music after a minute or so the music will start clipping hard, and play in slowmotion, as if it's still buffering the music.

This bug is something I was able to replicate a lot, and it is only with the bright tuning

 

[b000merang]

Hello, anyone using the wav 1.0.6 firmware? I've had bugs with it for a while, in SE it seems that from time to time it will get completely stuck and clip the same part over and over again.

on BAL, specifically on bright!! when listening to music after a minute or so the music will start clipping hard, and play in slowmotion, as if it's still buffering the music.

This bug is something I was able to replicate a lot, and it is only with the bright tun

The behavior you mentioned can be caused by your TF card being either fragmented or not providing enough reading speed.
Here are my most important requirements that I ALWAYS observe when using wav-only 1.0.6:
1. Max. size of 400GB, preferably 256GB.
2. SanDisk Extreme pro or comparable.
3. FAT32 formatted with 32 or 64KB cluster size.
4. AVOID frequent changes to the file structure (frequent deletion, adding new files)
This leads to fragmentation of the file system, better to format it completely, copy all files again.

If I observe the things mentioned, I get very good results with the QA361. I only get the behavior you describe about once every 2-3 months (when using it 3/4 days a week).
The following link is also very helpful (use translator). Clark from QLS has summarized all of these important facts there. In my opinion, you don't have to follow everything written there, but the facts I mentioned are enough.

http://www.qls-hifi.com/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardid=2&Id=3150

Hope that helps you

 

[justsomesonyfan]

The behavior you mentioned can be caused by your TF card being either fragmented or not providing enough reading speed.
Here are my most important requirements that I ALWAYS observe when using wav-only 1.0.6:
1. Max. size of 400GB, preferably 256GB.
2. SanDisk Extreme pro or comparable.
3. FAT32 formatted with 32 or 64KB cluster size.
4. AVOID frequent changes to the file structure (frequent deletion, adding new files)
This leads to fragmentation of the file system, better to format it completely, copy all files again.

If I observe the things mentioned, I get very good results with the QA361. I only get the behavior you describe about once every 2-3 months (when using it 3/4 days a week).
The following link is also very helpful (use translator). Clark from QLS has summarized all of these important facts there. In my opinion, you don't have to follow everything written there, but the facts I mentioned are enough.

http://www.qls-hifi.com/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardid=2&Id=3150

Hope that helps you

I've a swissbit 512gb, it might be that. I think it's formatted to exfat, though not sure !

That being said, this only happens on the bright tuning! mellow is just fine, doesn't matter if it is in double high gain mode or what not.. which I find very odd.

 

[b000merang]

Exfat should be also no problem due to Mac compatibility reasons. I tried it when I started with my QA361. But now I strictly try to follow the recommendations from QLS.
I only use the bright tuning all the time.
For me the the biggest impact is the size and when I often delete files and copy new ones to the card. So from time to time I backup my whole card, format and copy back all files with rsync (ordered copying).