[bahamot]

Last time I asked, QLS wasn't ready to sell overseas yet due to high demand in China. So, English reviews or impressions will be hard to find.

 

[geagle]

Penon is selling the QLS QA361, too, now... might be that some additional impressions will start to trickle in

 

[Matpar]

I am curious about this DAP too... did not get in the end though whether it might be a tad "too analytical" for my taste: say so far I LOVE my AUNE M2 Pro, so I am trying to understand how they do eventually relate.

One thing is, do you confirm It has 3.5 mm balanced Jack?

 

[Matpar]

Just arrived. Very interesting but not sure if my Cup of tea.

Will post some pics since there are almost no data about this DAP in the western world

So far I can just tell you that:
1) it does come with some interesting items, like a 32G sd, a leatherette cover really nicely made, and above all a very useful adapter cable with 3.5 to 2.5 balanced terminals, meaning you can use a 2.5 balanced headphone with the 3.5 balanced output the DAP has. Essential for me since I have the IT04 from iBasso
2) there a tons of settings and fine tuning, like to possibility to choose between "mellow" and "bright" tuning, plus the classical "slow" "sharp" and an interesting "all to DSD" mode too. very easy hence to find the tuning one does prefer.
3) building seems really solid, DAP is sturdy without being "a brick", physical UI is very intuitive and in general the layout is ok: I'd only point out volume control could have been implemented better (it's justa a simple bar, when the cover is on you barely can feel where the "+" and "-" are). Plus when you lock buttons it seems as if you lock everything except volume bar, where I would have liked more the possibility to customize a little this (i.e. on some DAP you can set that when locked, you can long-press the pause/play button in order to make it work, etc.)
4) internal UI is pretty straight, very "barebone" indeed: it is a philosophy Ilike, since I love just to listen to music and not fiddle around with features but some of us might find it a bit poor perhaps. For sure it is quick, boot time with a proper sd and 256G (which btw is already "big" in terms of what QLS suggest you to use in terms of best performance) I must say it takes around 5/7 secs to be up and runninng.. not bad
5) screen is ok even though is very "vertical oriented" meaning that i.e. long title takes ages to be read, plus personally I'd have opted for a more clear font, but this is personal taste.
6) power: I haven't tired yet the Line out /optical, in general both PO and balanced are not bad at all, with my IT04 I often run around 30/100 up to 50/100: over 50 it becomes really loud. I'll try asap with more demanding full-size hp to see how it scores.

I won't enter into sound details since I am not such an expert: I think in general it is very detailed and the "punch" (given the right "feed") is good. To be honest though I am making some comparison with my other DAP, an AUNE M2 PRO, and the differences I am finding makes me still lean over the latter. Question is I've found the balanced output (main reason I wanted to try the QA361) is probably "not my cup of tea", as I wrote at the beginning. Let's see if this is a keeper then.

Picture asap!

 

[crabdog]

Just arrived. Very interesting but not sure if my Cup of tea.

Will post some pics since there are almost no data about this DAP in the western world

So far I can just tell you that:
1) it does come with some interesting items, like a 32G sd, a leatherette cover really nicely made, and above all a very useful adapter cable with 3.5 to 2.5 balanced terminals, meaning you can use a 2.5 balanced headphone with the 3.5 balanced output the DAP has. Essential for me since I have the IT04 from iBasso
2) there a tons of settings and fine tuning, like to possibility to choose between "mellow" and "bright" tuning, plus the classical "slow" "sharp" and an interesting "all to DSD" mode too. very easy hence to find the tuning one does prefer.
3) building seems really solid, DAP is sturdy without being "a brick", physical UI is very intuitive and in general the layout is ok: I'd only point out volume control could have been implemented better (it's justa a simple bar, when the cover is on you barely can feel where the "+" and "-" are). Plus when you lock buttons it seems as if you lock everything except volume bar, where I would have liked more the possibility to customize a little this (i.e. on some DAP you can set that when locked, you can long-press the pause/play button in order to make it work, etc.)
4) internal UI is pretty straight, very "barebone" indeed: it is a philosophy Ilike, since I love just to listen to music and not fiddle around with features but some of us might find it a bit poor perhaps. For sure it is quick, boot time with a proper sd and 256G (which btw is already "big" in terms of what QLS suggest you to use in terms of best performance) I must say it takes around 5/7 secs to be up and runninng.. not bad
5) screen is ok even though is very "vertical oriented" meaning that i.e. long title takes ages to be read, plus personally I'd have opted for a more clear font, but this is personal taste.
6) power: I haven't tired yet the Line out /optical, in general both PO and balanced are not bad at all, with my IT04 I often run around 30/100 up to 50/100: over 50 it becomes really loud. I'll try asap with more demanding full-size hp to see how it scores.

I won't enter into sound details since I am not such an expert: I think in general it is very detailed and the "punch" (given the right "feed") is good. To be honest though I am making some comparison with my other DAP, an AUNE M2 PRO, and the differences I am finding makes me still lean over the latter. Question is I've found the balanced output (main reason I wanted to try the QA361) is probably "not my cup of tea", as I wrote at the beginning. Let's see if this is a keeper then.

Picture asap!

Looking forward to the pics and some more impressions on the sound.

 

[audionewbi]

For the current owners of QA361 the WAV only FW for QA361 in two version has been released:

Links: http://www.qlshifi.com/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardid=2&Id=7542

From the page above:

The pure version firmware is available in two versions for download. The two versions of the sound are more transparent and smoother than the general version, but the two styles are slightly different, and the user can install both into the card. Then compare the audition and choose.
Download address:
WAV 1.0.4: http://www.qlshifi.com/qa361/QA361-WAV_v1.0.4.rar (horizontal sound field is larger than the standard version, more ethereal, musical instrument sound distribution and vocal basic balance)
WAV 1.0.5: http://www.qlshifi.com/qa361/QA361-WAV_v1.0.5.rar (The sound field size is similar to the standard version, but the vertical level is more stable, the vocals are slightly more full, the sound is more compact, and the emotion is more concentrated)

 

[Forty6]

This dap is In Need of user impression in English version .
Any owner of this Qa361 willing to share more and detail experiences on this dap ?

Many thanks

 

[audionewbi]

I’m waiting for the review unit that QLS was kind enough to send to me. Once item arrives my impression should follow.

 

[audionewbi]

It arrived, it arrived, it arrived!

 

[Forty6]

It arrived, it arrived, it arrived!

Thanks , Great .

This is a powerful Dap . Specification is beautiful , especially the LO output .
More than 2vrms output than the qa360 series .

Camping here for your detail comparison in all areas between this 361 Vs 360 / 360LE .

 

[seanwee]

It arrived, it arrived, it arrived!

Can't wait for the review

 

[audionewbi]

Update 2: 10-October-2018
Whenever I get new daps, I test it with IEM I'm used to, and they go about like this. Ultrasone IQ ER4S, Dita Truth, EX-1000, Kaede II, Hum Prisitine. Issue with QA361 is that the stock FW plays DSD and Double DSD and the WAV FW which has two styles, and the popular one due to better sound, doesn't support DSD.

In stock FW, I'm really enjoying the sound of DSD. It has this organic sense to it that is very similar to LPG. I strictly use LPG for a DSD DAP as I find it best suitable for DSD. Once I'm familiar with this DAP, I will focus on stock FW testing and than move onto WAV only FW, which is where this DAP shines best.

 

[Forty6]

Update 2: 10-October-2018
Whenever I get new daps, I test it with IEM I'm used to, and they go about like this. Ultrasone IQ ER4S, Dita Truth, EX-1000, Kaede II, Hum Prisitine. Issue with QA361 is that the stock FW plays DSD and Double DSD and the WAV FW which has two styles, and the popular one due to better sound, doesn't support DSD.

In stock FW, I'm really enjoying the sound of DSD. It has this organic sense to it that is very similar to LPG. I strictly use LPG for a DSD DAP as I find it best suitable for DSD. Once I'm familiar with this DAP, I will focus on stock FW testing and than move onto WAV only FW, which is where this DAP shines best.

Thanks for spending quality time to share your impression on this new dap for us .

Looking forward to the WAV only FW impression .
And oh, do remember to do a comparison with the qa360Le

 

[audionewbi]

The qa360le isn’t mine, if I can borrow it again I shall do so

 

[Forty6]

The qa360le isn’t mine, if I can borrow it again I shall do so

For the sake of doing a proper reviews by all means you should !
Having said the above , it's isn't right for me to request such a service from you , do whatever best you could for this 361 review , anyway for me regardless of what the final impression results would be , this 361 would be on my must buy purchase list.
There's so much mixed impression coming out from user in China in direct comparison the 361 with the 360LE , quite a number of them are not a fan of this new 361 .
So I'm quite eager to know how does user outside china thinks about this 361 .

Nevertheless i'm definitely on it all because of the increase output power , and also the balance output .
Can't wait to pair it up with the balance amp .
But then it's not going to happen anytime .

Looking forward to your next update