[Questyle]

Got some answers for you guys:

Will there be a Fifteen Master?

@geoffalter11 At the moment, no, we are not planning on making a CMA Fifteen Master.

Any comparison to the Twelve Master, which I currently have?

@Audio Addict The CMA Twelve Master is very similar to the CMA Twelve (Standard), except with a ROGERS Ceramic PCB, which helps ensure the ultimate performance for sound quality by reducing resonance. I'll list below some of the bigger differences between the CMA Fifteen and the CMA Twelve Master for your reference:

Inputs

• The CMA Fifteen now comes with a USB-C port (keeping as well the CMA Twelve's USB-B port), which replaces the CMA Twelve's AES/EBU input.
• The CMA Fifteen now has analog inputs on the back. It's the first unit in the CMA series to have analog inputs.
• The CMA Fifteen now supports MQA (full/core decoder), whereas the CMA Twelve does not.
• The CMA Fifteen has a Bluetooth 5.0 input, which replaces the CMA Twelve's 5Ghz Wireless module (which allowed wireless streaming from a companion QP2R+Super Hub SHB2). This Bluetooth module supports LDAC, AAC, and SBC.
• The CMA Fifteen has an XMOS XU216 (16 core) USB decoder, whereas the CMA Twelve Master has an XMOS XU208 (8 core) USB decoder.

DAC

• The CMA Fifteen DAC chip is now the ESS ES9038Pro, while the CMA Twelve Master has the AKM AK4490EQ.

Max Sample Rate/Bit-Depth

• PCM — CMA Fifteen supports up to 32-bit/768kHz | CMA Twelve supports up to 32-bit/384kHz
• DSD — CMA Fifteen supports up to DSD512 (native DSD) or DSD256 (DoP) | CMA Twelve supports up to DSD256 (native DSD) or DSD128 (DoP)

THD+N

• Headphone Amp — CMA Fifteen: <0.0003% @300Ω, <0.001% @32Ω | CMA Twelve Master: 0.00070% @300Ω, 0.00167% @32Ω
• Pre-Amp Output — CMA Fifteen: 0.0003% for XLR, 0.0004% for RCA | CMA Twelve Master: 0.00085% for XLR, 0.00115% for RCA

SNR

• Headphone Amp — CMA Fifteen: >117dB for 6.35mm, >120dB for 4.4mm balanced / XLR 4-PIN balanced | CMA Twelve Master: >112dB
• Pre-Amp Output — CMA Fifteen: >119dB for XLR, >116dB for RCA | CMA Twelve Master: >112dB for XLR, >109dB for RCA

@Questyle - Would it be made available in India?

@B Manoj Kumar We are still working to get the CMA Fifteen to India. At the moment, we are in talks with a couple distributors, and we hope to settle on a final distributor for India soon. Additionally, in the near future, the CMA Fifteen will be available from the Questyle official website, where we will be able to ship the item directly from our offices in China to any country.

— Questyle Team

As a long-time Questyle fan and owner, I'd like to say welcome back to the West. If the 15 is as good or better than the 12, it will be a fabulous DAC/amp.

Thank you! We are certainly glad to be back and we are very proud of the 15! Hope you can get the chance to audition it soon.

 

[OldRoadToad]

MQA.

PASS.

ORT

 

[Questyle]

MQA.

PASS.

ORT

Yeah, we get that response to the CMA Fifteen quite often as well as the M12

Our goal for the CMA Fifteen is to be a powerhouse that can handle anything thrown at it — any type of headphone, any type of input, and any type of file/stream as well. I'm not a huge fan of MQA myself, and have never listened to one before, but perhaps eventually there will come a day when I want/need to listen to an MQA stream, and I'll be glad that the CMA Fifteen can support it natively, even if it's just one time and one time only.

 

[CMA Fifteen]

Analog input is very much expected.

I hope to release it soon.

 

[Questyle]

Analog input is very much expected.

I hope to release it soon.

@CMA Fifteen Yes, the CMA Fifteen is on it's way, soon!

If you're currently located in South Korea like your profile says, we are right now in the final stages of certification for South Korea. We expect the certification to be finished by mid-December, whereupon the CMA Fifteen will be available from our Korean distribution partner: sorishop.com (for desktop amps like CMA Fifteen) or schezade.co.kr (for mobile amps like the M12)

 

[CMA Fifteen]

@CMA Fifteen Yes, the CMA Fifteen is on it's way, soon!

If you're currently located in South Korea like your profile says, we are right now in the final stages of certification for South Korea. We expect the certification to be finished by mid-December, whereupon the CMA Fifteen will be available from our Korean distribution partner: sorishop.com (for desktop amps like CMA Fifteen) or schezade.co.kr (for mobile amps like the M12)

That's great news!

I have one question. I saw the Final D8000 Pro on the product introduction page of the official website.
Do you recommend this amp and headphones combination?

 

[Questyle]

That's great news!

I have one question. I saw the Final D8000 Pro on the product introduction page of the official website.
Do you recommend this amp and headphones combination?

@CMA Fifteen The Final D8000 Pro is indeed a fantastic headphone that we use in the office quite regularly. You can't go wrong using it, that's for sure.

However, the CMA Fifteen is built to work with almost any headphone you pair it with. It matches with headphones anywhere from 16Ω to 600Ω, and so far all of the headphones we've tested really shine when connected to the CMA Fifteen.

So if you already have your favorite pair of headphones at home, they will most likely work great with the CMA Fifteen. If you don't have headphones yet, the Final D8000 Pro would be a great choice, along with many other headphones in the hi-res market.

 

[MrPanda]

How would CMA Fifteen play with low impedance planars like LCD-X or LCD-5?
Looks like a terrific DAC/Amp

 

[Pictograms]

Got some answers for you guys:


@geoffalter11 At the moment, no, we are not planning on making a CMA Fifteen Master.


@Audio Addict The CMA Twelve Master is very similar to the CMA Twelve (Standard), except with a ROGERS Ceramic PCB, which helps ensure the ultimate performance for sound quality by reducing resonance. I'll list below some of the bigger differences between the CMA Fifteen and the CMA Twelve Master for your reference:

Inputs

• The CMA Fifteen now comes with a USB-C port (keeping as well the CMA Twelve's USB-B port), which replaces the CMA Twelve's AES/EBU input.
• The CMA Fifteen now has analog inputs on the back. It's the first unit in the CMA series to have analog inputs.
• The CMA Fifteen now supports MQA (full/core decoder), whereas the CMA Twelve does not.
• The CMA Fifteen has a Bluetooth 5.0 input, which replaces the CMA Twelve's 5Ghz Wireless module (which allowed wireless streaming from a companion QP2R+Super Hub SHB2). This Bluetooth module supports LDAC, AAC, and SBC.
• The CMA Fifteen has an XMOS XU216 (16 core) USB decoder, whereas the CMA Twelve Master has an XMOS XU208 (8 core) USB decoder.

DAC

• The CMA Fifteen DAC chip is now the ESS ES9038Pro, while the CMA Twelve Master has the AKM AK4490EQ.

Max Sample Rate/Bit-Depth

• PCM — CMA Fifteen supports up to 32-bit/768kHz | CMA Twelve supports up to 32-bit/384kHz
• DSD — CMA Fifteen supports up to DSD512 (native DSD) or DSD256 (DoP) | CMA Twelve supports up to DSD256 (native DSD) or DSD128 (DoP)

THD+N

• Headphone Amp — CMA Fifteen: <0.0003% @300Ω, <0.001% @32Ω | CMA Twelve Master: 0.00070% @300Ω, 0.00167% @32Ω
• Pre-Amp Output — CMA Fifteen: 0.0003% for XLR, 0.0004% for RCA | CMA Twelve Master: 0.00085% for XLR, 0.00115% for RCA

SNR

• Headphone Amp — CMA Fifteen: >117dB for 6.35mm, >120dB for 4.4mm balanced / XLR 4-PIN balanced | CMA Twelve Master: >112dB
• Pre-Amp Output — CMA Fifteen: >119dB for XLR, >116dB for RCA | CMA Twelve Master: >112dB for XLR, >109dB for RCA

@B Manoj Kumar We are still working to get the CMA Fifteen to India. At the moment, we are in talks with a couple distributors, and we hope to settle on a final distributor for India soon. Additionally, in the near future, the CMA Fifteen will be available from the Questyle official website, where we will be able to ship the item directly from our offices in China to any country.

— Questyle Team


Thank you! We are certainly glad to be back and we are very proud of the 15! Hope you can get the chance to audition it soon.

Does the CMA15 feature a remote? I am wondering about replacing my pre-amp with it.

 

[brams]

@Questyle the CMA15 appears to be a good step up (feature wise) from the CMA12 in that it adds some welcome features. However, despite the different dac chips I doubt it will sound much different from the CMA12 Master given that there was likely a push to retain the Questyle house sound. Also, I rather like the ability to play wirelessly from the SBH2 to the CMA12!

Having said that, as a fan of the Questyle build quality and sound as well as an owner of many of their products (QP1R, QP2R, QPM, SBH2 Master, CMA 12 Master plus a few which were never widely launched) I really hope Questyle steps up their game in terms of customer support. It is not acceptable to simply ignore customer emails on your website, but suddenly appear on the forums when there is a new product to be marketed. When was the last time a firmware update was issued for the QPM? What of the customers who have contacted you in the past seeking service or requesting a feature addition only to have their request go into a black hole never to be responded to or addressed?

I accept that companies will sometime run into challenging times and have to prioritize, however that is no excuse for poor customer service especially in this day and age and especially at the price we pay for your products. Someone has to say it.

I wish you luck with your new product, but you need to improve your Customer Service. It is a shame because the product performs at a high level and is definitely worthy of a support team that will do it justice.

It is not my intent to disparage Questyle; as I said I really like your products. However, I hope my criticism is taken in the spirit it was given and will inspire you to do better.

 

[Questyle]

How would CMA Fifteen play with low impedance planars like LCD-X or LCD-5?
Looks like a terrific DAC/Amp

@MrPanda We've tested the CMA Fifteen with the LCD-X and other low impedance headphones, and they all work without an issue. They play very well together.

Does the CMA15 feature a remote? I am wondering about replacing my pre-amp with it.

@Pictograms Yes, it comes with a remote — our Questyle universal remote, that works across all Questyle products that have an IR sensor. Specifically for the CMA Fifteen, the remote allows you to: select source, volume up, volume down, and mute.

@Questyle the CMA15 appears to be a good step up (feature wise) from the CMA12 in that it adds some welcome features. However, despite the different dac chips I doubt it will sound much different from the CMA12 Master given that there was likely a push to retain the Questyle house sound. Also, I rather like the ability to play wirelessly from the SBH2 to the CMA12!

Having said that, as a fan of the Questyle build quality and sound as well as an owner of many of their products (QP1R, QP2R, QPM, SBH2 Master, CMA 12 Master plus a few which were never widely launched) I really hope Questyle steps up their game in terms of customer support. It is not acceptable to simply ignore customer emails on your website, but suddenly appear on the forums when there is a new product to be marketed. When was the last time a firmware update was issued for the QPM? What of the customers who have contacted you in the past seeking service or requesting a feature addition only to have their request go into a black hole never to be responded to or addressed?

I accept that companies will sometime run into challenging times and have to prioritize, however that is no excuse for poor customer service especially in this day and age and especially at the price we pay for your products. Someone has to say it.

I wish you luck with your new product, but you need to improve your Customer Service. It is a shame because the product performs at a high level and is definitely worthy of a support team that will do it justice.

It is not my intent to disparage Questyle; as I said I really like your products. However, I hope my criticism is taken in the spirit it was given and will inspire you to do better.

@brams We appreciate your frankness with this feedback. What you said is very, very true — our customer support for the last couple years was very subpar, and there's honestly no excuse for it. Like you said, there is no excuse for customers' feedback and requests sinking into a blackhole and never being seen again. We have really learned our lesson the hard way over these years.

I myself only came to Questyle recently, just a couple months ago, as part of the big restructuring of the company. We are really trying to pick up the customer service by the boot straps and bring it to the level that reflects the quality of our products. We are going to do our best to re-win the trust of you and all of our other customers.

Thank you for continuing to enjoy our products and support us in this journey. We will do everything we can to improve on our customer service and win back your confidence.

 

[brams]

Thank you for continuing to enjoy our products and support us in this journey. We will do everything we can to improve on our customer service and win back your confidence.

This is really great to hear and I think your customers will appreciate you owning up to past mistakes and committing to do better. The good thing is you have a great foundation to build on. Your product build and performance is excellent and your willingness to explore and adopt new technologies is commendable. As an example I just spent many months tracking down and purchasing your discountinued wireless transmitter and amp assembly because I am a big believer in that technology and am amazed by the product performance.

From my background in management I know how difficult it can be to change direction. Open, two way communication and a clear commiment to do better is the key. Your quick and honest responses on this forum is a big step in the right direction. I for one wish you all the best going forward and am confident Questyle will get to where it needs to be!

 

[Questyle]

This is really great to hear and I think your customers will appreciate you owning up to past mistakes and committing to do better. The good thing is you have a great foundation to build on. Your product build and performance is excellent and your willingness to explore and adopt new technologies is commendable. As an example I just spent many months tracking down and purchasing your discountinued wireless transmitter and amp assembly because I am a big believer in that technology and am amazed by the product performance.

From my background in management I know how difficult it can be to change direction. Open, two way communication and a clear commiment to do better is the key. Your quick and honest responses on this forum is a big step in the right direction. I for one wish you all the best going forward and am confident Questyle will get to where it needs to be!

@brams Well the proof is in the pudding — so we are going to go to task with improving our customer service, and then hopefully it will speak for itself. And yes, like you said, communication is key, and we will make every effort to be better at it, both here on Head-Fi and on all of our other channels. Thank you again for continuing to support us through the years!

 

[glassmonkey]

@CMA Fifteen The Final D8000 Pro is indeed a fantastic headphone that we use in the office quite regularly. You can't go wrong using it, that's for sure.

However, the CMA Fifteen is built to work with almost any headphone you pair it with. It matches with headphones anywhere from 16Ω to 600Ω, and so far all of the headphones we've tested really shine when connected to the CMA Fifteen.

So if you already have your favorite pair of headphones at home, they will most likely work great with the CMA Fifteen. If you don't have headphones yet, the Final D8000 Pro would be a great choice, along with many other headphones in the hi-res market.

But have you hooked up a Susvara?

 

[up late]

i always liked the look of the cma800i in silver and the cma600i in space grey. Any chance of offering the cma fifteen in a finish other then black?