Questyle CMA Fifteen Loaner Program @ TTVJAudio.com

[Todd]

HI All,

We have a Questyle CMA Fifteen available for 6 people who are interested in this product to audition in their home. This is a very nice headphone amp and DAC that we think is a great value and out performs its price of $2799. Of course, this provides you the opportunity of deciding that for yourself.

And the loaner program rules are... please read before signing up. Make sure we receive all required info.

Loaner Program Rules:

Our loaner programs are for those who would like to try the available demo item before purchasing from TTVJAudio. These products are purchased by us and belong to TTVJAudio.com. It is our hope that through hearing these products in your own environment, in your own system, you can make a decision on whether or not to add it to your system. And if you decide to purchase, TTVJAudio.com will be your destination for your acquisition.

How to sign up! Pay attention and make sure you supply all the info in your email

Send your name and address, telephone number and your Head-Fi user name to me (Todd) at todd@ttvjaudio.com. Do NOT PM me as you will not be included in the program without an email.

You will get the loaner for 1 week to use in your home with your system. After your one week is up, you must send it to the next loaner participant. Email me (todd@ttvjaudio.com) the tracking info so I can pass it on to the next recipient.

You MUST write a review and post it in this loaner thread. It must be posted in the same thread as this announcement for the loaner program. Please post the review here first and feel free to post it somewhere else if you like!

Once you have received the loaner, email me to let me know you have it and I will send the address for the next person soon thereafter.

Our loaner programs are USA only. We are restricted from shipping/selling outside the USA on most products.

We look forward to hearing from you for this loaner program.

Todd
todd@ttvjaudio.com

 

[552609]

Oh yes, I was just thinking about buying one of these. E-mail sent - hopefully you get it.

 

[pattont]

I would love to give this a try, but I'm not sure I'm knowledgeable enough to post a very detailed review that other head-fier's would appreciate. If you do not find 6 people I will happily do it and give a review to the best of my ability.

 

[Todd]

Hi All,

We have 4 people signed up so far - still room for 2 more sign ups. I intend to ship it out to the first participant on Monday 2/6. It is currently being broken in and auditioned here by us. I look forward to reading your impressions and supplying one to anyone who finds it to their liking!

Questyle CMA Fifteen Loaner Participants

• Jaytiss
• Wolfhawk46
• CT007
• Pappi Daa Hobo

 

[CT007]

the first participant on Monday 2/6

Am I 3rd in line, as of current circumstances? (This would be good for me, as I'm not quite ready for it next week)

 

[hottyson]

Let me know if anyone on the list happens to be located in Las Vegas NV to split the cost of shipping to next person. If so, I will participate.

 

[hottyson]

Let me know if anyone on the list happens to be located in Las Vegas NV to split the cost of shipping to next person. If so, I will participate.

Or, if anyone in Las Vegas wants to split the shipping costs, let me know and we can collaborate on this and potential future endeavors.

 

[Todd]

Hi All,

Here is the finalized list for the loaner program... the CMA Fifteen will ship out today or tomorrow.

As for reviews, they can be as comprehensive as you would like. All I require is you give your honest opinion of the piece being auditioned. I do these loaner programs to promote the products I sell and to allow members of Head-Fi to hear them in their home with their gear. This way opinions can be expressed in the review and help other Head-Fiers to decide if it is for them or not. It does not need to be elaborate and long but and assessment of what you heard. I hope this helps pattont.

CT007, yes, you are 3rd in line so it will be 4-5 weeks before it shows up at your door.

Have fun with your week with the CMA Fifteen!

Questyle CMA Fifteen Loaner Participants:

• Jaytiss
• Wolfhawk46
• CT007
• Pappi Daa Hobo
• MichRT
• buffer

 

[Jaytiss]

‘I’m a Believer’. Rating (5/5)​

‘I’m a Believer’. Great song, I love the old version sung by the Monkeys on TV as a kid or hearing Smashmouth sing it while watching Shrek.
First off, thank you for the opportunity to demo a fantastic unit like this. I’d like to thank Todd at Todd the Vinyl Junkie for the opportunity to review this. This is my first review of any item on head-fi and I hope that you find this helpful.

A brief history, this is Questyle’s new flagship it also has the Questyle CMA400i, the CMA twelve, and a few dongle DACs and this is their newest flagship version. The major benefit of the CMA fifteen is to have an analog input and a different sound signature. I have not demoed any other Questyle products for comparison.
This Dac/Amp has it all. 6.5mm, 4 pin balanced, and 4.4 mm balanced outputs with additional XLR outputs. Its inputs are also very strong with Bluetooth, optical, RCA, XLR, and more than one could need. It’s a great unit and costs 2799 dollars and is a strong piece of gear with any feature that I could think of. It works as a headphone amplifier and DAC to your speakers. Due to my situation and home use, I will only use it on headphones.

Its build quality feels great. It comes with a remote, but not my style. I will tell you the buttons feel fantastic. The selector works, and the UI is easy. It comes well-packaged and feels great. Size-wise, this is a large premium feeling unit, but not nearly as heavy as it could be, and wasn’t challenging to move around or set up. Big enough to not forgot or lose, but small enough that I could see myself using it for a bedroom or corner room set up. I had no major setup problems after the drivers were set up. I ran it from my Windows 10 PC using Hifi Tidal with no master.

Testing headphones used were a Meze 109 Pro, T60 Argons (Fostex T60 mod by Modhouse audio), and Audeze LCD-XC 2021. I own a few other cans but those are my babies and if I’m listing to music those are what I’d reach for.

Methods. I am testing this with my 10 test songs with which I am familiar to see and notice differences. I will test these with a neutral eq to compare with each of these three headphones.

Song Choice: Tidal list here:

I listen to a wide variety of music. I pick the songs because of various reasons. But I picture myself locked away like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank blasting music and shut off from the world. It’s a blissful image.
The Marriage of Figaro (The opera song from Shawshank Redemption, terrible recording but fun and gets me in the mood to listen to music.)
O mio Babino caro (This is a modern less operatic version but a song with great female vocals.)
Video Rigoletto - “La donna e mobile” (sung by one of the three Tenors, great song for high-performing male vocals.)
Iron man (The sound at the beginning is hard to make sound great, great drums, and cymbals, and if done right it feels like an old-school band.)
I Will Survive (1981 recording, I like her voice, and the old vocals, the drums, and various natural instruments really make this a favorite for me.)
There is a light That never goes out - Smiths ( A classic, I just love it. It’s mellow, and I can tell a lot of the tuning if this song is done right.)
Jump (I like how the sound effects are in this!)
Star Child (Someone recommended this song to me, and I like how funky it sounds and has nice vocals and a mix of music and things going on.)
Dicke Titten Ramstein (The beginning is amazing and the base hits hard. Great song.
Master of pumpets.)


Pairing with Mohouse T60 Argons

The Argons are like a brooding teenager who sits back and doesn’t want to come alive. Tones sound richer and more full of life. Sound is much more natural than a lower amp, but I also hear details from the music and the possibility of the recording. This pairing is excellent. Positional awareness is perfect. There are noises that I hear, that I wasn’t aware the Argons could make. It’s amazing, these headphones are dancing and flying to a level never before. Truly a fun experience. Instrument separation is excellent. The sounds are overall unlike anything I’ve ever heard, its super cool.

Pairing with Meze 109

The Meze 109… How do you describe it? The Mezes are like a ballerina to me. Eloquent, poised, but almost brittle. Like a slender ballerina who can show you the coolest thing ever, or fall flat and your heart goes out to them. Sometimes things sound amazing on it, but other times I feel it can’t handle certain types of music. Everything sounds like a treasure on the Meze’s, the Audioquest steps up to the challenge. I like the pairing, and I do struggle a little bit to find the right DAC for the Meze’s as they are particular about who they will dance with.

Pairing with Audeze LCD-XC

The Audeze are science nerd mixed with almost perfect tones who happens to have 21-inch biceps. Sometimes things sound perfect on them, other things it isn’t interested by and can’t compute. It’s like the Audeze will look at you and ask why? It’s like it stops working and looks at you like you are the problem. Nah Audeze, you aren’t perfect but you sure do write a good paper, err I mean sound good.
Everything is clearer. There is more detail and the sound is fuller.



Conclusion: I’m a bit of a new person to the headphone hobby, but I have invested in some Midfi headphones and will do my best to do a fair review. I generally think at this price category this would be an amp for a very expensive headphone like the Abyss, LCD-5, ZMF Caldera, or even Hifiman Susvara. I feel generally the amp/dac should cost less than the headphone. But with this being said I feel this is a strong product for someone who wants a strong all-in-one combo. It’s simple, it has features and it sounds great. Functionally it works with everything that I can throw at it, and I have had zero sonic issues with it. It’s a gem, and wonderful. I’m a huge fan.


Value- It’s hard to say value to the depth of quality of the gear that I’ve heard. But overall I’d say it’s a strong piece of value. In a world where you can and will spend 2000 or more on an amp dac for an end-game headphone, it’s a bargain. It has plenty of features, is easy to use, and everything about it feels premium. I’d give it a 10/10 for value as it can do a great deal and is very satisfying to use.

For a beginner to the hobby who has 3000 or less to spend on an amp/dac and headphones, I wouldn’t recommend it. I feel you’d be better off getting a few headphones and a less expensive system. But if you want an amp dac, and are willing to pay a more premium price I’d recommend it as a product that has a great deal of value, and aesthetics, and feels premium, classic, and beautiful. To be frank, I can see myself getting one in a few years. This amp/dac has made me a believer, and a fan and I’m sure it can win you over if you can get over the price.

 

[552609]

Overview:

Up for review today is the Questyle Current Mode Amplification (CMA) Fifteen (not 15.) This was sent to me by Todd at Todd The Vinyl Junkie, from https://www.ttvjaudio.com/. This is a loaner only, designed to make me want to spend $2,799.00 on one of these. I mean…mission accomplished Todd, this is a compact and amazing-sounding DAC/amp all-in-one. The price is certainly a bit prohibitive, but if you can afford it, this is a really good-sounding DAC/amp.

Build Quality / Design / Specs (18/20):

The build quality is excellent and feels like multiple plates of aluminum put together into a DAC/amp box. It’s a bit large horizontally, but far smaller than my Cocktail Audio HA500H. It’s really well built, but picks up fingerprints like it’s going out of style (I know because the previous person who reviewed this left them everywhere (bleh.) The bias control switch appears to do nothing. Literally, nothing, so that’s odd. I can switch it on in the middle of playing music and nothing changes. The function switch changes the CMA 15 from a DAC/amp to just a DAC if you want to power it with some more different amp. This only seems necessary if you need nuclear power plant levels of power – it’s plenty powerful on its own.

The overall design is good if you like black monolithic boxes made from aluminum with orange glowy lights. Admittedly, I prefer the looks of the Headamp GS-X mini, etc. since you can pick a color other than black. The blue on those is fantastic and I wish more companies moved away from everything being black – it’s not an attractive product, just functional.

The CMA Fifteen comes with just about all of the specs you could possibly need from a DAC/amp (except a tube amp.) 32bit/768k output? Check. LDAC Bluetooth connection? Check. Apple Music Lossless? Check. Balanced 4.4mm and 4-pin XLR? Check. MQA? CHECK! DSD?! CHECK-aroonie. There are a ton of inputs and outputs as well. It will also preamp for you, hook up to your powered speakers, and it has ugly orange LEDs as well (and one cool blue one for MQA, which should be magenta.) Oh, and a TON of power – it has that too. I have it powering my JM Audio XTC-Os from the 4-pin balanced jack at 2/10 volume. There is no gain control, so you get what you get. Possibly even Susvara power levels here. It's only 2W at 32 ohms, but it feels MUCH more powerful than that. It feels more powerful than the Burson Conductor’s 6W of power, even if it’s not (on paper.)

Accessories (5/20):
Not great. The remote is really nice, but the only other thing it comes with is a power cable. That’s it. A remote and a power cable. What is with companies selling something for crazy money and not including any accessories? The $450 Topping DX5 (Here) comes with tons of accessories, heck, the Burson Conductor 3XP comes with more accessories than that at $1,400 retail. Yet the Cocktail Audio HA500H and the Questyle CMA Fifteen come with a remote and a power cable and nothing else. Oh, my bad, it does come with a Mini-CD. Yes, those things that are half the size of a regular CD, that no one has placed in their computer for the last 10 years (who still has a CD drive?) – way to stay in tune with technology Questyle (USB drives are really cheap now.) That’s it. But WAIT! Cable Rant.

CABLE RANT!!! Yes, a power cable is important to include with your product. Do you know what else is important to include? A cable to connect to your computer. No one uses USB B cables anymore, except in the audio world for some reason. Very few people just have one laying around because printers, the only thing that ever really used USB B cables, are all wireless now! So not including one is a cardinal sin in my opinion. Luckily, I had an extra one laying around from a printer I got YESTERDAY…which I use wirelessly. So, I didn’t have to pull the one off my HA500H, which also did not come with one. At least the Burson Conductor 3XP came with a USB C cable (a common connection type in the 2020s), though it was the shortest cable ever (1.5ft.) Do you know what came with a good-length cable intended for use with it? The $450 Topping DX5! Add a USB B cable – it’s not hard, and not expensive, and it won’t annoy your customer when they have to go buy one, especially a crappy one from Best Buy, or a $50 AudioQuest Pearl from Amazon (Here) and wait for it to arrive in a day or two. Cable Rant Complete.

Software / Setup / Ease of Use (20/20):
Best. Ever. I’m not kidding. Maybe it’s because I’ve installed so much other software before from all the DAC/amps I’ve used on this computer for reviews. But, I didn’t have to install anything, it even beats the HA500H’s easy installation and it kicks the crap out of the DX5 and Burson 3XP’s software installation. I literally just plugged the CMA 15 into my computer and selected it as the audio output on Tidal. BOOM! That was it – easiest ever. It also automatically knows when to MQA if you have it set to Exclusive Mode and Software Bypass (which you should do automatically if you have Tidal HiFi.) So yeah, max points here. I have nothing to add, weird – not a single complaint.

Performance / Sound (20/20):

Oh yes. It’s really good, and the only real reason to buy this DAC/amp other than the easy install. It sounds fantastic. Running through my test tracks playlist with my JM Audio XTC-Open blows my mind at how good it sounds. There is so much body and soundstage and everything just sounds fantastic. It even sounds a little better than my HA500H. Just…not much better. The CMA Fifteen feels a little bassier, and a little less “thin,” and that’s it. Realistically, all you have to do to change that is turn on the tube on the HA500H and they sound basically the same. Is it worth 2x the price for the CMA Fifteen? No. More on that in the next section, but the reality is that the CMA Fifteen sounds as good as the HA500H, and better than a lot of cheaper options, but probably not good enough that it’s worth the price.

Comparisons / Price (10/20):
Yes, the price. $2,800 is a stupid amount of money. You can get a REALLY nice set of headphones for that much. I’d recommend you do that and get a much cheaper DAC/amp. The Cocktail Audio has everything the CMA Fifteen has, with a tad less power, and no 4.4mm jack. But it’s been on sale for $1,400 for as long as I can remember (normally $2,400.) That’s quite literally 50% of the cost for basically the same performance, but with TUBE technology KYLE! If you want a 4.4mm jack, grab a Shanling M6 Ultra DAP with the money you save by not buying the CMA Fifteen, or an IBasso DX320 – whatever, you do you. Even the Burson Conductor 3XP and the Topping DX5 make a good argument for getting one of them. Yes, the Topping won’t sound as good or have the 4.4mm jack, but it’s 1/6th the price. For most people, it’ll get the job done. The 3XP has a TON more power if you need it, even though the setup is a PAIN and it doesn’t sound quite as good as either the HA500H or the CMA Fifteen. But really, as long as the 1.8W of power is good enough for you, just get the HA500H, it even has a screen. Yes, the HA500H is huge, and it may not fit your system, so there’s that. Also, it’s a relatively unknown company out of Korea, so there’s that. Also, the remote’s not great. But it’s HALF as much – simple math.

Conclusion:
This is very simple, if you want the best DAC/amp, get the Chord Dave. It’s like $14,000. It’ll probably make you hear angels on your Susvara. If you have the money, do it. If you want the best under $5k, the CMA Fifteen might just be that, especially if you want to listen to 4.4mm IEMs for some reason on your desktop setup (don’t blow them out.) If you have a Utopia or a Susvara or an Expanse, and you really want to make sure your source is as good as it can get, the CMA Fifteen should be at the top of your list. Realistically though, for half the price, you can get 99% of the performance (and still no USB B cable) from the HA500H.

Wolfhawk’s Rating: 73/100

 

[CT007]

Questyle CMA Fifteen - A Performance Review

As the title states, this will be a general quality & performance focused review, as this is what I was interested in myself. If you wish to see the complete list of available features, functionality and hardware specs, you can see them here: https://www.questyle.com/language/en/cmafifteen/ Testing an AIO like this can be tricky, because of all the component integration that can't usually be separated and tested individually. Luckily, this product is actually flexible enough to allow full component separation(amp, DAC)! Also, I had perhaps only 2 headphones that I would trust enough to test for subtle equipment differences like this; NDH 30 and HD800S.

General sound (USB/optical DAC+amp standalone):
Smooth, relaxed, non-digital, non-harsh. Tons of power on low gain. Excellent midrange focus, and very enjoyable. ZMF Auteur definitely sounds better than the EF400/EF400+MLP combo. I really enjoy this sound, compared to all my current equipment, with all of my headphones.

High gain is extremely powerful, so low gain is plenty for most headphones. Low gain is useable with IEMs, but only up to the 3rd volume mark or so(8 o'clock?).

With volume turned to 0, music can still be heard. With IEMs, background noise can be heard beginning at ~9 o'clock, and increases linearly to max volume.

Comparing CMA 15 to Cayin RU6 using IEMs, the sound from RU6 is very slightly more grating and digital/processed, and a little less rich & full.

Comparing CMA 15 to Questyle M15 using IEMs, I found bass to sound equal, but treble had more energy and brightness on the M15. There was also more clear separation with the CMA. Fairly small differences, but the increased space between instruments does reduce fatigue, and lets everything breathe better, including the bass.

Analog Input (HD800S, single-ended):
To test this very nice feature, I connected 2 of my DACs(EF400 and SMSL Sanskrit 10th MkII) to an RCA splitter, that ran into the analog input(very cool feature!) of the CMA 15. I could toggle the splitter, and hear the sound of each DAC through the CMA's amp. I could tell the Sanskrit offered a smoother, more relaxed sound, and EF400 offered a more neutral, clearer sound. Next, I could quickly switch from analog input to optical, and compare the sound of the 2 DACs to CMA's internal DAC, which seemed to sound more polished/refined, and have slightly better bass control.

Volume Knob:
Channel balance seemed fine, except at the very lowest level, where there was mostly only right channel being produced.

Bias Control:
The manual has no explanation for what this setting does. I heard no difference, switching between Standard and High bias, with headphones, IEMs, or my speakers. An excerpt about this topic from BloomAudio says:

"Bias Control determines where the cutoff is between Class A and Class A/B operation of the amp. High Bias will run hotter, but give you a longer range of Class A operation, while Standard is more efficient, but with a lower cutoff. In most of my listening, I couldn’t hear much difference between the two, though there was a bit more headroom in the High Bias mode in some cases."

Temperature:
Low gain seemed to only achieve approximately 96.8F. Standard gain, at max volume, seemed to achieve still no higher than 96.8F, in room ambient temperature of 77-79F, used in Standard Bias.

Jack Tests:


Power Up; Source Switching; Toggles:


Remote - Mute:


Amp Comparison Testing (HD800S, single-ended):
This was quite straightforward, but time consuming. I simply compared the sound of CMA by itself to the CMA DAC, connected to each amp, one at a time, using the CMA's "DAC/HP DAC" toggle switch. Topping A90D showed a small bit of harshness, less general refinement, more cold and sterile tone, and less dimensionality. You could get into the music more with the CMA, with higher usable volume before becoming fatiguing. Monolith Liquid Platinum sounded a little more spacious, spread out, less focused, a little tonally cooler, and more dry & less lively sounding. This is a more refined sound than A90D, but fairly different concerning tonal and spatial presentations. Reverb, echo, distortion, and similar commonly used effects are rendered clearer on the CMA amp. EF400(using its own DAC, in NOS mode) sounded very similar to the CMA, but instead of complete refinement and smooth sound, had more treble energy and a little added fatigue. Treble on the CMA is clearly smoother and less fatiguing, when testing bright material.

HEADPHONE TESTS (some of many):

HD800S sounded good, with no irritating brightness to be found. Used at ~9:30 o'clock volume, low gain, single-ended. (Note: I still don't find HD800S+CMA15 to sound as good of a combo as my IEMs+dongles, or IEMs+CMA15) Good combo.

ZMF Auteur sounded good, with rich mids and smooth, relaxed treble. Used at ~8 o'clock, low gain.

LCD-2.2 sounded alright, with fairly natural tone, good warmth, and not too peaky treble. Used at ~8-9 o'clock, low gain.

NDH 30 sounded generally excellent, as usual, with excellent balance, excellent definition, natural tone, good bass control, and enough treble energy to not sound relaxed. Although, there was more treble energy than I expected from this hardware. Used at ~8 o'clock for balanced, and ~9 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

Kennerton Gjallerhorn GH50 JM sounded rather boomy, compressed, and dark, as usual. There were no peaks or irritations, outside of the bass reverberations due to the closed-back design. Used at ~7:30 o'clock for balanced, and ~8:30 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

ATH-A990Z sounded too elevated in the treble, with good bass and mid detail. This headphone was not a good match for this hardware, sound signature wise. However, it did sound very clean & clear.

AKG K7XX sounded distant, warm, and nimble with good accuracy. There was not much bass impact or depth with this hardware, and the treble was rather shouty and sub-par. Vocals sounded good. Used at ~8:30 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

Koss KPH30i sounded fairly dark and somewhat muted, with good density in the mids & bass, and decent spatial performance. The sound doesn't seem to change much, between hardware. Used on ~8 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

Koss KSC75 sounded detailed, clear, semi-bright, with refreshing separation & sense of space. Tonally more metallic than natural, though vocals still sound pretty nice. I don't think KSC75 sounds any better on my dongles or other hardware. Used at ~8 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

Vokyl Erupt sounded somewhat dark, veiled, and relaxed, but otherwise pretty solid. The treble might be a little too smooth & subdued on this hardware(or just perfect). Rich, full-bodied, spacious, dark and low fatigue. Used at ~8:30 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

ATH-AD900X sounded bright, clear, and highly energetic, as expected. Vocals sound emphasized, but in a special way. I'm not sure this headphone will sound much different on any hardware, but it doesn't seem painfully bright or irritating on the CMA15. Bass sounds just as faint as usual. Used at 8 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

AKG K612 sounded clear and well-balanced, with good imaging, but with too much vocal and lower treble energy. Maybe not a good hardware combo for this headphone. Used at ~9:30 o'clock for single-ended, low gain.

***Everything I tested pretty much sounded great on this!


Speaker Testing:
Compared to my usual DACs, EF400 or Border Patrol DAC, my speakers seemed to exhibit better bass control, less digital-ness and harshness, and perhaps slightly larger sense of space.

KNOWN ISSUES (I was able to find):

• Volume knob wiggles.
• Sound is still audible when volume is at 0.
• Volume knob has sticky, rough movement.
• Channel imbalance at very low volume.
• Short jack adapters are difficult to remove, due to the recessed jack housings, and are not recommended to use with this hardware(unless they are lock-in/screw-in type adapters)! I had to remove this adapter with pliers:
• 
  
  
• Manual does not explain what Bias Control toggle switch is for.
• FAR too much output power for headphone use...
• Remote only works when pointed at a specific area.

CONCLUSION:
As a standalone unit, I would say the CMA 15 guarantees you of getting refined, matured, and legitimately high end sound quality for anything you connect to it(headphones, speakers, IEMs), and is certainly worth $2000 or so. I feel $2800 is a bit much, with some of the needless features and sub-par quality of the build and remote usage. The CMA 15 would also make great use as a benchmark tool, to test higher end products against. I did not notice any major hiccups or issues/bugs with this product. I feel a more attractive chassis design would be helpful, as the all-black with white text, with orange or red LED lights, is pretty grim looking. With every headphone and IEM tested, I preferred single-ended operation, which provides slightly more adjustable volume range with such an over-powered amp. I would say this is easily an 8.75/10 product at $2800(MSRP), or a 9.75/10 product at ~$2000.

• A huge thank-you, once again, to Todd from TTVJ, for running these loaner programs, and letting the community experience fantastic products like this at bare minimum cost! We need more people like him, and more shops like his, in this cold world.

 

[MichRT]

Questyle CMA Fifteen – An adorable, sturdy, mostly competent piece

Big glass bulbs. End table sized brushed metal finishes. Copper power supply donuts the size of a bicycle tire. In a hobby full of massive, bombastic equipment, the CMA Fifteen is downright cute and compact. It squeezes functionality down to a palatable size.

Every part of the chain matters. Transducers can be vastly different from one another and are important to musical fidelity; So too are the cogs and boxes that allow those transducers to move with music. I have heard good things about the slightly newer version of the ESS DAC chip onboard and was excited to test this implementation out. Thank you Todd of TTVJ for running this loaner program and allowing me to try this piece of kit in my home!

My evaluation of the Questyle CMA Fifteen was conducted with the following gear:

• DACS - Exogal Comet Plus, MSB Gold Link III Full Nelson
• Headphone amps - Eddie Current Black Widow 2, DIY Sangaku (including Sparkos op amps)
• Headphones - Sennheiser HD 580(BP, SS), 600(2022 Ireland SS), 650(2006ish SS), 800(17k s/n), Koss KSC75, and for fun my Sony MDR XB500.
• Speaker Amps - Sony AVR (analog in bypass mode)
• Speakers - Jamo S 803 + Sony 10in ported sub (living room), JBL Arena B15 (desk)

The Great

- Noise floor is silent and dark - No hum or hiss.

- Switches and buttons were solid, felt and sounded good to use.

- Relatively compact, fits nicely in most spaces.

- Casework felt premium with a great fit/finish.

- Sturdy feet. Stayed put when plugging and unplugging headphones.

- Headphone input jacks were satisfying to use. No pops or unwanted noise on insertion.

- Switching between DAC and DAC+HP amp functionality was seamless.

- Soundstage is airy and wide. Transients are quick, snappy, and satisfying.

The OK
- Input selection and source resolution are indicated by a grid of LEDs on the front panel. It’s not the easiest to make sense of at a distance, but on a desk it’s fine.

- Volume knob shifts slightly on the post when turned. I suspect tightening the retaining screw would help.

- The headphone jacks are recessed a fair bit into the chassis. While none of my cables were an issue, it could be a limiting factor. Especially with the tall screw choice used on the 4pin XLR output.

- Included remote control is fine, nothing special. Some of the buttons functionality is intended for use with a DAP dock attachment.

- Sound quality overall was just OK. More on this later

The Nitpicks

- I could not get the USB-B jack to function, even with all other inputs disconnected. USB-C worked, however.

- The customized XMOS USB driver is available on their website and included on a mini-CD. It installs the XMOS control panel and runs by default on Windows system startup. It’s easy to disable, just a bit silly.

- Knob volume control/Bypass switch is located at the back of the device. Gain controls are on the bottom and rear of the device as well. Not the easiest things to operate in use.

Sound Impressions

These impressions are compiled from using the DAC with its built-in head amp, in DAC only mode with my other two head amps, and in DAC only mode with my speaker chains. Unless specified, these impressions apply to all scenarios.

The most enjoyable bit sound-wise was CMA Fifteen’s soundstage and treble air. The instrument separation is good, with seemingly plenty of space in between each. Transients were another positive - Drums had satisfying punch, woodwinds lanced the air quickly, and guitar string plucks were vibrant. These positive properties came with downsides though.

Decay left something to be desired. On my various 6X0 headphones, mid tones such as vocals (especially female) felt limp and lacking organic body. Sub bass regions lacked texture on some tracks, giving those notes a semi-unnatural characteristic. Treble was unfortunately the most offending region. Across the board I heard glare applied to each and every album I played. It didn’t matter if it was poorly mastered Chili Peppers, lush Alt-J tunes, or vividly warm Lizzy McAlpine – treble felt unnaturally harsh. It was less noticeable with my EC BW2, but only masochists could enjoy stock HD800 or on bright tracks even HD580/600 out of its built in headamp.

Final Thoughts

The CMA Fifteen is, for the most part, a resolving DAC. As an AIO, its built-in headphone amplifier was not lacking in power or volume. No headphone felt particularly under driven. However, the overall presentation and soundscape it paints would perhaps pair best with either muffled headphones or mid-focused speakers.

If you are looking for a spacious, bright-tilted, less mids-focused piece of gear with the convenience and features on tap, this one may be the ticket. Thanks again to Todd of TTVJ for running this loaner program and allowing me to try the Questyle CMA Fifteen in my home!

 

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reserved for my impressions - just taking some notes

1. in tidal, play non mqa music the dac/amp sounded better with tidal mqa passthrough off - very slightly leaner, but a little cleaner

high/low current switch made larger difference on cma 12 than high/low bias switch on cma15

mqa on cma15 (pass through mode in tidal) not showing much benefit even on master song in tidal over use of computer doing mqa

dac/amp sounds good. but not sure it sounds significantly better than my oppo ha1. maybe a little more detailed and maybe a little fuller? not sure.

different than cma 12 which was not as rich as oppo cma12 and was brighter through cma 12 headphone amp. - from recollection

tone of treble maybe affected by bias switch a little warmer in high bias? very subtle; unlike cma 12, high bias does not add bass or punch

cma 15 may be more neutral than brighter cma12 when using headamp on each unit. i may hear differences between cma15 and oppo ha1 but more listening required to develop accurate opinion. what i can say is differences are subtle, if at all
all impressions using bluetooth thus far with thieaudio ghost headphone

feature set of cma 15 certainly superior to cma 12 - non-proprietary wireless in form of bluetooth and analog inputs, though balanced inputs in addition to the rca would have been appreciated - oppo ha1 has better connectivity in some ways, though oppo has older usb B and questyle has usb c

note: oppo ha1 used with gs-x mk2 amp but for above i am using questyle dac/amp

there may be something i prefer about sound of cma15 over oppo but i cannot pinpoint it. perhaps slightly more dimension or blacker background? hmmm... not sure

switching over to d8000 pro, which has fallen out of favor with me lately due to recessed mids compared to likes of ndh-20 and ghost.

interesting - using 4.4mm connector of d8000 pro simultaneously with 1/4" connector of ghost. both headphones active at same time. also, not sure recess of d8000 pro is as apparent on cma15 as it is on oppo/gsx. need to listen more and maybe i need to match volume with db meter rather than by ear which i can usually match within 1 db or so.

maybe not relevant for here but d8000 pro may be clearer with better separation than ghost, but i may still prefer mid presence of ghost. ghost is demanding in terms of current/power, though not comparing to d8000 pro power requirement which is using balanced output.

not sure that cma15 is doing anything miraculous with d8000 pro but sounds less recessed? not sure but i can say i think d8000 pro goes well with cma15.

does one headphone out sound better than the other? cannot say yet.

listening to d8000 pro i don't think cma15 is substantially changing tonal balance or enhancing d8000 pro over that of oppo/gs-x combo. on second thought maybe background vocal is enhanced? more listening required

on cma15 d8000 pro sounds better than ghost. switching to neumann ndh-20.

the other week i was comparing ghost to ndh 20 and they each had their advantages. i felt ndh may be technically superior but their were aspects of the ghost i preferred. with the cma15, the ndh is obviously superior. in fact, both d8000 pro and ndh 20 sound good on cma 15 but i think i still slighty prefer tonal balance (midrange presence) of ndh over d8000 pro. here is the thing. the one thing the ndh suffers from is a SLIGHTLY recessed upper mid into treble. While i do not perceive the cma15 as bright, it seems to liven up the mids and treble to the point where it adds clarity and the missing frequencies that slightly bothered me on the ndh 20. i need more listening to confirm. BTW, when i hear NDH i prefer it pushed back on my head, otherwise i'm not such a fan. not sure that was important with cma 15 combo. but keep in mind ndh defintely is positionally sensitive.
does cma15 have slightly livelier upper mid that doesn't come off as bright but helps to offset a potential flaw of the d8000 pro which may have an ever so slightly boosted lower midrange. a lively upper mid might help balance the tone out, though the d8000 pro is still not perfect. just a thought at this point. cma15 does seem to have good treble extension as well, though treble does not sound right either.

okay. it is relevant how sound of cma15 affects certain headphones but i need to refocus on difference between DACS. for now i'll conclude by saying the ndh 20 goes very well with cma 15. but surprisingly, i think the oppo/gs-x might actually might have a more present / sharper midrange with the ndh 20. but this might make sense that i might actually prefer the ndh with the cma because the mids may be natrally too present on the ndh, so muting the midrange proper just a touch would explain a slightly greater upper midrange making the sound of the ndh slightly more balanced than it would otherwise be. also, different headphones match in different ways with equipment (electrically and sonically). the cma may help the d8k pro sound more present in the midrange but have the opposite affect on the ndh.

side note - i do catch myself hearing certain details that never caught my attention before.

more stream of conciousness later...

okay. so it's the next day and I am focused on the DAC compariso between the Oppo HA1, my reference, and the CMA15. Last night I used the cma15 dac/amp vs. the oppo ha1 dac/gsx amp combo. so in this case i am using the gsx as the amp for both dacs. the cma is set to fixed output, as is the oppo. dac output is nealy identical, with the oppo possibly ever so slihtly louder or the same. it's close, though i would turn the oppo down just a touch to make sure it didn't have an advantage. in terms of soundstage, clarity, tonal balance, and timbre - they are so close, possibly identical. i might be imagining slighty greater clarity and brightness from the cma15, but i'm not sure i could tell in a blind test. i really think they are identical, but will do more comparisons.

method of compare - both quick switching and listening to a song on one and then the other. note - cma15 dac quicker where oppo is buffering for a 3 seconds or so before coming in. might be correctable with oppo as it hasn't always done that.

is cma15 more smooth? not sure. does it have some grain though? hmmm.. . i guess not.

note - cma15 is a one box solution that can match oppo / amp 2 box solution. the cma's amp is a little better than oppo's amp section, did not do direct comparison but i know it well

should mention using exclusive mode in tidal to remove variables, no mqa passthrough on either. should also mention both dacs seem to operate on 44.1 regardless of song's max.
as time progresses I might hear better separation, between performers from the cma, or is more cohesiveness in soundstage from the oppo? if i had a preference it would be cma, but this is not blatantly obvious if even true and in many cases i cannot distinguish spacial/separation differences. if it occurs, it is not consistent.
vocal (female) may be a little sharper on the cma? so close i cannot be sure, but my brain seems to think so. so far, i'd say if the oppo and cma are within 1/2 of 1 percent of each other, i would normally put the cma on top as a dac, but still not sure i could pinpoint why and could i really tell the difference if blind tested? I would not put money on it. keep in mind, the cma is far more than the oppo. not worth the price difference as i do not think if a difference does exist that it would bother me in the slightest. headphones ake a much bigger difference in sound. of course, if you have headphones a superior set of equipment is still worth it, because it would be beneficial to many headphones. mostly i like my sound neutral. typically this is especially true for dac and amps, though if i have an almost perfect headphone and i want a very slight change i could see myself going for a niche piece of equipment to compliment that particular headphone - but i digress.

switching to youtube - no real discernable difference in dac yet... maybe a very little bit bright on snare and hand clap, which if i would prefer, if the difference does in fact exist, it is very subtle. i do maybe think the oppo female and vocal was more present and dynamic (again, i could be hearing things) but even if that is the case, i still feel the cma might be a touch clearer. - all very close. cma bluetooth drops occassionally. don't like that. it isn't even an inch from my laptop.
interesting - in tidal oppo seemed very slightly louder. on youtube cma does.

starting to think oppo might have slightly better macrodynamics. microdynamics? not sure. did just detect slightly more slammy drum hit on oppo - not more bass, just a little more power and slam. but if i raised volume a db probably could be tricked to think the other way, though i really do believe volume was pretty much same when i compared

also starting to think i prefer sound of oppo midrange to cma on youtube orchestral ...btw, using ndh20 tonight. still feel dacs are so close in sound overall, that i could be happy with either.

wondering if oppo has a very slightly larger sound. maybe not
at some point i will try qobuz. but that will have to wait.

at this point there may be subtle differences where i think i MAY prefer one over the other but generally i see them as almost identical. thus far, i consider them tied. playing variety of genres - orchestral, classic rock, pop, easy listening, country, oldies - not much jazz yet, but i will.

next question to settle - cma15 bluetooth vs wired
next night and now i am listening with wired usb c. and using headphone amp on cma dac now adjusts with resolution of track and mqa light comes on for masrer quality song. interesting that it came on whether cma was doing the mqa (using pass through) or whether computer/tidal was doing the decoding. mqa light changes color guess depending on type of mqa. have not tested yet whether mqa makes difference between dac and tidal decoding. also, i would assume its a limitation of bluetooth that prevents mqa recognition by dac and i assume 44.1 is the max (limitation) of bluetooth and not specific to the cma?

now does the increased resolution in combo with wired give a superior sound to bluetooth. i guess it should, but this is a short listening session so i will have to compare in subsequent days. i guess i can also compare using a non mqa 44.1 song to eliminate the resolution as being a factor when comparing wired to bluetooth.

prelim listening on 44.1 non mqa both ways vocals seem more forward or is it just louder? using wred usb connection. i don't hear overall sound as louder. hmmm.

on youtube i don't think i hear any difference between bluetooth and wired - of course maybe youtube quality limit is about the same as bluetooth so no advantage to wired? don't know

wired may be a little clearer than bluetooth; sound on bluetooth may be a little fuzzy? difference, if exists, is very minor. on second thought, maybe i was just imagining the difference. they sound about the same, at least on youtube. also, i don't hear difference on size of soundstage or separation

when going back and forth between usb and bluetooth bluetooth just concked out on me. cannot get sound back. i'm sure i can but may need to turn unit off. yes, that fixed it

what i like is for my oppo i use an external headphone amp - 3, actually. with cma i dont need a whole rack. not sure if cma can drive all of my headphones, but generally i am at 10 or 11 or 12. i haven't played with switches on the bottom. while i am not sure o the difference i would use wired connection since dac is iright next to my laptop. in my system, dac and head amps are 10ft away fromme and my laptop, so i prefer convenience of bluetooth.

bluetooth disappeared again. i am starting to think wired has very slight advantage in microdynamics over bluetooth and maybe almost imperceptible improvement in clarity. wired vs bluetooth so close if not same. i would not hesitate to use bluetooth but i would uae usb if given the option. i perceive wired to be very slightly better

5/5 - it's been a couple of days since i listened
using ndh-30 and tidal; was using wired usb input; only variable was comparison between built in dac/amp vs gs-x mk2. very close, and that is impressive. ndh-30 not the easiest to drive but cma is driving it fine.

i did maybe notice another slight difference having nothing to do with amp - high bias mode may bring vocals slightly more forward. as with cma12, effects from switch take a few seconds before the difference kicks in' in cma15, effects much less noticeable; if switch really does have an effect it is somewhat song dependent. on some songs, maybe with certain female vocals, I detect no change. more reverb with high bias? maybe???? i get that thought in the back of my head but cannot be sure

I do think subtle effect is greater with male vocals than female, in general. Unless it is simply a matter of slightly boosted overall volume, I do feel high bias with certain songs the difference is suble but definite - more dimension as a function of reverb and slightly more forward/louder sounding midrange male vocal. it is slight but i defintely notice it. now you might think i would like the more dimensionality / wet sound but not necessarily cause i do believe in part it mat be accomplished by sweetening the treble (or rolling it off ever so slightly). keep in mind preference may also be dependent upon headphone and whether you'd like it brighter or more forward/warmer, etc. Also, electrically, headphones may react differently.

back to amp comparison - i do not feel any advantage of gs-x mk2. a ewal credit to the cma15. if i tried to drive a susvara that might be a different story.

i need to listen more but one question some may have is whether bias switch affects only amp or also the dac. i feel it effects the dac too but may be more noticeable when listening to cma15 headphone amp. again, more listening required. when listening to dac with gs-x the bias switch still seems to war mupper mids/treble but i do not hear increased reverb like i do when using cma headamp. but i still need to listen more to confirm this. more listening done and i still think it.

zero play in volume control
high bias does seem to thicken sound ever so slightly. even using gsx amp, i think the bass is slightly fuller when high bias applied to dac, but like i said, the difference is slight where on cma12 the bass wasn't just fuller, but more impactful. not more impactful with cma15 bias switch though overall sound on high bias may be slightly more impactful/less anemic. i still think majority of difference is in upper mids and lower treble region

one more thing on bias switch - reverb may be more noticeable on tidal high res than on youtube, though i can still sense it sometimes even on youtube

soundstage could be SLIGHTLY larger on gs-x but i'm not 100 percent sure yet - nope

Qobuz and CMA15
on wsapi using usb conection, the bitrate is 44.1
on directsound using usb connection, bit rate 44.1
on wsapi (exclusive mode) using usb connection, bit rate adjusts to that of the track

why is ths important? On higher res tracks I could hear a cleaner more resolute sound. not shocking I guess, but worth noting. The difference is subtle, as with most dac differences but I felt it made the wsapi mode sound maybe a little fuller, rounded, and fuzzy compared to higher resolution. when using waspi exclusive vs non exclusive with 44.1 tracks, i might actually have preferred the non exclusive but it was super close. non-exclusive may have still retained slight edge on fullness, but no difference in clarity/resolution.

Did another experiment. used usb dac connection with oppo and compared to cma using bluetooth. this method of compare allowed me to switch within a few seconds for comparison. the oppo seemed clearer and more tight and punchy. of course, cma 15 is at a handicap becuase bluetooth isn't as good as wired. also worth noting i used gs-x amp with oppo and continued using cma dac/amp. what's the point with this compare? i didn't, using qobuz, compare wired to wired with oppo vs cma, but differences are just to minute to justify the substantal expenditure. I like the interface of the oppo, along with certain connectivity capabilities. As a headphone/amp the CMA is really good. I do not have a lot of experience with DACs. I like the CMA better than the Chord Hugo TT2, but that's not based upon direct compare, just that I recall that I had no misgiving about returning hugo tt2 and keeping my oppo. With CMA I am tempted as i think as a headamp/dac combo is as good as oppo/gsx combo and cma might be slightly superior to the oppo as a headamp/dac, but something as simple as changing oppo wired to cma15 bluetooth is enough to swing the pendulum. as dac only comparisons go, agaain the cma 15 may have a slight advantage in clarity but it is debateable. If I didnt already have a system in place I might go for the cma, but I do have a system in place and I tend to use bluetooth, which makes oppo competitive or equal to cma.

Also, GS-X has more power than the CMA DAC to drive something like my Susvara. I gues I could try the susvara and see how cma powers it, but I'm not a huge fan of susvara , anyway so for me it is a bit of a moot point.

okay. one more compare - cma dac/amp vs oppo dac/gsx amp - both wired usb as opposed to bluetooth. both sound great and i don't think cma wins or loses to oppo in this circumstance with 94/26 track in qobuz, both using wasapi exclusive mode specific to the dac. if i had to choose i might choose cma with an extrmely slight edge but then i raise the volume of the oppo/gsx and it sounds as good if not better. so you see? so close, even a volume adjustment can swing the pendulum. if differences were substantial, a volume adjustment wouldn't make one better than the other.

when volume really close witht he above described config i might actually think the oppo is a little crisper and cleaner/brighter and the cma maybe a touch more analog, but also less separated and less clear. this was on 96/24 track and both usb wired. so close, difference is minute and on ubsequent listens I am not sure I could pass an A/B test. you know what? it's not a brighter or crisper vs analog difference. the oppo bass comes off as slightly punchier - not more bass, just punchier, more dynamic. oppo may seem less abreasive in highs while still equallying quantity in those frequencies. the oppo may sound more muscular and might have better timber...or maybe it's just time to stop comparing. to be clear, the difference could be due to the amp of the gs-x. i'd have to go back like i did a few days ago and use gs-x for both and dac as standalone to tell - but not going to do that at this point, and frankly, they are so close i'm not sure any of the differences are material. when i use high bias i think it helped sweeten upper frequencies a touch and made cma more comparable to oppo.

one thing i did not mention - i didn't even bother to do a compare - i know cma headphone amp section is superior to oppo's.
all of this session, to this point was with ndh30. I am going to switch to final, and also try seen hd400 pro, which has the most v-shaped sound of all. if time permits i might also see how it goes in high bias mode. i find adx5000 bright and maybe cma15 can help with high bias mode.

interesting - hd400 is one of the few headphones i like that has a v-shaped signature. the cma didn't really do anything to change the tonal balance - it just sounds great - alittle lighter and aireier than the ndh30, but with less beefy midrange. i think the hd400 is a high impedance headphone and when i swtiched from standard (low?) to high bias on cma, there seemed to be more dimension and a larger sound with better seoaration in the upper mids. hd400 and cma is a bright combo but i like bright. would i choose this sound profile over ndh30? no. but i happen to like two very different sounds. and by the way, the hd400 does not sound recessed when you play a vocal-centric song, but i guess that's common sense.

adx5000 not helped or hurt by the cma. also, bias switch had no audible change to me. i usually prefer qobuz to tidal, ut i think tidal does more to help adx5000 due to warmer sound than the cma does.

switching to d8k pro - cma enables d8k pro to sound more dynamic and less congested than with the oppo - both wired using headamp dac combo of cma vs. oppo -gsx combo. - song dependent, sometimes there is no difference between systems.

Wow! I discovered something, two things actually. One - The oppo really takes it up a notch with the final when using a wired usb dac connection. And second, the CMA does something I cannot explain - it takes air away from the D8K pro and it adds air to the NDH30 - seems haed to believe it could do both except that it's just a function of frequendy response, I guess. What does this mean? It makes the midrange of the final slightly more vivid - slightly. And it makes me feel less need to boost the upper midrange on the ndh30. the ndh could still probably use a little more boost in the upper mids, but it's better. now to be clear, does this make the cma better than the oppo? the oppo is right there in dac wired mode, but i do not know - as subtle as the difference is I think it might be significant enough for me to consider buying the cma - but is it worth thouaands? no, but i was looking for a secoond system and this combines wireless wth dac and amp - which is convenient given this second system would not be at my house and requires somee degree of transport. the other question - how would the cma compare to something like the DAVE or Rossini - for, or for that matter something like the ATH DAC/amp for headphone use, specifically?

 

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I decided to separate previous notes I took from the review itself. I've had more than a week with the unit as I ultimately purchased it. I was the last on the loaner list.

Let's start with what I do not like. Most of my dislikes are ergonomic, not sonic. For example, I do not like the gain switches on the bottom. I do not like that the bluetooth pairing button is on the back. These features rarely require access for me, so in the end, their location is not a drawback to me. I do not like the resolution indicators either. The text is not lit up and so unless I use a flashlight from a close distance the text is not readable to me. Also, when I was doing switching back and forth of bluetooth vs usb input, the bluetooth would occassionally drop and the DAC needed to be turned off and back on. This didn't present as a problem in normal listening, though I pretty much use a wired connection for most of my listening now. Also, the volume control was tight. That's a good thing, except when you are trying to turn it just a little bit, it creates an unsmooth experience. I like that the knob has no wiggle, but I'd like less friction. Not a big deal, but worth noting.

A quick comparison between the cma12 and cma15. I think the 15 is slightly less bright on the amp portion. It's a little more neutral and little richer, though I admit the 12 tuning might have been more appealing in some ways because I like a brighter sound. In DAC only mode, I did not do direct comparisons and won't comment though I recall the DAC of the 12 seemed pretty nuetral and that most deviations from neutral were more attributed to the integrated amp. But the biggest differences were on two items. The switch on the 12 affected current and on the 15 changes class AB vs Class A. I'm not certain I'm stating that accurately, but I can say the CMA12 switch had a much more noticeable affect and added bass punch. On the CMA15 the difference is much more subtle and doesn't change bass quantity and punchiness. It changes the midrange and treble, typically creating a slightly warmer but more forward sound in high bias mode and a slightly thinner and clearer/more restrained/distant sound on standard bias - again we're talking very subtle difference, but noticeable to me. However, with some headphones and some music the affect differs or is not apparent at all. The other big difference between the 12 and 15 is that the 15 has bluetooth and the 12 had a useless (to me) proprietary communication method. For me this is huge.

Sound of the unit - pretty neutral. pretty clear and resolute, though maybe not the absolute best in this regard. Bluetooth vs. wired was very close performance wise, though I would ultimatelly choose wired, so I must have preferred it in a way that was hard for me to identify. The cma15 is not clinical. it's not the slammiest or most punchy or incisive of DAC/amps, but I think the sound is natural and would be hard to top. Admittedly, my experience with DACs is limited. A little more about that in a minute. Ultimately, I found the DAC and the DAC/amp combo to be excellent. I have heard some say other DACS may possess more depth but to be honest, I am not sure how big of differences really exist between top tier-DACS. I tend to think more of the differences are a result of the amplification section of the DAC.

Comparison - I use an Oppo HA-1 DAC connected to a GS-X MK2 amp for headphone listening. I do not listen to speakers with this system. Anyway, I found the Questyle CMA 15 DAC/headphone amp combo to be extremely close to my Oppo / GS-X combo. That's truly impressive. The Oppo/GS-X may have had the slightest bit more clarity, but only noticeable to a SLIGHT degree in direct comparison. I did not have present at the time of the review, but I had experience with the Chord TT2 in my system and was not impressed at the time compared to the Oppo/GS-X so that says a lot that I was impressed with the CMA15. But overall, the sound of the CMA15 was not considerably different or better than the Oppo/GS-X combo. I also prefer the interface of the Oppo for changing/viewing settings. If not for a particular use case, I would not have hesitated to send the CMA15 on its way at the end of the loan. Hold that thought. I do want to say both the Oppo and the CMA can act as a standalone DAC, or a DAC/preamp or a DAC/headphone amp. Connectivty of the Oppo is a bit better in terms of inputs - the CMA does not have balanced XLR inputs like the Oppo does. But if relying on the unit as both DAC and headphone amp, the CMA is considerably better due to the amp section. But, alas, I do not use the headphone out of the Oppo. The Oppo is considerably older technology but they both use ES DAC chips.

Use Case - so if I was not prompted to make a purchase due to improved sound quality, why did I buy the unit? Two reasons - First, I have a need for a transportable system that can compare to my big system. I can take the CMA15 and my laptop and that's all I need to achieve near-summit level quality. What's the other reason? Headphone matching. My two favorite headphones are the Final D8000 Pro and the Neumann NDH30. Remember that bias switch that many report has no sonic advantage? It's subtle but significant to me. I felt the D8000 pro could use a push in midrange presence. High bias mode does this. On the NDH30, I'd like slightly thinner mids, brighter upper midrange, and improved treble extension. Oddly, the Neumann is high impedance, but I prefer it on the standard (not high) bias setting. Not to say that the character of the headphones are completely changed by the CMA15 - it isn't but I felt they were at their best with the CMA and my issues were minimized.

Conclusion - As I said, I have limited DAC experience. I think you'd be hardpressed to get a significantly better DAC/amp, even for more money, though I do think you could also get similar quality for far cheaper. I got a good deal because the unit is now used. I also saved because I did not have to ship the unit back since I was the last reviewer. But of course, if I did not like the unit those things wouldn't matter. The quality is excellent and it meets my particular use case extremely well. For my big rig, this unit might suffice but it doesn't offer a substantial advantage to my Oppo. I will continue to explore hi-res DAC/Streamers for my main system - the main thing I'll look for is the pinnacle in clarity and resolution, separation, and overall crispness. I like a slightly forward sound too, but ultimately from my DAC, neutrality and the other attributes I just mentoined are the key. Incidentally, for this review I primarily used the GS-X amp with the Oppo but I also have a Woo WA5LE and Apex Teton connected to the Oppo so I like the idea of separates for my big rig where I like integrated units with almost equal quality for my transportable system and in a nutshell that's why I own the CMA15 now.

 

[hottyson]

I decided to separate previous notes I took from the review itself. I've had more than a week with the unit as I ultimately purchased it. I was the last on the loaner list.

Let's start with what I do not like. Most of my dislikes are ergonomic, not sonic. For example, I do not like the gain switches on the bottom. I do not like that the bluetooth pairing button is on the back. These features rarely require access for me, so in the end, their location is not a drawback to me. I do not like the resolution indicators either. The text is not lit up and so unless I use a flashlight from a close distance the text is not readable to me. Also, when I was doing switching back and forth of bluetooth vs usb input, the bluetooth would occassionally drop and the DAC needed to be turned off and back on. This didn't present as a problem in normal listening, though I pretty much use a wired connection for most of my listening now. Also, the volume control was tight. That's a good thing, except when you are trying to turn it just a little bit, it creates an unsmooth experience. I like that the knob has no wiggle, but I'd like less friction. Not a big deal, but worth noting.

A quick comparison between the cma12 and cma15. I think the 15 is slightly less bright on the amp portion. It's a little more neutral and little richer, though I admit the 12 tuning might have been more appealing in some ways because I like a brighter sound. In DAC only mode, I did not do direct comparisons and won't comment though I recall the DAC of the 12 seemed pretty nuetral and that most deviations from neutral were more attributed to the integrated amp. But the biggest differences were on two items. The switch on the 12 affected current and on the 15 changes class AB vs Class A. I'm not certain I'm stating that accurately, but I can say the CMA12 switch had a much more noticeable affect and added bass punch. On the CMA15 the difference is much more subtle and doesn't change bass quantity and punchiness. It changes the midrange and treble, typically creating a slightly warmer but more forward sound in high bias mode and a slightly thinner and clearer/more restrained/distant sound on standard bias - again we're talking very subtle difference, but noticeable to me. However, with some headphones and some music the affect differs or is not apparent at all. The other big difference between the 12 and 15 is that the 15 has bluetooth and the 12 had a useless (to me) proprietary communication method. For me this is huge.

Sound of the unit - pretty neutral. pretty clear and resolute, though maybe not the absolute best in this regard. Bluetooth vs. wired was very close performance wise, though I would ultimatelly choose wired, so I must have preferred it in a way that was hard for me to identify. The cma15 is not clinical. it's not the slammiest or most punchy or incisive of DAC/amps, but I think the sound is natural and would be hard to top. Admittedly, my experience with DACs is limited. A little more about that in a minute. Ultimately, I found the DAC and the DAC/amp combo to be excellent. I have heard some say other DACS may possess more depth but to be honest, I am not sure how big of differences really exist between top tier-DACS. I tend to think more of the differences are a result of the amplification section of the DAC.

Comparison - I use an Oppo HA-1 DAC connected to a GS-X MK2 amp for headphone listening. I do not listen to speakers with this system. Anyway, I found the Questyle CMA 15 DAC/headphone amp combo to be extremely close to my Oppo / GS-X combo. That's truly impressive. The Oppo/GS-X may have had the slightest bit more clarity, but only noticeable to a SLIGHT degree in direct comparison. I did not have present at the time of the review, but I had experience with the Chord TT2 in my system and was not impressed at the time compared to the Oppo/GS-X so that says a lot that I was impressed with the CMA15. But overall, the sound of the CMA15 was not considerably different or better than the Oppo/GS-X combo. I also prefer the interface of the Oppo for changing/viewing settings. If not for a particular use case, I would not have hesitated to send the CMA15 on its way at the end of the loan. Hold that thought. I do want to say both the Oppo and the CMA can act as a standalone DAC, or a DAC/preamp or a DAC/headphone amp. Connectivty of the Oppo is a bit better in terms of inputs - the CMA does not have balanced XLR inputs like the Oppo does. But if relying on the unit as both DAC and headphone amp, the CMA is considerably better due to the amp section. But, alas, I do not use the headphone out of the Oppo. The Oppo is considerably older technology but they both use ES DAC chips.

Use Case - so if I was not prompted to make a purchase due to improved sound quality, why did I buy the unit? Two reasons - First, I have a need for a transportable system that can compare to my big system. I can take the CMA15 and my laptop and that's all I need to achieve near-summit level quality. What's the other reason? Headphone matching. My two favorite headphones are the Final D8000 Pro and the Neumann NDH30. Remember that bias switch that many report has no sonic advantage? It's subtle but significant to me. I felt the D8000 pro could use a push in midrange presence. High bias mode does this. On the NDH30, I'd like slightly thinner mids, brighter upper midrange, and improved treble extension. Oddly, the Neumann is high impedance, but I prefer it on the standard (not high) bias setting. Not to say that the character of the headphones are completely changed by the CMA15 - it isn't but I felt they were at their best with the CMA and my issues were minimized.

Conclusion - As I said, I have limited DAC experience. I think you'd be hardpressed to get a significantly better DAC/amp, even for more money, though I do think you could also get similar quality for far cheaper. I got a good deal because the unit is now used. I also saved because I did not have to ship the unit back since I was the last reviewer. But of course, if I did not like the unit those things wouldn't matter. The quality is excellent and it meets my particular use case extremely well. For my big rig, this unit might suffice but it doesn't offer a substantial advantage to my Oppo. I will continue to explore hi-res DAC/Streamers for my main system - the main thing I'll look for is the pinnacle in clarity and resolution, separation, and overall crispness. I like a slightly forward sound too, but ultimately from my DAC, neutrality and the other attributes I just mentoined are the key. Incidentally, for this review I primarily used the GS-X amp with the Oppo but I also have a Woo WA5LE and Apex Teton connected to the Oppo so I like the idea of separates for my big rig where I like integrated units with almost equal quality for my transportable system and in a nutshell that's why I own the CMA15 now.

VERY thorough synopsis! Thank you for sharing detailed rational deductions and your analytical reasoning to support them. Excellent!!!