[tholt]

Brief review of the Questyle CMA Twelve Master

Background
I’m a longtime audiophile but relatively new to headphones. In fact, I had zero interest in headphones until a little over a year ago, when for various reasons having a 2-channel stereo was not an option. In true crazy audiophile fashion, I then dove head-first into headphones, and have been through many amps and sets of headphones in a short period of time. Today, I only own the Abyss 1266 Phi CC, which has been a bit of a challenge to find a suitably commensurate and synergistic amp for. Amp specs only tell half the story, IME. Raw power output alone doesn’t guarantee that the amp will sound good with the Abyss. Fortunately, the CMA Twelve Master did.

Equipment chain:
Dedicated Mac Mini with Roon managing Tidal and local files from a NAS > iFi micro iUSB3.0 (USB reclocker and cleaner) > Questyle CMA Twelve Master > Abyss 1266 Phi CC using 4-pin balanced out


Aesthetic impressions
I really like the compact factor of this all-in-one unit. It takes up little room and doesn’t generate much heat at all. The case is finished well and it's got good heft to it. And for my money, I'd take that gold finish any day! That's pretty sweet looking, IMO.

The front panel looks pretty high-tech and all business. There are small but surprisingly solid feeling switches for power, function and bias. Informationally, in lieu of an LED display for sample rate, input connection, volume level etc. are small LED lights to indicate such things. Thus, there are quite a few tiny orange lights always on that are thankfully not too bright. I happen to like this look. However, on the flip side, the description text next to each light is tiny, so there is no way to know what the lights are indicating unless you are directly in front of the unit and can read the text (or have memorized the layout). I never really found this to be an issue, because I don’t play widely varying sample rates and mostly I was just listening, reaching over to the unit only to tweak the volume.

Unfortunately, the volume knob slid completely off its axle the moment I took it out of the box. Evidently the screw holding it became loose in transit and presumably from use as a demo unit. I don’t have hex wrenches handy so I couldn’t tighten it back on. I did all my adjusting by turning the axle with my fingers, which wasn’t really an issue.

Setup
Setup is fairly straightforward for headphone use. In the back, just plug in a power cable and your choice of digital cable (I only used USB). In the front, plug in the headphones. Interestingly, there is no way to use the headphone amplifier only, as there are no analog inputs. Thus, if you buy this unit to use as a headphone amplifier, know that you’ll be using the built-in DAC as well. However, there are analog outputs to use the unit as a preamp, which adds flexibility and value.

One quirky feature is the location of the gain switches for ‘standard’ and ‘low’, the latter to be used with IEMs. These are located underneath the unit. I found that odd. Fortunately, I don’t have IEMs. If I did, I would take this feature into consideration, because it would be really difficult to change these switches on the fly. Not sure why the design decision there, but it seems a bit impractical. Another minor quibble is that per the manual, it doesn’t look like you can plug in more than one headphone at a time.

I never used the remote, but it does have one, and it looks nice and fully functional.

Sonic impressions
A screenshot of some of the tracks I used to demo is below. Beyond that, I also played a variety of EDM and alternative pop, rock and electronica tracks.



Overall, I would characterize the CMA Twelve Master as controlled, smooth and refined, with just a hint of warmth. It was not too forward nor too recessed, and the overall presentation was an accomplished, immersive and agreeable listen. I did notice that at times, the sound could be just a bit thin and light. Fortunately, the highs were not bright, which would have been made even brighter due to the thinness.

My listening notes contain the following adjectives and descriptions:

• Can sound a bit thin, so thankfully it’s not excessively bright either.
• Nicely balanced mids, not too forward or recessed
• Does have good dynamics, but this is tempered somewhat due to a perceived ‘rounding’ of edges and transients
• Warmish, edges seem a bit polished and rounded; a tad soft
• Not harsh or bright
• Clean
• Natural
• Not cold or clinical by any means
• Engaging, highly resolving
• Good sense of PRaT

The Bias switch is an interesting feature. It can be set to ‘High’ or ‘Standard’. In the High setting, it seemed to give a very slight boost in dimensionality and scale. I wouldn’t say that the soundstage got wider. Perhaps a little like a loudness switch? It was a subtle but noticeable difference vs Standard. In certain cases I thought it was a nice effect. Ultimately, however, I preferred Standard.

Conclusion
I think the CMA Twelve Master is a great product, and with the right headphones, possibly endgame for some. I have an unfortunately narrow view since I only own one pair of headphones which can be finicky with upstream gear and hard to drive properly. I can report that the CMA Twelve sounded pretty great overall.

I recall reading some reviews that noted Questyle gear could sound totally neutral and even a tad clinical, but I did not find this to the case at all here (will have to look for those specific reviews, I’m only going from memory). To me the CMA Twelve was actually just a touch on the warm side, had a very pleasant and involving sound, and worked quite well with my headphones.

At the $2k mark there are a lot of options out there. I can’t say that the CMA Twelve is head and shoulders above at least ones that I’ve owned around that price (list includes Woo WA22, Violectric V200 and V281, Wells Audio Milo, Linear Tube Audio MZ2, plus a few above and below that price point that I would consider sonically competitive), but I’d say it’s a competent performer within that price range. Plus, you get an amp and a DAC, which adds considerable value vs separates. In that context, one could argue the CMA Twelve is a bargain.

——————

Many thanks to @Todd at TTVJ for generously providing this opportunity to demo a killer product. It can be hard to demo gear for a decent timeframe in your own home, so I really appreciate that. Todd mentioned he will email who is next on the list. I shipped it out today.

 

[Reactcore]

Questyle dac/amps really seem to get ignored or undiscovered while theyre such premium products. At least be sure the reviews are posted in the showcase place to be seen outside this thread.

 

[JLoud]

Well I started my demo of the Questyle CMA 12 this week, and I will begin to share my impressions. First for the build of the unit. It is well built with very good fit and finish. Everything appears of very high quality, no complaints at all. Some may have read about the volume knob falling off for the previous reviewer. It was quickly fixed, he didn't have the necessary wrench. Probably from all the times it was shipped. It feels solid now and I have had no issues since.
The layout is clean, if a little busy. Controls are straight forward. Although the explanation of the "bias" control was a little vague. I never heard a difference toggling between the two settings. The back of the unit has plenty of inputs and outputs. But the lack of an analog input is a glaring oversight. It feels appropriately solid, yet doesn't take up too much Realestate on your desk. Overall a pretty appealing setup.
I will begin my sound impressions in the next few days and some comparisons to other gear I have on hand.

 

[JLoud]

Just a quick impression as I am doing my listening tests. The Audeze LCD-MX4 is a very good pairing for professional monitoring. Incredibly detailed and neutral. Wether this matches your musical tastes is debatable, but it is like a window into the recording. If it is recorded, you'll hear it. If not it won't lie to you. Bad recordings sound bad, good recordings, you guessed it, sound good.

 

[Reactcore]

I also played with the bias switch on a demo unit in a store but couldnt tell any difference. Not even a pop or click. Perhaps it had small effect on my 300 ohm senns.

 

[tholt]

I heard a slight difference using the Bias switch. On High, it seemed to act almost like a Loudness switch. Very subtle effect however. I stopped playing around with it and just left it on Standard.

 

[Todd]

Hi All,

If anyone else is interested in this loaner program this is last call. Email me by 5pm MST tomorrow or it will be closed for good. JLoud was last on the list and I will have him send it back to me when he is done if there are no other takers.

I hope you all enjoyed your time with the CMA Twelve Master!

Todd

 

[Reactcore]

And with the last review this thread died..

 

[slamstar]

Thank you for your review. I'm considering a purchase of CMA12 to my Focal Elear. But not Master version.

Conclusion

Would I buy this? Yes, If I was still in the midgrade buying area of DAC/amps. My ears have been so spoiled by CANJAM NYC this past weekend that I'm shooting really high to get to the level of sound I'm currently after. But, this is about this unit and I think it's of the highest of quality and If anyone is hesitant on trying it give it a go. You won't be disappointed.



I hope everyone enjoys reading my little impressions of this unit. Thank you

 

[hammondfan]

Hello everybody in this thread. I have this unit and from the manual it looks like you can connect 2 headphones at the same time this way only: 1 in the XLR output (balanced) and 1 in the 6.3mm jack )not balanced). You cannot connect 2 balanced outputs at the same time and if you connect the 4.4 mm output you cannot connect the 6.3mm output. Can someone confirm me my understanding is correct ? Thank you very much in advance !
Dejan

 

[hammondfan]

This is my first experience with a Questyle product of any kind. My expectations were kept to a minimum but my excitement was high. I couldn’t wait to hear what this amp was going to sound like paired with some of my favorite headphones.

Build quality is first rate. The aluminum chassis looks and feels solid. The slim form factor worked out well for where I had it sitting on my desktop. The mix of amber and red indicator lights are a nice touch and are not bright or distracting. Buttons and switches are nicely laid out. Questyle choose to go with an LED approach, instead of adding a display, for indicating the sample rate and source which keeps everything analog and clean.

From the spec sheet CMA Twelve Master is designed with four groups of Current Mode amplifiers. It’s a design choice to have the amplification (gain) take place in the current domain rather in voltage domain. But from reading on the design of this amp both are used. The input and output stages remain voltage. The input signal is amplified in current to improve bandwidth and have a better slew rate, which in theory lets the amplifier respond faster to abrupt changes in input level.

At some point amplifiers run out of gain at some bandwidth and can’t amplify to certain high frequencies. It’s here that the feedback stops working and it’s at that point the bandwidth needs to be limited to below that point. The limited bandwidth results in an amplifier having a lower slew rate meaning it cannot handle the sharp transients. This is where the benefits of converting the input voltage to current come into play. There is more current to work with than voltage-controlled designed amplifiers. As a result, the bandwidth is much higher and the resulting amplifier has better slew rates. This could explain why the CMA Twelve Master sounds fast and has less decay between notes.

I hope I explained Current Mode technology enough with sounding to technical. It’s a huge topic and a design choice which Questyle has implemented very well in this amp. The Pure Class A BIAS Control that’s also a feature of this amp ensures that the CMA Twelve Master operates only in a pure Class A when driving different loads for the best possible listening experience.

There’s also a 5GHz wireless audio system on board so that you can connect to wireless speakers. This amp is packing a lot of features and is a great all in one device. Here are the power specs:

247mW @ 300Ω; 900mW @ 32Ω(6.35mm headphone jack)
825mW @ 300Ω; 2W @ 32Ω (balanced headphone jack)

The power specs are pretty decent. There are definitely amps out there that provide more power. For example, the Soundaware P1 provides 6 watts of power at the same impedance but to me lacks the refinement of the CMA Twelve Master. So power is only part of the story. There’s a 4.4 mm balanced headphone jack, a 4PIN balanced headphone jack and a 6.35mm headphone jack. I’m glad to see the inclusion of the 4.4mm pentaconn jack. I hope to see this feature added to more desktop amps in the future.

For inputs there’s a USB Type B that supports 44.1kHz-384kHz/16Bit-32Bit PCM and DSD Native DSD64, DSD128, DSD256, as well as DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 of DoP format. For the digital inputs and outputs the CMA Twelve Master includes a SPDIF input and output, an optical input, and a AES/EBU input that supports 44.1kHz-192kHz/16Bit-24Bit PCM.

For the Pre-amp and DAC out sections there is a set of balanced XLR outputs along with a set of unbalanced RCA outputs. This amp is well equipped to handle all sources and the latest headphone connections. For those with 2.5mm balanced connection will need and 4.4mm adapter to enjoy this amp.

Now that all the technical jargon is out of the way lets get to what I think this amp sounds like. I started my listening off with my ZMF Auteurs. These have an impendence 300 Ohms a sensitivity of 97dB so they are not the hardest to drive but do require a decent amount of power to get the best out of them. These are beautifully handcrafted headphones. They are gorgeous to look at and are fairly light weight considering the build materials. Do they sound good with the CMA Twelve Master? You bet they did. Listening to reggae music with this combo the bass was deep and textured. The mids were creamy and slightly upfront and the treble to my ears was detailed and had very good clarity. I had no issue raising the volume and enjoying a very balanced sound. The Auteurs are on the warmer side of neutral and one of the most musical headphones I own. The CMA Twelve Master is an excellent pairing for them. The clean, dynamic, and composed sound of this amp gives the bass some heft and weight, nice! The musical display I’m hearing from this pairing is 1st class. Each note is weighted and vocals sound so natural. This is a great headphone and the CMA Twelve Master lets you experience a lot of what they have to offer.

Moving on the Audio-Technica AP2000Ti headphones will let me see how versatile this amp can be. The AP2000Ti’s are much easier to drive at 44 Ohms and a sensitivity of 100dB. If there is noise, I should be able to detect it. Not surprising at all, the CMA Twelve Master remained quiet and the background was black. I couldn’t detect any background noise which is a tribute to build quality of this amp. The AP2000Ti’s are at the complete opposite end of the music spectrum from the Auteurs. Audio-Technica is known for producing bright, bass lite headphones. The AP2000Ti’s are on the brighter side of neutral but it is not bass lite. It’s not a bass heavy headphone by any means. The bass is well defined and has excellent punch. It blends very well with the awesome mids and the treble presentation is one of the best I’ve heard from any headphone.

The AP2000Ti’s are clear, clean and dynamic. For it to be a closed headphone these are quite spacious and open sounding. The warmish tone of the CMA Twelve Master is a superb match for the AP2000Ti’s. I can listen to this combo all day. There is so much detail and clarity from each note. These headphones have great imaging and soundstage depth and the CMA Twelve Master brings them to life.

Next up is the headphone that’s been getting most of my head time lately and it’s the Sennheiser HD820’s. If you’ve heard the HD800/S models then you are familiar with the sound. Except, to my ears these are better. I find the HD820’s more natural sounding with a warmer tone and much better bass. The soundstage is big, wide and spacious and the CMA Twelve Master enhances every feature of them. The bass is deep, layered with superb definition and power. The midrange is smooth, balanced and inviting. The treble is toned downed from the HD800/S but doesn’t lose any detail. The HD820’s has a much more engaging sound. The treble clarity and extension are still there and the CMA Twelve Master renders music through these headphones with aplomb.

The rhythmic pace of these headphones and the CMA Twelve Master is impressive. Every instrument can be heard and pictured in your head. Music sounds very cohesive, balanced, and full bodied. Vocals are very well articulated and expressive. The music itself that this pairing is delivering is expressive and organized, warm, dynamic with excellent tone. What a listen!!

Lastly, I tried my Susvara’s. I knew based on the specs that it was going to be a long shot if the CMA Twelve was going to be able to drive them efficiently and well it wasn’t the best pairing. I won’t go into much detail but the CMA Twelve Master lacks the drive to get the very best out of the Susvara’s. The CMA Twelve could not do justice to the Susvara’s like it did with the HD820’s, Auteur’s, and the AP2000Ti’s. With that said this is an outstanding DAC/Amp solution for everything except for one of the most demanding headphones on the plant. I have no problem recommending the CMA Twelve Master to headphone enthusiasts with a wide variety of headphones. I really enjoyed my time with this amp and I will definitely miss it. Thanks, Todd for the opportunity to demo such an amazing all in one solution. The CMA Twelve Master is worthy of ownership.

I use it in studio and passive modes to feed a.Kinki THR1 to my Susvara. Inn that config does the Cma amp play a part or is it not used at all ? The result out off the Kinki sounds amazing. Although even using only the cma12 directly in studio mode was.already very good and I didnt have to turn the knob past 3 ...

 

[Slim1970]

I use it in studio and passive modes to feed a.Kinki THR1 to my Susvara. Inn that config does the Cma amp play a part or is it not used at all ? The result out off the Kinki sounds amazing. Although even using only the cma12 directly in studio mode was.already very good and I didnt have to turn the knob past 3 ...

I hear very good things about the Kinki THR1, nice amp. If your using the CMA Twelve is passive it shouldn’t be affecting the signal at all.