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:
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.
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
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.
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