A portable HiFi DAC and headphone amplifier with the best sound quality and functions? Questyle M18i review
2024-12-20 20:43:49
A dream work that audiophiles are looking forward to, the "complete form" of the little tail?
The M18i DAC and headphone amplifier from Questyle Audio is a newly upgraded flagship product based on the M15i. It has a built-in 500mA battery and added functions such as Bluetooth DAC and headphone amplifier. Compared with the M15i, it has more powerful performance and a higher degree of tuning. It is the
"complete" portable HiFi DAC and headphone amplifier in the minds of many audiophiles.
Support lossless Bluetooth & USB DAC dual mode
Compared with M15i, M18i supports switching between three working modes: Bluetooth, PC and mobile phone. The body has a built-in switching button, which can switch the working mode at will.
In addition, the M18i also provides volume increase and decrease, power on and off, MFB mode (tracks can be switched in MFB mode)/GAIN gain switch buttons and an Infineon flagship microphone.
It has an external fully laminated OLED screen that can check the working status in real time. It has a built-in 500mA battery, which will not consume the power of the mobile phone and cause a significant decrease in the battery life of the phone. It also has powerful thrust and can drive high-impedance headphones.
M18i has an external charging port, which makes charging convenient. Due to its small size, the battery life of M18i cannot compare with that of portable DAC/Amplifier with large size and high battery capacity, but it supports the function of charging while listening, so you don’t have to worry about battery life.
M18i supports 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm headphone jacks
M18i supports type-c to lightning and type-c to type-c audio cables. If conditions permit, you can also change to an upgraded cable, which will significantly improve the sound quality.
It has obtained Apple's MFi license certification, supports iPhone/iPad and Apple ecosystem connection, meets Apple's requirements for power consumption and compatibility of external devices, and avoids the risk of damage to the phone and system caused by random USB devices. M18i has a built-in 16-core XMOS316 USB chip, which supports full compatibility with mobile phones, PCs, and game consoles.
The M18i uses ESS's flagship model ES9219Q DAC decoding chip, a total of two chips, supporting PCM384 | DSD256 high-definition audio decoding. Each chip contains two DACs, corresponding to the R and L channel outputs respectively.
The M18i uses the TTA (Three-Tier Architecture) decoding architecture that is comparable to desktop devices. Under the test environment of Kuangshi Laboratory, it achieved an ultra-low noise floor of -130dB, which is more powerful than most small-sized decoding headphone amplifiers on the market.
The M18i contains two sets of four sets of Kuangshi's current mode "patented amplifier SiP modules", with a peak current output of up to 1.5A. Under the real load condition of 300 ohms, the distortion is as low as 0.0002%, and the sound is high-definition and realistic. The current mode amplification technology combined with the TOREX power management system can achieve ultra-low power consumption.
Driving high impedance earphones without strange sounds
Xiong Miao used M18i to drive the high-impedance Sennheiser HD600 and turned on the high-gain mode. The headphones did not have problems such as weak dynamics, weak transients, very vague sound density, and poor sound resolution. On the contrary, the listening experience was quite good, proving that the thrust is still acceptable.
Strong Bluetooth compatibility
The Bluetooth function of M18i is equally powerful. It supports Bluetooth 5.4 protocol, LDAC, AAC, SBC, aptX™, aptX, aptX HD, Adaptive, LE AUDIO, and Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound™ technology. LDAC supports 24bit/96kHz and can be used as a Bluetooth decoding headphone amplifier.
In addition, in order to facilitate audiophiles to have clear conversations with others when using wired HiFi headphones (without microphones), it has a built-in Infineon flagship microphone and uses the Qualcomm cVc Generation 8.0 call solution. This technology can suppress environmental noise and achieve the function of call noise reduction. Audiophiles no longer have to worry about not being able to make calls because the headphones have no microphone.
Chat about sound, mobile phone wired mode, audio measurement interface 4.4mm
First, I chose Audiomachine's "Conflict of Interest", a neoclassical art piece with great dynamic changes.
The M18i excels in expressing large dynamic changes in sound. In the prelude of this piece, you can hear the rapid changes in sound, which is very impressive. The sounds of the violin and low-frequency instruments can be freely controlled regardless of large or micro dynamics. The ups and downs of the sound waves are clean and neat, not weak or dragged out. In addition, the sound field is open and grand, and the sound has a certain thickness. This piece of music sounds shocking, relaxed and grand from beginning to end. Such a surging listening experience has always been the forte of Kuangshi.
Next, let's talk about the details of the sound. The fast-played violin strings sound very textured, the sound shape is condensed and not blurred, but bright and clear. There are no problems with analysis and sound dynamics due to the pianist playing too fast, resulting in no weakness or blurred sound details, and no layered listening experience.
The sound details of the friction between the strings and the bow are layered and clear. Even the faintest sounds can be heard without any fuzziness or dimness. The sound has a certain thickness, and the thickness of the sound is not reduced due to the good resolution quality of the M18i. It sounds full and the details are clear.
The resonant sound produced when playing the violin releases a lot of overtone details, which sounds full and bright. Coupled with the ensemble of low-frequency instruments, this song sounds very shocking and grand.
When several instruments play together, M18i can give each other an orderly positioning distance. The sound will not give you a strong sense of envelopment and crowding, and there is no obvious sense of margin. When you use the high-resolution flagship HiFi headphones to listen to M18i, this loose and atmospheric sound with thickness, rich details and information is fascinating. If you listen more carefully, you will find that the timbre of M18i is slightly warm, which will not make the sound feel cold and rigid.
Continue listening to the jazz trio, Beegie Adair's "Fly Me To The Moo"
This piece of music is played at a relatively fast tempo, and the M18i responds very sensitively to the transients of the sound. The drums and the fast-played piano sound clean and neat, not a beat late or too scattered. The piece of music sounds full of music, fresh and lively.
The prelude's drum brushes, cello, and piano concertos all sound very clear, and the image contours of the sound shapes are not fuzzy. When the drummer uses the drum brush, you can hear the rich details of the sound particle diffusion, as well as the deep dive of the tail sound, and the sound has a granular feel.
The density of the piano sound is sufficient, full and solid, not scattered, and the timbre is slightly warm. The piano does not sound cold and straightforward, and the vibrato produced at the end of the piano sounds layered and has depth.
The cello can hear the ups and downs of the sound waves produced by the strings being plucked vigorously, and the buzzing resonance sound can also be heard. The resonance of the strings sounds elastic and lingering. In the later stage of the song, the drums will hit the drum surface and the cymbals quickly, the sound is clean and sharp, and the tail sound produced by the vibration of the eardrum and cymbals has depth.
Next, listen to the vocals, "When I Dream" by Carol Kid
Carol Kid's voice sounds warm and full, with a clear and solid sound shape. Her voice does not sound fuzzy and the image outline is very clear. She used a lot of vibrato and long exhalation singing when singing this song, which sounds smooth and fluent. The vibrato has a rich granularity and resonant sound waves, making her ending sound very magnetic and emotional, proving that the M18i's breath detail analysis is very accurate.
The sibilance that everyone hates to hear is basically not present in the M18i. Even when paired with the N5005 headphones which have a lot of sibilance in vocals, the sibilance is greatly reduced. The vocals sound emotional, thick, dense, clear and delicate, with a slight warmth, which is a sound that Xiong Miao personally likes very much.
This song has a guitar accompaniment. The guitar sounds bright and clean, and the sound of the plucked strings is elastic. Combined with Carol Kid's lyrical singing, it is a very beautiful and charming sound, and the vocal tuning is so exquisite and delicate.
Finally, listen to a pop song, "On & On" by FLO
The drums of this song sound passionate and surging with M18i, the percussion is very powerful, the sound shape is solid and not loose or fuzzy, and there is a full sense of rebound. The overtones are diffused naturally and loosely, creating a warm atmosphere. It is not easy to get tired when listening to pop music for a long time. The sound does not feel aggressive. The sound texture is good and it has a very energetic and surging listening experience.
While the M18i has sufficient low-frequency density and abundant energy, it does not make the low-frequency sound any more boomy. The sound density is well controlled and there is a separation distance between it and the vocals, which will not oppress the clarity of the vocal imaging.
An almost perfect industrial product
After listening to musical instruments, large-scale music, vocals, and pop music, Xiong Miao found it difficult to hear obvious sound shortcomings and dislikes from the M18i. All three frequencies have a very good listening experience, the sound is thick, textured, and vibrant, and it is a good sound no matter what style you listen to.
If I must complain, I think that apart from the fact that the M18i is not suitable for audiophiles who like heavily distorted sounds or those who like a strong monitoring feel, there seems to be nothing else to judge about it. Of course, liking or disliking it is a personal subjective aesthetic of sound, and there is no such thing as the M18i having any sound shortcomings.
