[Mightygrey]

Does anyone know if the DragonFly Red would offer any improvement as an external DAC? I do most of my listening from Tidal and the Draonfly supports MQA the cma600 does not.

Not really an improvement at all. It's limited to to 24/96, supports PCM-only, and is USB powered.

Unless MQA is important to you for whatever reason, save your money.

 

[cbl117]

Would a chord mojo poly offer a improvement to the cma600’s internal dac?

 

[betula]

Would a chord mojo poly offer a improvement to the cma600’s internal dac?

I tried Mojo with the CMA600i. It was a clear improvement over the built in DAC. That said, 2Qute and now the Qutest were two more big leaps in sq versus Mojo. The built in DAC is OK, but the 600i benefits a lot from higher-end DACs. It has a very competitive amp section in balanced mode regardless of price.

 

[Leviathant]

I tried Mojo with the CMA600i. It was a clear improvement over the built in DAC. That said, 2Qute and now the Qutest were two more big leaps in sq versus Mojo. The built in DAC is OK, but the 600i benefits a lot from higher-end DACs. It has a very competitive amp section in balanced mode regardless of price.

Hi, I like yourself am a fan of the Chord sound and thinking off getting a CMA600i to compliment it.

I however have the Hugo 2 which obviously already has headphone output.

Has anyone compared the Hugo 2 headphone out to the amp only section of Questyle (being fed by a Chord external DAC such as 2qute/Qutest/Hugo/Hugo2)?

I guess what I’m really trying to figure out is whether there is any true benefit of adding a Questyle 600i (and bypassing the DAC, to use the amp section only) to my chain just for the balanced headphone out. Will I lose any benefit of gained from the Balanced output considering I’ll ‘only’ be feeding it SE source? Or, even if that’s true, is the Questyle amp section a big enough step up from the Hugo 2’s to make it worth my while anyway (I might be able to get a decent price on a used CMA600i)?

Be interested in gaining insight into others experiences!

Cheers

 

[betula]

Hi, I like yourself am a fan of the Chord sound and thinking off getting a CMA600i to compliment it.

I however have the Hugo 2 which obviously already has headphone output.

Has anyone compared the Hugo 2 headphone out to the amp only section of Questyle (being fed by a Chord external DAC such as 2qute/Qutest/Hugo/Hugo2)?

I guess what I’m really trying to figure out is whether there is any true benefit of adding a Questyle 600i (and bypassing the DAC, to use the amp section only) to my chain just for the balanced headphone out. Will I lose any benefit of gained from the Balanced output considering I’ll ‘only’ be feeding it SE source? Or, even if that’s true, is the Questyle amp section a big enough step up from the Hugo 2’s to make it worth my while anyway (I might be able to get a decent price on a used CMA600i)?

Be interested in gaining insight into others experiences!

Cheers

Unfortunately I won't be able to directly compare Hugo2 vs. Hugo2 with CMA600i.

I did have a Hugo2 for a few weeks with me last year, but I had different headphones back then and didn't have the CMA600i yet.
Now I am running the Qutest into the CMA600i and use the balanced output of the amp. The Qutest is essentially the desktop version of the Hugo2.

There will be arguments on both sides, which one is better: Hugo2 alone or Hugo2 with an amp. Purists say for the matter of transparency you don't need an amp with Hugo2. Some others say they get a more enjoyable sound with an external amp even though they may loose a bit of transparency. Especially with hard to drive headphones the additional power of an external amp can come useful. It often adds body, texture and bass heft to the sound. On the other hand I remember one member said he can hardly hear a difference between Hugo2 alone or H2 connected to the Auralic Taurus which is a similarly neutral(ish) amp to the CMA600i.

Working from memory here, Hugo2 alone sounded extremely detailed (and transparent) to me, but I imagine it can sound a bit thin with certain harder to drive headphones, especially planars. All I can say about my Qutest/CMA600i combo is that I really enjoy this match. Qutest is extremely detailed, has a pitch black background, beautiful cohesiveness and 3D space with great depth, air and separation. The 600i adds awesome sweetness and smoothness to the sound, powers up the low-end especially with my planar headphones.

I imagine, adding the 600i to the H2 is technically probably unnecessary. However if you'd like a different taste of sound, a sweeter and smoother texture, which you may or may not prefer to the H2 alone, it might worth it for you. Only your ears can decide, nobody else will be able to tell you.

You can always sell the 600i later on if you don't find it beneficial. Or if you only use the H2 as a desktop DAC, and you love the taste of the 600i, you can swap the H2 for a Qutest to save money.
If you have planar headphones, I'd definitely encourage you to try the 600i as planar headphones love current more than voltage and the 600i has a lot of current.

I wouldn't worry about feeding SE DAC and using the balanced output of the 600i, the sound will be awesome. At the end of the day it is the balanced circuitry/implementation of the amp that matters and gives you the sound you want (or don't want).

I hope this is somewhat helpful.

 

[Leviathant]

Unfortunately I won't be able to directly compare Hugo2 vs. Hugo2 with CMA600i.

I did have a Hugo2 for a few weeks with me last year, but I had different headphones back then and didn't have the CMA600i yet.
Now I am running the Qutest into the CMA600i and use the balanced output of the amp. The Qutest is essentially the desktop version of the Hugo2.

There will be arguments on both sides, which one is better: Hugo2 alone or Hugo2 with an amp. Purists say for the matter of transparency you don't need an amp with Hugo2. Some others say they get a more enjoyable sound with an external amp even though they may loose a bit of transparency. Especially with hard to drive headphones the additional power of an external amp can come useful. It often adds body, texture and bass heft to the sound. On the other hand I remember one member said he can hardly hear a difference between Hugo2 alone or H2 connected to the Auralic Taurus which is a similarly neutral(ish) amp to the CMA600i.

Working from memory here, Hugo2 alone sounded extremely detailed (and transparent) to me, but I imagine it can sound a bit thin with certain harder to drive headphones, especially planars. All I can say about my Qutest/CMA600i combo is that I really enjoy this match. Qutest is extremely detailed, has a pitch black background, beautiful cohesiveness and 3D space with great depth, air and separation. The 600i adds awesome sweetness and smoothness to the sound, powers up the low-end especially with my planar headphones.

I imagine, adding the 600i to the H2 is technically probably unnecessary. However if you'd like a different taste of sound, a sweeter and smoother texture, which you may or may not prefer to the H2 alone, it might worth it for you. Only your ears can decide, nobody else will be able to tell you.

You can always sell the 600i later on if you don't find it beneficial. Or if you only use the H2 as a desktop DAC, and you love the taste of the 600i, you can swap the H2 for a Qutest to save money.
If you have planar headphones, I'd definitely encourage you to try the 600i as planar headphones love current more than voltage and the 600i has a lot of current.

I wouldn't worry about feeding SE DAC and using the balanced output of the 600i, the sound will be awesome. At the end of the day it is the balanced circuitry/implementation of the amp that matters and gives you the sound you want (or don't want).

I hope this is somewhat helpful.

That helps a lot, thanks you.

I appreciate the point you make about how adding the 600i might not technically improve the sound but instead give a bit of added flavour.

I’m thinking right now I’ll probably leave the 600i for two reasons: 1) I was planning to sell some planars to fund it but they’d probably benefit the most from the 600i. 2) my main headphone is the Utopia so the Hugo2 can drive these sufficiently on it’s own.

 

[betula]

I have found that my CMA600i sounds the best after an hour being switched on. The difference between tube/SS amps is even more meaningless to me now. Sound is all that matters.

 

[397324]

www.scvdistribution.co.uk isn't showing any Questyle products, apart from the QP2R & Focal headphone bundle. Who is the official UK importer now?

 

[betula]

www.scvdistribution.co.uk isn't showing any Questyle products, apart from the QP2R & Focal headphone bundle. Who is the official UK importer now?

I don't know if they are official UK importers, but they seem to be the two UK stores selling CMA600i at the moment: Hifiheadphones, IglooAudio.
They do pop up secondhand too around £800 or just under.

 

[397324]

They are/were definitely the official UK importers. My point was, they show other manufacturers products on their site that they are also the UK importers for and Questyle is conspicuous by its absence.

 

[esauseesaw]

They are/were definitely the official UK importers. My point was, they show other manufacturers products on their site that they are also the UK importers for and Questyle is conspicuous by its absence.

Just to clarify SCV are no longer representing the Questyle brand, hence why we have removed it from our site. As far as I know there is currently no one importing Questyle products into the UK.

 

[Mightygrey]

I just had the new Hifiman He6se arrive for review - at 83.5db sensitivity I was concerned I might not get enough juice out of the cma600i to get them singing. However running balanced I can't go past 11 o'clock on the volume pot before getting uncomfortably loud. Future-proof power indeed!

 

[betula]

I just had the new Hifiman He6se arrive for review - at 83.5db sensitivity I was concerned I might not get enough juice out of the cma600i to get them singing. However running balanced I can't go past 11 o'clock on the volume pot before getting uncomfortably loud. Future-proof power indeed!

Good to hear. I am also taking part in the HE6SE loaner tour, hopefully my pair is arriving today or tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if the HE6 benefits from the more power of my Taurus MKII vs. the 600i.

 

[Blueshound24]

I just had the new Hifiman He6se arrive for review - at 83.5db sensitivity I was concerned I might not get enough juice out of the cma600i to get them singing. However running balanced I can't go past 11 o'clock on the volume pot before getting uncomfortably loud. Future-proof power indeed!

Did you happen to run the He6SE off the SE outputs, and if so did the 600i power them well?

 

[Mightygrey]

Did you happen to run the He6SE off the SE outputs, and if so did the 600i power them well?

I didn't bother to be honest mate, no need.