[TheMiddleSky]

it's been a while since the last time I actived here in this thread.

CMA600i still serve me well, and it does surprise me how good focal clear (in balance mode) pair with 600i. Definitely I can feel the neutral tone, but still got that toe tapping effect at the same time. Soundstage does really well, wide and depth projected accurate, bass hit hard, but not bloated or having too long decay. Treble sparkle satisfy me enough (I like neutral to dark character), more sparkle than my Aeon Open, but nothing sharp or harsh like Beyer T1 or Senn HD800 here. Lovely combo!

 

[fluidz]

Video demonstrating the issue of "popping" after approx 3 seconds of pausing/stopping audio playback.

I tested with my iPhone 8 to see if it was isolated to Windows 10, using a camera connection kit (lightning to usb) and the exact same thing happens.

Optical input to the 600i no issues. Only seems to affect usb.

In this video I was demonstrating audio being played back in Youtube using Firefox.

A crackle can be heard when starting playback, but this seems to affect other dac/amps too.

Recorded using an iPhone 8 and umik-1 mic.

 

[stevedlu]

Video demonstrating the issue of "popping" after approx 3 seconds of pausing/stopping audio playback.

I tested with my iPhone 8 to see if it was isolated to Windows 10, using a camera connection kit (lightning to usb) and the exact same thing happens.

Optical input to the 600i no issues. Only seems to affect usb.

In this video I was demonstrating audio being played back in Youtube using Firefox.

A crackle can be heard when starting playback, but this seems to affect other dac/amps too.

Recorded using an iPhone 8 and umik-1 mic.

I see you have both the 600i and the Mojo. Have you tried using the Mojo as the DAC for the 600i Amp and bypassing the mediocre sounding bult-in DAC? I find this combo absolutely AMAZING and is pushing my LCD-3 to its performance limits.

 

[Blueshound24]

I see you have both the 600i and the Mojo. Have you tried using the Mojo as the DAC for the 600i Amp and bypassing the mediocre sounding bult-in DAC? I find this combo absolutely AMAZING and is pushing my LCD-3 to its performance limits.

Unfortunately, that was my thoughts about the built-in DAC as well. But the amp is spectacular.

 

[stevedlu]

Agreed. This product is quite the enigma. Those of you that are having problems with "popping" issues, disappointed by sound, or are thinking of an upgrade. Do your self a favor. Bypass the DAC and get a higher quality one. For example, the Mojo is only 580USD and is probably the best price to performance DAC on the market. Just the AMP of the 600i is well worth the price tag, if not a bargain considering how damn good is sounds with a proper source. I think if Questyle sold the AMP separately it would be a much more appreciated product.

 

[up late]

kind of defeats its purpose tho

 

[stevedlu]

kind of defeats its purpose tho

Not nessesarily. Its not like you have to hack the device to bypass the DAC. There are ports in the back and a switch on the front for this exact PURPOSE. I'll recommend the 600i as a stand alone AMP all day long.

 

[up late]

well it does for me anyway, as my interest in it was as an integrated dac/head-amp

 

[stevedlu]

well it does for me anyway, as my interest in it was as an integrated dac/head-amp

While the idea of an AMAZING dac/amp combo seems nice. Not many exist, if any, in the wild, especially for power hungry headphones.

 

[up late]

it doesn't have to be "AMAZING" but i would hope that the dac's performance isn't so outclassed by the amp that it really is as "mediocre" and "disappointing" as some folks here are saying. that's why i regard such a disparity in performance as defeating the purpose of having an all-in-one component.

 

[stevedlu]

it doesn't have to be "AMAZING" but i would hope that the dac's performance isn't so outclassed by the amp that it really is as "mediocre" and "disappointing" as some folks here are saying. that's why i regard such a disparity in performance as defeating the purpose of having an all-in-one component.

Well if you are looking for performances of the DAC and AMP to be on equal footing in a combo then you are probably settling for middle of the road performance anyways. In that case I would agree, save your money for something cheaper. A lot of high grade DACs have headphone outs as an after thought...people don't use them. This just happens to be the other way around. Questyles claim to fame is Current Mode Amplification (which happens to be quite amazing), not digital to analog conversion.

 

[up late]

that comes off as condescending. while i appreciate that an integrated unit is considered a compromise by audiophile purists, i don't think it follows that it must by definition only offer "middle of the road" performance.

questyle is marketing the cma600i as a dac with headphone amp and not the other way around btw.

 

[stevedlu]

that comes off as condescending. while i appreciate that an integrated unit is considered a compromise by audiophile purists, i don't think it follows that it must by definition only offer "middle of the road" performance.

questyle is marketing the cma600i as a dac with headphone amp and not the other way around btw.

I don’t see where Questyle is marketing it as a dac. We are discussing this in the Amp forum... not the DAC forum.

 

[hondavy]

Kinda diverging here - that's a desktop alternative, or an upgrade, to Chord Mojo that pairs well with 600i?

 

[up late]

I don’t see where Questyle is marketing it as a dac. We are discussing this in the Amp forum... not the DAC forum.

it's on questyle's website: https://www.questyleaudio.com/index.php/product/CMA600i

yes, this is the amp forum and we are discussing the cma600i dac/amp. there's no need to split hairs over it. the thread could have been started in the headphone amps or dedicated source components forums. either forum would be appropriate for this component.