skwoodwiva
500+ Head-Fier
i have never used buds but for the apple buds from the x.
i love my BW p7s.
What is your favorite open phone?
Questyle QP2R Loaner Program!
- Thread starter Todd
- Start date
i love my BW p7s.
What is your favorite open phone?
nytryder7
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2005
- Posts
- 352
- Likes
- 13
Hey guys, any idea where we are along the list?
ngoshawk
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2015
- Posts
- 2,437
- Likes
- 2,889
I am in possession of the QP2R, and I believe @shenanbay is next. I have his mailing address, and will ship this wonderful critter out tomorrow afternoon. I am finishing my musings and video. Unfortunately, due to being out of town I only had four days with it. Guess I will have to save my pennies and purchase one...
wormsdriver
Headphoneus Supremus
Hey guys, just as an update the QP2R is in my possession. 
wormsdriver
Headphoneus Supremus
Hey guys after spending some time with the Questyle QP2R here are my impressions of it.
Before I begin I would like to personally thank Todd Green of TTVJ Audio for the oppurtunity to demo this unit in the comfort of my own home. As you all know, this unit is a loaner and it will be sent out to the next participant in the tour after my time is up so that he /she can demo it.
Ok, so let's get started!
I received the unit complete in it's retail box. Packaging is good for a premium product such as this. Sliding the inner box from the outer box went smooth. The inner box opens up into two sides. On one side the unit itself which is covered by a sheet of light foam for protcetion. On the other side there is a USB type-c cable used for charging the battery in the unit and also for using with your PC/Mac to transfer files or it can be used as a USB DAC. When I plugged it in my Windows laptop it automatically recognized it and installed the proper drivers so that worked without a hitch.
Beside the USB cable there is a 3.5mm optical adapter since the QP2R can also be used as an optical transport out to another DAC. Opposite to the USB cable and adapter lies another compartment with two small black boxes. Inside one of the boxes is a micro-fiber like carrying pouch which I find totally impractical to use with such a premium DAP. To begin with it offers little to no protection and it looks like it will barely fit the QP2R to begin with! The other box holds two cards and a folded up manual with a brief summary of the device's picture along with a diagram of the buttons on the unit and what they are used for. The two cards hold some information on burn-in time and also a brief description on the QP2R Bias control. I would have liked to have seen Questyle provide a premium leather case instead of the silly pouch but alas, it was not to be!
Moving on to the device itself, I find it to be of a good heft. Very solid feeling and of very good craftsmanship. The entire outer edges, volume pot and all the outer buttons are metal. The front and back of it are actually glass on the surface and unfortunately so is the scroll wheel and select button in the middle of the scroll wheel. To be quite frank, the scroll wheel in my opinion is the biggest blunder on this unit. It is one of the most important (if not the most important) mechanical/tactile way for operating the actual unit and they messed it up by having such a slick surface that it was down right annoying within the first few minutes of using the unit. Thankfully Questyle does include a couple of stick on pads that go directly mounted on top of the scroll wheel and select button that are very efficient and do not take much of the pleasing aesthetic away from this lovely unit. Once I put on the pad on the scroll wheel everything went much smoother and all concerns about the poor scroll wheel design and surface of it simply disappeared, Well done Questyle! For those who are curious, if you remember the first generation Fiio X5's rubbery, grippy scroll wheel, this is exactly what the included stick on pad reminds me of and needless to say it works so much better now. Another issue for me was that without a proper case installed on the unit, it is slick very slick. Combine that with that hefty weight and glass surfaces on both front and back of the unit and that spells a recipe for disaster on it's first accidental fall.
Turning on the unit, I find it takes a bit under 20 seconds for it to boot up and actually start playing music. I would say navigation of the unit is (mostly) intuitive. The main menu is very simple and devised into five categories which are:
1. Playing: goes to "now playing" screen.
2. Category: You can choose your music by Track/Artist/Album/Genre/DSD. I though being able to choose your DSD files straight from here was a nice touch!
3. Playlists: you can choose from your save playlist here.
4. Browse Files: Search for your music from the unit's internal memory or from your SD card.
5. Settings: Choose what settings you would like to use on the unit such as; Cover Art, Gain, BIAS (standard or high), DSD gain, Equalizer (two custom settings plus EQ off), Volume setting, (L + R) Balance, Hifi Hub analog out volume, Hifi Hub output, USB (use as DAC or storage device), Sleep Timer, Update Library, Play Mode (repeat, repeat all, shuffle, etc.), Gapless Playback (On/Off), Breakpoint play (choose where to continue after powering up your unit), Power on Volume (choose between Memory or Custom), Custom Power on Volume (customize what volume level the unit will automatically adjust to everytime you power on the unit), Volume Direction (choose which way you want the volume wheel to max out, i.e. left/right), Volume Lock (On/Off), Backlight Brightness (5 levels), Backlight time, Lock back and forward keys (Turn off back/forward keys on front bottom of the unit), Flip Fuction, Touch Sensitivity Setting, Vibration (Off/standard/high), Auto shut down (on/off), Format (internal memory/sd card), Reset (Restore unit to factory default), Update Firmware, and About (QP2R info).
The 2.4" IPS LCD display is nothing to write home about but it gets the job done. The top status bar holds just enough information that is useful. Under that is of course the Album Cover art and beneath it is the Track Title along with bit rate information, time remainding in the track being played and what track number out of how many tracks are in the folder/Album. Also on the front is four touch sensitive buttons (back arrow, Favorite/Add To/Loop/Delete, Forward and Back) along with the above mentioned scroll wheel and select button.
On top of the QP2R is the volume wheel which does a soft clicking sound when it is being turned providing good tacktile feedback. Also worth mentioning is the protruding chassis of the unit providing protection of the volume wheel on either side. Next to this is a standard 3.5mm jack and also a 2.5mm balanced jack.
On the right side of the unit is the power button along with an indicator light that will turn either orange or amber depending on which BIAS setting you choose in settings. Orange indicates the High BIAS is engaged, amber light is for Standard BIAS.
On the left side is the PLAY/PAUSE button followed by a BACK button on top and a FORWARD button on the bottom.
On bottom of the unit you will find one micro SD card slot and also a USB type-C input. An extra slot for another SD card would have been better but as a small consolation prize the QP2R has 64gb of internal storage which is not bad!
Battery life was better than what I expected compared to the last DAP I had, the AK100ii which I remember would drain much faster. I would say the 10 hour battery life posted on the box should hold true IME. Charging time also seems to go by fast so kudos for that.
Listening Impressions...
To cut to the chase, I have really enjoyed my time with the QP2R. It sounds good with what I have here on hand. To me it sounded like the player got out of the way and let the headphones do their thing and did it in a superb way. Most of my listening was done with my Ultrasone Signature Pro since it's my go to portable and the cans I take to work where most of my listening was done. My previous source with the Sig Pro was the Chord Mojo and although unfortunately I sold and shipped out my Mojo one day before I got the QP2R for any direct comparisons I felt the Mojo + Sig Pro combo was still fresh in my head. With that said I enjoyed the QP2R more so than the Mojo. I felt the QP2R was less colored and maybe a bit more natural. Treble seemed to shine a bit more. It was present, smooth and very detailed. The QP2R has a very good amount of high resolution IMO. Mids seemed uncolored and all I could hear was whatever headphone I was listening to. The Grado Rs1 also was a good match and the Questyle played well with its strengths. This is a vintage Rs1 which are known to be a bit smoother than Grados that came after it and this particular one I've always found very engaging. It has always managed to move me and keep my head banging and my foot tapping to the music. Once again I felt the Questyle got out of the way of the RS1 and I was just listening to the headphones. It did not add anything that didn't belong there. The small soundtage was still small, this headphone is intimate and that's how I like it! Both of the headphones have a bump in the midbass and are quite colored on their own so the QP2R being neutral and organic was just what the doctor ordered. I did not hear the upper mids get thin like they do with other so called "neutral" gear which is great! The Midbass was still prominent like it's supposed to sound on both these cans with maybe a touch of warmth that sounded natural to my ears.
Now on to more damanding headphones...
Two days before shipping out the unit I received a pair of Ether C which are trickier cans to drive compared to the previous two mentioned before. So far I found the Ethers much more balanced than the Rs1 and Sig. Pro. They are also higher resolving and have a bigger and deeper soundstage. Worth mentioning is the fact that while the Ether C did come with the upgraded D.U.M. cable, it is terminated in a 6.3mm jack so I was not able to use balanced mode from the QP2R which definitely should make a noticeable difference with these cans. While it definitely seems to do an admirable job at driving it single ended, it was a bit too thin in the mids for my liking. I then connected the QP2R to my old Headamp Gilmore Lite and that gave the mids and treble more body and made the Ether C sound a bit bigger, fuller and more natural vs using the QP2R on it's own to drive them.
The QP2R had a solid black background in my testing, but keep in mind I do not have sensitive iems that will pick up the slightest noise so YMMV.
I was also able to plug in the unit to my amp and speakers very briefly for a couple of tracks and once again the unit impressed me. The speakers are the Elac Uni-fi Ub5 and once again I just had the strange feeling the player got out of the way and I was just listening to the speakers. The treble and upper mids in particular stood out to me as I could hear all the details while it stayed on the smooth side, not harsh or shouty.
In conclusion I thought the QP2R is an awesome portable that could also be used as an all in one unit for people like myself that need good sound in a portable package. As a DAP, a USB DAC, with a line out to a headphone amp or even speaker amp the QP2R did a great job and it gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me! Thanks for reading!
Before I begin I would like to personally thank Todd Green of TTVJ Audio for the oppurtunity to demo this unit in the comfort of my own home. As you all know, this unit is a loaner and it will be sent out to the next participant in the tour after my time is up so that he /she can demo it.
Ok, so let's get started!
I received the unit complete in it's retail box. Packaging is good for a premium product such as this. Sliding the inner box from the outer box went smooth. The inner box opens up into two sides. On one side the unit itself which is covered by a sheet of light foam for protcetion. On the other side there is a USB type-c cable used for charging the battery in the unit and also for using with your PC/Mac to transfer files or it can be used as a USB DAC. When I plugged it in my Windows laptop it automatically recognized it and installed the proper drivers so that worked without a hitch.
Beside the USB cable there is a 3.5mm optical adapter since the QP2R can also be used as an optical transport out to another DAC. Opposite to the USB cable and adapter lies another compartment with two small black boxes. Inside one of the boxes is a micro-fiber like carrying pouch which I find totally impractical to use with such a premium DAP. To begin with it offers little to no protection and it looks like it will barely fit the QP2R to begin with! The other box holds two cards and a folded up manual with a brief summary of the device's picture along with a diagram of the buttons on the unit and what they are used for. The two cards hold some information on burn-in time and also a brief description on the QP2R Bias control. I would have liked to have seen Questyle provide a premium leather case instead of the silly pouch but alas, it was not to be!
Moving on to the device itself, I find it to be of a good heft. Very solid feeling and of very good craftsmanship. The entire outer edges, volume pot and all the outer buttons are metal. The front and back of it are actually glass on the surface and unfortunately so is the scroll wheel and select button in the middle of the scroll wheel. To be quite frank, the scroll wheel in my opinion is the biggest blunder on this unit. It is one of the most important (if not the most important) mechanical/tactile way for operating the actual unit and they messed it up by having such a slick surface that it was down right annoying within the first few minutes of using the unit. Thankfully Questyle does include a couple of stick on pads that go directly mounted on top of the scroll wheel and select button that are very efficient and do not take much of the pleasing aesthetic away from this lovely unit. Once I put on the pad on the scroll wheel everything went much smoother and all concerns about the poor scroll wheel design and surface of it simply disappeared, Well done Questyle! For those who are curious, if you remember the first generation Fiio X5's rubbery, grippy scroll wheel, this is exactly what the included stick on pad reminds me of and needless to say it works so much better now. Another issue for me was that without a proper case installed on the unit, it is slick very slick. Combine that with that hefty weight and glass surfaces on both front and back of the unit and that spells a recipe for disaster on it's first accidental fall.
Turning on the unit, I find it takes a bit under 20 seconds for it to boot up and actually start playing music. I would say navigation of the unit is (mostly) intuitive. The main menu is very simple and devised into five categories which are:
1. Playing: goes to "now playing" screen.
2. Category: You can choose your music by Track/Artist/Album/Genre/DSD. I though being able to choose your DSD files straight from here was a nice touch!
3. Playlists: you can choose from your save playlist here.
4. Browse Files: Search for your music from the unit's internal memory or from your SD card.
5. Settings: Choose what settings you would like to use on the unit such as; Cover Art, Gain, BIAS (standard or high), DSD gain, Equalizer (two custom settings plus EQ off), Volume setting, (L + R) Balance, Hifi Hub analog out volume, Hifi Hub output, USB (use as DAC or storage device), Sleep Timer, Update Library, Play Mode (repeat, repeat all, shuffle, etc.), Gapless Playback (On/Off), Breakpoint play (choose where to continue after powering up your unit), Power on Volume (choose between Memory or Custom), Custom Power on Volume (customize what volume level the unit will automatically adjust to everytime you power on the unit), Volume Direction (choose which way you want the volume wheel to max out, i.e. left/right), Volume Lock (On/Off), Backlight Brightness (5 levels), Backlight time, Lock back and forward keys (Turn off back/forward keys on front bottom of the unit), Flip Fuction, Touch Sensitivity Setting, Vibration (Off/standard/high), Auto shut down (on/off), Format (internal memory/sd card), Reset (Restore unit to factory default), Update Firmware, and About (QP2R info).
The 2.4" IPS LCD display is nothing to write home about but it gets the job done. The top status bar holds just enough information that is useful. Under that is of course the Album Cover art and beneath it is the Track Title along with bit rate information, time remainding in the track being played and what track number out of how many tracks are in the folder/Album. Also on the front is four touch sensitive buttons (back arrow, Favorite/Add To/Loop/Delete, Forward and Back) along with the above mentioned scroll wheel and select button.
On top of the QP2R is the volume wheel which does a soft clicking sound when it is being turned providing good tacktile feedback. Also worth mentioning is the protruding chassis of the unit providing protection of the volume wheel on either side. Next to this is a standard 3.5mm jack and also a 2.5mm balanced jack.
On the right side of the unit is the power button along with an indicator light that will turn either orange or amber depending on which BIAS setting you choose in settings. Orange indicates the High BIAS is engaged, amber light is for Standard BIAS.
On the left side is the PLAY/PAUSE button followed by a BACK button on top and a FORWARD button on the bottom.
On bottom of the unit you will find one micro SD card slot and also a USB type-C input. An extra slot for another SD card would have been better but as a small consolation prize the QP2R has 64gb of internal storage which is not bad!
Battery life was better than what I expected compared to the last DAP I had, the AK100ii which I remember would drain much faster. I would say the 10 hour battery life posted on the box should hold true IME. Charging time also seems to go by fast so kudos for that.
Listening Impressions...
To cut to the chase, I have really enjoyed my time with the QP2R. It sounds good with what I have here on hand. To me it sounded like the player got out of the way and let the headphones do their thing and did it in a superb way. Most of my listening was done with my Ultrasone Signature Pro since it's my go to portable and the cans I take to work where most of my listening was done. My previous source with the Sig Pro was the Chord Mojo and although unfortunately I sold and shipped out my Mojo one day before I got the QP2R for any direct comparisons I felt the Mojo + Sig Pro combo was still fresh in my head. With that said I enjoyed the QP2R more so than the Mojo. I felt the QP2R was less colored and maybe a bit more natural. Treble seemed to shine a bit more. It was present, smooth and very detailed. The QP2R has a very good amount of high resolution IMO. Mids seemed uncolored and all I could hear was whatever headphone I was listening to. The Grado Rs1 also was a good match and the Questyle played well with its strengths. This is a vintage Rs1 which are known to be a bit smoother than Grados that came after it and this particular one I've always found very engaging. It has always managed to move me and keep my head banging and my foot tapping to the music. Once again I felt the Questyle got out of the way of the RS1 and I was just listening to the headphones. It did not add anything that didn't belong there. The small soundtage was still small, this headphone is intimate and that's how I like it! Both of the headphones have a bump in the midbass and are quite colored on their own so the QP2R being neutral and organic was just what the doctor ordered. I did not hear the upper mids get thin like they do with other so called "neutral" gear which is great! The Midbass was still prominent like it's supposed to sound on both these cans with maybe a touch of warmth that sounded natural to my ears.
Now on to more damanding headphones...
Two days before shipping out the unit I received a pair of Ether C which are trickier cans to drive compared to the previous two mentioned before. So far I found the Ethers much more balanced than the Rs1 and Sig. Pro. They are also higher resolving and have a bigger and deeper soundstage. Worth mentioning is the fact that while the Ether C did come with the upgraded D.U.M. cable, it is terminated in a 6.3mm jack so I was not able to use balanced mode from the QP2R which definitely should make a noticeable difference with these cans. While it definitely seems to do an admirable job at driving it single ended, it was a bit too thin in the mids for my liking. I then connected the QP2R to my old Headamp Gilmore Lite and that gave the mids and treble more body and made the Ether C sound a bit bigger, fuller and more natural vs using the QP2R on it's own to drive them.
The QP2R had a solid black background in my testing, but keep in mind I do not have sensitive iems that will pick up the slightest noise so YMMV.
I was also able to plug in the unit to my amp and speakers very briefly for a couple of tracks and once again the unit impressed me. The speakers are the Elac Uni-fi Ub5 and once again I just had the strange feeling the player got out of the way and I was just listening to the speakers. The treble and upper mids in particular stood out to me as I could hear all the details while it stayed on the smooth side, not harsh or shouty.
In conclusion I thought the QP2R is an awesome portable that could also be used as an all in one unit for people like myself that need good sound in a portable package. As a DAP, a USB DAC, with a line out to a headphone amp or even speaker amp the QP2R did a great job and it gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me! Thanks for reading!
wormsdriver
Headphoneus Supremus
BTW, I shipped out the QP2R to the next person in the queue a few days ago and it shows it was delivered earlier today.
Todd
Headphone Vinyl Meister
Member of the Trade: TTVJ Audio
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2001
- Posts
- 2,033
- Likes
- 845
Hi All,
I had to call the Questyle QP2R back home so I could bring it to RMAF with me. it will resume the tour once I am back the second week in OCT. Sorry but I needed it...
Todd
I had to call the Questyle QP2R back home so I could bring it to RMAF with me. it will resume the tour once I am back the second week in OCT. Sorry but I needed it...
Todd
Todd
Headphone Vinyl Meister
Member of the Trade: TTVJ Audio
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2001
- Posts
- 2,033
- Likes
- 845
Hi All,
The QP2R is going back out to the next loaner participant today. So if you signed up and have not received your week with the unit, your time is coming. Thank you for your patience. it was a big hit at RMAF in our room!
Todd
The QP2R is going back out to the next loaner participant today. So if you signed up and have not received your week with the unit, your time is coming. Thank you for your patience. it was a big hit at RMAF in our room!
Todd
Todd
Headphone Vinyl Meister
Member of the Trade: TTVJ Audio
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2001
- Posts
- 2,033
- Likes
- 845
Last call for this loaner program, if you are interested email me by end of day Wednesday (tomorrow) 10/24 or it is coming home to TTVJAudio for us to have fun with...
Users who are viewing this thread
