Chinese Questyle presents the CMA Fifteen, which becomes the manufacturer’s new flagship. And a DAC cum headphone amplifier.
Unlike many ‘how low can you go-price fighters’ from the far east, the Questyle CMA Fifteen is an exception. For this DAC and headphone amplifier you pay €2220. For that amount of cash, you’ll get a lot in return. The device uses the Questyle patented Current Mode Amplification, which immediately explains the abbreviation CMA in the model name. Furthermore, it is the brand’s first headphone/DAC that uses the ESS SABRE ES9038PRO. To make that possible, according to founder and CEO Jason Wong, the past three years of research and development have been spent in terms of figuring out how to optimally integrate this chip in the Questyle.
Versatile
The Questyle CMA Fifteen boasts an array of features. You can stream via Bluetooth, which includes support for LDAC as a codec. Other options include USB-C, S/PDIF – both coaxial and optical – and analog RCA inputs. As for DAC capabilities, PCM quality of up to and including 24 bit / 192 kHz is possible. DSD is supported up to DSD512, while MQA full decoding is also no problem. You can use the Questyle CMA Fifteen as a headphone amplifier with DAC, or as a pre-amplifier for a hi-fi system.