Z Review - Questyle CMA-400i

WOW really. MoonAudio did that to you? I am so confused. And Unfortunately I don't know what to do but direct you to QUESTYLE themselves and ask where to buy it.

ZeosPantera

Zeos do you know where I can pick on of these up at? Amazon is out and Moon Audio is a nightmare to deal with, the owner just asked for my unit shipped back because he didn't like my comments about their customer service or lack there of. New experience for me. Thanks for any info you can give me.

Lori Latta

Victor, at the risk of providing more than needed, FYI, I brought home my AEON Flows {closed) home from the office today to swap out for the Alpha Primes. The AEONs are terrific too. To my ears they feel less warm than the Alphas with tighter bass and a bit dryer presentation. But man, do they peel back the layers on well recorded music.

Hey Victor, I have spent time listening this afternoon/evening to the LS50s. It is all new gear. Nothing is "broken in". I am not sure whether that really matters because it all sounds great. I am, of course, going to be subconsciously biased because I bought all this stuff. However, the LS50s have never sounded better for me. How much of that is the better DAC setup in the CMA-400i vs the Emotiva TA-100, I have at the office, I am not sure. However, I can tell you that before I heard this setup, my office setup was already the best I have ever had. To be clear though, the way that these Alpha Primes (which must be a step or two down from the Ether C Flows) sound balanced out of this thing, it is hard to want to take them off. I used to drive them with a Lyr 2 and Bifrost Uber USB and there does not seem to be much comparison. My listening includes Classical, Jazz, Electronic, Soundtracks, Indie Rock and I am happy with all. Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack is currently playing and it is silly good. Have fun!!

Thanks!!

I literally installed my CMA-400i an hour ago. I am listening via USB from Windows 10 to mrspeakers alpha prime's right now. (I had to install the drivers twice because I am dumb, my laptop is dumb, usb is dumb or some combo). It is past midnight here so the wife and kids are sleeping. In the morning, I will be using the unit as a pre-amp with an Emotiva XPA-2 to drive LS50s on my desktop. I expect very very good things based on what I have heard from the LS50s I have in my office being driven by only an Emotiva TA-100. I'll let you know whether there is magic or misery; betting on former.

Is it enough for the KEF LS 50 + Ether Flows C on a desk? Thanks!

Good Report.

ZeosPantera

I expected this to do good things for my headphones. I was not prepared by how much of an improvement it is for my desktop speakers (LSR305 + LSR310S). It's replacing an Aune X1s + Aune X7s, and it's MAKING ME CRY IT'S SO AMAZING. (Yes, I'm using it via USB, and the drivers were painless & effective.)

Thanks for feedback

Not played with the Sony stuff. Don't see a real reason to grab the 600 over this unless you need the remote.

ZeosPantera

I never got the Wee to work with the adapter I made to run off a balanced amp. It sounded weird or like there wasn't a good handling of the LOAD put on the amp. This is why the iESL is going here.

ZeosPantera

It would def be my choice.

ZeosPantera

I find the treble on this bit bright and not having weight otherwise detail, bass impact and power is fantastic, I am using the Sony Z1R and cant go beyond 9'o clock on volume, is it worth going for CMA600i or Sony TA-ZH1ES?

Should/Can I power the Woo Wee with this for a more budget friendly pairing than the ifi and this? Did you test that?

Audio-gd does R2R1 & NFB-1amp combo with discount, that can be another killer combo for around $1k setup.

Can't wait for the HD6 review, interested to hear your thoughts.

Evan Van Der Paal

So as an owner of a Jotunheim w/ DAC, should I unload it and pick up this beast?

Then I would ask you to use your influence to make that happen more frequently.

That is what I was thinking.

ZeosPantera

What if I knew exactly when you got your bonus.....

ZeosPantera

That would require a lot of math. How would I even measure that mentally.

ZeosPantera

The SPDIF coax might only work when its connected with USB Input.

David Klapouch

Just got a big bonus from work, was going to ask about something like this to get balanced on my desktop. From your lips to my wallet to your affiliate link. You couldn't have timed that better if you tried, Z.

Well, how about this vs NFB-1 + TEAC UD-301 stack?