So imo I think the questyle is more balanced in that it has an equally tiered dac and amp, where the adi 2 dac is more dac focused imo. My preference leans towards the questyle for music listening
So RME is the best DAC of the two?
I can‘t say it.
Never listening the the two amps.
But i put a order for the Rme and recive this week.
Let me say so.
The Rme have many possibilitys as the Questyle with his loundness function,5 Band Equalizer and more Equalizer option.
And many more option too according a better Soundoption.
But the Menu are a little bit confused,it goes same days for learning it.
The Questyle is for sure who Mon say little bit more musical as the Rme.
I think it too,and have a good Amp section and good poweroutput.
Maybe the better Ampsection as the Rme.
But with Rme you can apply a better amp when you would later.
For example the Rupert neve with the Xlr input the result can it be fine.
The Rme is more technical as the Questyle it is more analog and simply in use to understand.
It depend what to want more gadget or more analog.
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It is primary a Dac I am looking for, but the amp part of the Questyle is interesting.
I’ve explored just this issue of RME vs Questyle all-in-ones in some depth, but have yet to take the plunge. First thing to note, the original RME did not have a particularly good amp section. But the new FS version of the ADI-2 has an improved amp that M0N ranks as roughly on par with the JDS Atom. This means that the RME on its own will be at least adequate for lower and middle-tier headphones but will not be able to showcase the advantages of higher tier headphones. To hear, for example, the improvement the Clear brings over the Elex you would need to connect a better amp to even the ADI-2 FS model.
In contrast, the Questyle 400i has sufficient amp and dac quality to reveal the Elex vs Clear distinction, but going higher up the Questyle line to 600i and Twelve will bring yet further improvements. Both the RME and the Questyle have sufficient power to drive all but the most inefficient headphones. Both lean to a neutral presentation. The RME apparently trends toward fanatically being wire-with-gain neutral. The Questyle apparently has a subtle, gentle pleasantness to its neutrality.
The DAC in either model of the RME is quite good and with a good amp would do justice to a headphone at the quality level of the Clear. (Neither the ADI-2 nor the 400i DACs are going to scale up to stratosphere-tier headphones.) However, what you get with the RME is effectively a third component, a high-quality DSP. Most headphone enthusiasts follow the path of making everything work by only using traditional hardware elements in the signal path. For them the DSP is wasted. For such a person any added cost to the RME that derives from its DSP implementation is wasted.
Yet another consideration is build-quality and reliability. RME has a stellar and long-standing reliability reputation. So far as I know Questyle has at least a very good rep, but others should really speak to that. And yet another factor is that the RME has a USB test function, so if you want to take advantage of the USB signal path, the test function takes the guesswork out of this apparently often-iffy connection.
(BTW, for anyone who is actually contemplating using the RME’s EQ, it is actually effectively a 7-band PEQ. The separate bass and treble controls integrate with the 5-band EQ to add an extra shelf filter at each end of the spectrum. Oratory1990 makes use of this in some of the EQs he provides for the RME.)
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Yes I should have specified this, the older adi 2 dac didn’t have as good of an amp section, and I would rate the amp in there a bit higher than an atom
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Mon said Rme have the better Dac but the Ampsection is not on the level from the Questyle,and the Questyle have not so good dacsection but better Ampsection.
I think it is in nuance section and what you really like in the end.
About the Cma 600i i find is better as the Cma400i but is out of produce.so if exist only the Cma400i after the twelve and the tweleve master with the ceramicplatine.
When you really think buy one of the two,the only way is a listing test.
And what you prefer.
What is good on the Rme you have the option to buy a only Amp with balance output.The Questyle too but is Hard to defeat it and find on the same level.
Maybe in the End is the Rme with the rupert neve combination the better setup,i think.
But is a option not a must have,but nice too have.
When i recived my Rme this week i try it only and with the Beresford capella amp.Maybe is possible to hear difference with it.
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I have found a CMA 600i online, so there are a few left out there, but if the Dac is the same, then it might not be interesting enough. I want to use it as a Dac for my tube amp and a future SS amp and this level is my limit re Dac’s, so the RME is a nice bet, but in case the Questyle has more to offer, the price is fine for the 400i and acceptable for the 600i.
Can you elaborate around this, what is to be gained from this feature?
The most high-end I have are an Aeolus and an Eikon, so I am good.
- Separate Bass and Treble loudness controls
- 5-band parametric EQ
- Loudness control (raises and lowers both bass and treble to compensate for what our brains do at both low and high loudness levels)
- Crossfeed - several options to modify sound stage properties
- Mid/side decoding - something to do with microphone positioning information. Not sure what relevance it has to music playback.
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When you can get the Cma 600i put him,he have a anloge in and output,and is powerfuller as the Cma400i and have a remote control.
See Zeo‘s Rewiev’s about.
I don’t know he have the same dac i think yes but is powerfuller in all.
Maybe the better pic as rme for your project i think.
And for sure better as the Cma400i who have no remote control.
When i had the money directly and find one in Europe with no tax ect…i would buy the Cma600i imently.
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It sounds like 2 dac/amp’s that both can be nice to have in my set-up. I am not in a hurry, so maybe a good deal will decide it.
Did you get a chance to compare Cma 12 vs the Master version? Is it worth the extra money?
Sorry, no I didn’t.
Hi,
I read a test where the tester privately owned the Cma400i and asked himself whether he should be worried. His conclusion was that he had heard nuances compared to the Cma400i and cma12, but it was more clear to the master. As a result, in his opinion, I would say that the cma12 and cma400i do not give each other much. I am also considering the 400i and the master. But the price is just factor X, the ceramic board extension is worth it, and there is something that bothers me about the cma12. I don’t even need these wireless devices when you’re at, and the price of the Questyle Dap isn’t free either.
Nevertheless, the price is still okay for the normal cma12. But if I only go in via USB and optically, 2000 is quite a lot of money for the ceramic board. If I can not use the wireless Package. .Only I don’t need a dap, so I see it as a discretionary decision. The manufacturer say that the Cma 12 is better than the cma400i and 600i is purely marketing From a marketing perspective, I don’t think it’s good in the upper class. I would have liked to see the Cma600 further on the market, and would have bought it instead of the 400i. Questyle knew this when launched the cma12.I think they would have stood in your own way with your own product range. The Cma600 still has an analog input which I think is great. The cma400i does not have the cma12 either. You have to decide which one to take the tweleve or master.
Thx for the reply but to be honest i didnt make my decision easier. Its a lot of money