I’ve been on the lookout for a DAC dongle that also works for a desktop setup and came across the Questyle M15i, which lots of people talk about.
However, looking at the specs itself, it doesn’t seem to be that much different from the Moondrop Dawn Pro, which is a fifth of the Questyle’s price.
The Dawn Pro seems to put out 2 Vrms over it’s unbalanced connector which seems to be matching the Questyle’s M15i’s 11.97mW at 300 ohm?
Also, on the Dawn Pro’s balanced out, which runs at 4 Vrms, it seems to even outperform the M15i?
What’s the point of spending then nearly 5 times the money if a Dongle for 50 bucks can achieve the same level of performance / outperform these high end ones?
Or am I getting something wrong? I’m mostly talking about the ability of powering headphones.
I originally drafted a much longer answer but simplified it to this: The Moondrop Dawn Pro is $50 on Amazon. Just buy it and try it. Keep if happy. Return if not and try the Questyle M15i (or other). You will save yourself tons of mental anguish.
personally I’d wait for a few months… there are going to be some new Dongles that are coming out that are going to be really cool… here is an example… MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra … and fiio has BTR17 coming and iBasso DC-Elite I’m thinking of getting the Muse Hifi M5 Ultra with those tubes… two other nice sounding are the Cayin Ru6 or Ru7 … the first being a R2R Dac and the other a resister ladder Dac… they both have quite abit of power too…
You should beware because specs is different than sound. I have cayin ru7, moondrop moonriver 2 and moondrop moonriver 2ti and they all sound different to me. Personal sound preferences should be considered and also headphones will have different synergy with different dongles. I would say all dongles I mentioned are in the same league soundwise. They usually have a smaller soundstage than using a bigger portable amp/dap that feels it is not bad, but I always want more… Some personal considerations that make these dongles different to me (I usually use them with ddhifi tc05 cable, just to mention that these impressions are not on the original cables), in my on way of describing that is possibly not precise in terminology, so take with caution:
moondrop moonriver 2: I love how sound is presented on these, it is hard to describe, it doesn’t stage bigger, but the smaller stage is less of a concern to me on these because of it, but they are the ones that feel less detailed (I mean, it is more like a video with lower resolution comparing then). Good imaging.
moondrop moonriver 2 ti: fells more detailed or with better highs, at the expense of a lot less bass. Great for female vocals.
Cayin ru7: sounds very cozy, to my mind when people say like something sounds digital vs analog, this is what would come to my mind to analog. It feels though as the sound is less clean (I would say darker, but not in the ordinary audiophile jargon, just darker as lights off). If you go through 50 level volume it changes the amplification mode I guess.
questyle m15i: with some coloration that makes things sound interestingly richer, I believe in the mids. I had an initial wow effect on these (I also had on the others), but honestly, I don’t think it is any more special than the others these days, but they are fine, just not the last biscuit in the package.
I would consider them good for portability/ease of use, but a little lacking for full size cans if you think it as your only amp/dac. Very good starter though.
What terrible things will happen if I try to use the M15i as a DAC/pre and connect it via the 4.4 mm headphone jack to a balanced tube amp? If I keep the source volume low should I be OK? (I am stuck at the moment away from home with these as the only possible combo.)