[Sonic Defender]

Well, I have personally read quite a few critiques of MQA. Mostly my impression is that people do not hear any difference if they compare level matched masters. An old trick to make something sound better, is to make it a little louder. Louder is often perceived as better.

I owned a Gustard X16 fully MQA capable and had access through Tidal, but the few times I tried MQA, I didn't perceive any sound advantage, but that was me. I'm glad you seem to enjoy it. Each to their own. Enjoy the music.

 

[lantian]

Don't forget mqa is one of the reasons Neil Young left tidal.

 

[Elecroestatico]

MQA hardly is comparable. It is widely considered simply a money making scheme that offers absolutely no audible benefit. You may not agree which is fine, but I have rarely heard anybody express much love for MQA.

It seems like a solution that went looking for a problem.

Lol is MQA still a thing these days?

My personal thoughts on this format is that this format was really created to save then bandwidth specially back in the days where the internet speeds possibly had tighter quotas. Of course they sold it to un suspected listeners that aren't too technically savy making them believe that it was like a lossless format that sounds even better. Yes it doesn't sound bad, and in far from perfect audiio systems sometimes it sounds better than flac because such audio systems generate less speaker distortion with a loosier file.

Glad not only the manufacturers are starting to ditch this format, but the streaming services are starting to do so as well.

 

[gadgetgod]

Received mine today in the mail. The custom uncle was not very generous on me lol, but I am happy with the sonic performance of the M15i. Using this on my Macbook for the past hour with Softears Twilight here are a few initial impressions.
>The output is very clean, noise floor is inaudible.
>Has a little warmth to the output.
>Bass definition is tight and controlled.
>Outstanding Texture of Vocals(maybe the benefit of using the Twilight).
>I find M15i to have a good level of detail retrieval.

 

[kb5757]

Had the original m15. No volume control on it. Almost blew my ears off accidentally. Had to go back, even though it sounded spectacular.
I still have a brand new red leather case for it which fits the new m15i as well.
Who's interested?

 

[OhmsClaw]

most of the complaints came from people who didn't have updated equipment to listen to MQA and weren't too happy that they would need to spend money on a product that wasn't night/day difference.... it actually sounds good... never heard one single person say that MQA didn't sound good...

Then stick with your MQA enabled devices. The AM/FM radio comparison is not equivalent. This is more Blu-ray vs HDDVD except, HDDVD lost and required special licenses while being objectively worse than Blu-ray; lots of devices became obsolete with the hardware support side and everyone moved on despite people owning HDDVD content.

How much MQA content do you own offline that this is a point of contention?

 

[brjoon1021]

I really wish the M12i had ditched the lame auto-gain-adjust feature and just went with a physical gain switch like the M15 and M15i have.

Or just have it permanently set to high gain.

Oh well, maybe next time.

Plug the dongle in first then the phones. That bypasses the the auto detect. I have never used my m12 with greater than 50 ohms input impedance but I always have the hi gain

 

[betula]

My M15i has arrived today. Honestly, I wasn't expecting too much when it comes to driving my full-sized headphones, but it has no problems pushing my ZMF Caldera on high gain (source volume set to 60-70%). Impressive amount of sound and power cramped into this tiny little thing. It is not just loud enough, but the sound is enjoyable, even when coming from full sized desktop amps. Very good first impressions, review coming in a few weeks.

 

[OspreyAndy]

As a longtime user of M12, I am beyond impressed with what the M12i brought. The sort of natural analog sound which appeal to my sonic preferences. I am glad Questyle opted to go this natural organic sound, impressive accuracy to tonal reproduction especially when subjected to listening to Classical, Technical Jazz and Folk music.
My full review here on YouTube:

 

[blakglas]

As a longtime user of M12, I am beyond impressed with what the M12i brought. The sort of natural analog sound which appeal to my sonic preferences. I am glad Questyle opted to go this natural organic sound, impressive accuracy to tonal reproduction especially when subjected to listening to Classical, Technical Jazz and Folk music.
My full review here on YouTube:

This is my second analog sounding device and the sound is so enjoyable and intoxicating. My first was the Lotoo Paw S2, but I didn’t give it a chance and quickly sold it. I was worried I wouldn’t like the sound of the M12i, but I am blown away by the natural organic sound and tonality.

 

[elindil]

Does anyone if the M15i accept mic inputs? I'm looking for something that can replace my apple dongle which I often use for both listening to music and taking work calls.

 

[991 Carrera 4S]

@Questyle
Could you please comment on whether or not M12i and/or M15i do support in-line microphone?

 

[freemental]

Does anyone if the M15i accept mic inputs? I'm looking for something that can replace my apple dongle which I often use for both listening to music and taking work calls.

it doesn't have an ADC, so the M12/M15 doesn't support a microphone

 

[991 Carrera 4S]

it doesn't have an ADC, so the M12/M15 doesn't support a microphone

This is wrong.

1) M12, M12i, M15, M15i all use ES9281AC with integrated ADC.

2) Old M12 does support microphone (but old M15 does not).

 

[freemental]

Yes, you are right, I was wrong about this ess chip. I have an M15 and it does not support a microphone. As far as I know, the new M15i is practically no different from the M15