THE PLUS:
-Lush and natural musicality
-full bodied bass
-beautifully creamy timbre
-intimate male and female vocal
-colorful tone and timbre
-effortless resolution
-smooth, full and innoffensive treble
-dynamic sounding even at low volume
-good layering and sens of transparency
-clean and liquid macro resolution
-digital line out to scale up in amping power
-class leading craftmanship
-intuitive UI with lot of tactile control
-3 gain choice
-low impedance output
-customizable setting
-small enough for versatile portability
THE MINUS:
-not the most open spatiality
-definition edge feel a bit warmed
-sub bass extension is a bit colored
-treble is soften on top and lack air, snap and sparkle
-imaging while good isn’t class leading
-was too pricey but at 700$ its a great value
-volume control wheel is a bit too sensitive
-battery life is poor (old model)
-power output is low
TONALITY: 9.2/10
TECHNICALITIES: 8.8/10
CONSTRUCTION: 9.2/10
SOUND VALUE
-1400$ msrp: 7.5/10
-700$ price drop: 8.8/10
This is just a mini written review to complement my 1 hour long video review.
CONSTRUCTION
Pristine craftmanship that impress both the eyes and they hands, since its a very handy device that fit well in the pocket and have plenty of diversify buton control for flexible interface choice. You can change track and pause blindly in your pocket and the nice volume know metal protector avoid unwanted volume turning. Yet, this know is quite sensitive so sometime i turn volume but it can swing backward, hard to explain but its a nit picking that rarely happen…surely due to my oversized thumbs! Body is all metal with front and back made of hard glass. It seem sturdy and isn’t easy to scratch. Nothing feel loose or badly built, i can’t fault anything in term of construction quality, even in smalles details.
No touch screen, but interface have short cut to go back to main menu, which is appreciated. The rolling wheel for control is slippy but you can add rubber sticker which are included. Yet, i dont really like using the wheel which lack a bit of precision and isn’t really needed for a minimalist UI like this.
You can custom the setting as well as background pics, their alot of settings option (you can see it in video).
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
I can’t say this is exactly a neutral sounding DAP, its colored to sound natural and full, by magnifying timbre density which is lush, colorful and rich in nuance.
QP2R deliver an enveloping intimate musicality that doesn’t sound clinical or overly analytical, nor too warm due to decent transparency and layering.
Bass and mid range take center of the show, while treble take back seat but never feel lacking apart perhaps in above 10khz sections which isn’t very airy or sparkly. This isn’t an edgy sound DAP at all, its creamy, smooth, thick yet very well articulate in dynamic, which sit between mellow and weighty.
QP2R sound dynamic even at low volume, in the sens, we have a slight mid bass boost that warm thicken bass impact and can result in incredible bass quality, vibrant in rumble and beefy in body without sounding unbalanced at all. This tend to add meat to bass more than extra impact, while not taming the impact of a bassy IEM like ISN H40 or Ikko OH10.
Vocal are highly addictive too, since they dont have scooped low harmonic its full bodied and not overly forced in texture, yet very natural, not dark at all. Violin and piano tone is excellent too, in fact, this is an extremely versatile DAP when it come to differetn music genre, which a too warm or bright DAP wouldnt be.
Only complaint i would have is that it doesn’t sound very open and airy. This affect imaging sharp accuracy a bit, which is more about compressed sound layers to dive in.
This is the type of DAP that smoothen high frequencies of your IEMs without stoling its dynamic energy.
It most be noted that it’s not the most powerful DAP, while for 99% of my IEMs this isn’t an issue, i think it could be for IEMs like Final E5000 or planar headphones, since while my Hifiman Sundara sound very decent, it need to be a max volume and well, i was impress there no distortion in bass but sound was too compressed and thick, once i use line out, i heard what the AK4490 DAC was capable off….so, don’t shy up about using digital out, the result will certainly blown your mind, depending of amp used i mean. Yet, clarity is cleaner, more transparent and treble is more airy sparkly.
CONCLUSION
If it wasn’t for battery life issue, this DAP would certainly be my favorite one when it come to IEMs use. The QP2R is all about natural tone and lush musicality that hook you with a sens of proximity with your fav instruments should it be cello or contrabass for bass, vocal or piano for mids or violin and guitar for highs, its all there, fully restitute in all their colorful glory.
And let me tell you that it sure worth the buy if you find it at 700$ and like me, don’t care about bluetooth and wifi since you want to be all alone with you cabled music.
Again, i wanna thanks Questyle for this review sample. You can give a look to this detailed video for more insight about features, UI, construction and sound impressions. It include a comparisons against Tempotec V6 and Questyle M15 too!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/EHGANxWiq7M
No Borders Audiophile 