Questyle NHB15 Review: Wired IEMs for a Generation Without Headphone Jacks
Questyle is a brand we’ve visited before here at MMO with one of our favorite portable DACs/amps (soundcards) ever, the Questyle M15. It just released its latest set of in-ear monitors, the NHB15. Complete with a built-in hi-res DAC and amplifier, these earphones come ready to connect directly to your smartphone or laptop thanks to its modular USB Type-C cable. At $349 MSRP (and $299 as of this writing from Bloom Audio), these earphones don’t come cheap, but they’ll surprise you with how good they sound.
Specifications
- Current Price: $349 (Questyle)
- $299 (Bloom Audio)
Questyle NHB15 — First Impressions and Key Features
The Questyle NHB15 aren’t exactly the first pair of earphones that Questyle have produced but they are a follow-up of sorts. Late last year, the company unveiled the NHB12, a lossless pair of earphones catering to Apple users. The NHB15 are a USB-C version of those same earphones, finally making it available to listeners outside of Apple’s ecosystem.
These aren’t your average earphones, even when compared to others that use a USB Type-C connection. While it shares the built in digital-to-analog converter (DAC), it offers a higher resolution and much more complicated amplification system in pursuit of higher-resolution audio. Given Questyle’s history in the DAC and amp segment of the audiophile market, this type of product makes a lot of sense.
In-line within the cable is a high performance DAC and amplifier that is able to compete with larger full-size desktop units in resolution and distortion. It’s able to reproduce audio well beyond the 48kHz required for “high-res” standards and instead tops out at 192kHz. That sample rate is limited to 16-bit but it also supports 24-bit at 48kHz. For all intents and purposes, that’s lossless audio, allowing you to hear your music, games, and movies at full resolution and detail.
The DAC itself follows the same revealing design as the M15 with a transparent side to give you a peek at the internals. It’s a
