Punching above their weight – these flagship portable headphone DACs have the firepower and looks to match

Marketing image of the Questyle Sigma DAC front and back on a black background

(Image credit: Questyle)

published 10 October 2025

Quick Summary

Questyle's new DAC and headphone amps deliver Hi-Res Audio, LDAC and impressively powerful output for a wide range of headphones and IEMs.

Starting at $599, they don't come cheap – but they do have a unique styling to go with sonic performance.

Questyle has launched two high-end portable DAC and headphone amps, the Sigma Pro and Sigma, after showcasing them at CanJam London 2025.

The Sigma will be available from late October 2025 and the Sigma Pro will hit stores a few weeks later.

Both models have power that belies their size – up to 1,200mW into 32 ohms via the balanced output. They also support PCM audio up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512 as well as DSD PoP to DSD256.

Both of the Sigma models are made from CNC-machined aluminium with transparent glass and anti-RF coatings, with the Sigma Pro coming in a dual-DAC design. The Sigma offers the one.

Rear view of the Questyle Sigma Pro showing its connectors — The Pro model has a double-DAC configuration and features multiple inputs as well as its standard and balanced outputs (Image credit: Questyle)

Questyle Sigma and Sigma Pro: key features and pricing

As detailed by ecoustics.com, the Sigma Pro has dual ESS ES9069 DAC chips in dual-mono configuration, and it features Questyle's Current Mode Amplifier technology.

That enables the device to drive even very demanding headphones with resistance up to 300 ohms. There are 3.5mm, 6.35mm and balanced 4.4mm outputs, Snapdragon Sound, LDAC and Bluetooth 5.4, and the Pro also supports MQA rendering and decoding. Battery life is a claimed 12 hours.

The Pro model also features optical and coaxial inputs supporting PCM at up to 24-bit/192kHz plus 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm analogue inputs.

The Sigma drops some of the more advanced features – MQA, the 6.35mm socket, the analogue inputs and the triple gain options, which are replaced with a manual gain control instead. It also features an AKM AK4493 DAC rather than an ESS one.

However, you go get the same high quality audio in PCM and DSD, the same high power output, and longer battery life for a more affordable price.

UK pricing hasn't been announced just yet, but the US price is $599 (about £450 / €515 / AU$910 before taxes) for the Sigma, and $899 (about £675 / €777 / AU$1,370) for the Sigma Pro.

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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