[Baten]

The Qutest is being hailed as "the best dac on the market right now" by most audio magazines.

My vote would be a tie between Mola Mola Tambaqui and the Topping D90, the later being significantly cheaper than both qutest and mola mola.
Of course there's lots of qutest fanboys, but it literally doesn't even have balanced out. ridiculous for its price class. Imo, market moved on. Lots of competition.
There's also a noticeable amount of people selling their qutest https://www.hifishark.com/search?q=qutest

 

[AudioPowerHead]

My vote would be a tie between Mola Mola Tambaqui and the Topping D90, the later being significantly cheaper than both qutest and mola mola.
Of course there's lots of qutest fanboys, but it literally doesn't even have balanced out. ridiculous for its price class. Imo, market moved on. Lots of competition.
There's also a noticeable amount of people selling their qutest https://www.hifishark.com/search?q=qutest

Interesting. First time hearing about this Netherlands brand Mola Mola ( pardon my ignorance). How much is the Tambuqui retailing for ? Sounded high-end and expensive. How would this compare with the V850 ?

 

[Baten]

Interesting. First time hearing about this Netherlands brand Mola Mola ( pardon my ignorance). How much is the Tambuqui retailing for ? Sounded high-end and expensive. How would this compare with the V850 ?

I believe it's priced £8,999 / $11,500. Haha. I've not heard it in person, only heard good things online. It is definitely in the far "high-end" territory.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

for 9000 GBP I'm sure they can get some good things published online

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Anyone tried changing the digital filter on the V850 between “sharp” and “smooth” recently ? Is there noticeable difference ? And what is the default mode when purchased new ? I do not see any instructions in the manual on how to change this option. Thanks.

 

[Fegefeuer]

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Thanks Fegefeuer !!!! Didn’t occur to me that it can adjusted via the input select and resampling buttons. Puzzle solved at last (for me).

 

[Fegefeuer]

Every filter has tradeoffs.

Slow Rolloff is the default option of the v850. It should have the best impulse response out of both with less pre-ringing. It should sound warmer and even "rolled off".

Sharp should could sound more incisive at the cost of maybe even being potentially etchy. I guess that's what the image above calls "powerful sound"

Best way to assess all this is simply trying it out and see how you like them.

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Every filter has tradeoffs.

Slow Rolloff is the default option of the v850. It should have the best impulse response out of both with less pre-ringing. It should sound warmer and even "rolled off".

Sharp should could sound more incisive at the cost of maybe even being potentially etchy. I guess that's what the image above calls "powerful sound"

Best way to assess all this is simply trying it out and see how you like them.

Thanks for sharing this table, very helpful reference in evaluating the filter options. Contrary to my initial belief, I prefer slow/soft filter which surprises myself. Think it’s much smoother and warmer with the default option. Fast/sharp option is good but perhaps too much “sharpness” for my liking (esp. when I already have the RS05). What a new discovery today !!

 

[Fegefeuer]

Sharp can be useful as well of course. Comes down to taste and gear matching.

I'd still take a warmer sound over etch in DACs.

Since AKM is the choice for the future gen I'm looking forward to how their "house sound" manifests with Fried's vision.

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Sharp can be useful as well of course. Comes down to taste and gear matching.

I'd still take a warmer sound over etch in DACs.

Since AKM is the choice for the future gen I'm looking forward to how their "house sound" manifests with Fried's vision.

Noted that AK4499 will replace PCM1795/6 dac chips in future gen of all Niimbus and Vio range. Just wondering if the chip is really going to make a big (positive) difference to the sound ? Unlike other companies that like to market their dacs having the latest ESS or AKM chips, Fried has never taken this advertising route but he like to stress the importance of resampling, balanced input/output, circuit topologies, power supply, etc. From my recent experience with the RS05, think the Femto; which helps to eliminate jitter; actually play a significant role as well in the construction of a perfect dac.

 

[Fegefeuer]

True, Fried is not the cookie cutter or design-by-manual guy, somebody who follows simply "per spec" and slaps the DAC sticker on it.

It's what the chip itself allows him more than any before is what excites him. All about the (analogue) implementation, all the little details that add to the whole picture. Coherence.

 

[wmf]

i have a v200 violectric amp, was wondering if the v850 is a good pairing ?

i have a benchmark dac1 usb.... is the v850 much if any an upgrade to this ?
thanks.

gaming 80/music 20.

phones are dt990s./ and DT1990s Beyers.

 

[Simple Man]

........i have a benchmark dac1 usb.... is the v850 much if any an upgrade to this ?
........

NO
Don’t do it!! Drama.
Were is this DAC for sale you said?
I need it, very much with MY 200

 

[Simple Man]

No seriously.
I’m sure it’s a great combi but I don’t know the Benchmark, only the reputation!
Good luck.