[Blackground]

Any update on comparisons between the denafrips and 2qute?

I am also in the market for a new fully balanced desktop dac.

 

[alphanumerix1]

Any update on comparisons between the denafrips and 2qute?

I am also in the market for a new fully balanced desktop dac.

Yeah would like to hear OPs thoughts on the two aswell.

 

[blackrain139]

Sorry for the late post. Been a while since I updated this thread and things has escalated quite a bit!

Comparison between Ares and 2qute:

Ares sounded smooth which comes across as warmish. It has a slight analog tone to it.

2qute sounded more detailed and has more resolving abilities. There are more details in both bass and treble.

The ares on the other hand can sometimes be too smooth for my liking. With the 2qute, I can accurately place instruments and layering and separation is ahead of the Ares.

I sold the Ares to a friend after owning it for a couple of weeks. For its price, it's still a great value purchase. However, with prices of 2qute now, I would suggest the 2qute.

I tested both of these with a ve tube amp as well as a magni. Test cans are the HD800s and LCD3s.

Things has escalated since I last started this thread. I love the chord sound so much that I bought a 2nd hand Dave at a great price. I reckon it would be my end game Dac.

So if anyone is interested, I've a black 2qute for sale. It's a complete set with sealed accessories. I listed it in the buy trade section.

I think it's the best DAC under 1k. If I haven't heard the Dave, I would be very happy with it for a long time.

 

[Music Alchemist]

.

Wow, that's awesome that you got a DAVE so soon! I also want the Blu MkII, but that combo is over $20K, so it may take awhile...

I feel the same way about the resolution of the 2Qute. The Mojo had a smoothness that was enjoyable, but became a problem for me over time.

I temporarily downgraded to a cheap DAC and upgraded my speakers, which resulted in far better sound than the cheaper speakers with the expensive DAC. Now I have to figure out how much of my future budget to focus on each component. I didn't even notice until now that you have the AB-1266 Phi! That's #1 on my headphone upgrade list...but since I've mostly transitioned to speakers (which I already prefer over any headphone), I'm not sure when I'll get back into ultra-high-end headphones.

 

[blackrain139]

The Abyss Phi is awesome. Heard it at a local retailer and I really couldn't resist.

Bass is phenomenal and one of the best speaker-like production I've heard on headphones!

 

[blackrain139]

Any update on comparisons between the denafrips and 2qute?

I am also in the market for a new fully balanced desktop dac.

The 2Qute is not fully balanced though.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, try the Questyle CMA 600i. I've heard it and I've been pretty impressed with it.

It's a DAC + Amp and it looks sleek as well. Balanced out + Balanced XLR output.

And if you can stretch it even further, the Hugo TT can be considered as well.

 

[alphanumerix1]

The 2Qute is not fully balanced though.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, try the Questyle CMA 600i. I've heard it and I've been pretty impressed with it.

It's a DAC + Amp and it looks sleek as well. Balanced out + Balanced XLR output.

And if you can stretch it even further, the Hugo TT can be considered as well.

Did you prefer the 600i over the 2qute for sq?

 

[blackrain139]

I like the amp section for the 600i. But for DAC, I found 2Qute to be better than the inbuilt DAC for the 600i (AKM4490).

Its not exactly comparable as 2Qute is a standalone DAC while the 600i is an "all-in-one".

I prefer the 2Qute to most Sabre/AKM implementations.