Chord Electronics 2Qute DAC announced
Jan 9, 2018 at 8:27 AM Post #1,486 of 1,746
Doesn’t look like there’s a volume control .. wonder what the output level is?

3Vrms according to the article. Same as all Rob’s DACs line-out level.
 
Jan 9, 2018 at 11:14 AM Post #1,489 of 1,746
"A further new feature is a user-selectable output voltage available in 1, 2 and 3V RMS outputs for flexible connectivity with partnering devices."
Quick question for @Rob Watts , could that user-selectable output voltage enable RCA outputs of Quetest to drive headphones directly with the right adapters? No such luck with 2Qute because of its fixed line-out @ 3V, but I wonder if Quetest were having like this from Hugo by any chance?

 
Jan 9, 2018 at 11:29 AM Post #1,490 of 1,746
Quick question for @Rob Watts , could that user-selectable output voltage enable RCA outputs of Quetest to drive headphones directly with the right adapters? No such luck with 2Qute because of its fixed line-out @ 3V, but I wonder if Quetest were having like this from Hugo by any chance?


Of course Rob can reply, but just read the specs, it does not have a headphone amp and as such has no ability to output to any device, ie headphones, that requires current as well as volts.

Otherwise people would already have been been using passive volume controls on other DACs and outputting to headphones. But they don't, because you can't.
 
Jan 9, 2018 at 11:47 AM Post #1,493 of 1,746
3 volume settings would not be enough - you would have to use a source volume control.
Thanks @Rob Watts for the prompt reply.

This gentleman was driving his highly efficient Omega Super 8XRS speakers directly with 2Qute and he's running JRiver Media Center under Windows 10

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/...rd-2qute/?page=14&tab=comments#comment-667497
With the limited one op-amp up to 3V (line level) and having to use JRiver for volume control, I find I need to convert DSD on the fly to PCM 192, in order to control volume digitally.
BTW, I understand that you might not be willing to spill the beans at this point but are you expecting that DAVINA or another standalone M-Scaler product with USB outputs would perform better than dual BNC coaxial outputs from Blu Mk. 2?
 
Jan 9, 2018 at 11:58 AM Post #1,494 of 1,746
Qutest USB input is 32-bits ...which gives any software player lots of headroom to implement volume control right at the source. I see no problem with this. 24-bits of music data, 8-bits of volume. Maybe DAVE/Hugo2 volume control implemented deep in the pulse array would benefit from some noise shaping when down-interpolated from the WTA ...but i doubt that is audible.
 
Jan 9, 2018 at 12:09 PM Post #1,495 of 1,746
"A further new feature is a user-selectable output voltage available in 1, 2 and 3V RMS outputs for flexible connectivity with partnering devices."

This feature alone is what I was hoping for since the 3V was described in another thread as being too much for the amp I am selecting.
 
Jan 9, 2018 at 12:42 PM Post #1,496 of 1,746
I started a Qutest thread with info and photos!

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-qutest-the-successor-to-the-2qute-with-hugo-2-tech.869416/

Feel free to focus the Qutest discussion there to help keep the 2Qute thread on-topic.

What we need now (next year?) is a digital player with integrated Mscaler and I will have reached my end-game setup.

Could you describe what you mean by digital player? Because the Blu MkII can already accept a digital source like a PC or music server; it just doesn't play digital files directly.

Of course Rob can reply, but just read the specs, it does not have a headphone amp and as such has no ability to output to any device, ie headphones, that requires current as well as volts.

Otherwise people would already have been been using passive volume controls on other DACs and outputting to headphones. But they don't, because you can't.

Actually, you can; it's just not what you're supposed to do. @Beolab drove headphones directly from the 2Qute. I lost the link to his post, but you should be able to find it easily enough. From what I recall, he mentioned that it sounded pretty good. And driving speakers directly from it was mentioned above.
 
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Jan 9, 2018 at 1:53 PM Post #1,498 of 1,746
Hey can someone create a new thread for chord qutest? Guess it will have to be done as soon as it is officially announced.

You haven't been reading this thread or browsing the dedicated source components forum. There are already two threads. I started one and then Chord made an official one soon after.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-qutest-the-successor-to-the-2qute-with-hugo-2-tech.869416/
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-qutest-dac-official-thread.869417/
 

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