Chord Electronics 2Qute DAC announced
Jun 20, 2017 at 2:42 AM Post #1,171 of 1,746

Rob's a brilliant designer but he is dead wrong about the power supply not making a difference on the 2Qute. It's not even close with a quality linear supply and it's not just me who have found this to be the case.
Mike, I think we were referring to the Hugo2 concerning linear supply in place of the Lipo batteries, above
 
Jun 20, 2017 at 3:26 AM Post #1,172 of 1,746
Rob's a brilliant designer but he is dead wrong about the power supply not making a difference on the 2Qute. It's not even close with a quality linear supply and it's not just me who have found this to be the case.
Mike, I think we were referring to the Hugo2 concerning linear supply in place of the Lipo batteries, above

I am not convinced even the Mojo sounds no different with the power supply plugged in vs on battery alone. I think it might be better on battery alone. That could be me though as I have not paid any real close attention to it.

With reference to the 2Qute, I doubt the power block with it, can compete with clean linear power supplies. Thus upgrade should be possible. However, I do not know. Very possibly the 2Qute power block is OK. Yet folk are saying there is a noticeable and undeniable improvement with a linear power supply.

Whichever though, my only regret is I can not use the 2Qute as yet. My current desktop system of Q Acoustic BT3 speakers only takes 2V line in. Hopefully the 2Qute2 will be designed with 2V in mind.
 
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Jun 21, 2017 at 8:44 AM Post #1,173 of 1,746
Rob's a brilliant designer but he is dead wrong about the power supply not making a difference on the 2Qute. It's not even close with a quality linear supply and it's not just me who have found this to be the case.
Mike, I think we were referring to the Hugo2 concerning linear supply in place of the Lipo batteries, above

No I am not dead wrong - 2 Qute is indeed categorically not sensitive to the PSU (unlike Qute which was sensitive). The best, lowest noise, lowest impedance, highest current capacity is a 12V car battery - and I can hear no consistent difference between that and the supplied charger.

This of course does not mean you are wrong in that changing the PSU will not make a difference to the SQ in your system - as your partnering electronics will be sensitive to local mains interference, as most audio analogue electronics are not designed with adequate RF filtering. But what you are hearing is not 2 Qute being sensitive to the change in PSU but your other electronics being sensitive to the change. Again, YMWV depending upon the rest of your system.
 
Jun 21, 2017 at 10:52 AM Post #1,174 of 1,746
No I am not dead wrong - 2 Qute is indeed categorically not sensitive to the PSU (unlike Qute which was sensitive). The best, lowest noise, lowest impedance, highest current capacity is a 12V car battery - and I can hear no consistent difference between that and the supplied charger.

This of course does not mean you are wrong in that changing the PSU will not make a difference to the SQ in your system - as your partnering electronics will be sensitive to local mains interference, as most audio analogue electronics are not designed with adequate RF filtering. But what you are hearing is not 2 Qute being sensitive to the change in PSU but your other electronics being sensitive to the change. Again, YMWV depending upon the rest of your system.

I don't disagree that partnering electronics will be sensitive to local mains interference and that a change in PSU can have an impact with those components power supply. But when the only change is with the 2Qute power supply and I hear a significant uplift in SQ, especially on the lower end, then I have to conclude it's the mains affecting the 2Qute negatively with the supplied charger. Note: I am using the LPS-1 by Uptone power supply that is built off of super capacitors with switching banks, this allows no mains leakage into the DC feed.
In order to completely take the analog components, amps, out of the equation, I will test again soon with the 2Qute driving my highly efficient speakers directly and report back.
 
Jun 29, 2017 at 7:28 AM Post #1,175 of 1,746
I don't disagree that partnering electronics will be sensitive to local mains interference and that a change in PSU can have an impact with those components power supply. But when the only change is with the 2Qute power supply and I hear a significant uplift in SQ, especially on the lower end, then I have to conclude it's the mains affecting the 2Qute negatively with the supplied charger. Note: I am using the LPS-1 by Uptone power supply that is built off of super capacitors with switching banks, this allows no mains leakage into the DC feed.
In order to completely take the analog components, amps, out of the equation, I will test again soon with the 2Qute driving my highly efficient speakers directly and report back.

Could you have both power supplies 'live' ie plugged in to the mains but alternate as to which one is powering the 2Qute. That way the mains interfence aspect will be constant and so can be eliminated as being the cause of the observed improvement?
 
Jun 29, 2017 at 7:57 AM Post #1,176 of 1,746
I had a 2Qute that was transformed by adding a Teddy Pardo PSU. This was totally against the recommendation of Rob Watts ....saying that he could discern no difference using a 12v car battery and the factory PSU.
Well to my ears (and wife and daughter) it was a new DAC with the better external PSU.
Could it be due to some spurious RF making its way to my amplifier from the factory PSU that is not there with the Teddy Pardo?? Not tested ...all components were on the same circuit. But if we are walking down that road it starts getting crazy.

I think even Rob does not really 'know'' what is going on. Many posts on other forums show users demonstrating audible differences where he says there should be none - with RF noise seeping in through any physical conductance to his DACs. Maybe another generation of two before it's all sorted 100%>
 
Jun 29, 2017 at 9:32 PM Post #1,177 of 1,746
I can only report on what I hear - and if you had been in the room at that time with me, you would have not been able to hear any difference with the stock PSU against a car battery too.
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 9:29 AM Post #1,178 of 1,746
I can only report on what I hear - and if you had been in the room at that time with me, you would have not been able to hear any difference with the stock PSU against a car battery too.

2qute is a marvellous dac and I am enjoying it immensely. But after a few minutes of listening with a new mcru power supply, there is a significant improvement to my 67 year old ears on what was already a lovely and detailed sound. Soundstage is deeper, midrange more delicate, instrument separation more pronounced. Regardless of whether or not an LPS improves I'd still like to say many thanks Rob for creating an exquisite little gem.
 
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Jun 30, 2017 at 12:47 PM Post #1,179 of 1,746
Hey guys, I'm currently considering a 2Qute. I currently have a Schiit Lyr 2 as my dedicated amp and have been using (and now about to return) a Nuforce DAC-80 due to defects which was serving as my DAC. I don't use speakers, only headphones and I am using Denon D7000s and Kennerton Vali's as my daily drivers.

The 2Qute is quite a bit more expensive than any of my other components outside of the 2016 desktop PC that will be serving as the source, which is where I listen to my music 99.9% of the time. As such it would be quite the investment for me. For the record, I was also considering a Schiit Bifrost Multibit.

My questions are simple:

1.) Is the 2Qute worth jumping up to from the $650 Bifrost Multibit I was looking at (or in general from that price range of DACs)?

2.) Is it a good time or a bad time to buy a 2Qute (reading about successors on the previous page makes me wonder if a replacement is on the way soon that would push down the price of the 2Qute)?

3.) Is this $1,300 DAC overkill for my modest $500 Lyr 2 amp?


I literally have both of these products in shopping carts on 2 different websites and don't know which direction to go in. Any insights at all will be greatly appreciated.
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 4:22 PM Post #1,180 of 1,746
1.) Is the 2Qute worth jumping up to from the $650 Bifrost Multibit I was looking at (or in general from that price range of DACs)?

2.) Is it a good time or a bad time to buy a 2Qute (reading about successors on the previous page makes me wonder if a replacement is on the way soon that would push down the price of the 2Qute)?

3.) Is this $1,300 DAC overkill for my modest $500 Lyr 2 amp?

I used to own both the 2Qute and Modi Multibit. (The Bifrost Multibit is the same aside from the power supply and ability to upgrade it in the future.) I think the 2Qute is a worthy upgrade if you can easily afford it. The person who has my 2Qute now also owns the Modi Multibit and feels the same way. Its US retail price is $500 lower than it used to be, so it's got that going for it as well.

However, differences between DACs are more subtle than transducers, as I'm sure you know. It's the type of thing to get once you've found headphones/speakers you love and want to focus on enhancing. To keep costs down, I temporarily downgraded to a $30 Behringer UCA202 audio interface. Although it's noticeably worse than high-end DACs, my system still sounds amazing, and I do think it's better to focus most of your budget on finding your ideal transducer before bothering with DAC upgrades. (For example, with some of the money I saved, I upgraded to a higher-end STAX system.)

The Hugo 2 had quite a few delays and it's likely that the 2Qute successor will too. It may not come out until next year. I'm certainly interested in it.

I don't think it's overkill. You should be thinking about whether you want to upgrade your transducers first.
 
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Jul 2, 2017 at 1:55 PM Post #1,181 of 1,746
I can only report on what I hear - and if you had been in the room at that time with me, you would have not been able to hear any difference with the stock PSU against a car battery too.

Rob, I am confused by all this. What you are saying is that you have created a perfect power supply, in the form of a wall-adapter. Or you have managed to remove noise completely inside your 2Qute.

However audio companies spend money developing better and better supplies. It's possible to spend hundreds of pounds and sometimes over a thousand on a PSU. (Naim for example.) Whereas you say you have cured the whole situation with a wall adapter, or internals of the 2Qute.

I am just 100% perplexed by all of this. (Worryingly so.)


Hey guys, I'm currently considering a 2Qute. I currently have a Schiit Lyr 2 as my dedicated amp and have been using (and now about to return) a Nuforce DAC-80 due to defects which was serving as my DAC. I don't use speakers, only headphones and I am using Denon D7000s and Kennerton Vali's as my daily drivers.

The 2Qute is quite a bit more expensive than any of my other components outside of the 2016 desktop PC that will be serving as the source, which is where I listen to my music 99.9% of the time. As such it would be quite the investment for me. For the record, I was also considering a Schiit Bifrost Multibit.

My questions are simple:

1.) Is the 2Qute worth jumping up to from the $650 Bifrost Multibit I was looking at (or in general from that price range of DACs)?

2.) Is it a good time or a bad time to buy a 2Qute (reading about successors on the previous page makes me wonder if a replacement is on the way soon that would push down the price of the 2Qute)?

3.) Is this $1,300 DAC overkill for my modest $500 Lyr 2 amp?


I literally have both of these products in shopping carts on 2 different websites and don't know which direction to go in. Any insights at all will be greatly appreciated.

You might need to bear in mind that the 2 Qute output is at 3V. Check the specifications on your amp.
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 11:44 PM Post #1,182 of 1,746
The original Qute was indeed very sensitive to the PSU - with the car battery test it failed miserably. But with Hugo 1 I could not hear a difference with the charger connected or not, so I wanted to replicate that performance with 2 Qute.

Now fundamentally I am an engineer, and will always go for the best solution I can get for the lowest cost. Now I knew exactly why Hugo 1 was insensitive to the PSU, and it was down to superior regulation and RF filtering. Now I could have kept the same strategy, then designed a better PSU, and Chord could charge customers more; once hooked, people would be obligated to spend more money (and create more profits). But this cynical approach is an anathema to me; I always want the best sound for the lowest cost and the most elegant way of engineering a solution. And spending $2 more on better RF filtering and regulation is a permanent fix to the power problem.
 
Jul 4, 2017 at 11:49 PM Post #1,183 of 1,746
Any 3 Qute announcements coming out soon? I hope it's next in line to get an upgrade.
 
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Jul 9, 2017 at 2:16 AM Post #1,184 of 1,746
Hey guys, just got my new 2Qute set up. Any recommendations for music that stands out in your experience?

Recommended music players?

I'm currently using Foobar but am not 100% sure of the optimum configuration.

Bit and Hz setting recommendation for the default audio properties? 16/44? 32/192? Any advice is appreciated.
 
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Jul 9, 2017 at 2:43 AM Post #1,185 of 1,746
Hey guys, just got my new 2Qute set up. Any recommendations for music that stands out in your experience?

Recommended music players?

I'm currently using Foobar but am not 100% sure of the optimum configuration.

Bit and Hz setting recommendation for the default audio properties? 16/44? 32/192? Any advice is appreciated.

Pretty much all types of music sound great with the 2Qute. Just play what you like.

I use foobar2000 as well even though I have other "fancier" players like HQPlayer, Bug Head Emperor, and JPLAYmini.

I recommend using bit-perfect output, particularly ASIO. (WASAPI and KS are also bit-perfect.) This way, you send the unaltered data of the file to the DAC and let the DAC do the work, and the settings are automatically changed depending on the sample rate (etc.) of the file that is playing.

http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_asio
 

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