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Chord Electronics 2Qute DAC announced
Apr 16, 2015 at 12:46 PM Post #167 of 1,746
rob watts said:
   
That's a little odd - my experience so far with 2 Qute is that the source, so long as it is bit perfect, no longer makes a difference to the SQ due to the galvanic isolation. That said, I still have some more SQ tests to do.
 
What could be happening is RF noise is upsetting the rest of the system - the power amp in particular. In the 80's, my audio was very sensitive, the SQ would vary with time (the system would sound stunning at 2AM), and with things going on in the rest of the house. This was before I discovered RF noise as being very important. After making this discovery, I RF filtered the electronics, and changed my analogue design so that the amps were less sensitive to RF noise. After doing this, the SQ became very much more stable, and if RF sources were on in the room, it would no longer affect SQ.
 
So perhaps the changes you are hearing is nothing to do with 2 Qute, but RF noise locally generated upsetting the power amp.
 
Anyhow, I am very pleased you are bowled over by 2 Qute!
 
Rob
Click to expand...


Thanks for getting back Rob. I have a dedicated mains radial for the hifi and plugged the CuBox wall wart into the domestic mains and still the same result. I tried two other warts as well, again same result. So unless the RF is airborne, I don't see how it's getting into the amp, which is also a Chord BTW.
 
I've also got my CD going into the 2Qute via Coaxial and it sounds great, even when the wall warts on the hifi radial.
 
If you're going to be doing more testing and haven't already, It might be worth checking sources such Rasberry-Pi, CuBox etc, as they seem to be increasingly used for streaming audio from NAS's and online services such as Qobuz to standalone DAC's like the 2Qute.
 
Anyway, I think its safe to say in my case that its the wall wart causing the problem so hopefully the linear supply will solve it.  
 
Apr 16, 2015 at 2:54 PM Post #168 of 1,746
Hi, I just wanted to say that on my Voyage MPD wandboard system (tiny quad-arm system using the same chipsed as the quad Cubox but I do have RT kernel installed) I have not heard any of the characteristics that have been mentioned(no mud/fuzz/grain), it all sounds extremely good to me (using some oversized wall wart I had). Certainly no worse than using my Oppo 103 as source (haven't compared carefully, but very happy with the sound).
dgently
 
Apr 17, 2015 at 1:48 AM Post #170 of 1,746
randle81 said:
I know on my Vega it takes an hour before it allows you to choose exact clock settings

48 hours? I'd be interested whether @Rob Watts would agree if this is the case on the 2qute?
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Any comparisons between this and the Vega, I know they are 2 totally different form factors and price points, but I'm looking for something portable that would have similar sound quality as my vega/
 
Apr 17, 2015 at 5:20 AM Post #171 of 1,746
I'd hesitate to put in a proper review until I've spent more time with it and have let it burn in. My initial impressions are it is competitive with the Vega. Maybe a little bit more realism of instruments (better separation, better location across width of sound stage - particularly at the wider ends of sound stage).

Has anyone compared the sound with and without the ground screw connected to a grounding point? I'm assuming I might not need to use it as all I'm using is optical at present and I cannot detect any ground hum.
 
Apr 17, 2015 at 5:25 AM Post #172 of 1,746
Thanks for the reply, sounds like it may be a good fit then. I find the Vega to be one of the best, most resolving DAC's I've heard, so if I could get that kind of sound quality in a portable rig that's just fantastic.
 
Apr 17, 2015 at 5:51 AM Post #174 of 1,746
randle81 said:
Not super portable given the need to bring wall wart, cable, amp.. Etc. Would you not be better with a Hugo? Same technology. Have a listen
Click to expand...

 


Well I'm looking for something to pair with the Cavalli Liquid Carbon I just pre ordered...
 
Apr 17, 2015 at 11:55 AM Post #175 of 1,746
randle81 said:
I know on my Vega it takes an hour before it allows you to choose exact clock settings
48 hours? I'd be interested whether @Rob Watts would agree if this is the case on the 2qute?
Click to expand...


I'm sure not.  My point is not that 48 hrs is required, just that 48 hours is best.  The Vega, for example, as noted, has an auto timer excluding folks from even using the exact setting on its femto for one hour after power up.  It's a static setting.  I'm not saying don't listen, I'm saying it takes a long time for the sq to get back to best sq...so don't power off your digital gear.
 
Apr 17, 2015 at 12:01 PM Post #176 of 1,746
this is a new one.  Wonder why 99% of the other dac makers don't make some sort of statement about keeping the dac on to properly condition the clock environment.  Or maybe it only affects femto clocks in certain designs that use temperature control.  I remember Opera had a Cd playrer that had an "oven
controlled"  clock.
 
Apr 18, 2015 at 7:11 AM Post #179 of 1,746
Anyone noticed audible changes from burn-in? Or does it sound stable right out of the box?
And is there warm up time from cold turn-on?
 
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