Stuck on tone?
I'm listening to my 2Qute right now and I hear plenty of tone. You may find it not enough though. And my opinion is the 2Qute is very susceptible to a dirty power grid. I do most all of my listening at night and it sounds really good. I also agree with other's that the 2Qute (sorry that's the Hugo, but still ...) can do special things with certain recordings. Last night I was listening to Le Sacre du Printemps by Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic, one of my favorites and something happened that left me kind of stunned. The instruments were all over the place when suddenly the dynamic tempo stopped and went in a whole new direction. What was different about that was how fast it changed. If I didn't know better I would have thought there was a dropout. Except it was instantaneous. Fastest transients I have heard. I enjoyed the rest of the performance and heard other new things but none stuck out like that one. I'm having similar experiences with other recordings as well but most have been in the Classical Orchestra.
After spending time with it I'm feeling resolution and detail may be to different things which for me is a new level of performance. My Sabre dac with 9018 chip combined with the AP2 with pure power had gobs of detail. Texture and tone as well, but lacked the finesse of more expensive equipment. The 2Qute seems to let you hear more into the human side of the recording. Things like a breath, even what some refer to as a wet breath that travels the inside of a sax and exits as music. I can now hear an instrument such as a horn and how it resonates where before I heard what came out the end. How it can move closer to the mic and pull back just a little bit or sway's to the left or right. How can you put a price on that?
But, don't expect to hear this on every recording. If the mic didn't pick it up then it's just not there. I have a few guitar recordings where you can hear the pick on the strings. But not on all of them. Maybe not all times of the day either. There are a lot of variables and I sometimes pickup on something I have not heard before.
Is it recording dependent? You bet it is. Do some recordings sux and others don't. Yep. I hate that and wish they all did sound as good. I'm going through my music (hi-rez and Redbook) and culling what I don't like. And you can not expect the 2Qute or the Hugo to be awesome in everything they do. For that your just going to have to move up the chain. Oh, and there are other dac's that can help with that rich tone your looking for. Tubes. I would also think careful selection of cables could certainly help. Mine are all silver except for my Norne Draug 2 which is copper/litz. Probably the silver is maXgniXfyiXng (wrong word), passing on what I feel is some slight power grunge during the day. I suggest you get one to audition and see what you think. Give it a fair shot and come back here and let us know what you think. Maybe see if you can find the words to describe how it sounds. I'm telling you it's tough.
edit: Something else I think I'm hearing is how a studio recording is sometimes put together. Not all are as noticeable but here is what I heard. I began to notice that the performers vocals at mid stage pretty much always seem in focus. Now, I'm talking about the recording, not the talent. But anyway, sometimes the accompanying instruments, say there's one on the right and one at left could sound different to one another. I think it's in how they're recorded. Right now your probably thinking .. duh. This guy must of just fell off the tree cause he sure is a greenie. Can you believe that's really a word???
My example is a piano on the right stage is near crystal clear, each key strike is in sharp focus and detailed. But at the left is a cello, I can hear the strings, the deep sound of the instrument but some thing is slightly wrong and off about it. You could call it dull, lacking tone maybe, or maybe it's been poorly mic'd or something. It just doesn't seem to belong with the sharp contrast of the piano.
I have heard this with other recordings also. One instrument sounds realistic while another is not fully in focus (or that's what I'm calling it). I need to listen more attentively to my left channel to see if I have a problem. But, I don't think so. I think the 2Qute is revealing what is there. The good news' is that a great recording sounds fantastic. Oddly my Sabre dac play's on through the poor recording but doesn't sound noticeable. It's also not as resolved and lacks the the 2Qute's finesse. Especially with the really great recordings where the 2Qute can leave you in total surprise. That's happened to me a lot. It has also made my Redbook listenable again. DSD is as good or better than the best recordings I have - but, ... A turkey is still a turkey after you dress him up. My feeling is that the 2Qute is worth it.
Oh, and the recording of the piano and cello... suddenly the piano quit and left me with the cello playing. 30 seconds or so, I left also. You may have these moments as well. These are my impressions and observations with my setup. Please don't hold them against me if you hear something different. Instead come here and tell us yours.
