Chord Electronics 2Qute DAC announced
Jun 26, 2015 at 5:47 PM Post #466 of 1,746
  Any feedback on power conditioning or linear power supplies improving sonics? I recall someone switching cords? Does the brick have a star eight detachable cord? 
 
I ordered a unit but BlueBird is out of stock and waiting for new shipment.

Appears I will be waiting several more weeks, disappointed. Guess their still in short suppy??  :frowning2:
 
Jun 29, 2015 at 2:22 PM Post #468 of 1,746
My 2Qute will come in tomorrow, my JKDAC32 which I have only used a few times seems to refuse to give audio output and an Odac on my new Tannoy Canterbury GR's is a bit out of..
 
Looked for second hand DAC's but they were too old or people are charging to much compared to the 'real' value or they were out of my current budget. The 2Qute just fitted in the maximum amount of money I could spend (on gear) this month and probably the next few months :wink:.
 
I hope I have made the right decision for the money, I could give an impression later this week, but don't expect an audiophile review, I am just a guy who loves great sound and also loves technology but how my music sounds depends so much on my state of mind and this is not something I think I can write about like some of you guys, and I don't have many DAC's to compare with..
 
Jun 29, 2015 at 4:17 PM Post #469 of 1,746
  My 2Qute will come in tomorrow, my JKDAC32 which I have only used a few times seems to refuse to give audio output and an Odac on my new Tannoy Canterbury GR's is a bit out of..
 
Looked for second hand DAC's but they were too old or people are charging to much compared to the 'real' value or they were out of my current budget. The 2Qute just fitted in the maximum amount of money I could spend (on gear) this month and probably the next few months :wink:.
 
I hope I have made the right decision for the money, I could give an impression later this week, but don't expect an audiophile review, I am just a guy who loves great sound and also loves technology but how my music sounds depends so much on my state of mind and this is not something I think I can write about like some of you guys, and I don't have many DAC's to compare with..

 
Tannoy Canterbury's !!!... swoon, I'm all ears now...
tongue_smile.gif

 
Jun 29, 2015 at 10:37 PM Post #470 of 1,746
Just finished a session. I should of tried the cable that came with the 2Qute sooner. Not bad, not bad at all. Nice rich tone; that reminds me of copper and not so revealing of recording flaws. I give it a thumbs up.
 
Jun 30, 2015 at 11:37 AM Post #471 of 1,746
I have got some major issue with my 2Qute DAC as it won't play the DSD files any more. I use the jriver media player and it all used to work but now when I play DSD files (1x or 2x) all I hear is loud hiss noise.
 
Here are the symptoms
 
1. PCM files are all working fine.
2. When playing DSD files bit streaming is selected in jriver and I can see the blue indication is ON in jriver confirming no changes are being made to signal and is pass through to the DAC
3. I can see the White LED lights up in 2Qute DAC but I can only hear loud hiss noise on the speaker
4. I have tried both USB and Coaxial inputs and it is not able to decode DSD files on both inputs.
5. I am using jriver on Windows 7 and mine is rock solid machine (Xeon processor with 12GB RAM, no issues using jriver for past 7 years)
 
Here is what I have tried so far but unable to resolve the issue.
 
1. Uninstalled the USB drivers, rebooted, reinstalled driver and again rebooted. Replaced USB cable as well. It does not fix.
2. Tried using DAC on different PC but problem still exists.
 
Is anyone having similar issues? I am looking for suggestion on how to fix it as I would hate to sent this for repair.
Hopefully this is not a hardware issues and can be fixed with software update. Fingers crossed.
 
I will let Rob suggest next steps.
 
Jun 30, 2015 at 2:18 PM Post #474 of 1,746
  I have got some major issue with my 2Qute DAC as it won't play the DSD files any more. I use the jriver media player and it all used to work but now when I play DSD files (1x or 2x) all I hear is loud hiss noise.
 
Here are the symptoms
 
1. PCM files are all working fine.
2. When playing DSD files bit streaming is selected in jriver and I can see the blue indication is ON in jriver confirming no changes are being made to signal and is pass through to the DAC
3. I can see the White LED lights up in 2Qute DAC but I can only hear loud hiss noise on the speaker
4. I have tried both USB and Coaxial inputs and it is not able to decode DSD files on both inputs.
5. I am using jriver on Windows 7 and mine is rock solid machine (Xeon processor with 12GB RAM, no issues using jriver for past 7 years)
 
Here is what I have tried so far but unable to resolve the issue.
 
1. Uninstalled the USB drivers, rebooted, reinstalled driver and again rebooted. Replaced USB cable as well. It does not fix.
2. Tried using DAC on different PC but problem still exists.
 
Is anyone having similar issues? I am looking for suggestion on how to fix it as I would hate to sent this for repair.
Hopefully this is not a hardware issues and can be fixed with software update. Fingers crossed.
 
I will let Rob suggest next steps.

 
I'll alert Matt over your problem and get back to you with a solution... unfortunately Chord is now closed for the day so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for a reply, hth. 
 
Jun 30, 2015 at 3:51 PM Post #475 of 1,746
cybervinay... I've heard back from Matt and it appears to be a known J-River problem and not one concerning the 2Qute or your PC, his reply is below...
 
This sounds like a similar problem that I was made aware about recently. There is a bug in J-River that means if by choice (or by accident) you select the 6dB volume boost button then DSD will not play and you only get a hiss, see link for more info: 
 
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=94367.0
 
I'll assume/guess that perhaps the boost feature is either not bit perfect or removes the DSD flag so the DAC can no longer recognise the DSD stream... anyway it is supposed to be fixed in the latest release of J-River but I have yet to test this - we at Chord would never use the volume boost mode anyway. 
 
Hopefully this will solve your problem, if not send me a message detailing your issue and I'll do my best to find a solution, hth.
 
Jul 1, 2015 at 3:31 AM Post #476 of 1,746
  cybervinay... I've heard back from Matt and it appears to be a known J-River problem and not one concerning the 2Qute or your PC, his reply is below...
 
This sounds like a similar problem that I was made aware about recently. There is a bug in J-River that means if by choice (or by accident) you select the 6dB volume boost button then DSD will not play and you only get a hiss, see link for more info: 
 
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=94367.0
 
I'll assume/guess that perhaps the boost feature is either not bit perfect or removes the DSD flag so the DAC can no longer recognise the DSD stream... anyway it is supposed to be fixed in the latest release of J-River but I have yet to test this - we at Chord would never use the volume boost mode anyway. 
 
Hopefully this will solve your problem, if not send me a message detailing your issue and I'll do my best to find a solution, hth.

 
Thanks for providing the details on jriver page. Unfortunately mine is not the same scenario as I use windows version of jriver and problem mentioned on the jriver forum is for MAC version of jriver.
Further there is no such settings of -6db adjustment in the windows version of the jriver.
 
I am already using the higher version (20.0.115) and have tried installing jriver and reinstalling an using the default setting.
I have even tried a new laptop on which jriver was installed for the first time and face the same issue while playing DSD files. (Loud Hiss Noise)
I am sure its an issue with the 2Qute DAC and not with jriver. It won't play the bit-streamed DSD files.
 
Please suggest another software player to play DSD and I will try.
Awaiting further troubleshooting help from you.
 
Thanks
 
Jul 1, 2015 at 4:51 AM Post #477 of 1,746
   
Please suggest another software player to play DSD and I will try.
Awaiting further troubleshooting help from you.
 
Thanks

 
I'm thinking of getting DB-Poweramp though not sure if that does DSD (free trial before you buy), not sure on the others as I've been waiting to see if Sony upgrade Media-Go to DSD/Hi-Res as they're pushing out all their Hi-Fi/TV/Mobile products with this capability... I'll also ask Matt on what other programs are good to use.
 
Jul 2, 2015 at 1:35 PM Post #479 of 1,746
I was in communication with Matt today with regard to a possible J-River problem with Windows, it turns out there may not be a problem afterall. 
 
The source of the problem seems to be using ASIO for DSD playback... ASIO is not recommended for DSD playback, it works in some cases but not in all.
 
WASAPI or Kernel Streaming is recommended for DSD playback... if you are running Windows it is best to use WASAPI.

Chord are trying to find out more and whether there is a workaround for ASIO but unfortunately nothing positive yet...sonically speaking, you shouldn't hear any difference between ASIO or WASAPI.
 
In other news... looking into getting dB-Poweramp in the near future, I noticed that there is a streamer plug-in that can do DSD (Aset UPnP)... if you scroll down the home-page to 'Spoon's Blog' via the link below, details of the latest release mentions a DSD update, hth.
 
Link: https://www.dbpoweramp.com/
 
Jul 2, 2015 at 3:02 PM Post #480 of 1,746
I was in communication with Matt today with regard to a possible J-River problem with Windows, it turns out there may not be a problem afterall. 

The source of the problem seems to be using ASIO for DSD playback... ASIO is not recommended for DSD playback, it works in some cases but not in all.

WASAPI or Kernel Streaming is recommended for DSD playback... if you are running Windows it is best to use WASAPI.


Chord are trying to find out more and whether there is a workaround for ASIO but unfortunately nothing positive yet...sonically speaking, you shouldn't hear any difference between ASIO or WASAPI.

In other news... looking into getting dB-Poweramp in the near future, I noticed that there is a streamer plug-in that can do DSD (Aset UPnP)... if you scroll down the home-page to 'Spoon's Blog' via the link below, details of the latest release mentions a DSD update, hth.

Link: [COLOR=0066CC]https://www.dbpoweramp.com/[/COLOR]

Well, AssetUPNP does stream PC's sound to any UPNP renderer but it converts this output sound into a file. This isn't a data transfer from the streaming service.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top