[VRDS]

The Dave doesn´t fit my budget but I´m really glad I found the 2Qute. Amazing DAC, especially at 44.1
Of course highres and DSD sound very good as well but 44.1 is not much behind with the 2Qute.
 

 

[fdhfdy]

Anyone compared 2qute with Hugo TT? I am gonna grab one of the two for my speaker system but not sure which one sounds better as a DAC.

 

[SpiggyTopes]

Hi All,
 
 
Sorry to drag this up again but I want to ask one more time.
 
When I changed from Qute to 2Qute, I kept my Teddy Pardo linear power supply.
 
I would now like to sell the Teddy Pardo.
 
But, only if it makes no difference to the sound.
 
 
I've read every thread on the subject here and am aware of Rob Watts' dictum but am still not sure.
 
Any comments or advice welcome.
 
Cheers.

 

[andromeda1954]

Anyone compared 2qute with Hugo TT? I am gonna grab one of the two for my speaker system but not sure which one sounds better as a DAC.

I have both .Imo the 2Qute sounds equally good if not better than the Hugo TT especially in the lower end . So if you don't need a amplifier also go for the 2Qute ,it will save you a lot of money .

 

[VRDS]

  Hi All,
 
 
Sorry to drag this up again but I want to ask one more time.
 
When I changed from Qute to 2Qute, I kept my Teddy Pardo linear power supply.
 
I would now like to sell the Teddy Pardo.
 
But, only if it makes no difference to the sound.
 
 
I've read every thread on the subject here and am aware of Rob Watts' dictum but am still not sure.
 
Any comments or advice welcome.
 
Cheers.

Why don´t you compare the supplied walwart with your Teddy Pardo. It could be different result depending on your stereo setup but I´m pretty sure the Teddy Pardo linear power supply will be better.
I personally have no matching linear power supply at the moment but tried a 12V battery which makes a lot of difference.

 

[miketlse]

  Hi All,
 
 
Sorry to drag this up again but I want to ask one more time.
 
When I changed from Qute to 2Qute, I kept my Teddy Pardo linear power supply.
 
I would now like to sell the Teddy Pardo.
 
But, only if it makes no difference to the sound.
 
 
I've read every thread on the subject here and am aware of Rob Watts' dictum but am still not sure.
 
Any comments or advice welcome.
 
Cheers.

 
I presume that you have read these posts:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/749582/chord-electronics-2qute-dac-announced/495#post_11788386
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/749582/chord-electronics-2qute-dac-announced/450#post_11705657
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/749582/chord-electronics-2qute-dac-announced/345#post_11606147
 
So the advice is quite clear. Don't use alternative power supplies because they make no difference, but if you do you will invalidate your warranty.
 
John Franks posted this on the Mojo thread yesterday:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-the-official-thread-please-read-the-3rd-post/20490#post_12746593
 
So my advice is do not use your Teddy Pardo with your Chord kit.

 

[VRDS]

Anyone compared 2qute with Hugo TT? I am gonna grab one of the two for my speaker system but not sure which one sounds better as a DAC.

The TT might use an improved internal power supply through the battery and caps but when going with the 2Qute you could buy a very good linear power supply as Teddy Pardo, Paul Hynes, SBooster or similar and still have saved a lot of money.
This is if you don´t need headphone amp, remote or additional inputs.

 

[miketlse]

  The TT might use an improved internal power supply through the battery and caps but when going with the 2Qute you could buy a very good linear power supply as Teddy Pardo, Paul Hynes, SBooster or similar and still have saved a lot of money.
This is if you don´t need headphone amp, remote or additional inputs.

 
The 2Qute and TT have identical source jitter correction
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/766517/chord-electronics-dave/1440#post_12271004
 
The 2Qute and TT have source galvanic isolation
 
Originally Posted by Rob Watts 
 
The RF characteristics of the cable can change the RF noise that gets injected into Mojo's ground plane, and this is the mechanism for changes in smoothness. You may say why can't you make it insensitive to it; well I go to silly lengths to RF filter and decouple, and use dual solid ground planes on the PCB, but you can't remove the problem. For Dave, Hugo TT and 2 Qute I have galvanic isolation, and this eliminates the problem (along with other SQ problems such as sound-stage depth). But I can't do this with portable devices, as it draws power from the 'phone. That said it's less of an issue with portable electronics as they are less power hungry and create less noise.
 
 

 

[SpiggyTopes]

   
I presume that you have read these posts:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/749582/chord-electronics-2qute-dac-announced/495#post_11788386
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/749582/chord-electronics-2qute-dac-announced/450#post_11705657
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/749582/chord-electronics-2qute-dac-announced/345#post_11606147
 
So the advice is quite clear. Don't use alternative power supplies because they make no difference, but if you do you will invalidate your warranty.
 
John Franks posted this on the Mojo thread yesterday:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-the-official-thread-please-read-the-3rd-post/20490#post_12746593
 
So my advice is do not use your Teddy Pardo with your Chord kit.

 
Thanks for refreshing and taking the trouble to source the posts.
 
I'm happier now and have reinstated the Chord power supply!!

 

[miketlse]

   
Thanks for refreshing and taking the trouble to source the posts.
 
I'm happier now and have reinstated the Chord power supply!!

 
Glad to have been helpful. I tried not to sound officious, but the last thing i want is for someone to innocently damage their chord dac, and end up out of pocket.

 
Enjoy your music. 

 

[fdhfdy]

really doubt it until got chance to try them both with good quality cd transport at shop side by side today. I end up like cheaper 2 qute more than tt. even the sales man couldnt talk too much about it. thank you for the input which makes me more confident.
 
another wired thing I have noticed was tt easily got confused with inputs controls. the remote control from the transport set the tt to Bluetooth while it was playing through coax.

 

[Mark UX]

I have a specific question regarding Digital vs Analog volume control, in my current setup with 2Qute. Here is my setup:
 
-OS: Windows 10
-Software: Foobar2000, MusicBee v3, etc (currently experimenting) - Setup: "ASIO Chord Hugo 1.03" driver.
-DAC: Chord 2Qute
-KRK 6 Generation 3 - Powered Studio Monitors (read: studio monitors with built-in class A/B amplifier). Exactly these:
 
http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/rokit/rokit-6.html
 
Since the 2Qute is a plain DAC without volume control built-in, I currently have 2 ways of controling the volume:
 

• At the powered speakers themselves (they have a volume control each, in ts back),
• In the software itself (foobar2000, musicbee, etc... both via "ASIO Chord Hugo 1.03" driver.

 
So, the question is: which is the correct/proper way of archiving Bit Perfect audio with above setup? If I control volume via software (like foobar, musicbee) will it degrade the audio ouput and end not giving me Bit Perfect audio signals? Or I will get Bit Perfect audio by 2Qute, regarding where I control volume?
 
I have started to worry when I read post # 399 in this link:

http://superuser.com/questions/492281/from-a-quality-perspective-what-is-better-turning-volume-up-in-the-software-i
 
Please give me as much technical info as possible, I am a bit confused here.
Many thanks.

 

[miketlse]

  I have a specific question regarding Digital vs Analog volume control, in my current setup with 2Qute. Here is my setup:
 
-OS: Windows 10
-Software: Foobar2000, MusicBee v3, etc (currently experimenting) - Setup: "ASIO Chord Hugo 1.03" driver.
-DAC: Chord 2Qute
-KRK 6 Generation 3 - Powered Studio Monitors (read: studio monitors with built-in class A/B amplifier). Exactly these:
 
http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/rokit/rokit-6.html
 
Since the 2Qute is a plain DAC without volume control built-in, I currently have 2 ways of controling the volume:
 

• At the powered speakers themselves (they have a volume control each, in ts back),
• In the software itself (foobar2000, musicbee, etc... both via "ASIO Chord Hugo 1.03" driver.

 
So, the question is: which is the correct/proper way of archiving Bit Perfect audio with above setup? If I control volume via software (like foobar, musicbee) will it degrade the audio ouput and end not giving me Bit Perfect audio signals? Or I will get Bit Perfect audio by 2Qute, regarding where I control volume?
 
I have started to worry when I read post # 399 in this link:

http://superuser.com/questions/492281/from-a-quality-perspective-what-is-better-turning-volume-up-in-the-software-i
 
Please give me as much technical info as possible, I am a bit confused here.
Many thanks.

 
On the Mojo thread post #3 there is this info:
 
Quote:

  It is always better to give Mojo bit perfect files and let Mojo do the work, as the processing within Mojo is much more complex and sophisticated than a mobile or PC.
 
So when you have an app that has a volume control, and no bit perfect setting, then set it to full volume on the app on the assumption that this will keep the data closer to the original file.
 
The volume control function on Mojo is much more sophisticated than the PC as I employ noise shaping and I do the function at a very high internal sample rate. Hopefully using the volume set to max on the app will mean the volume coefficient is 1.0000000... so it will return the original data.
 
Rob 

  You can always do a listening test. If set to max against 50% say, and it hardens up (becomes brighter) with loud recordings then its clipping. If on the other hand the perception of sound-stage depth is reduced, then the volume control is degrading the sound.
 
If you do that test and can hear no difference then don't worry, its a good app volume control.
 
Rob
 
PS for fun I just did a very quick test using Dave. I listen to radio 3 using the BBC iPlayer. I normally have it set to max. I reduced the iPlayer volume control to half, boosted Dave volume control by +6dB - and yes I felt sound-stage depth was worse with lower iPlayer volume.

 
So for the Mojo, which can control the volume, the advice is set the source to 100%, and adjust the Mojo volume to suit.
 
I think for 2Qute which has no volume control, the ideal is to set the source to 100%, and adjust the volume using the amplifier in your speakers.
However if this means that the output from the 2Qute exceeds the max input voltage for your speakers (and results in clipping and distortion), then you will have to reduce the volume at the source (even though you will then not have a bitperfect signal), or use a passive preamp to reduce the voltage from the 2Qute, before you feed the signal to your speakers.
 
You will have to perform some trial and error, to see which method works for you.

 

[Mark UX]

   
On the Mojo thread post #3 there is this info:
 
Quote:

  It is always better to give Mojo bit perfect files and let Mojo do the work, as the processing within Mojo is much more complex and sophisticated than a mobile or PC.
 
So when you have an app that has a volume control, and no bit perfect setting, then set it to full volume on the app on the assumption that this will keep the data closer to the original file.
 
The volume control function on Mojo is much more sophisticated than the PC as I employ noise shaping and I do the function at a very high internal sample rate. Hopefully using the volume set to max on the app will mean the volume coefficient is 1.0000000... so it will return the original data.
 
Rob 

 
So for the Mojo, which can control the volume, the advice is set the source to 100%, and adjust the Mojo volume to suit.
 
I think for 2Qute which has no volume control, the ideal is to set the source to 100%, and adjust the volume using the amplifier in your speakers.
However if this means that the output from the 2Qute exceeds the max input voltage for your speakers (and results in clipping and distortion), then you will have to reduce the volume at the source (even though you will then not have a bitperfect signal), or use a passive preamp to reduce the voltage from the 2Qute, before you feed the signal to your speakers.
 
You will have to perform some trial and error, to see which method works for you.

 
Any good advise regarding a high-quality Passive preamp? I am a bit afrraid that—in order to reach bit perfect audio—I would need to add an extra device (passive preamp) to my audio chain, and this might degrade the pristine resolution of 2Qute.
 
My audio setup would end being like this then:
 
Laptop > 2Qute > (passive preamp) > Powered Studio Monitors.
 
Without the passive preamp, the 3v output of 2Qute is simply too much, and I am forced to lower the volume digitally, in foobar2000, effectively, breaking perfect bit audio.
 
Please let me know if by adding a passive preamp would be harmful for the excellent quality of 2Qute audio resolution. I would appreciate if @Rob Watts has some input on this.
 
Many thanks.

 

[Rob Watts]

Hmm. We use 3v OP so that you can use passive pre-amps - but you are creating problems by adding a passive volume control.
 
Its probably best to use a digital volume control with Foobar 2k. If you can try, evaluate both options.
 
Rob