[betula]

i havn't even connected a cable yet. literally just took it out of the box. unfortunarley the rest of my gear is in another location so i wont be able to test it for a couple of days

If it actually works I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[ChasingDopamine]

That's definitely not normal. My 2Qute is dead silent even if I shake it.
Cable connection issue?

Actually i think you were right mate. I put in a pair of RCA cables and the rattling dropped significantly. I then also removed the plastic cap for the toslink input and it disappeared completely.

 

[betula]

I am still amazed how not more people jump on the 2Qute. £695 is an insane price performance ratio for a new unit. It sounds much better than the Mojo and pretty much kills every other DAC up to £1200 where you can buy the more advanced Qutest.
2Qute for this price is just amazing. Chord DACs are the best. Thanks Rob!

 

[ChasingDopamine]

I am still amazed how not more people jump on the 2Qute. £695 is an insane price performance ratio for a new unit. It sounds much better than the Mojo and pretty much kills every other DAC up to £1200 where you can buy the more advanced Qutest.
2Qute for this price is just amazing. Chord DACs are the best. Thanks Rob!

Definity in agreement. I'm a big fan of the chord house sound signature and was torn between the 2qute for £700 or the qutest for £1200 for my speaker system. Ive had mine for just under a day now and it's insanely good. An incredible steal for under 700. It sounds much better than a mojo (which already is a fantastic dac) and blows away anything else I've heard anywhere near its price bracket. I would wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone looking for a mojo upgrade for desktop use, the last remaining units will probably be snapped up soon.

 

[betula]

I think we should raise awareness how much a DAC improves one's life. Or at least one's listening experience. All focus seem to go on headphones and amps only; DACs seem to be left out. I do think DACs are responsible for at least 33% of your overall listening experience.
2Qute for £5-700 is an exceptional bargain. (Best DAC under £1200.) One of my best audio investments ever, hence I am keen to share my discovery.

 

[miketlse]

I think we should raise awareness how much a DAC improves one's life. Or at least one's listening experience. All focus seem to go on headphones and amps only; DACs seem to be left out. I do think DACs are responsible for at least 33% of your overall listening experience.
2Qute for £5-700 is an exceptional bargain. (Best DAC under £1200.) One of my best audio investments ever, hence I am keen to share my discovery.

Definitely UK house styles in your photo.
Back to 2Qute - the 2Qute thread had been quiet for many months, but has burst into life again now that the 2Qute is available new/ex-demo at such a bargain price.
I am happy to keep promoting these end-of-line 2Qutes to anyone considering stepping onto the Chord experience, because after the Mojo, these 2Qutes represent the best sound quality per buck, that most people could hope to achieve.

 

[ChasingDopamine]

I second that. Loving my new DAC a week in, very happy with my investment. Its making me want to upgrade the rest of my chain to get the most out of it.

 

[Scutey]

I think we should raise awareness how much a DAC improves one's life. Or at least one's listening experience. All focus seem to go on headphones and amps only; DACs seem to be left out. I do think DACs are responsible for at least 33% of your overall listening experience.
2Qute for £5-700 is an exceptional bargain. (Best DAC under £1200.) One of my best audio investments ever, hence I am keen to share my discovery.

You've nailed it regarding DAC's, and in particular the 2Qute, mine was a significant upgrade in sound from my previous Musical Fidelity V DACII, and in terms of my whole system every bit as important as my Elise tube amp and my Beyer DT 1990 hp's, I'll certainly be keeping mine for some time and when I do eventually change it will be for another Chord.

 

[raindogtrombone]

So a few weeks ago I wrote about having intermittent crackling (quiet and not frequent, but definitely noticeable) using the 2Qute along with my DAP as source (it's an Onkyo DP-X1A, which runs Android and sends the source files via USB and OTG cable). I picked up a Schiit Eitr (USB to SPDIF) and found that with Coax, I had no issues whatsoever. The Eitr is limited to 192, which is fine since I don't think I have any music any higher at this point. But either way, I was reading earlier in this thread about how the USB uses Galvanic Isolation (still don't fully understand that, but early on someone from Chord mentioned that USB was the preferred/most ideal input), and so I wondered whether my USB cable or USB OTG cable might be the cause.

I picked up an Audioquest Cinnamon USB and Audioquest Dragontail OTG cable to connect to my DAP. Now, I hear less crackling, but definitely still some here and there. I have two DSD albums on my DAP and when I play them, I get long dropouts, some crackling/noise, and they are basically unplayable.

I've tested this DAP as source with my Mojo, as well as two other DACs, I've had the headphone amp for a while with multiple sources, and I have come to the conclusion that the 2Qute really doesn't like the Android DAP (I've turned wifi and bluetooth off since I got the 2Qute - initial considerable crackling disappeared).

I'm thinking that when the 2Qute came out, most people were using non-Android DAPs or computers for USB audio, so maybe there's just an unfriendliness? I'm going to go back to the Eitr because the sound is totally crackle-less, but I honestly didn't think I'd have any issues with the 2Qute and this DAP. Any ideas I haven't tried yet? I love the sound of this DAC. I had a Gustard X20 Pro before, which I liked, but there's something about this DAC that makes it stand apart. Just wish I didn't have the occasional crackle...

 

[miketlse]

So a few weeks ago I wrote about having intermittent crackling (quiet and not frequent, but definitely noticeable) using the 2Qute along with my DAP as source (it's an Onkyo DP-X1A, which runs Android and sends the source files via USB and OTG cable). I picked up a Schiit Eitr (USB to SPDIF) and found that with Coax, I had no issues whatsoever. The Eitr is limited to 192, which is fine since I don't think I have any music any higher at this point. But either way, I was reading earlier in this thread about how the USB uses Galvanic Isolation (still don't fully understand that, but early on someone from Chord mentioned that USB was the preferred/most ideal input), and so I wondered whether my USB cable or USB OTG cable might be the cause.

I picked up an Audioquest Cinnamon USB and Audioquest Dragontail OTG cable to connect to my DAP. Now, I hear less crackling, but definitely still some here and there. I have two DSD albums on my DAP and when I play them, I get long dropouts, some crackling/noise, and they are basically unplayable.

I've tested this DAP as source with my Mojo, as well as two other DACs, I've had the headphone amp for a while with multiple sources, and I have come to the conclusion that the 2Qute really doesn't like the Android DAP (I've turned wifi and bluetooth off since I got the 2Qute - initial considerable crackling disappeared).

I'm thinking that when the 2Qute came out, most people were using non-Android DAPs or computers for USB audio, so maybe there's just an unfriendliness? I'm going to go back to the Eitr because the sound is totally crackle-less, but I honestly didn't think I'd have any issues with the 2Qute and this DAP. Any ideas I haven't tried yet? I love the sound of this DAC. I had a Gustard X20 Pro before, which I liked, but there's something about this DAC that makes it stand apart. Just wish I didn't have the occasional crackle...

There aren't many reports of faulty 2Qutes about, but have you tried contacting
Chord Electronics Help Desk for their view?

 

[raindogtrombone]

Thanks - I might connect with them. I should add I don't think it's faulty - when I used USB from a computer source, it worked fine. The issue is that my laptop can't be placed very close to the 2Qute for logistics, and my music is all on my DAP at this point.

 

[miketlse]

Thanks - I might connect with them. I should add I don't think it's faulty - when I used USB from a computer source, it worked fine. The issue is that my laptop can't be placed very close to the 2Qute for logistics, and my music is all on my DAP at this point.

The Mojo came out before the 2Qute, and most posters seemed to be using Android phones as a source. Most problems seemed to occur with iPhones, but even here the issues seemed to be concentrated on certain models, or when using iPhones on certain radio bands.
Either way that would not explain why your dap works ok with the Mojo, but not the 2Qute.
Do you experience the issues only when trying to play DSD files?
I thought that normally chord dacs handle DOP files, but don't like DSD. Just floating a thought.

 

[raindogtrombone]

The Mojo came out before the 2Qute, and most posters seemed to be using Android phones as a source. Most problems seemed to occur with iPhones, but even here the issues seemed to be concentrated on certain models, or when using iPhones on certain radio bands.
Either way that would not explain why your dap works ok with the Mojo, but not the 2Qute.
Do you experience the issues only when trying to play DSD files?
I thought that normally chord dacs handle DOP files, but don't like DSD. Just floating a thought.

Most of the issues are with regular FLAC files of various bitrates. Doesn't seem to be specific to any filetype or bitrate, and like I said, has become more intermittent with better USB cables. It's just odd, and was curious to see if anyone else has used an Android as source with the 2Qute.

 

[ksorota]

Most of the issues are with regular FLAC files of various bitrates. Doesn't seem to be specific to any filetype or bitrate, and like I said, has become more intermittent with better USB cables. It's just odd, and was curious to see if anyone else has used an Android as source with the 2Qute.

My curiosity got the better of me and i plugged my essential phone, via cheap OTG adapter to a Silver Dragon USB cable and played a few tracks.

I hear clicking in most, but not all tracks that I have played through Google Play music. This is with wifi on and mobile data off.

Not sure what that means, as I do not get the clicking when using the same source on my Mojo.

I do not get the clicking when running through the 2qute with my pc as a source either.

Good luck finding the solution.

 

[billqs]

I am still amazed how not more people jump on the 2Qute. £695 is an insane price performance ratio for a new unit. It sounds much better than the Mojo and pretty much kills every other DAC up to £1200 where you can buy the more advanced Qutest.
2Qute for this price is just amazing. Chord DACs are the best. Thanks Rob!

I attempted to purchase a 2Qute from Amazon uk, from the link provided a couple of pages ago, but it wouldn't let me complete the sale (I'm in the US). Does anyone know of a seller that will ship to US... preferably at the discounted clearance price?