Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread
Aug 5, 2019 at 6:25 AM Post #4,111 of 6,743
Best move would be to try the qutest different output levels playing in your system. Start from 1v and up, and try to hear if the sound starts giving distortion/clipping. In my setup (gryphon diablo 300, bw 803), i was told by my local dealer to use the qutest at 2v , but heard some clipping/distortion, so went ive set it up at 1v. So i let the amp to push the sound.
 
Aug 5, 2019 at 11:37 PM Post #4,113 of 6,743
Hi ,sorry for my english
I am a happy owner of a chord quest
it is associated via usb to my audio streamer sotm 200 ultra neo.
my amp is an arcam avr 850.
I do not know what voltage to choose on my chord quest in association with that of my arcam
I can choose on my entries rca of my arcam a voltage input of 1, 2 and 4 volts
on the chord, 1.2 and 3 volts output
I put 2 volts for the moment on both devices but I would like to try 3 volts on my amp.
is this risk? I'm afraid to make a mistake
thank you Laurent

Here is a contrary opinion.

Set your input to 4 volts and set the Qutest output to 3 volts.

Assumptions
Since it’s an avr, there won’t be a ‘maximum volume at 3 o’clock on the volume dial’ issue.
This gets the maximum signal to noise out of the Qutest. Also anecdotally the higher the output volume on the Qutest the better it sounds at the same volume out of the speakers. This has been mentioned perhaps early in this thread? And my memory is dim but there could have been a good reason for this, something to do with the volume being done digitally in a lossy fashion (decimated).

Can’t hurt to try!
 
Aug 6, 2019 at 1:47 AM Post #4,114 of 6,743
059A4458-800B-46F6-BDBD-A1AE5C2547F1.png
Anyone here running audirvana+ on a macbook pro via toslink to the qutest? I just realized is it not bit perfect? I just realized playing dsd files, DSD64, then on the bottom right is says DAC: 24/88.2 ? So everything gets converted to PCM by the MBP’s internal DAC before getting to qutest. @Rob Watts
 
Aug 6, 2019 at 3:23 AM Post #4,115 of 6,743
Anyone here running audirvana+ on a macbook pro via toslink to the qutest? I just realized is it not bit perfect? I just realized playing dsd files, DSD64, then on the bottom right is says DAC: 24/88.2 ? So everything gets converted to PCM by the MBP’s internal DAC before getting to qutest. @Rob Watts

No, I doesn’t get converted by the internal DAC it gets converted by the software. Two different things.

You need to set Audirvana+ to DoP for DSD. This isn’t converting to PCM but rather a protocol for sending DSD without drivers.
 
Aug 6, 2019 at 4:22 AM Post #4,116 of 6,743
No, I doesn’t get converted by the internal DAC it gets converted by the software. Two different things.

You need to set Audirvana+ to DoP for DSD. This isn’t converting to PCM but rather a protocol for sending DSD without drivers.
Noted. Thanks for explaining. It says under the settings “DSD is not supported” though? The current setting is “dsd over pcm 1.1”
 
Aug 6, 2019 at 5:42 AM Post #4,117 of 6,743
Noted. Thanks for explaining. It says under the settings “DSD is not supported” though? The current setting is “dsd over pcm 1.1”

Oh, that is what I have Audirvana+ set to as well. Do you have 'Direct Mode' enabled? With the DAVE (I don't have the Qutest) I can't play with 'Direct Mode' enabled. Please check to see if you have sample rate conversions set on. I'm using an old version of Audirvana+ (version 2.6.8) so I wonder if there would be any differences between versions.

Also, is your optical cable able to pass along 24/192? That may be also a reason.
 
Aug 6, 2019 at 7:10 AM Post #4,118 of 6,743
Oh, that is what I have Audirvana+ set to as well. Do you have 'Direct Mode' enabled? With the DAVE (I don't have the Qutest) I can't play with 'Direct Mode' enabled. Please check to see if you have sample rate conversions set on. I'm using an old version of Audirvana+ (version 2.6.8) so I wonder if there would be any differences between versions.

Also, is your optical cable able to pass along 24/192? That may be also a reason.

Upsampling is deactivated. I think I know why. Im running the audirvana+ on my old mbp which is limited to 24/96, thats probably why dsd is not available. Where can I find the “direct mode” setting in audirvana?
 
Aug 6, 2019 at 7:49 AM Post #4,119 of 6,743
Upsampling is deactivated. I think I know why. Im running the audirvana+ on my old mbp which is limited to 24/96, thats probably why dsd is not available. Where can I find the “direct mode” setting in audirvana?

It’s with the DoP, Integer, and Exclusive mode settings... second tab in the preferences (can’t remember the tab name and I’m not in front of it now). Like I said previously, I’m running an older version so it may not be the same.
 
Aug 10, 2019 at 2:23 PM Post #4,120 of 6,743
Hi,

So, as promised - sharing my comments about Sbooster Linear PSU with Chord Qutest. After "burn in", somehow i did not hear any benefits, and actually kind of liked the sound of stock psu or power bank more.
Stock PSU problem - ground noise to speakers, battery - i'm too tired to charge it once every 2'nd day.

After reading here that Qutest was grounded and solved all the ground loop noise issue, i bought ifi Groundhog (https://ifi-audio.com/products/groundhog/ ) , AudioQuest BNC to RCA adapter and grounded my Qutest. Since i've no use for BNC at the moment, i connected ground through BNC.
And my problem solved. Now background is dead silent, even better that with battery, and to me Qutest now sound superb. And even using stock PSU. :)

Here is the picture :

IMG_9138.jpg
 
Aug 10, 2019 at 3:45 PM Post #4,124 of 6,743
Hi,

So, as promised - sharing my comments about Sbooster Linear PSU with Chord Qutest. After "burn in", somehow i did not hear any benefits, and actually kind of liked the sound of stock psu or power bank more.
Stock PSU problem - ground noise to speakers, battery - i'm too tired to charge it once every 2'nd day.

After reading here that Qutest was grounded and solved all the ground loop noise issue, i bought ifi Groundhog (https://ifi-audio.com/products/groundhog/ ) , AudioQuest BNC to RCA adapter and grounded my Qutest. Since i've no use for BNC at the moment, i connected ground through BNC.
And my problem solved. Now background is dead silent, even better that with battery, and to me Qutest now sound superb. And even using stock PSU. :)

Here is the picture :

Audio Nervosa Psychosomatic Alert !
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top