[Triode User]

Jitterbugs suck and as noted by @Arniesb they roll off the top end. Try two at a time as suggested by Audioquest and you can double your misery. I suppose if your system is bright/harsh sounding, they may serve as a band-aid.

IMHO of course.

But consider how they might be rolling off the top end. They are not altering the music signal so the rolled off top end you mention is more likely removal of RF noise. If you prefer it with that top end then are you are really saying is that you like the sound of RF noise? Just a thought.

 

[Arniesb]

But consider how they might be rolling off the top end. They are not altering the music signal so the rolled off top end you mention is more likely removal of RF noise. If you prefer it with that top end then are you are really saying is that you like the sound of RF noise? Just a thought.

Guess what i have silver usb cable which have a lot more extension than Jitterbug and at the same time way lower noise floor.
1 thing is bright and 1 is noise free.
Ss amps are a lot more queit than tube amps and they are brighter.
Almost all decrapifiers are brighter than Jitterbug too and way have much lower noise floor.

 

[linearly]

I ran my HD650s direct for a while using volume control on software, no issues at all, but watch to voltage - start at 1V. You get more transparency without amp, but in the end I went back to amp for convenience.

That would solve all my issues right now, how does one do that? I've the same headphones, do you need some kind of special adapter RCA to headphone jack female? And use digital volume in Windows? Is 1V a lot for 300ohm headphones? I mean is there a risk of blowing the drivers up if an app goes full volume? Thank you.

 

[Triode User]

Guess what i have silver usb cable which have a lot more extension than Jitterbug and at the same time way lower noise floor.
1 thing is bright and 1 is noise free.
Ss amps are a lot more queit than tube amps and they are brighter.
Almost all decrapifiers are brighter than Jitterbug too and way have much lower noise floor.

Rob Watts has mentioned previously that some 'decrapifiers' can actually add noise into the digital chain due to their power supplies etc. Hence why they might sound brighter.

 

[Qute Beats]

That would solve all my issues right now, how does one do that? I've the same headphones, do you need some kind of special adapter RCA to headphone jack female? And use digital volume in Windows? Is 1V a lot for 300ohm headphones? I mean is there a risk of blowing the drivers up if an app goes full volume? Thank you.

Two ways to do it. You can buy a RCA-headphone adaptor, which was what I did first to experiment - this was mine

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011SS0TVM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I then made up a headphone cable direct into RCA plugs to remove adaptor, relatively easy, soldering the wires into the small headphones plugs was the tricky part as not much room to work with. Just get some of these, cable and makke sure you get the +/- the right way around.

I had no issues, but yeah just watch the volume on the software as otherwise can go quite loud. Using MusicBee I found ~50% volume OK and as far as I could work out at around this level there is no loss of sound quality, but technically not bit perfect. A couple of time I had accidentally played loud and had to quickly reduce volume, but no damage was done. Blasting at the max volume for a while could be another story though, as would using a much lower impedance headphone I imagine.
But please do research it yourself first as I obviously wouldn't want to you do mess anything up based on what I've said here.

 

[linearly]

But please do research it yourself first as I obviously wouldn't want to you do mess anything up based on what I've said here.

Will look into this for sure, thanks so much for explaining it to me. I also saw there are digital volume controls with RCA in jack out, with potentiometer and remote. Now I have to buy Qutest again... Anyways I'm confident I will make this work somehow. Other option is buying a Mojo and replace the battery with super caps, there was someone that did it in the Mojo thread, but that sounds so much more complicated. 'Tinkering' about it.

 

[Romi54]

@Rob Watts

How much power (A) does the Qutest use at most?

 

[linearly]

So this morning I decided to plug my 650's to direct RCA out of my current DAC, it has 2Vrms. Was so scared at first, got the volume lowest possible, expected to blow up my headphones. That didn't happen, had to get it at about 60% volume at 2v to sound about right. What struck me was how much better direct DAC was compared to the built in headphone amp.

There are a few options for volume control, software, digital or analog. I guess the best one would be analog with a pot and nothing more. Digital ones have a remote control with RCA in RCA out.

For now I've decided to go with Schiit SYS, I can have both headphones and active speakers plugged in and switch between them. Once I get everything will do some tests with Qutest RCA -> Hp direct with software volume control vs Schiit SYS.

Also I have no idea what I'm doing and I did this at my own risk. Please be careful.

Probably there are a lot of audio downsides to this option, that I'm not aware of, but this is what fits me best right now.

 

[mmhifi]

OK, micro-usb power port of my 4-month old Qutest failed to work properly... I had intermittent lost of power.
My dealer replaces the unit for new one.

 

[Baten]

So this morning I decided to plug my 650's to direct RCA out of my current DAC, it has 2Vrms. Was so scared at first, got the volume lowest possible, expected to blow up my headphones. That didn't happen, had to get it at about 60% volume at 2v to sound about right. What struck me was how much better direct DAC was compared to the built in headphone amp.

This isn't a Chord product, but I can't see or better say hear any downsides to this.

There is a pretty big downside. Most DACs are not meant for direct drive and have an impedance output sometimes up to hundreds of Ω. Not as bad with planars which don't care about impedance, or higher impedance headphones as HD600/HD800 etc, but this will likely sound BAD with sensitive headphones.

For example, SDAC balanced on massdrop. It has a 3.5mm output meant for line-out to other device. If you plug a headphone into it, it actually has impedance output of 150Ω. This is not good to direct drive headphones ... what is the impedance output of Qutest over its RCA outputs? I've no idea.

 

[linearly]

There is a pretty big downside. Most DACs are not meant for direct drive and have an impedance output sometimes up to hundreds of Ω. Not as bad with planars which don't care about impedance, or higher impedance headphones as HD600/HD800 etc, but this will likely sound BAD with sensitive headphones.

For example, SDAC balanced on massdrop. It has a 3.5mm output meant for line-out to other device. If you plug a headphone into it, it actually has impedance output of 150Ω. This is not good to direct drive headphones ... what is the impedance output of Qutest over its RCA outputs?

No idea.

Yeah I know, I'm in uncharted waters here. Will use Qutest with Schiit SYS for volume control into my HD650's. On the first page on this thread it says Output impedance: 0.025Ω for Qutest. I really don't know what to do, if this will degrade the sound somehow that I'm not aware of. If that is the case I'm willing to forgo my battery bias and get the Hugo 2.

 

[Baten]

Yeah I know, I'm in uncharted waters here. Will use Qutest with Schiit SYS for volume control into my HD650's. On the first page on this thread it says Output impedance: 0.025Ω for Qutest. I really don't know what to do, if this will degrade the sound somehow that I'm not aware of. If that is the case I'm willing to forgo my battery bias and get the Hugo 2.

Why not just use qutest and digital volume control? Since qutest has such low impedance it will work. Adding SYS will only degrade things!

 

[kerisabe]

Does anyone knows if there is an actual USB A plug that is pure silver? Im looking to replace the plugs/connectors for my active grounding cables and the cables itself to pure silver conductors. Any suggestions would be appreciated. (Found bnc/spades/stereo jack that are pure silver; except usb A plug)

 

[blueninjasix]

Yeah I know, I'm in uncharted waters here. Will use Qutest with Schiit SYS for volume control into my HD650's. On the first page on this thread it says Output impedance: 0.025Ω for Qutest. I really don't know what to do, if this will degrade the sound somehow that I'm not aware of. If that is the case I'm willing to forgo my battery bias and get the Hugo 2.

I mainly use Qutest with my set amps and speakers but for occasional headphone listening I've recently acquired a Liquid Spark which is a cheap as chips addition and can easily drive HD650. I user Beyerdynamic dt 880.

 

[linearly]

After thinking about all the positives and negatives between Qutest direct headphones and Hugo 2 I decided to go with the latter (again). I'm sure Qutest would work with rca direct to my 300ohm phones, but what would happen if in the future I want an upgrade to lower impedance ones? Too many complications. And maybe there are sound downsides aswell. Who knows.

So I went to audition to Hugo 2 and see if it still sounds as I remember it from a year ago. Next to it there was the TT2 so naturally I had to listen to it and see what the hype is about. Hugo 2 was exactly as I remember it, no surprise there. The awe struck when I started listening to the TT2. I was expecting slighty better then Hugo 2 performance, to hear differences only with some songs not all etc. But the bump in audio quality from Hugo 2 is obvious right away, much closer to DAVE then the other way around. The sound has weight to it, it flows better, also warmer but not muddier, it sounds amazing. I'm very glad I gave TT2 a listen as it made the decision for me so much easier. Harder for my wallet, but easier for me.