[danypel]

How are you. I have a Qutest for more than a week. I use it with a Node 2 with optical output. I find it difficult to hear differences in sounds between the analog output of the Bluesound and the Qutest. Is that normal, or maybe I am somewhat deaf?

 

[ecwl]

How are you. I have a Qutest for more than a week. I use it with a Node 2 with optical output. I find it difficult to hear differences in sounds between the analog output of the Bluesound and the Qutest. Is that normal, or maybe I am somewhat deaf?

What is the downstream gear you’re using after Bluesound or Qutest? For example, if you pair it with a class D amplifier, a lot of the benefits from the Qutest would be lost. Different preamplifiers and amplifiers also have different degrees of transparency. Also try to make sure Qutest is in green filter mode. I have personally listened to a Bluesound DAC connected to Parasound preamp and amp and then I directly connected Mojo to the Parasound amp and the difference is very clear cut.

 

[danypel]

What is the downstream gear you’re using after Bluesound or Qutest? For example, if you pair it with a class D amplifier, a lot of the benefits from the Qutest would be lost. Different preamplifiers and amplifiers also have different degrees of transparency. Also try to make sure Qutest is in green filter mode. I have personally listened to a Bluesound DAC connected to Parasound preamp and amp and then I directly connected Mojo to the Parasound amp and the difference is very clear cut.

My setup: Schiit Freya preamp, Mc2205 power amp and Revel f208 speakers

 

[Victorr]

How are you. I have a Qutest for more than a week. I use it with a Node 2 with optical output. I find it difficult to hear differences in sounds between the analog output of the Bluesound and the Qutest. Is that normal, or maybe I am somewhat deaf?

Try listening to Qutest for a week, and then switch to Node 2. Perhaps then you will clearly hear the difference.
In addition, the tube preamplifier has a high level of distortion, so it can completely level the difference in sound quality

 

[ecwl]

My setup: Schiit Freya preamp, Mc2205 power amp and Revel f208 speakers

You have a great system so it's hard to know. It's possible that the tube of the Schiit Freya homogenized the sound sufficiently that it's harder to hear the sonic differences.
I would suggest just listening for a little longer to see if you enjoy the difference. If not, kudos to you as you'll save some money on the Qutest.

 

[danypel]

Thank you very much for the answers. I will listen to it for a while, and as you say later I will switch to the analogue output of Node 2. It may also be a matter of expectations, and that I have expected the change to be day and night.

 

[HumanMedia]

Review of D50s at Audio Bacon, and compares it to a Qutest.
https://audiobacon.net/2019/12/24/topping-d50s-dac-review/

 

[linearly]

Review of D50s at Audio Bacon, and compares it to a Qutest.
https://audiobacon.net/2019/12/24/topping-d50s-dac-review/

This review is well written and mirrors my findings with other delta sigma dac's I had compared to Chord or r2r. There is a sound demo on youtube if you search 'Topping D50 and Chord Mojo', the difference is clear to me and if you can't hear it then you are lucky. There is also a chance some prefer harshness (gives a sense of false clarity) because everyone has different tastes in music. And that's fine.

Was just having a 'wish my Qutest had remote control' moment.

Add a headphone out and where can I buy it from? Wish there was a true table top (no batteries) mid range dac from Chord with hp socket, the only option now is tt2 or DAVE.

 

[malazz123]

Review of D50s at Audio Bacon, and compares it to a Qutest.
https://audiobacon.net/2019/12/24/topping-d50s-dac-review/

"The only thing that makes sense is to trust your own ears" <<== this
i have D70 , mojo and ifi micro bl and good old marantz hd dac1 , with amps ;schiit valhala 2 , massdrop thx 789 and cayin Ha1a mk2

love all of them , different music needs different gear setup and i don;t mind it;s my "me time"

but if i got chance to get qutest , i would trade/sell my mojo

 

[GreenBow]

Add a headphone out and where can I buy it from? Wish there was a true table top (no batteries) mid range dac from Chord with hp socket, the only option now is tt2 or DAVE.

I think a lot of folk would like that hypothetical Chord DAC.

I initially bought the Hugo 2. Am actually glad it's portable or rather movable about the home easily. However if there was a headphone port Qutest, I imagine I would not have bought the Hugo 2. I think the best option would be a Qutest with a headphone port and some supercaps. That would dominate desktop use, and double up for hifi use. It would be pricey though.

 

[danypel]

How about ... I wanted to tell you that after 4 or 5 days of intensive listening and leaving the Qutest working 24 hours a day the sound has changed significantly. Now I notice clear differences between the integrated dac of Node 2 and that of Qutest. Being the latter much more detailed, sound more open and airy, more dynamic ... well, everything has improved so much that I can not stop listening to music through Roon. I also have it connected to an endpoint consisting of a basic notebook with very low-resource ssd and it works very well. I find it difficult to find differences between the Node 2 with optical connection and the notebook with USB connection. Thank you and sorry for my English that is not my native language.

 

[Triode User]

How about ... I wanted to tell you that after 4 or 5 days of intensive listening and leaving the Qutest working 24 hours a day the sound has changed significantly. Now I notice clear differences between the integrated dac of Node 2 and that of Qutest. Being the latter much more detailed, sound more open and airy, more dynamic ... well, everything has improved so much that I can not stop listening to music through Roon. I also have it connected to an endpoint consisting of a basic notebook with very low-resource ssd and it works very well. I find it difficult to find differences between the Node 2 with optical connection and the notebook with USB connection. Thank you and sorry for my English that is not my native language.

there is no need to apologise for your English, it is very good.

I suspect it is your brain rather than the Qutest that has changed in the time that you have had it and it is this that is enabling you to now hear the differences. I have never had any Chord dac which has changed its sound with ‘burn in’.

I was rather surprised that you couldn’t hear differences between the qutest and node 2 but you got there in the end!

 

[linearly]

I think the best option would be a Qutest with a headphone port and some supercaps. That would dominate desktop use, and double up for hifi use. It would be pricey though.

There is a gap to be filled in the best entry level all in one desktop dac/amp (not many can afford a tt2 to start with) since other companies struggle to create a balance between a good dac and a transparent amp in one package. But that's easy for Chord to do with their direct dac to headphones drive.

Some folk modded their Mojo with supercaps, so thats also a possibility. Of course you lose warranty but I'd do it if I had the technical know-how. Maybe we can get official supercaps mods for Mojo or Hugo2, or better get a Mojo and Hugo2 supercap versions, I'd buy both of them right away since that would solve all my issues I have.

 

[danypel]

there is no need to apologise for your English, it is very good.

I suspect it is your brain rather than the Qutest that has changed in the time that you have had it and it is this that is enabling you to now hear the differences. I have never had any Chord dac which has changed its sound with ‘burn in’.

I was rather surprised that you couldn’t hear differences between the qutest and node 2 but you got there in the end!

Thanks for your answer. Trying the different gain options again, I realized that with 3v it sounds much better than with 1v and 2v. I think that was the main difference between my first listeners and the last ones that have been so different. Obviously my preamp (Schiit Freya) needs higher input voltage. The difference is very clear when I change the gain. The sound is much more open, more dynamic. But at 2v I still don't notice big differences with Node 2. I am convinced that in my case the adequate gain is that of 3v. Regards!!!!

 

[ecwl]

Thanks for your answer. Trying the different gain options again, I realized that with 3v it sounds much better than with 1v and 2v. I think that was the main difference between my first listeners and the last ones that have been so different. Obviously my preamp (Schiit Freya) needs higher input voltage. The difference is very clear when I change the gain. The sound is much more open, more dynamic. But at 2v I still don't notice big differences with Node 2. I am convinced that in my case the adequate gain is that of 3v. Regards!!!!

This is most interesting because 3V vs 2V is a 4dB difference so the SNR of the Qutest would not be dramatically reduced. So my personal speculation is this: Freya volume control is more transparent at a lower volume setting. By operating the Qutest at 3V, you’re letting the Freya volume to be set at 4dB lower and most preamplifiers have optimal volumes where you get the best linearity and lowest noise which results in most transparency. I suspect that’s the most likely reason why it’s easier for you now to hear the benefits of Qutest.
That said, I definitely have a couple of friends whose preamplifiers would clip if you feed a 3V input which is why the 2V and 1V options are there.