[alekc]

@ecwl I try not to listen too loud in order to be able to still hear the difference. I also almost don't have any hard to drive headphones. The one thing that made this decision more complex is this review of Qutest: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ew-and-measurements-of-chord-qutest-dac.5981/

While I highly doubt I would hear measured difference between Hugo 2 and Qutest you know the feeling when you know it is somewhere there What headphone amp would you recommend for Quest. At the end I would like to have a similar sound in terms of warm like Mojo, but with more detail.

 

[ecwl]

@ecwl I try not to listen too loud in order to be able to still hear the difference. I also almost don't have any hard to drive headphones. The one thing that made this decision more complex is this review of Qutest: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ew-and-measurements-of-chord-qutest-dac.5981/

While I highly doubt I would hear measured difference between Hugo 2 and Qutest you know the feeling when you know it is somewhere there What headphone amp would you recommend for Quest. At the end I would like to have a similar sound in terms of warm like Mojo, but with more detail.

I would not recommend any headphone amps with the Qutest because I think the combo of Qutest with any headphone amp inevitably leads to a loss of transparency compared to Hugo 2. I would only recommend Qutest if somebody already owns a favorite headphone amp and don't want to part with it. However, it is always possible that some people prefer Qutest + headphone amp vs Hugo 2 because depending on people's music listening preferences and actual preferred music they listen to, some music might sound more euphonic with the Qutest + headphone amp. If you're currently using Mojo and like it, and you want to upgrade, I think saving up for the Hugo 2 is the next logical upgrade.

 

[alekc]

I would not recommend any headphone amps with the Qutest because I think the combo of Qutest with any headphone amp inevitably leads to a loss of transparency compared to Hugo 2. I would only recommend Qutest if somebody already owns a favorite headphone amp and don't want to part with it. However, it is always possible that some people prefer Qutest + headphone amp vs Hugo 2 because depending on people's music listening preferences and actual preferred music they listen to, some music might sound more euphonic with the Qutest + headphone amp. If you're currently using Mojo and like it, and you want to upgrade, I think saving up for the Hugo 2 is the next logical upgrade.

Thank you @ecwl for valuable input and your time. It makes a lot of sense.

 

[oldson]

been considering buying a used 2qute or qutest , but having looked on chord's website support page i see no driver or firmware downloads available.
why is this?

 

[alekc]

been considering buying a used 2qute or qutest , but having looked on chord's website support page i see no driver or firmware downloads available.
why is this?

If you want driver for 2qute is it available on the product page (at least there is a link to driver - never tested it): https://chordelectronics.co.uk/product/2qute/

Our of curiosity looking at your signature I've noticed you are using ifi micro idsd - are you planning to exchange it with Chord product or are you looking for 2qute/qutest for a different setup?

 

[Clemmaster]

been considering buying a used 2qute or qutest , but having looked on chord's website support page i see no driver or firmware downloads available.
why is this?

It’s on the product page, instead.

 

[oldson]

im looking to compare and potentially replace the ifi idsd

 

[David M H]

... I would only recommend Qutest if somebody already owns a favorite headphone amp and don't want to part with it...

@ecwl Good shout. After just a short while replacing 2Qute with Qutest, double blind tests prove that I'm very pleased with the upgrade, both through my favourite HP amp and through my (limiting) nCore class D power amps.

My plan was to sell the 2Qute but after using it to directly drive my HD800, I'm going to keep it on my desk at work. Thanks, @Reactcore.

 

[David M H]

Qutest 1V output = considerably less attenuation = better SQ (more 'life') through my speaker system. Could be expectation bias but double blind tests suggest not.

 

[Jon L]

However, it is always possible that some people prefer Qutest + headphone amp vs Hugo 2 because depending on people's music listening preferences and actual preferred music they listen to

Or...some people own headphones that thrive on more power, e.g. Abyss 1266 Phi TC.
Hugo 2 740mW into 33 Ohms
SMSL SP200 3 watts into 32 Ohms

Ridiculously stiff audiofool cables are a B**ch though.

0221202052 by drjlo2, on Flickr

 

[Baten]

Or...some people own headphones that thrive on more power, e.g. Abyss 1266 Phi TC.
Hugo 2 740mW into 33 Ohms
SMSL SP200 3 watts into 32 Ohms

Ridiculously stiff audiofool cables are a B**ch though.

0221202052 by drjlo2, on Flickr

This is the best way to connect an RCA output to the THX amp, over its XLR input
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-rca-to-xlrm-adapter-cable
as recommended by Andrew, one of the engineers of the THX AAA tech.

This adapter cable extends balanced wiring to the RCA connector using star-quad wire to maximize the effectiveness of the balanced input: One half of the star-quad ties Pin 3 of the XLR to the shield of the RCA connector. The other half of the star-quad ties pin 2 of the XLR to the center pin on the RCA. The braided shield ties pin 1 of the XLR to the shield of the RCA.

Using this special wiring, a ground-loop between the two audio devices will produce a current in the braided shield, but not in the audio signal lines. This keeps ground-loop currents out of the critical signal lines and greatly reduces the potential for interference. The separate connection from the RCA ground to pin 2 of the XLR provides a dedicated path for the audio ground reference. This wiring leverages the common-mode rejection of the balanced XLR input to reduce conducted interference.

To reduce magnetic interference, the audio signal is carried on two twisted pairs arranged in a star-quad configuration. This star-quad configuration provides immunity to hum-inducing magnetic fields produced by nearby electronic devices.

This cable provides the best method for directly interfacing an unbalanced output to a balanced input.

 

[miketlse]

having looked on chord's website support page i see no driver or firmware downloads available.

Rob Watts approach for the dacs, is to spend a lot of time testing/optimising the code, until he believes the sound quality cannot be improved, given the design constraints for each model.
No more updates are made to the code for that dac, so there are no firmware updates to download.

In contrast, Rob is not involved in the streamer (Poly and 2Go) designs, and these have been designed from day 1, to allow firmware updates.

 

[Reactcore]

My plan was to sell the 2Qute but after using it to directly drive my HD800, I'm going to keep it on my desk at work. Thanks, @Reactcore.
[/QUOTE]

Have u tried Qutest to drive direct too? Should b even better. The buffer caps i placed also give better control of the HP's drivers. Hugo and TT have those too. Qutest normally dont need them feeding amps. But a HP draws more current. The caps deliver for the peaks. its specially noticable in the bass performance.

 

[David M H]

Have u tried Qutest to drive direct too? Should b even better. The buffer caps i placed also give better control of the HP's drivers. Hugo and TT have those too. Qutest normally dont need them feeding amps. But a HP draws more current. The caps deliver for the peaks. its specially noticable in the bass performance.

It's on my to do list. Thank you. For now, I'm just living with Qutest in my speaker system, and loving it so far.

 

[gasmonkey]

I have recently run into an issue where some/most HD music files have static crackle and pops during the more intense portions of the song, similar to clipping, but at very low volume as well. I assume this is down to my Dell laptop/Realtek speakers, but even after trying everything I still can't figure it out. THe workaround I have is to play Youtube music at 0% volume in a webbrowser outputting to laptop speakers. This allows Roon to serve HD files flawlessly.

I am just a little worried I have a problem that isn't letting my system perform as it should. Thoughts?