Definitely no slouch there, will test tomorrow it's 1am here
Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread
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Initial impressions of the stock vs MCRU psu.
High frequencies,including cymbals and brushes,sound much softer,less grainy and more natural.The weird thing is that they are not -or are slightly- lower in volume,which I am not sure that is a factor of a less noisy psu...
Mids,especially voices and brass,sound more natural and soft and when you hear a brass instrument playing together with cymbals,you can now hear them more distinctly and precisely-the stock psu makes them sound a little muddy together.
Bass,I am not really sure if I can hear a clear difference.
The tests are made with Analogue Productions CDs with 20-30sec playing intervals and listening specifically for minor differences...Which I am continuing.
I am not sure if I would easily pick the correct psu if I would listen only to one of them blindly,but I can easily pick the one playing if I hear them one after the other.
Any thoughts and opinions would be very appreciated!
High frequencies,including cymbals and brushes,sound much softer,less grainy and more natural.The weird thing is that they are not -or are slightly- lower in volume,which I am not sure that is a factor of a less noisy psu...
Mids,especially voices and brass,sound more natural and soft and when you hear a brass instrument playing together with cymbals,you can now hear them more distinctly and precisely-the stock psu makes them sound a little muddy together.
Bass,I am not really sure if I can hear a clear difference.
The tests are made with Analogue Productions CDs with 20-30sec playing intervals and listening specifically for minor differences...Which I am continuing.
I am not sure if I would easily pick the correct psu if I would listen only to one of them blindly,but I can easily pick the one playing if I hear them one after the other.
Any thoughts and opinions would be very appreciated!
More updates.
The MCRU sounds always more natural and more realistic with easily perceived and improved depth and layering!The separation between instruments is much better and it is more quieter!
The confusing part is that it almost always sounds a smidge brighter...Isn't this a sign of RF injection into the dac or the mains power lines?Or does this have to do with the much better resolution?
The MCRU sounds always more natural and more realistic with easily perceived and improved depth and layering!The separation between instruments is much better and it is more quieter!
The confusing part is that it almost always sounds a smidge brighter...Isn't this a sign of RF injection into the dac or the mains power lines?Or does this have to do with the much better resolution?
Judging by owners initial tests and real world usage it seems that qutest really does respond to quality power supply upgrades. And this totally makes sense to me. Our hobby it centered around power. Which for whatever reason usually seems to be an afterthought.
I'm also getting a smoother overall sound with my ISO-PS (power supply) from Ciunas Audio, but definitely not oeverdone, and a very nice type of smooth, as well as a more natural / organic lifelike sound that's something to behold. As well as the Qutest sounding a bit on the grainy / digital glare-like sound when going back to the stock PS. Yup I'm also hearing better "instrument separation" with my new PS on the Qutest as well, also making the stock PS sound more muddy in this regard as well. It's an uncanny good sound, really.
For me though I'm not hearing any added brightness with my new PS, and wanted to mention it almost seems you contradicted yourself in saying the cymbals and brushes sound much softer & grainy.
On your question about bass, no doubt it has good definition / authority and not overdone at all. Power conditioning in general can have a positive effect things like layering / soundstage / dynamics / smoothness but does not specifically alter the volume or balance of specific frequencies. Mine is heightening the overall experience equally and for me, while not explicitly declaring the ISO-PS better than other power filtering options, I am 100% satisfied and for any other system upgrades I would feel better focusing on other things such as RCA interconnects, headphones and the amp.
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My Qutest DAC is sounding so sublime now with this that I'm tempted to listen louder, and I believe day 2 of burn-in has further improved things.
If you are located in the US, the below works well with Qutest, or any digital gears. It comes with isolated outlets, and bring the noise level to 14mV.
Yes, the stock psu will inject noses into the line, ~40mV.
And it will be much better if you could have a dedicated line for digital only, and two poles Rcbo is better, not one pole MCB.
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/wrk_api.htm
Yes, the stock psu will inject noses into the line, ~40mV.
And it will be much better if you could have a dedicated line for digital only, and two poles Rcbo is better, not one pole MCB.
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/wrk_api.htm
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Dear friend,I did not explain well if I let you conclude that the cymbals are less grainy;the correct explanation is that they don't sound grainy with the aftemarket psu!
Hmmm, not sure about those products from 24 years ago for $600+ with non-existent website. I'm in the U.S. and more than satisfied with my British P.S. from Cuinas Audio and it only cost me about $240 including shipping
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Rob Watts
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Yes it's a sign of more RF injected into the DAC, giving you more noise floor modulation, which in turn gives an impression of more details. But it's false, and it will increase listening fatigue...
Thank you for your reply Mr. Watts!
But doesn't this contradict with the phenomenon of the high and mid frequencies sound way more organic and natural?How do you explain this?The difference is big and it is more enjoying and realistic listening to the aftermarket psu...
The background also sounds more darker.
Hmmm, not sure about those products from 24 years ago for $600+ with non-existent website. I'm in the U.S. and more than satisfied with my British P.S. from Cuinas Audio and it only cost me about $240 including shipping
Probably you can get it for $100 or less now.
It bought down the noises from 500mV or more from the line to 15mV, and prevented noises injecting to the line.
And it have isolated outlets, numbers
depending on models.
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On the power wedge too but not the isolated outlet
If the audiophile decided to spend money on an expensive power supply, then nothing can stop him.
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