[Light - Man]

Killer review! I'm a previous subscriber and like your content. We have similar thoughts on the Chord sound. Must be review season, mine is up as well. Really dig Chord gear now.





If the Qutest didn't exist I'd have a Gumby which is also very engaging to my ears.

Wow, that 2Qute sure looks like a 'Plain Jane' and not at all 2 Quite by half!

I hate to say it, but compared to the 2Qute, the Qutest is the ugly child!

 

[DesignTaylor]

We have similar thoughts on the Chord sound. Must be review season, mine is up as well. Really dig Chord gear now.

Oh man, excellent review! I wish this video had dropped a year ago, you would have saved me some time and money I think you really nailed it.

 

[Relaxasaurus]

Oh man, excellent review! I wish this video had dropped a year ago, you would have saved me some time and money I think you really nailed it.

Nah it's always good to hear multiple perspectives. The TT2 and the M Scaler really blew my mind but you do bring up a good point that the Qutest is like 90% of the way there (sans m scaler).

 

[Christer]

Wow, that 2Qute sure looks like a 'Plain Jane' and not at all 2 Quite by half!

I hate to say it, but compared to the 2Qute, the Qutest is the ugly child!

In Qutest's defence, imho it's not about looks. On its own Qutest has got competition yes. But in combination with a Chord Mscaler and closed eyes while listening the only combo I can think of that actually sounds notably better and even more realistic with really well recorded acoustic music is Chord's Dave with an Mscaler.
And unlike both TT2 and Dave Qutest travels well!
Not that that seems to matter much for the forseeable future unfortunately, but it served me well on my travels for two years.
I could just about squeeze both a camera with lenses and an Mscaler in my camera backpack and put little Qutest in a pocket on my photo vest together with cabling and hardrives and a portable headphone amp and get onboard lots of flights to the Tropics in winter.
Happy days!
Cheers CC

 

[Chop-Top]

Killer review! I'm a previous subscriber and like your content. We have similar thoughts on the Chord sound. Must be review season, mine is up as well. Really dig Chord gear now.

Excellent review also! So is the Qutest your top preference of the DAC's reviewed (with the exception of the TT2/ Mscaler)?

 

[Neweymatt]

Killer review! I'm a previous subscriber and like your content. We have similar thoughts on the Chord sound. Must be review season, mine is up as well. Really dig Chord gear now.





If the Qutest didn't exist I'd have a Gumby which is also very engaging to my ears.

Great review! Appreciate the confirmation bias on my recent purchase of a BF2, can't find enough time in the day to listen to it. Being still a bit of a noob to headfi , this is my first DAC, and when I was shopping around I really couldn't justify the 2x price for Qutest; I can get another pair of headphones for those $$ for now otherwise...

That said, I did have a listen to Qutest when figuring out what HP to get next, and yeah it's really something special. At some stage I'm sure I'll 'need' another listening station around the house and Qutest will be a strong contender..

 

[Relaxasaurus]

Excellent review also! So is the Qutest your top preference of the DAC's reviewed (with the exception of the TT2/ Mscaler)?

Yes, though I think Ares is something special as well. Also need to stress how much I liked the Gumby. It's such a great DAC that I would spend seemingly hours with.

Great review! Appreciate the confirmation bias on my recent purchase of a BF2, can't find enough time in the day to listen to it. Being still a bit of a noob to headfi , this is my first DAC, and when I was shopping around I really couldn't justify the 2x price for Qutest; I can get another pair of headphones for those $$ for now otherwise...

Yes, definitely save your money for headphones first. BF2 is a great DAC for someone still new to the hobby.

 

[DesignTaylor]

BF2 is a great DAC for someone still new to the hobby.

The SMSL SU-8 is also a great starting point if you are looking for an solid DAC with a warmer / natural presentation for under $200. I also recently got a Mini and that thing is amazing for the price (both as a DAC and portable amp). Used they go for around $300. That may be my new go to recommendation for folks getting into head-fi. I'll do a quick video review soon.

 

[kkrazik2008]

Killer review! I'm a previous subscriber and like your content. We have similar thoughts on the Chord sound. Must be review season, mine is up as well. Really dig Chord gear now.





If the Qutest didn't exist I'd have a Gumby which is also very engaging to my ears.

Wonderful comparison video, been waiting for something like this! I have been deliberating between the Bitfrost 2 and a used Qutest. Yes they two completely different price points, in terms of value the former seems like a no-brainer whereas I was on the fence if paying nearly double for the Qutest would get me further along than other $1600 DACs. Now if you somehow have access to a Yggy, would love to see some comparisons to the Qutest

 

[nairbil]

What amps does the qutest pair well with? Would it work with something like the A90?

 

[Jon L]

What amps does the qutest pair well with? Would it work with something like the A90?

While Qutest/A90 combo will sound great, if I had A90, I would be looking at DAC's that have true balanced XLR outputs since A90 is often reported to sound best run balanced.
Chord DAC's are inherently single-ended, and note that Qutest only has RCA outputs, which is part of the reason I chose Qutest because I planned on tube amps that are single-ended only and did not want to pay for balanced outputs I will not use.

 

[DesignTaylor]

What amps does the qutest pair well with? Would it work with something like the A90?

Jon makes a good point. If you are committed to the Qutest then you don't necessarly need an amp with a truly balanced architecture. That being said there are also plenty of advantages to running balanced HP output even if your source is not balanced.

It really comes down to the whole synergy of your setup and what you are trying to achieve sonically. The Qutest has a lot of definition and detail so if you pair it with an exacting amp you will end up with a very revealing but potentially cold and analytical sound. If you pair it with a warm SS or tube amp you may end up with a more harmonious setup. But really comes down to your personal preference.

What HPs are you running?

 

[technobear]

What amps does the qutest pair well with? Would it work with something like the A90?

If you're going to spend £600 or more on an amp, you might like to check out the Chord Hugo 2 instead unless you have particular requirements like valve distortion or huge amounts of power.

 

[bpcans]

What amps does the qutest pair well with? Would it work with something like the A90?

IMO the Qutest is a very good dedicated DAC that nothing else compares to at its price point. And because Chords technology is so good the Qutest as a result is very revealing. When I had one I paired it with my Woo Audio WA6 single-ended tube amp. The sound was expansive, lush, and extremely satisfying. My vote would be for a good tube amp instead of anything solid state unless you're going to spend a few extra pesos and get something really nice in the price range of the Qutest.

 

[RobertSM]

Brand new to me. The Chord Qutest System Stand.

Top-notch milled aluminum stand allows Qutest to slide right in. As you can see I'm using this stand to hold my Qutest in-between to separate chassis of my Woo Audio WA6-SE tube amp. My thought is that it should help Qutest isolate from vibration from the tube amp. Also should help Qutest stay cool as it lifts Qutest slightly off the desk surface.

I love it!