[Another Audiophile]

If the qutest had xlr output it would have been the perfect DAC. That’s actually the reason I am selling mine. In my space I need to run long cables and RCA is not an option

 

[okplayer]

for those that are using a linear power supply with the qutest I wanted to know if you are using a dedicated line and a power conditioner. I am wondering how much benefit there is to the linear power supply if you are already plugging the qutest wall wart into a power conditioner which goes into a dedicated circuit.

 

[JazzAudioDog]

Yes and yes to your two questions. The Sbooster with Ultra addition added a little more bass but more importantly the bass was much tighter. With the stock power supply, after you get your Qutest to 250+ hours burn-in listening time you’ll notice the “fat bottom” that at least one reviewer mentioned. The fat bottem end is not unpleasant and sounds like older tube amplifiers to me. The sbooster bass improvement is definitely there but may be somewhat of a personal preference.

in addition, I‘ve heard better imaging and soundstage depth so far with the Sbooster. I only have 75 hours on it plus another 50 hrs of “silent streaming” (I.e., amp not on) So it will likely improve more.

 

[Another Audiophile]

Have mine for sale in classified if anyone is interested

 

[Quince]

I am using the Sbooster (sans ultra) off an iFi PowerStation, and the improvements, as they say, are not subtle. I went from stock PS to a battery pack to Sbooster. There is more difference in going from the Battery to the Sbooster than from stock to battery. To my ears, of course

 

[Hyperkin]

Can someone confirm the Adafruit micro USB to DC 5.5 adapter will work on the Qutest? I am concerned about the polarity on the adapter.

I got a LPS around not used and want to give it a try on the Qutest.

Link for Adafruit is below.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2727

Much appreciated.

 

[technobear]

Can someone confirm the Adafruit micro USB to DC 5.5 adapter will work on the Qutest? I am concerned about the polarity on the adapter.

I got a LPS around not used and want to give it a try on the Qutest.

Link for Adafruit is below.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2727

Much appreciated.

The answer is in the second sentence of the description on the page you have linked.

 

[Hyperkin]

The answer is in the second sentence of the description on the page you have linked.

There is always a risk on non standard pin map used.

Anyways, received the Adafruit, as long as the center pin is positive on the DC side it works fine.

Thanks

 

[Fugue]

My Qutest arrived today, and I was most horrified to hear DSD files turned to complete fuzz with either JRiver MC24 or Audirvana 3+ on my HP laptop.I have DSD Bitstreaming turned on in JRiver, and I'm using the ASIO Chord 1.05 driver. All seems well when I look at the settings. I then tried my MacBook Pro with the Mac versions of that same software, and it plays DSD just fine. (The sample rate window glows white, so I assume I'm getting true DSD.) I'd like to make the HP work since it's fairly new, but I'm thrilled with the sound of the Qutest with my Mac!

 

[lespaul84]

Hi all, I was following the forum for a while and wanted to join the discussion with couple of questions. I have my Chord Qutest more than 1 year now and I am amazed with it. I am feeding it with a Raspberry Pi 4 through USB and using an Audioquest carbon usb cable.
Recently I tried ferrite chokes on the digital cable and also on power cables and I must say the bas became tighter and low end improved, brightness reduced. I am pleased with how it sounds.
I am wondering how much sound quality improvement I could get if I add a hat to raspberry pi 4 instead of connecting it through USB. I already have a good quality usb cable imho, so I doubt if i could have an improvement. And I think I should also invest on either toslink or coax cable if I want to add a hat.

On the other hand, I am considering a Bluesound Node 2i but again I also need to invest for the cable. Which cables do you use to connect Node 2i to your Qutest? Should I expect a sound quality improvement if I switch from Pi to Node 2i? And by how much, does it for the money?

Highly appreciated for your thoughts.

 

[uzi2]

Hi all, I was following the forum for a while and wanted to join the discussion with couple of questions. I have my Chord Qutest more than 1 year now and I am amazed with it. I am feeding it with a Raspberry Pi 4 through USB and using an Audioquest carbon usb cable.
Recently I tried ferrite chokes on the digital cable and also on power cables and I must say the bas became tighter and low end improved, brightness reduced. I am pleased with how it sounds.
I am wondering how much sound quality improvement I could get if I add a hat to raspberry pi 4 instead of connecting it through USB. I already have a good quality usb cable imho, so I doubt if i could have an improvement. And I think I should also invest on either toslink or coax cable if I want to add a hat.

On the other hand, I am considering a Bluesound Node 2i but again I also need to invest for the cable. Which cables do you use to connect Node 2i to your Qutest? Should I expect a sound quality improvement if I switch from Pi to Node 2i? And by how much, does it for the money?

Highly appreciated for your thoughts.

The Pi4 is capable of great results feeding the Qutest. The biggest improvement I found was using an LPS with supercaps as I'm sure the standard Pi switching power supply injects some RF noise. What software are you using on the Pi4? I have DietPi running at low processor speeds. Are you using it for HQPlayer or another music player?
The general advice on ferrites is to keep adding more until you can hear no difference...

 

[alxw0w]

Hi all, I was following the forum for a while and wanted to join the discussion with couple of questions. I have my Chord Qutest more than 1 year now and I am amazed with it. I am feeding it with a Raspberry Pi 4 through USB and using an Audioquest carbon usb cable.
Recently I tried ferrite chokes on the digital cable and also on power cables and I must say the bas became tighter and low end improved, brightness reduced. I am pleased with how it sounds.
I am wondering how much sound quality improvement I could get if I add a hat to raspberry pi 4 instead of connecting it through USB. I already have a good quality usb cable imho, so I doubt if i could have an improvement. And I think I should also invest on either toslink or coax cable if I want to add a hat.

On the other hand, I am considering a Bluesound Node 2i but again I also need to invest for the cable. Which cables do you use to connect Node 2i to your Qutest? Should I expect a sound quality improvement if I switch from Pi to Node 2i? And by how much, does it for the money?

Highly appreciated for your thoughts.

Try optical connection using Hifiberry digi+pro. Sound should improve even further: less "harshness" calmer sound, less fatigue.

 

[lespaul84]

Hi both, thank you for the advice.
I am using moodeaudio because for me it was the best sounding one. I installed LMS on it, I use it both with Tidal through mconnect and ipeng for LMS. Means -> I stream.

I have ifi low noise power supply connected to Pi 4 because I tought it my be better to eliminate the noise from the source. Not sure if it would be better if i connect the Ifi to qutest.

anyone can make a suggestion for optical cable? Any low budget would work or should I invest a hundred bucks?

 

[DJJEZ]

Hi both, thank you for the advice.
I am using moodeaudio because for me it was the best sounding one. I installed LMS on it, I use it both with Tidal through mconnect and ipeng for LMS. Means -> I stream.

I have ifi low noise power supply connected to Pi 4 because I tought it my be better to eliminate the noise from the source. Not sure if it would be better if i connect the Ifi to qutest.

anyone can make a suggestion for optical cable? Any low budget would work or should I invest a hundred bucks?

Lifatec optical cables

http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

 

[domi]

Does everyone just leave their Qutest on all the time?