[dawktah2]

seem to view the same isteria compulsive buy of an apple new item
an iphone or a qutest doesn't change life
seem other people think the same
other people like me are not in hurry, waiting the trial and a good price
that's wrong?

I'm building a wine and listening room and the set up has no DAC. Chord has a solid reputation so trial? Nothing gimmicky like a phone, it will do one thing convert music. To me once you get into this price range, good price is relative...

 

[jayz]

seem to view the same isteria compulsive buy of an apple new item
an iphone or a qutest doesn't change life
seem other people think the same
other people like me are not in hurry, waiting the trial and a good price
that's wrong?

Can't go wrong with that attitude but you see, people make choices based on personal circumstances and preferences so it is very difficult to generalise.

In my case I have decided to buy right away for several reasons:

* Was going to get an exdem 2qute last December but held back on hearing rumours of a new version

* In rare cases with package damage, we might see discounts but other than that, Qutest ex-dems will be some way out

* I usually go exdem with hifi but happy to pay full price for exceptional equipment/companies/individuals. The fact that Rob replies on this forum and explains things itself is a reason enough

* Qutest seems to be future proof especially considering the potential for future MScalers so this is most likely a keeper

* In the unlikely event it does not suit, I just return back within eval period or even later, recoup 80% cost back would be a win in hifi IMO

Can go on and on but whats the point? Most of it is very individual ...

 

[aspro]

Can't go wrong with that attitude but you see, people make choices based on personal circumstances and preferences so it is very difficult to generalise.

In my case I have decided to buy right away for several reasons:

* Was going to get an exdem 2qute last December but held back on hearing rumours of a new version

* In rare cases with package damage, we might see discounts but other than that, Qutest ex-dems will be some way out

* I usually go exdem with hifi but happy to pay full price for exceptional equipment/companies/individuals. The fact that Rob replies on this forum and explains things itself is a reason enough

* Qutest seems to be future proof especially considering the potential for future MScalers so this is most likely a keeper

* In the unlikely event it does not suit, I just return back within eval period or even later, recoup 80% cost back would be a win in hifi IMO

Can go on and on but whats the point? Most of it is very individual ...

I have a 2Qute (which replaced an original Hugo) in my main system which I like very much. I also have a Mojopoly as the source for a pair of Genelec active studio monitors in another room. This also sounds great but has some well documented teething problems(occasional drop-outs in my case) which Chord are sorting as we type.

In the main system the 2Qute is fed by an Auralic Aries Mini which has a user fit 750GB SSD HDD. This has an integral DAC which obviously I don't use. The Aries Mini also acts as server for the Mojopoly and other ystems (Naim and Sonos). It's a very neat solution as I don't need a NAS.

John Franks intimated on the Poly Head-fi thread that Chord would roll out a desktop version of the Poly when the dust had settled (could be a while yet!). Presumably this will have a user fit HDD instead of an SD card reader.

What puts me off buying a Qutest is that Chord might bring out a desktop version of the Poly but with an integral DAC thus making a Qutest redundant. Could Rob Watts or John Franks indicate that this is not planned.

To be fair the Chord website does say the Qutest has 'high-resolution dual-data digital inputs for connection to future Chord Electronics products' which implies the desktop Poly(Homopoly?) will be a streamer only.

 

[agedbest]

I'm building a wine and listening room and the set up has no DAC. Chord has a solid reputation so trial? Nothing gimmicky like a phone, it will do one thing convert music. To me once you get into this price range, good price is relative...

everyone has their own needs ....happy to hear you have no doubt

I'm waiting for a test instead
I'm curious to see if finally this new DAC has not the problems of the previous models.
as for the Qute HD, Qute2, and also for the new Qutest, Rob Watts has stated that it does not need an external LPS ... google it, if you do not believe me.
to my specific question Rob answers vaguely (see in this Jan 16, 2018 at 11:48 AM Post # 254, a few weeks ago). so even Rob Watts is not 100% sure.

the new Qutest may look very interesting. now it needs 5V for power, but what i really do not like is the micro USB connector used for power it. You can find a lot of mobiles not charged because of damaged connector or bad contacts. so I do not think it is an appropriate choice, when used only for power (no data) and there are no space problems.

No USB-battery (powerbank) is really linear voltage. there is no 5V battery, all of those powerbanks use an internal 3.7 volt battery and switching DC / DC converting circuitry, a really good LPS will be the best choice if needed. so I will not use a powerbank for a system not plan to be mobile.

if, to get the most out of this DAC, you must also add the cost of an external LPS, the budget must be increased by 2/3 hundred dollars or more, depends on the system adopted ...I do not find this interesting at all, certainly it is not interesting for anyone's wallet.

so i wait and will see....

 

[dmance]

@Rob Watts
I am debating between Hugo2/Qutest and its all about the Qutest control of volume via software attenuated 32-bit USB input -vs- Dave/Hugo2 internal volume control. I was hoping that JRivers' reasonable effort at TPDF noise shaping of its internal 64-bit processing would be close to your internal noise shaped volume implementation. Especially if the data is passed to Qutest as 32-bit USB samples. I'd appreciate any comments, thanks.

 

[jayz]

I have a 2Qute (which replaced an original Hugo) in my main system which I like very much. I also have a Mojopoly as the source for a pair of Genelec active studio monitors in another room. This also sounds great but has some well documented teething problems(occasional drop-outs in my case) which Chord are sorting as we type.

In the main system the 2Qute is fed by an Auralic Aries Mini which has a user fit 750GB SSD HDD. This has an integral DAC which obviously I don't use. The Aries Mini also acts as server for the Mojopoly and other ystems (Naim and Sonos). It's a very neat solution as I don't need a NAS.

John Franks intimated on the Poly Head-fi thread that Chord would roll out a desktop version of the Poly when the dust had settled (could be a while yet!). Presumably this will have a user fit HDD instead of an SD card reader.

What puts me off buying a Qutest is that Chord might bring out a desktop version of the Poly but with an integral DAC thus making a Qutest redundant. Could Rob Watts or John Franks indicate that this is not planned.

To be fair the Chord website does say the Qutest has 'high-resolution dual-data digital inputs for connection to future Chord Electronics products' which implies the desktop Poly(Homopoly?) will be a streamer only.

I think we are running the risk of going out of topic but since we don't have any other Qutest specific updates it might be okay...

Anyway, in the past, I have looked at Auralic Aries Femto as an upgrade to my current source (which can only do 24/96 PCM and no DSD) but decided to hold back. I am glad I did because with all the DPLL & noise filtering tech Rob's put into Qutest, I don't think it would have made a difference.

Interesting you mention a desktop version of poly but I think it is more likely a desktop digital player with an SD Card reader. I think an internal HDD might not be in the same league of ultra-low noise Chord DAC enclosures we have today. And if you ask me, I don't think a DAC will come integrated - that will be an overlap. All speculation of course but to me, it has some logic. The interesting bit is where Chord decides to go with their MScaler tech. Currently it comes with Blu2 but can you imagine if they did a desktop player with an integrated MScaler, that would totally disrupt the digital player market out there - as you say, such a streamer can connect to Qutest with dual coax and we have an end-game setup right there.

 

[Rob Watts]

@Rob Watts
I am debating between Hugo2/Qutest and its all about the Qutest control of volume via software attenuated 32-bit USB input -vs- Dave/Hugo2 internal volume control. I was hoping that JRivers' reasonable effort at TPDF noise shaping of its internal 64-bit processing would be close to your internal noise shaped volume implementation. Especially if the data is passed to Qutest as 32-bit USB samples. I'd appreciate any comments, thanks.

It will not be quite as good; when designing Blu 2's OP truncators, I had the 768 kHz noise shapers (guaranteeing 350 dB performance so maintaining the original precision), gaussian dither and TPDF dither; TPDF had the worst sound quality with a reduction in depth. Gaussian gave closer to the noise shaper performance (about half way). So there are for sure (small but audible) transparency losses involved in TPDF. The Gaussian was pseudo; I am hoping a better Gaussian will improve transparency further - this is important for Davina project when I need 16 bit 44.1. Hugo 2 uses the same 768 kHz noise shapers for truncation. Having said all that, I suspect that software volume would be more transparent than an analogue volume control though.

 

[tony wilson]

everyone has their own needs ....happy to hear you have no doubt

I'm waiting for a test instead
I'm curious to see if finally this new DAC has not the problems of the previous models.
as for the Qute HD, Qute2, and also for the new Qutest, Rob Watts has stated that it does not need an external LPS ... google it, if you do not believe me.
to my specific question Rob answers vaguely (see in this Jan 16, 2018 at 11:48 AM Post # 254, a few weeks ago). so even Rob Watts is not 100% sure.

the new Qutest may look very interesting. now it needs 5V for power, but what i really do not like is the micro USB connector used for power it. You can find a lot of mobiles not charged because of damaged connector or bad contacts. so I do not think it is an appropriate choice, when used only for power (no data) and there are no space problems.

No USB-battery (powerbank) is really linear voltage. there is no 5V battery, all of those powerbanks use an internal 3.7 volt battery and switching DC / DC converting circuitry, a really good LPS will be the best choice if needed. so I will not use a powerbank for a system not plan to be mobile.

if, to get the most out of this DAC, you must also add the cost of an external LPS, the budget must be increased by 2/3 hundred dollars or more, depends on the system adopted ...I do not find this interesting at all, certainly it is not interesting for anyone's wallet.

so i wait and will see....

it may not be of interest to you but this thing is a pretty superb state of the art machined block.
the 5v usb external a great idea.







i am not a fan of micro usb but as this is a static object without battery i think the choice has set free and opened up many options.
the unit seems very robust nothing fiddly it can handle many of the nasty and more refined options cheap 5 dollar usb battery big higher spec anker block usb battery and my favorite by far the
uptone audio ultracap lps 1 set to 5v.
simply stunning combination kind o spooky at first i would imagine the paul hynes sr4 power supply at 5v will be a sweet option as well.

this thing took seconds to set up then again i play cd i used toslink i connected to 35 year old sony esprit cd and later sony and theta cd players from the 1990s using coax or vintage video bnc cables every option good or bad the unit handled.
they say cd is dead it certainly lives with this franks and watts device absolute gem.
i never liked cd never thought the information existed in the polycarbonate matrix it turns out sony and phillips had put it in all those years ago, chord have made what looks like a slab of granite from the movie 2001 and put an hal 9000 inside.

 

[agedbest]

...i am not a fan of micro usb but ..... and my favorite by far the uptone audio ultracap lps 1 set to 5v.
simply stunning combination kind o spooky at first i would imagine the paul hynes sr4 power supply at 5v will be a sweet option as well.....

thank you for share....



as told in my recent post LPS it is not cheaper
if you must add to the system an UltraCap™ LPS-1 $ 395.00
this will be my choise too...but it would be preferable if it were not necessary

 

[miketlse]

it may not be of interest to you but this thing is a pretty superb state of the art machined block.
the 5v usb external a great idea.







i am not a fan of micro usb but as this is a static object without battery i think the choice has set free and opened up many options.
the unit seems very robust nothing fiddly it can handle many of the nasty and more refined options cheap 5 dollar usb battery big higher spec anker block usb battery and my favorite by far the
uptone audio ultracap lps 1 set to 5v.
simply stunning combination kind o spooky at first i would imagine the paul hynes sr4 power supply at 5v will be a sweet option as well.

this thing took seconds to set up then again i play cd i used toslink i connected to 35 year old sony esprit cd and later sony and theta cd players from the 1990s using coax or vintage video bnc cables every option good or bad the unit handled.
they say cd is dead it certainly lives with this franks and watts device absolute gem.
i never liked cd never thought the information existed in the polycarbonate matrix it turns out sony and phillips had put it in all those years ago, chord have made what looks like a slab of granite from the movie 2001 and put an hal 9000 inside.

Was this a demo at a dealers, or are you the first owner to post on this thread?

 

[dawktah2]

it may not be of interest to you but this thing is a pretty superb state of the art machined block.
the 5v usb external a great idea.







i am not a fan of micro usb but as this is a static object without battery i think the choice has set free and opened up many options.
the unit seems very robust nothing fiddly it can handle many of the nasty and more refined options cheap 5 dollar usb battery big higher spec anker block usb battery and my favorite by far the
uptone audio ultracap lps 1 set to 5v.
simply stunning combination kind o spooky at first i would imagine the paul hynes sr4 power supply at 5v will be a sweet option as well.

this thing took seconds to set up then again i play cd i used toslink i connected to 35 year old sony esprit cd and later sony and theta cd players from the 1990s using coax or vintage video bnc cables every option good or bad the unit handled.
they say cd is dead it certainly lives with this franks and watts device absolute gem.
i never liked cd never thought the information existed in the polycarbonate matrix it turns out sony and phillips had put it in all those years ago, chord have made what looks like a slab of granite from the movie 2001 and put an hal 9000 inside.

Were there pictures in that post?

 

[tony wilson]

thank you for share....



as told in my recent post LPS it is not cheaper
if you must add to the system an UltraCap™ LPS-1 $ 395.00
this will be my choise too...but it would be preferable if it were not necessary

my friend i tested it it sounded great with a 5 dollar emergency usb charger battery thing.
a heavy duty anker usb battery would probably last days.
i already had uptone audio ultra cap which is a superb combo
i will have a paul hynes sr4 power supply next week is it needed no but these products can be used for years usb 5v is not going anywhere also both power supply can do different voltage

why the investment because i had an idea that this would maybe be a mojo big brother without the battery inside a heavier stable block a great looking piece
super cool running.
my mojo kept floating in the air with the heavy duty cable connecting into a hi fi table system
in the past i have had theta and mark levinson made dac boxes 2 ft across weight 15 kg.
the power of this chord tiny slab is something else

for me this was easier to set up than a mojo and as i said it seems to tolerate lots variables in connections basic and posh power supplies.
i have a brand new unit in my home apart from a mojo everything else i have is vintage gear.
i am imagine the technology leap in the 3 years of mojo have allowed the lowering of voltage into the 5v region.
i was tempted by the combination of 2cute with different power supply options but what i have is all the dac power i will need for a long time to come.

 

[agedbest]

that's why a powerbank (USB power storage) can not be used for best output performance.....
all the powerbanks on the market use an internal battery of different amperage (capacity), but with same voltage of 3.7v, then by a switching DC / DC converting circuitry,
without any filter, it exit at 5V. any converting makes interference, definitively powerbank is NOT the solution. regardless of the quality, brand, appearance, cost, etc., etc.

Technical Issues

Power Supplies for Audio
Powering an electronic circuit is a complex issue. Signal processing circuits vary in their ability to reject interference from supply voltage fluctuations. This ability is measurable and is called the power supply rejection ratio (PSRR). Any interference on the power supply output will be passed into the electronic circuit, at a reduced level, governed by the PSRR of the circuit. For example, if the PSRR is 20 dB, the amplitude of the interference will be 10 times lower than the power supply fluctuation itself (40dB is 100 times lower, 60dB is 1,000 times lower, 80dB is 10,000 times lower and 100dB is 100,000 times lower). Different signal circuit topologies have different PSRR's which can be quite low particularly at high frequencies. When power supply interference mixes with the signal, it masks low-level information and causes inter-modulation with the signal. This destroys the integrity of the music signal. For the highest performance from audio electronics, great care is required in the design of the power supplies to minimise power supply induced problems.

The Ideal
To ensure no interaction with the powered circuit, an ideal power supply, should have no output voltage fluctuations under any load conditions, which means that the output impedance should be zero at all frequencies of operation. You can't generate a voltage across zero impedance. Also, it should not allow interference to break through from other sources like the supply line, such as rectifier diode switching, digital clocking and radio frequency interference (RFI) etc via the mains supply. This implies that the power supply should have infinite PSRR of its own power source.

The Practical
Unfortunately, due to the limits of the various power supply design options available, power supply interaction will occur. The level of interaction is governed by the ability of the power supply to approach the ideal performance of zero output impedance, and infinite supply rejection of it's power source, at all frequencies of operation. It is logical to conclude that the better the power supply performance in these areas, the better the audio performance. Practical application proves this to be true.

Any regulator design worthy of consideration in high performance audio systems must offer a low output impedance over a very wide bandwidth (much wider than the audio bandwidth to deal with digital and RF interference). It should also have a high slew rate, fast rise-time and fast settling time to control the regulator output voltage during fast varying load current transients. It should be noticeably faster than the circuit to be powered to avoid load induced output fluctuations. It should also be quiet enough not to compromise the noise performance of the audio circuits it powers.

 

[kelly200269]

they say cd is dead it certainly lives with this franks and watts device absolute gem.
i never liked cd never thought the information existed in the polycarbonate matrix it turns out sony and phillips had put it in all those years ago, chord have made what looks like a slab of granite from the movie 2001 and put an hal 9000 inside.

I'm still a 'generation' behind, with my Hugo for potable use and 2Qute in my home system. And yes, I agree completely that Rob & John have done more than anyone in the last generation (IMO) to make CD 16/44 sound like music. I could never really 'get on' with CD prior to getting my Hugo, but their DACs have injected new life into my CD collection. I now realise that all along, the 'software' was fine, it was just the DACs that sucked!
I'm tempted (an understatement!) by the Qutest. I just wonder how much better it would be compared to my 2Qute?

 

[aspro]

I think we are running the risk of going out of topic but since we don't have any other Qutest specific updates it might be okay...

Anyway, in the past, I have looked at Auralic Aries Femto as an upgrade to my current source (which can only do 24/96 PCM and no DSD) but decided to hold back. I am glad I did because with all the DPLL & noise filtering tech Rob's put into Qutest, I don't think it would have made a difference.

Interesting you mention a desktop version of poly but I think it is more likely a desktop digital player with an SD Card reader. I think an internal HDD might not be in the same league of ultra-low noise Chord DAC enclosures we have today. And if you ask me, I don't think a DAC will come integrated - that will be an overlap. All speculation of course but to me, it has some logic. The interesting bit is where Chord decides to go with their MScaler tech. Currently it comes with Blu2 but can you imagine if they did a desktop player with an integrated MScaler, that would totally disrupt the digital player market out there - as you say, such a streamer can connect to Qutest with dual coax and we have an end-game setup right there.

If I'd bought a 2Qute recently I'd be pretty fed up. Chord have produced something which looks to be much better in the same price bracket and reduced the price and presumably the second hand value of my 2Qute.

In the same vein if Chord in the fairly near future produced a desktop Poly with integral Qutest at, say £1500, I'd be regreting an early Qutest purchase so it's very much on topic for me. It would be nice for Chord to confirm that they have no plans for a desktop Poly/Qutest combo.

As to whether a prospective desktop Poly (with or without Qutest) should have a HDD drive or SD reader why not have both and live up to its name (maybe change it to Omni). For me the current capacity and price of SD cards would be a big limitation for my whole domestic music collection. As for noise on HDD Auralic include the facility on their c.£4K Aries G2 streamer so presumaby they don't think it's problematic. Don't a lot of people have NAS drives with HDDs using switch mode PSUs wired into their systems? This is why I like my Aries Mini setup with a solid state drive with a high quality linear PSU. No NAS or switch mode PSUs in my system at all.

I find the power supply issue fascinating. Nearly all decent hi-fi companues avoid switch mode power supplies. Robin Watts is surely a genius if he can isolate his designs from their deleterious effects. I find his posts utterly comvincing even though I generally don't understand a word of them!