[stanrozenfeld]

I should have mentioned that I am currently using it with Woo Audio WA2 tube amp. My current favorite headphones are Sennheiser HD 800 and 820. I listen to Tidal various genres but for me most important is reproduction of movie soundtracks from blu-ray discs as my home situation dictates that I watch most movies with the headphones. I guess I will keep it on white until I can thoroughly test it myself.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

Hello Again, everyone.

I detected potential problem with my newly acquired Qutest.... although I am not entirely sure it is a problem.

Whenever I jiggle cable at the rca outputs or change rca cables, I often, but not always get a buzzing noise in the headphones. If I disconnect power and reconnect it, the buzzing goes away. As long as I don't touch it, it seems to be fine, but I am concerned that there might still be degradation in performance.

I have a choice to live with it to ship it to service center in Texas to be checked out.

Has anyone rlse had this issue? Any advice will be apppreciated.

Thanks

 

[miketlse]

Hello Again, everyone.

I detected potential problem with my newly acquired Qutest.... although I am not entirely sure it is a problem.

Whenever I jiggle cable at the rca outputs or change rca cables, I often, but not always get a buzzing noise in the headphones. If I disconnect power and reconnect it, the buzzing goes away. As long as I don't touch it, it seems to be fine, but I am concerned that there might still be degradation in performance.

I have a choice to live with it to ship it to service center in Texas to be checked out.

Has anyone rlse had this issue? Any advice will be apppreciated.

Thanks

You are basically saying that if you jiggle the cables enough, so as to break the electrical circuit, you get a buzzing noise.
Is the buzzing noise short, or long and continuous?

 

[stanrozenfeld]

It's long and continuous. But if I jiggle some more or disconnect and reconnect power the buzzing stops.

 

[miketlse]

It's long and continuous. But if I jiggle some more or disconnect and reconnect power the buzzing stops.

If it is long and continuous, does it sound like mains hum, or white noise?

 

[stanrozenfeld]

buzzing sound - that's the closest I can describe it... not rally a hum.

 

[Reactcore]

buzzing sound - that's the closest I cam describe it... not rally a hum.

Check if your RCA plugs clamp tightly enough. You might have bad ground contact.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

I did... I bought several more expensive rca interconnects... they clamp tightly and it takes more of a jiggle to start the buzz but it still happens.

my main concern is.... when there is no buzz, is there still some sort of degradation or excess noise?

 

[Reactcore]

I did... I bought several more expensive rca interconnects... they clamp tightly and it takes more of a jiggle to start the buzz but it still happens.

my main concern is.... when there is no buzz, is there still some sort of degradation or excess noise?

It can also be a groundloop from source through Qutest to your amp.
Try toslink as input perhaps

 

[stanrozenfeld]

It can also be a groundloop from source through Qutest to your amp.
Try toslink as input perhaps

how can it be ground loop only part of the time? Also my source is an ipad, battery powered... can it still cause ground loop?

It doesn't matter what input I use anyway... as the buzz is there on optical and usb.

 

[hakunamakaka]

New Qutest owner here - my first proper desktop DAC after using my Mojo 2 for years. Running via USB to Macbook from a Burson Soloist GT. Feelings are somewhat mixed so far. My Radiance, HD 650 and Nightowl all sound next-level incredible through it. My Utopia 2022 and VC on the other hand...I can't quite wrap my head around it yet but something feels off. I think due to the pairing with the GT which leans perhaps slightly neutral-bright it's throwing the tonality that I'm used to with the Nutopia and VC sightly off. I guess the Mojo 2 may have smoothed over their more metallic qualities before. There's an ever-so-slight glassy/glary quality in the upper mids, and the sound feels slightly drained of emotion. The sound registers more as a cerebral experience - on a technical level the sound is brilliant for sure, but something isn't quite hitting. This could just be a burn-in issue so I'll persevere - also I'm heading travelling tomorrow and hoping I'll return after some much needed rest with a different perspective, as I really do love how the Qutest sounds with some of my cans.

With Utopia I usually go green/orange filters. Very nuanced differences, but presentation gets a bit warmer. This DAC is rotating in-out of my setups for many years now

 

[Reactcore]

how can it be ground loop only part of the time? Also my source is an ipad, battery powered... can it still cause ground loop?

It doesn't matter what input I use anyway... as the buzz is there on optical and usb.

Just trying to help. I dont know your setup.
A groundloop (which you dont have) can be nasty and groundcontact resistance can give fluctuating issues. Humming is a well known one.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

Just trying to help. I dont know your setup.
A groundloop (which you dont have) can be nasty and groundcontact resistance can give fluctuating issues. Humming is a well known one.

I understand and I appreciate it very much!

 

[MWeston]

how can it be ground loop only part of the time? Also my source is an ipad, battery powered... can it still cause ground loop?

It doesn't matter what input I use anyway... as the buzz is there on optical and usb.

It sounds like you have a bad solder joint on the RCA connector. If it were mine, I would open it up and touch up the pads under the jacks. I don't know if you are comfortable with that though. I get that buzzing if I try to swap RCA cables while the system is live and connected to speakers/headphones. If only the post is in but the ring isn't gripping, then this happens. It's only a suggestion though since I'm not standing over it.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

I definitely will not open it or mess around with it. It does sound as what you described is exactly what's happening. At any rate, as ling as I don't mess with it while power is on there is no problem and sound is noise free snd quality is great!