Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread

[dawktah2]

Ok I'm just trying to see why no Qutest were sent to North America!

 

[JWahl]

Ok I'm just trying to see why no Qutest were sent to North America!

I'm in the same boat. I've thought about cancelling, but I've been holding out more out of curiosity. I've only heard my Mojo and then the Dave at a meet. I want to hear for myself the degree to which the Qutest improves upon the Mojo as a DAC.

 

[miketlse]

I'm in the same boat. I've thought about cancelling, but I've been holding out more out of curiosity. I've only heard my Mojo and then the Dave at a meet. I want to hear for myself the degree to which the Qutest improves upon the Mojo as a DAC.

I suggest holding out. I have read many posts about how much an improvement the Qutest has brought to the music output, and struggle to remember any posts that were critical of the Qutest. If the Qutest is such a big step up, then in a few years you will have forgotten all about this short term shipping delay, and only remember the many hours of music pleasure that you have gained.

 

[dawktah2]

Miketlse, JWahl and others, a little off topic but my recliner arrived today for my listening room, just don't have my Qutest!

 

[musicman59]

Chord is going to be at Axpona this weekend so I am planning on stopping by their room to see if I can get any information about shipping the Qutest to NA.
I am also in the pre-order list.....

 

[Skampmeister]

@Rob Watts hey mate, just a quick question, if I’m listening to something on coax and my iMac is plugged into the usb and I turn my iMac on, is it normal for the sound to cut out for a second while still on coax?

 

[sinae]

What i truly find sad is that they just decided not to add the volume control because they want to sell their hugo 2.. when in fact it would have cost NOTHING to include it and would save all of us tons of problem..

when you have a similar type of dac.. digital volume in the dac is a must.. try to find an ESS sabre dac without volume control and you will have a hard time why? because that volume is totally bitperfect and included in the chip.. doenst cost anything to add it..

and in canada.. chord dac are too costly anyway.. we are being backstabbed

 

[Skampmeister]

What i truly find sad is that they just decided not to add the volume control because they want to sell their hugo 2.. when in fact it would have cost NOTHING to include it and would save all of us tons of problem..

when you have a similar type of dac.. digital volume in the dac is a must.. try to find an ESS sabre dac without volume control and you will have a hard time why? because that volume is totally bitperfect and included in the chip.. doenst cost anything to add it..

and in canada.. chord dac are too costly anyway.. we are being backstabbed

I would not have bought a Qutest if it had volume control. Simplicity is the key. Not a product for you by the sounds of things, not a problem with the product.

 

[dolphy007]

The Qutest sounds amazing and I don't mind adjusting the volume the old fashioned way of using the amplifier volume control.

The Qutest doesn't sound like the product for you. I suggest looking for another DAC that would suit your needs.

 

[GSP_]

Much ado about nothing.

 

[blueninjasix]

What i truly find sad is that they just decided not to add the volume control because they want to sell their hugo 2.. when in fact it would have cost NOTHING to include it and would save all of us tons of problem..

when you have a similar type of dac.. digital volume in the dac is a must.. try to find an ESS sabre dac without volume control and you will have a hard time why? because that volume is totally bitperfect and included in the chip.. doenst cost anything to add it..

and in canada.. chord dac are too costly anyway.. we are being backstabbed

Not sure about being "backstabbed" but I too would prefer to see the volume control included. I'm contemplating upgrading from Mojo which I only use in my home system but I'll have to buy a preamp and another set of cables which not only adds to the expense but also to the complexity.

 

[miketlse]

What i truly find sad is that they just decided not to add the volume control because they want to sell their hugo 2.. when in fact it would have cost NOTHING to include it and would save all of us tons of problem..

when you have a similar type of dac.. digital volume in the dac is a must.. try to find an ESS sabre dac without volume control and you will have a hard time why? because that volume is totally bitperfect and included in the chip.. doenst cost anything to add it..

and in canada.. chord dac are too costly anyway.. we are being backstabbed

I find it truly sad, that you obviously like the distortion introduced by COTS dac chips. It is best that you continue to frequent those types of products.
You also have a poor understanding of product lines - a product line strategy has 'slots' for several similar products that provide similar but different functionality:

• the slot for the top of the range Hugo desktop dac/amp - TT
• the slot for the middle of the range Hugo desktop dac/amp - Hugo (batteries + volume control)
• the slot for the bottom of the range Hugo desktop dac, for principle use as a source for a separate preamp/amp - Qute (no batteries + no volume control)

The slots remain constant, but the individual products get refreshed periodically.

 

[Joe-Siow]

What i truly find sad is that they just decided not to add the volume control because they want to sell their hugo 2.. when in fact it would have cost NOTHING to include it and would save all of us tons of problem..

when you have a similar type of dac.. digital volume in the dac is a must.. try to find an ESS sabre dac without volume control and you will have a hard time why? because that volume is totally bitperfect and included in the chip.. doenst cost anything to add it..

and in canada.. chord dac are too costly anyway.. we are being backstabbed

If you are looking for a Chord DAC with volume control, what is wrong with the Hugo 2? Is there any reason(s) why you are not considering it?
Personally, it is a pointless exercise comparing Chord DACs to ESS Sabre DACs since one is FPGA while the other is a widely available chip used my many DAC makers.

I cannot speak for the others but I definitely prefer to use analog volume control over digital one any day.

And if Chord DACs are too costly in Canada, perhaps you can consider importing one from other countries or just consider a DAC in a comfortable budget. There is always a choice instead of using words like "backstabbed".

 

[agedbest]

I would not have bought a Qutest if it had volume control. Simplicity is the key. Not a product for you by the sounds of things, not a problem with the product.

qutest is so to the minimum terms ..... to not have a decent power supply

 

[AlexB73]

I don't have Qutest but 2qute sounds very good with included power supply.
Actually it sounds better than with some liniar power supplies.
But you can always do tweak in audio if you want. For other DACs you can buy power cords or fuses.
But not every tweak improves SQ.