Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread

[musicman59]

Anyone else stuck with a really long wait for their Qutest?

- I ordered mine back on 9 March and was given a 4-5 week waiting time. Now, after 6 weeks, I'm still waiting, with no sign of any timescale. Am I the mug who missed the boat, or are there others out there with similarly-long waiting times?

I am on the same boat. I ordered mine on March 27th and the latest information from my dealer is that they are expected here in the USA around mid May. I had a 2Qute and really liked it so I am sticking to my order and ride it out.

 

[soares]

I am still waiting for my order. It seems they will arrive by the end of this month...

 

[dcp10]

Well, what a difference 24 hours makes... My Qutest arrived this afternoon - haven't had time to listen to it yet, but the box certainly looks impressive!

 

[Paul Bjernklo]

I have the Hugo 2, that I am very happy with but I see that the Qutest got the “Editor’s Choice” accolade in the latest magazine of Hi-fi Choice (UK mag) from the excellent reviewer David Price who in my mind is one of the most trustworthy reviewers so you guys that are waiting should be salivating...

And no I don’t have the review to post it but it may be on the web soon but may be worth reading for the ones that prefer reviews from a more professional (in my view) standpoint than user comments. I know that not everyone does... but thought I would mention in case someone is interested. Congratulations to Chord!

 

[Hummer25]

I will have a Qutest in the house next week so looking forward to hearing what it can do!

 

[JWahl]

My U.S. dealer also notified me that he is being shipped the Qutest. So hopefully mine will arrive sometime next week.

 

[Mrandrade]

Hello everyone, my Qutest has arrived for 1 week, it's been playing ever since ...
At first I found the sound image a bit confusing ... I saw the middle ones sound a little "metallic" ... During the first days I missed my old Qute HD that I always found very definite and musical ...
Now it seems a lot better, especially after using a battery as a power supply
I'll give you my opinion later.
@ Rob Watts, a question: in the USB operation does it only work at 32 bit?
That's upsamplling right?
or I'm doing something wrong?
thanks in advance

 

[Mrandrade]

[QUOTE = "AlexB73, post: 14149949, membro: 463904"] Oi Christer,

Você gosta de Qutest para reprodução de música simfônica?
Você vê algum problema na dinâmica?
Eu também gosto de discos históricos de música clássica da época de 78 RPM.
Eu gosto de Pearl e Opus Kura remasterizando sem limpeza de ruído maciça (que mata dinâmica e faz a música morrer).
Você ouve discos históricos de música clássica no Qutest?

Saudações,
Alex. [/ QUOTE]

 

[Rob Watts]

Hello everyone, my Qutest has arrived for 1 week, it's been playing ever since ...
At first I found the sound image a bit confusing ... I saw the middle ones sound a little "metallic" ... During the first days I missed my old Qute HD that I always found very definite and musical ...
Now it seems a lot better, especially after using a battery as a power supply
I'll give you my opinion later.
@ Rob Watts, a question: in the USB operation does it only work at 32 bit?
That's upsamplling right?
or I'm doing something wrong?
thanks in advance

USB operation is always 32 bits - when you have a 16 bit source, the bottom 16 bits are simply set to zero.

You need to ensure that the data is bit perfect, that means the source does not upsample nor convert the data in any way. You will get poor results if a 44.1k file is upsampled, so check that with 44.1k you get red as the sample rate.

 

[soares]

[QUOTE = "AlexB73, post: 14149949, membro: 463904"] Oi Christer,

Você gosta de Qutest para reprodução de música simfônica?
Você vê algum problema na dinâmica?
Eu também gosto de discos históricos de música clássica da época de 78 RPM.
Eu gosto de Pearl e Opus Kura remasterizando sem limpeza de ruído maciça (que mata dinâmica e faz a música morrer).
Você ouve discos históricos de música clássica no Qutest?

Saudações,
Alex. [/ QUOTE]

Oi Alex. Bem vindo ao Fórum. O meu Qutest. só chega em maio. Depois darei notícias. Abraço. Jorge

 

[Mrandrade]

[QUOTE = "Rob Watts, post: 14197558, member: 394072"] A operação USB é sempre de 32 bits - quando você tem uma fonte de 16 bits, os 16 bits inferiores são simplesmente ajustados para zero.

Você precisa garantir que os dados estejam um pouco perfeitos, o que significa que a fonte não faz o upsample nem converte os dados de nenhuma maneira. Você obterá resultados ruins se um arquivo de 44.1k for submetido a upsampled, portanto, verifique com 44.1k que você fica vermelho como a taxa de amostragem. [/ QUOTE]

 

[Mrandrade]

[QUOTE = "Rob Watts, post: 14197558, member: 394072"] A operação USB é sempre de 32 bits - quando você tem uma fonte de 16 bits, os 16 bits inferiores são simplesmente ajustados para zero.

Você precisa garantir que os dados estejam um pouco perfeitos, o que significa que a fonte não faz o upsample nem converte os dados de nenhuma maneira. Você obterá resultados ruins se um arquivo de 44.1k for submetido a upsampled, portanto, verifique com 44.1k que você fica vermelho como a taxa de amostragem. [/ QUOTE]

 

[Mrandrade]

The source is Tidal Hi-fi and Spotify playng in my Mac mini

 

[dawktah2]

Can anyone give me an idea what I can expect comparing the Qutest to a ESS Sabre ES9018 chip implementation? I've read that the chip is "bright?"

I've heard that the North America Qutest are shipping but I haven't gotten an email from Moon Audio. I have two DAC that both use this chip. So looking for impressions in this regard

Anxiously waiting...

 

[soares]

I am using a 9038 chip (Oppo 205) while waiting for my Qutest. With an ultraRendu the sound is better that the one from my 2qute except for the sound stage and the separation of instruments/vocals. I don't find the 9038 bright.