[theveterans]

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.

Would a resistor relayed step attenuator mitigate the loss of transparency in volume? For instance, a passive preamp with just pure resistor relayed step attenuator (100 dB steps) in the analogue path to control the volume after the 3V output from Qutest

I imagine that would be more transparent than digital software volume though

 

[tony wilson]

that's why a powerbank (USB power storage) can not be used for best output performance.....quote

well good luck with your system
what is best can it be easily defined or heard maybe anyway switching power wall warts whatever they are called do not float my boat all the great comapanies use them and i am sure they tick many boxes for them.
the best i would imagine will be uptone audio ultacap and paul hynes power supply followed by the ebay £200 regulated ones down to the china £30-40 pound ones
a heavy duty usb battery like the anker i am using sure sounds sweet to my ears it is true it sounds sluggish when compared to the ultracap .

cutest does not seem power hungry at all the mojo seemed a little greedy playing while charging it struggled sometimes was it a 7 or 8 v battery inside charging via a low mah 5v?
i was going to buy a 2cute after reading about different tweak options but i looked at the time cycle and guessed that something would be coming sooner or later.
a slab of black and no internal battery low voltage cool running cd living playing sweetness.
cd maybe low fi but sounds hi to me

 

[dawktah2]

that's why a powerbank (USB power storage) can not be used for best output performance.....quote

well good luck with your system
what is best can it be easily defined or heard maybe anyway switching power wall warts whatever they are called do not float my boat all the great comapanies use them and i am sure they tick many boxes for them.
the best i would imagine will be uptone audio ultacap and paul hynes power supply followed by the ebay £200 regulated ones down to the china £30-40 pound ones
a heavy duty usb battery like the anker i am using sure sounds sweet to my ears it is true it sounds sluggish when compared to the ultracap .

cutest does not seem power hungry at all the mojo seemed a little greedy playing while charging it struggled sometimes was it a 7 or 8 v battery inside charging via a low mah 5v?
i was going to buy a 2cute after reading about different tweak options but i looked at the time cycle and guessed that something would be coming sooner or later.
a slab of black and no internal battery low voltage cool running cd living playing sweetness.
cd maybe low fi but sounds hi to me

Pictures? No pics didn't happen

 

[Music Alchemist]

Would a resistor relayed step attenuator mitigate the loss of transparency in volume? For instance, a passive preamp with just pure resistor relayed step attenuator (100 dB steps) in the analogue path to control the volume after the 3V output from Qutest

I imagine that would be more transparent than digital software volume though

I did not hear a difference with or without my Schiit SYS passive preamp with the Mojo. (Aside from the soft scratching sound the cheap potentiometer in my preamp makes, which you don't have to worry about.) Since you have a Mojo and Saga, you could try with and without the Saga to see if you hear a difference.

 

[agedbest]

that's why a powerbank (USB power storage) can not be used for best output performance.....quote

....a heavy duty usb battery like the anker i am using sure sounds sweet to my ears it is true it sounds sluggish when compared to the ultracap .

well....if this is true we can desume that also the new Chord DAC Qutest NEEDS an external LPS for best output performance
as for his predecessors

 

[tony wilson]

well....if this is true we can desume that also the new Chord DAC Qutest NEEDS an external LPS for best output performance
as for his predecessors

well
if what is true ?

i was in such a rush to test i have not even seen the provided supply until 10 mins ago
the box it all comes in is very fine quality it has a little draw which i never noticed before i am now using the 5v supplied supply the cutest has been on all day using usb battery and mainly uptone audio ultra cap
i am now using the the chord inclosed supply.
have the music cranked up this thing is a stunning.

a lot of people on the 2cute pages had issues with the voltage output i believe this has variable voltage i have not figured the the sequence yet but it is fine my vintage theta dac outputs 7v which is pretty crazy.


i see audio cables power supply part of personalisation i understand companies concerns as when it goes wrong someone has to repair the unit.
with the provided power supply it is sounding great.
where i am getting changes is the cd choice sony cdp 5000es,sony cdp 333es and the theta which uses panasonic stable platter so far funny enough the sony cdp333es which i think is from the late 1980s ish sounds superb it is now resolving so much detail.

 

[miketlse]

I did consider the 2Qute, but was put off by the 3V output.
I opted for the Hugo 2 instead.
Since then I have listened to many CDs using the Hugo 2, and find that the Hugo 2 works wonders with RDCD files.
I anticipate the same magical music experiences will be available with the Qutest, so it will be interesting to hear the user feedback.

 

[agedbest]

well
if what is true ?

for now you are the only one to have tried it, and posted here ...

I think it should be clear what I was talking about ...
since the statement is yours: "..a heavy duty usb battery like the anker i am sure sure sounds to my ears it is true it sounds sluggish when compared to the ultracap."
so my reply was :"new Chord DAC Qutest NEEDS an external LPS for best output performance as for his predecessors"


but I think and hope we'll see a lot more soon

 

[tony wilson]

for now you are the only one to have tried it, and posted here ...

I think it should be clear what I was talking about ...
since the statement is yours: "..a heavy duty usb battery like the anker i am sure sure sounds to my ears it is true it sounds sluggish when compared to the ultracap."
so my reply was :"new Chord DAC Qutest NEEDS an external LPS for best output performance as for his predecessors"


well sorry about that sport you made a political statement about my dac as i had not even connected the included supply
maybe you should order one on a trial basis and do noise floor tests with the supplied adapter
i had not used or seen the chord provided power adapter i had various options set up and just got involved in the beachboys smile sessions and a little session with kate bush.
i would suggest mr watts comments about included power supply isolation have a little more merit than maybe has been stated in the past.

it is all academic a very usable power supply has been included you can use it or not as i said the big difference i am finding is from different cd transport.
5v micro usb offers fantastic flexibility good supply or usb so called bad supply it all works very well.

 

[Rob Watts]

Would a resistor relayed step attenuator mitigate the loss of transparency in volume? For instance, a passive preamp with just pure resistor relayed step attenuator (100 dB steps) in the analogue path to control the volume after the 3V output from Qutest

I imagine that would be more transparent than digital software volume though

The problem with passive volume controls - such as a relay and discrete resistors - are that the switch contacts, the solder joints, and if you are using leaded resistors the internal connection from the pressure end caps to the metal film - all add small signal non-linearities due to oxides and impurities. These small signal distortions affect depth perception and detail resolution.

So does that mean digital volume controls are better? No not with conventional digital; the DAC's themselves are poor at small signals - R2R are horribly non linear, and conventional delta sigma has poor small signal performance with only 140 dB (at best) noise shaper resolution. DSD is even worse at -120 dB (DSD 64). That is why I go to the trouble of ensuring that all my digital paths are capable of resolving a -301 dB signal perfectly, so that small signals and depth cues are properly resolved.

 

[theveterans]

The problem with passive volume controls - such as a relay and discrete resistors - are that the switch contacts, the solder joints, and if you are using leaded resistors the internal connection from the pressure end caps to the metal film - all add small signal non-linearities due to oxides and impurities. These small signal distortions affect depth perception and detail resolution.

So does that mean digital volume controls are better? No not with conventional digital; the DAC's themselves are poor at small signals - R2R are horribly non linear, and conventional delta sigma has poor small signal performance with only 140 dB (at best) noise shaper resolution. DSD is even worse at -120 dB (DSD 64). That is why I go to the trouble of ensuring that all my digital paths are capable of resolving a -301 dB signal perfectly, so that small signals and depth cues are properly resolved.

Thank you for your reply Rob Watts.

I'll just ask some questions to understand your implementation regarding volume control fully without loss in transparency:

With the -301dB dynamic range in the digital domain, you would simply change the "reference to some -dB from zero dB" in the digital domain to change volume and maintain 100% transparency correct? However if I am going to do this on a conventional DAC, it would result to bit reduction and therefore loss in transparency?

Speaking with Qutest, attaching an analogue preamp of any kind (be it motorized alps potentiometer, stepped relay resistors, etc.) will result to some loss in transparency however minute that loss is, but with Qutest directly connected to power amp and software controlling the volume using any OS (i.e. Windows, OS X, Android and iOS) would not result to loss in transparency correct?

 

[Rob Watts]

It's not an issue of bit reduction per se that's important; it is the loss of resolution in the audio bandwidth that is important. Any change to a digital signal will involve added distortion and noise; what I can do is to implement the volume function with minimal change in distortion and noise (it's below -350dB) and this level of performance will mean that depth information is preserved. But to do this you need to employ very aggressive noise shaping and run the volume control at a minimum SR of 705/768 kHz - and that is how volume is implemented in Hugo 2. Now a software implemented volume will for sure add distortion and noise and will have the audible consequence of degrading the perception of depth and detail resolution; but I suspect this audible loss will be small compared to the loss in depth you get with an analogue volume control in the path.

 

[musicday]

Richer Sounds started to carry the Chord Quest along with the Mojo.
Best to call them in your town for avability.

 

[dmance]

Finally! A first impression post from Pink Fish Media ...
http://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/chord-qutest-has-landed.211981/

 

[agedbest]

Finally! A first impression post from Pink Fish Media ...
http://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/chord-qutest-has-landed.211981/

thanks at last something interesting

I was a bit stunned by the reviewer's statements and comments

especially this: "Interestingly (I guess) the best I heard from the Qutest came when I wound up HQPlayer to DSD512 and fired bits at the Qutest at 22megabits per second - which goes completely against the official guidance from Chord/Watts. Maybe Rob would explain that I need the MScaler and a million taps instead."