Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread

[Rob Watts]

Hello everyone,
My Qutest is already with more than 200 hours of music and finally it's sounding great!
Musical, good image with a huge dynamic range ...
@Rob Watts, what features advises for battery / powerbank to buy?
Regards
Manel

I used a 100W/h battery bank, that had 5v/2.1A USB output. This is better rated that what Qutest actually needs.

 

[Mrandrade]

Thanks

 

[Mrandrade]

The time go's on and Qutest stills better snd better

 

[musicman59]

I just received mine yesterday and is in the burn-in process.

 

[miketlse]

I just mine yesterday and is in the burn-in process.

Fingers crossed for you.
Almost all the owners post how much they enjoy their Qutest.

 

[AlexB73]

Do Canadian sellers ship Qutest ?

 

[musicman59]

Fingers crossed for you.
Almost all the owners post how much they enjoy their Qutest.

It sounds good and detailed just out of the box, I just hope the bass opens up after burn-in.

 

[miketlse]

Do Canadian sellers ship Qutest ?

Bluebird are the US/Canada distributors, so there are canadian dealers, eg https://www.hifiheadphones.ca/brands/Chord-Electronics.html.
The Chord website has a dealer locator, and it appears that there are several dealers.

 

[Rob Watts]

I used a 100W/h battery bank, that had 5v/2.1A USB output. This is better rated that what Qutest actually needs.

@Mrandrade asked me via a PM what bank I used, so I got it out of my bag. It is actually 85W/h, and is Poweradd Pilot pro 2. I have had a number of banks before, this is the best so far as it is reliable and seems well made.

 

[dcp10]

As a new Qutest owner, I wonder if I could please direct a couple of question to Rob Watts?

1. Burn In.
Many users have commented on a "burn in" process, and the sound improving over many hours of use. Do you have any thoughts about this - what is the physics of "burn in", or is it simply a psychological phenomenon whereby a customer simply becomes attuned to their new piece of hardware?

2. Improvements for High Bit-Rate Recordings
I understand how your FGPA algorithms can improve the sound from low data-rate recordings such as CD - I guess you're doing a better job of reconstructing the waveform from a paucity of data - but I'm not so clear why there is still an improvement for high data-rate recordings (such as my brilliantly-recorded and mastered 24-bit 192 kHz Linn classical recordings). I'm comparing against my Naim streamer which, I believe, uses Burr-Brown chips.

Many thanks - and thanks again for the great sound.

 

[bmfmarius]

1. Burn In.
Many users have commented on a "burn in" process, and the sound improving over many hours of use. Do you have any thoughts about this - what is the physics of "burn in", or is it simply a psychological phenomenon whereby a customer simply becomes attuned to their new piece of hardware?

Until Rob answers, my opinion is that the burn in process is more likely to happen with the owner's brain/ ears combo than with the unit itself!

 

[Skampmeister]

Agree, my Qutest sounds exactly the same as it did on day one.

 

[jayz]

RE: Does Qutest sound better than chip DACs? it definitely does in my setup.

The Quest replaced a Wolfson WM8741 based DAC built into my active speakers. Previous to that, I had tried NAD M51 and found the in-build DAC to be better.

Playing well recorded 24/96 or 24/192 tracks, Qutest gives a sense of depth and soundstage that is simply unbelievable. One of my favourite albums is LSO's Britten War Requiem http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/Soc...ianandrea-noseda-lso-britten-war-requiem.html
Listen to track 5, the orchestra sounds so 3D to the extent that you could imagine the airflow from brass instruments carrying the sound from behind the venue towards the front and the acoustics of the venu adding to that sense of being there.

From a technical point of view, I think Robs magic filter algorithms work at very high frequencies so will help to reduce the "time smear" far beyond what a typical DAC can do even with hi-res material. I know several DACs now do up-sampling to 384 kHz but the magic must be in the implementation of sinc function which means it might be functioning close (enough?) to what Shannon Nyquist expressed with their maths. My understanding is that that is just one (of many) features that make the design very special.

 

[jarnopp]

Until Rob answers, my opinion is that the burn in process is more likely to happen with the owner's brain/ ears combo than with the unit itself!

And Rob has answered this question several times. You can search his posts, but here is one:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cho...n-3rd-post-◄★☆.784602/page-1298#post-12696849

 

[AlexB73]

Qutest has 3 volt RMS output. It is 3 x 2 x sq(2) = ~8.5 volt peak to peak.
So you need ~10-12 volts VDD.
Qutest has to have internal switched power supply inside to get 10-12 volts from 5 volt.