[Nik74]

I just ordered one of these battery power banks on eBay. Got a used one for half the price so it will be an inexpensive experiment to compare it to the psu supplied by Chord.
On a similar subject, I m persuaded that my Mac is also a source of noise. And wondering if something inexpensive like Innuos Zen mini or auralic Aries mini or similar would be an audible improvement over my Mac book ?
Is Chord planning to launch a streamer or network bridge on a price bracket similar to Qutest at some point ? And if not , what is an official recommendation for a low noise source that would be ideal for the task ?

 

[Christer]

It can for some owners.
The 'quality' of mains power varies widely, and sometimes includes significant amounts of electrical noise.
If this noise passes through power supplies, then it can reach dacs, amplifiers etc, and cause the sound to become brighter than it should be.
Using a battery pack, removes one source of electrical noise from the av system.
@Rob Watts has posted many times about the hazards of RFI and electrical noise.

I hope you are right and definitely suspect that you are. For one thing, basically the only way I have been enjoying my HUGO 1 has been with my laptop on battery and HUGO without being power connected.
And now trying a battery powered headphone amp instead of my usual one with Qutest I am hearing a wee bit more, very very low level detail and acoustic cues with some of my direct reference to how things actually sounded live tracks.
Now I can hear some things that before I could only hear clearly via my HEKV2 also via my HD800.
Maybe a powerbank would lower the noise floor even further?
Although I suspect that my mbp is also causing noise since I know that some rbcd material sounds more relaxed and less noisy via optical and either of my cd players compared to playing rips of the same via usb and my mbp.
But it seems the Poweradd Pilot 2, Rob recommends is not available here in Sweden so either I will have to get another one, or wait until I get to Singapore in few weeks.
Just hope it is available there.
Cheers Christer

 

[miketlse]

I hope you are right and definitely suspect that you are. For one thing, basically the only way I have been enjoying my HUGO 1 has been with my laptop on battery and HUGO without being power connected.
And now trying a battery powered headphone amp instead of my usual one with Qutest I am hearing a wee bit more, very very low level detail and acoustic cues with some of my direct reference to how things actually sounded live tracks.
Maybe a powerbank would lower the noise floor even further?
Although I also suspect that my mbp is also causing noise since I know that some rbcd material sounds more relaxed and less noisy via optical and either of my cd players compared to playing rips of the same via usb and my mbp.
But it seems the Poweradd Pilot 2, Rob recommends is not available here in Sweden so either I will have to get another one, or wait until I get to Singapore in few weeks.
Just hope it is available there.
Cheers Christer

I hope that you manage to obtain a suitable powerbank.
Your experiences over the coming months, will be able to provide interesting feedback for the growing number of posters, asking about battery supplies and powerbanks.

 

[thePhones]

It's the Poweradd Pilot Pro 2. And it will drive the Hugo M scaler too (set to 12v), as well as the Qutest using the USB 5v OP. And you won't get into trouble at airports with power as it is 85W/h and labelled as such - some airports confiscate battery banks at 100W/h or above.

Since it is 85W/h you, on paper, will get 35 hours with a Qutest as a load. I get 7 hours with my Hugo M scaler.

A battery bank will give you the perfect PSU for use with Qutest.

Nice, I just ordered one. What happens if I accidentally set the powerbank to one of the higher voltages. I'm curios if the m scaler has over-voltage protection, or do I have to be really careful with it?

 

[miketlse]

I hope you are right and definitely suspect that you are. For one thing, basically the only way I have been enjoying my HUGO 1 has been with my laptop on battery and HUGO without being power connected.
And now trying a battery powered headphone amp instead of my usual one with Qutest I am hearing a wee bit more, very very low level detail and acoustic cues with some of my direct reference to how things actually sounded live tracks.
Now I can hear some things that before I could only hear clearly via my HEKV2 also via my HD800.
Maybe a powerbank would lower the noise floor even further?
Although I suspect that my mbp is also causing noise since I know that some rbcd material sounds more relaxed and less noisy via optical and either of my cd players compared to playing rips of the same via usb and my mbp.
But it seems the Poweradd Pilot 2, Rob recommends is not available here in Sweden so either I will have to get another one, or wait until I get to Singapore in few weeks.
Just hope it is available there.
Cheers Christer

The Poweradd Pilot 2 is hard to find, maybe it is no longer in production. The Poweradd Pilot Pro 3 is available, but unfortunately only supplies 5V, which does reduce its flexibility for some people.
https://www.amazon.fr/POWERADD-Pilot-Pro-téléphones-tablettes/dp/B07585XKXM

 

[Zzt231gr]

Nice, I just ordered one. What happens if I accidentally set the powerbank to one of the higher voltages. I'm curios if the m scaler has over-voltage protection, or do I have to be really careful with it?

Please report back with the results!

 

[thePhones]

Please report back with the results!

Maybe I'll get 1,5 Million taps with 20V ...No I don't, not on purpose.

 

[Rob Watts]

Nice, I just ordered one. What happens if I accidentally set the powerbank to one of the higher voltages. I'm curios if the m scaler has over-voltage protection, or do I have to be really careful with it?

There is input protection, but this is just for transients or short term over voltage. You could blow the protection diode if you use voltages above 15v, the rated input, hence why I set it too 12v with battery operation.

 

[Christer]

There is input protection, but this is just for transients or short term over voltage. You could blow the protection diode if you use voltages above 15v, the rated input, hence why I set it too 12v with battery operation.

Hello again Rob and thanks for your advice regarding the powerbank P2. But it seems a bit difficult to find.
I know I could order it online but I am leaving soon and don't want to risk not getting it before then. It seems safer to buy one in Singapore once I am there again.
Would the Poweradd Pilot 3 mikelse suggests,be an ok subsistute if it proves easier to find?
Or would I risk having it confiscated at airports?
It seems to deliver 100W/h.
Cheers Christer

 

[dc71]

I just ordered one of these battery power banks on eBay. Got a used one for half the price so it will be an inexpensive experiment to compare it to the psu supplied by Chord.
On a similar subject, I m persuaded that my Mac is also a source of noise. And wondering if something inexpensive like Innuos Zen mini or auralic Aries mini or similar would be an audible improvement over my Mac book ?
..........and if not , what is an official recommendation for a low noise source that would be ideal for the task ?

I have tried various streaming transports into Qutest now including, Bluesound node2, sotm sms200, lumin D1 and Lumin U1 mini.

Sms200 had the best sound value per $, but the control is not so usable especially if you use all 3 of local files, tidal and Spotify (probably good enough if you use only 2 of the 3).
Bluesound OS
and app is great to use for all local and internet streaming sources. The sound is not quite as good with Qutest as the sms200, but I found it could be optimised slightly by using a good glass toslink (I used lifatec which sounded better to my ears than qed performance optical).

Lumin U1 mini is the best all round with great sound quality and usability/app, but comes at a higher price.

I have also powered Qutest with its own PS, an ifi iPower and an Anker 26400 battery pack. In my system the iPower made things sound slightly light/thin. The original PS and the Anker battery bank seemed to keep the right weight, gravitas and dynamics for the music. I think the Anker is a good option to try for off grid play, as it gives a good number of hours play for Qutest and is well built.

 

[Christer]

I have tried various streaming transports into Qutest now including, Bluesound node2, sotm sms200, lumin D1 and Lumin U1 mini.

Sms200 had the best sound value per $, but the control is not so usable especially if you use all 3 of local files, tidal and Spotify (probably good enough if you use only 2 of the 3).
Bluesound OS
and app is great to use for all local and internet streaming sources. The sound is not quite as good with Qutest as the sms200, but I found it could be optimised slightly by using a good glass toslink (I used lifatec which sounded better to my ears than qed performance optical).

Lumin U1 mini is the best all round with great sound quality and usability/app, but comes at a higher price.

I have also powered Qutest with its own PS, an ifi iPower and an Anker 26400 battery pack. In my system the iPower made things sound slightly light/thin. The original PS and the Anker battery bank seemed to keep the right weight, gravitas and dynamics for the music. I think the Anker is a good option to try for off grid play, as it gives a good number of hours play for Qutest and is well built.

Interesting ,but it seems like the one Rob recommended the one you recommend also seems to be deleted?
I can't find it for sale at any online outlet currently .There is 2800 model though.
But without any indication of W/h.
Any other tips or recommendations of powerbanks that would both work well with Qutest and last long on a charge for offgrid use?
I would not want anything that deteriorates SQ,nor anything that could be confiscated at Airports .
Cheers Christer

 

[dc71]

Interesting ,but it seems like the one Rob recommended the one you recommend also seems to be deleted?
I can't find it for sale at any online outlet currently .There is 2800 model though.
But without any indication of W/h.
Any other tips or recommendations of powerbanks that would both work well with Qutest and last long on a charge for offgrid use?
I would not want anything that deteriorates SQ,nor anything that could be confiscated at Airports .
Cheers Christer

Sorry I meant Anker 26800 model. It's still available on Amazon UK and elsewhere. It's written 96.48Wh on the unit itself, and I heard no degraded sound quality. In fact I doubt I could tell the difference in a blind test between the power bank and the supplied PS plugged into the dedicated electrical spur I use for my hifi.

 

[miketlse]

Sorry I meant Anker 26800 model. It's still available on Amazon UK and elsewhere. It's written 96.48Wh on the unit itself, and I heard no degraded sound quality. In fact I doubt I could tell the difference in a blind test between the power bank and the supplied PS plugged into the dedicated electrical spur I use for my hifi.

https://www.amazon.fr/Anker-PowerCore-Batterie-Externe-Capacité/dp/B01JIWQPMW

 

[Nik74]

I have tried various streaming transports into Qutest now including, Bluesound node2, sotm sms200, lumin D1 and Lumin U1 mini.

Sms200 had the best sound value per $, but the control is not so usable especially if you use all 3 of local files, tidal and Spotify (probably good enough if you use only 2 of the 3).
Bluesound OS
and app is great to use for all local and internet streaming sources. The sound is not quite as good with Qutest as the sms200, but I found it could be optimised slightly by using a good glass toslink (I used lifatec which sounded better to my ears than qed performance optical).

Lumin U1 mini is the best all round with great sound quality and usability/app, but comes at a higher price.

I have also powered Qutest with its own PS, an ifi iPower and an Anker 26400 battery pack. In my system the iPower made things sound slightly light/thin. The original PS and the Anker battery bank seemed to keep the right weight, gravitas and dynamics for the music. I think the Anker is a good option to try for off grid play, as it gives a good number of hours play for Qutest and is well built.

Thank you for these suggestions. Would you say that the bluesound or sms200 was a noticeable step up sonically from simply using a Mac through usb to the Qutest?

 

[nephilim32]

That's exactly right - it's being able to enjoy music more that is important - that is, letting the music engage you emotionally, and being able to listen for hours on end without listening fatigue. At the end of the day, nothing else matters...

True but that of course depends on your music sources . if one dares to listen to hyper compressed recordings there is definitely no DAC on planet earth that can fix or smooth out that listening experience .