Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread

[Joe-Siow]

Schiit got away for a very long time making JUNK they weren't even measuring. What we learned was that distortion is pleasing in a way to a lot of people.

But it doesn't sound better than competent design.

I have only 1 question

Have you actually listened to the Yggy with your ears?

 

[odessamarin]

Listening?! what for... if measurement exists ))))

 

[Light - Man]

Listening?! what for... if measurement exists ))))

For your ears, what else are we hear for!

I have not heard either, as I live in a new World of portable audio bliss!

 

[OctavianH]

I would say the best DAC is the most resolving and neutral. For flavour you have amps to connect.

 

[Joe-Siow]

I would say the best DAC is the most resolving and neutral. For flavour you have amps to connect.

Normally that's the maxim to follow
However every now and then there will exceptions
That exception for me is Lampizator

 

[jbarrentine]

I have only 1 question

Have you actually listened to the Yggy with your ears?

I don't have to listen to it to know it's crap. I had a mimby. Thought it sounded very good. Then I got a "lower end" modi 3 to use in another part of the house. This "lower end" part which was (finally) competently designed absolutely destroyed mimby judged by my own ears. I wondered how it could be so good, then read the thread and realized what Schiit has been pulling for years: design by incompetence. Design without an actual basis for performance. Hell, people like tube amps. I even like tube amps here and there, but I'm not going to pretend they are OBJECTIVELY good performers.

 

[Chop-Top]

I have only 1 question

Have you actually listened to the Yggy with your ears?

I heard a Yggy Raggy stack at a headphone meet last year and was unimpressed. Sounded horribly veiled and bloated.

 

[odessamarin]

I don't have to listen to it to know it's crap.

Sounded horribly veiled and bloated.

you guys just haters... no more comments. wish you all the best.

 

[Chop-Top]

you guys just haters... no more comments. wish you all the best.

Hey, I'm not a hater just stating my opinion after listening to the Yggy. Love my Chord Qutest!
BTW, I had not heard a Chord product prior to the Yggy audition.

 

[Gibson59]

Man I feel bad cuz I thing I started the Yggy vs Qutest convo a couple pages back. I didn’t say Yggy sucks by any means, I simply meant to say that IMO Qutest is right up there with it, which is high praise because Yggy is so good. I just tend to prefer the sound of Qutest in my system.

 

[Clemmaster]

Except Yggdrasil apparently measures like complete junk (****. let's say it)

When measured by incompetent wanna-be "engineer" with shady agenda, probably.

 

[jbarrentine]

you guys just haters... no more comments. wish you all the best.

People at Schiit literally plainly stated they had never measured dacs before the Modi 3. Say "hater" all you want. It came right out of their mouths. All ASR did was call attention to that fact.

I want a well engineered product. Hence, the Qutest. I believe most people who buy something that expensive want it well engineered too.

 

[betula]

Since I bought a Mojo for portable use (again) I had a chance to compare it to the Qutest as a DAC. I also compared them to the built in DAC in the Questyle CMA600i.

How some people can't hear differences between DACs is a mystery to me.
600i DAC is the poorest out of the three which is not a surprise, but actually it is not too far behind Mojo, just different. Mojo is still better overall, no doubt about it.
600i DAC sounds a bit thicker, especially at the low-end but it is also more flat and 2 dimensional. Mojo has better soundstage depth and a thinner but more realistic sound. The low end is cleaner but also leaner in comparison. I would much prefer the Mojo as a DAC but I can see some people being happy with the 600i's built in DAC.

Qutest to my ears is another world to both. Another world to Mojo too. Qutest sounds so much fuller and more satisfying. More details are coming through but in a completely effortless way. The sound has a full body, much better extension than Mojo. Absolutely awesome low-end reproduction. No contest.

I already knew this and tested about a year ago, but it is good to refresh those memories every now and then.

 

[Staxaphone]

As an owner of the 600i I concur with your opinion that the DAC in the Questyle is not equal to other DACs in performance. On the other hand the current mode design of the 600i headphone amp is spectacular IMO. That’s why I still have it and am very satisfied with it. I have used several other DACs feeding the 600i amp but have found none better that the Qutest to date. No other DAC has come close to Qutest with regard to PCM sound enjoyment. Only a Simaudio DAC has been about its equal but only with SACD quality DSF and ISO files. Not even close with PCM. Is anybody else using a current mode headphone amplifier that they like?

 

[betula]

As an owner of the 600i I concur with your opinion that the DAC in the Questyle is not equal to other DACs in performance. On the other hand the current mode design of the 600i headphone amp is spectacular IMO. That’s why I still have it and am very satisfied with it. I have used several other DACs feeding the 600i amp but have found none better that the Qutest to date. No other DAC has come close to Qutest with regard to PCM sound enjoyment. Only a Simaudio DAC has been about its equal but only with SACD quality DSF and ISO files. Not even close with PCM. Is anybody else using a current mode headphone amplifier that they like?

I find your post a bit confusing.

I wasn't talking about 'other DACs' I was only talking about Mojo and Qutest.

Current mode design has nothing to do with the DAC. That's the amp section.

I also haven't found better DAC than the Qutest yet, hence my post.

I like the current mode 600i as an amp a lot.

First you say the 600i's DAC is not inferior to other DACs, than you say you haven't found better than Qutest. So first you disagree with me and then agree...