[Zzt231gr]

It has been answered hundreds of times.

Optical,period.

 

[kumar402]

Has anyone determined what the best source input is for the Qutest? Is it optical or BNC? The reason I'm asking is I'm thinking of upgrading to a Bel Canto E-One in the near future and want to see what connectors I should be getting with my new streamer to make the most use of the DAC.

I guess it all depends on the streamer or source. I think these connection will make minimal impact. I don't see perceiving any difference between optical and BNC as long as source hasn't prioritized one over another.

 

[hikaru12]

Thanks for the info - only reason I ask is optical has high jitter but isolation from electrical noise and Ive found optical to be subpar on other DACs compared to a direct electrical connection like coax or BNC/AES.

 

[kumar402]

Thanks for the info - only reason I ask is optical has high jitter but isolation from electrical noise and Ive found optical to be subpar on other DACs compared to a direct electrical connection like coax or BNC/AES.

Right now I'm using optical but I have invested in Digione signature player and hence will move to BNC. I see you have Gumby and I guess Schiit are proponent of BNC/COAX connection so that's your way forward.

Also I feel BNC implementation in Chord product to be as good as any since that's how their MSCALER connect to their DAC

 

[Baten]

It has been answered hundreds of times.

Optical,period.

coax 4 lyfe

 

[x RELIC x]

To paraphrase the designer, you’d have to transmit the signal down a wet string for jitter to become an issue with Chord DACs. He’s shown that jitter is not an issue at all in his Pulse Array designs.

Optical is the reference.

 

[Deftone]

Wet string lol i like that.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

Got my Allo USBridge yesterday. I thought that my MacBook Pro have a good USB output, but USBridge outperformed it in every way. I was surprised how big could be an improvement from digital transport upgrade.

 

[kumar402]

Got my Allo USBridge yesterday. I thought that my MacBook Pro have a good USB output, but USBridge outperformed it in every way. I was surprised how big could be an improvement from digital transport upgrade.

I am waiting for digione signature player as well. Currently I’m using optical out from my 2013Macbook pro. I hope to hear similar improvement.

 

[miketlse]

Got my Allo USBridge yesterday. I thought that my MacBook Pro have a good USB output, but USBridge outperformed it in every way. I was surprised how big could be an improvement from digital transport upgrade.

Are you using one or two power supplies for the USBridge?

 

[Ragnar-BY]

Are you using one or two power supplies for the USBridge?

Two. For clean side I use Apple iPhone charger. Apple PSUs produce less noise than cheaper generic switchers and it`s clearly better than powering USBridge from one stock PSU. I have not bought "audiophile LPSU" yet, but it would be interesting to try one.

 

[miketlse]

Two. For clean side I use Apple iPhone charger. Apple PSUs produce less noise than cheaper generic switchers and it`s clearly better than powering USBridge from one stock PSU. I have not bought "audiophile LPSU" yet, but it would be interesting to try one.

I wondered, because there are webpages recommending what you have done, with a low noise PSU for the usb bridge circuits.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

I wondered, because there are webpages recommending what you have done, with a low noise PSU for the usb bridge circuits.

A lot of people are using PSU`s that are more expensive than the USBridge itself. I think I will try a battery pack to see if cleaner power would bring any further improvements to my setup.

Anyway, even with two switching PSUs USBridge sounds great, so for now I`m happy as it is.

 

[alphaman]

JWahl said: ↑
I think this is a similar concept behind NAD's digital direct amplifiers. Of course their digital process is different than Chord's but same idea.

Where I think that type of tech has the potential to shine is in active speakers with direct digital active cross overs.

The Kef LS50 Wireless (I think) does something similar with active crossovers, dsp phase correction and such.

I think a potential fantasy product could be a Chord/KEF collaborative LS50 wireless that uses Chord's tech for the digital stuff. Could be a world beater. But I digress.

No it is very different to the NAD (actually Qualcomm's DDFA) technology; I know because I invented the technology behind DDFA. The key difference is that it is a non switching output.

Qualcomm just recently made DDFA avail. on a single chip:
https://www.audioxpress.com/news/ne...-superior-audio-in-smaller-low-power-speakers

Mr. Watts:

is your "DDFA" technology similar to the "direct-digital" technology Sharp Electronics created in the 1990s for their high-end amps?


https://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/253/index.html

 

[Rob Watts]

No that used 1 bit PDM or 64FS DSD. And the measurements indicate no feedback; DDFA is high resolution and incorporates high order feedback and is capable of very low levels of THD and N.