Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread

[GreenBow]

Guys,I am also ready to buy a super capacitor psu,based on all the great reviews.

Does anyone know where to get a good quality 2.1mm male barrel to micro usb cable here in Europe?The stock cable of this device needs an adapter,which I am not so fond of...

The post I quoted and replied to, above your post, has a link for one. Post #4,919 of 4,921

 

[Zzt231gr]

The post I quoted and replied to, above your post, has a link for one. Post #4,919 of 4,921

Thank you but I am not able to find it...Maybe it was removed or you pointed me to the wrong post?Could you please check again?

 

[uzi2]

Thank you but I am not able to find it...Maybe it was removed or you pointed me to the wrong post?Could you please check again?

I've found one in UK
They also had one for USBC, so I got both
It may be that there are other Pi specialists in Europe that would stock them.

 

[GreenBow]

Thank you but I am not able to find it...Maybe it was removed or you pointed me to the wrong post?Could you please check again?

My bad - sorry. I misread you post. I thought you were looking for the capacitor PSU. Whereas you were after a cable for one. (Have migraine and brain is not working properly.)

 

[Zzt231gr]

I've found one in UK
They also had one for USBC, so I got both
It may be that there are other Pi specialists in Europe that would stock them.

Thank you but I am looking for a fixed cable-not an extra adapter...Like the Gotham from US.But this will cost me around €150 to import it here...

My bad - sorry. I misread you post. I thought you were looking for the capacitor PSU. Whereas you were after a cable for one. (Have migraine and brain is not working properly.)

Search migraines through Nutritionfacts.org and maybe you will be able to be well fast and without medicine!Trust me,this Dr. helped me in many health problems...

 

[technobear]

Guys,I am also ready to buy a super capacitor psu,based on all the great reviews.

Does anyone know where to get a good quality 2.1mm male barrel to micro usb cable here in Europe?The stock cable of this device needs an adapter,which I am not so fond of...

From your other posts, I am assuming you are looking for one cable to go into ISO-PS and Qutest.

In which case you are looking for a 5.5/2.5mm plug, not a 5.5/2.1mm plug.

As per the Cuinas web page:

Package also includes

• two heavy gauge 5 Amp DC cables with a 2.5mm plug to fit either of the two ISO-PS output sockets & a 2.1mm barrel plug to fit device being powred

 

[Zzt231gr]

From your other posts, I am assuming you are looking for one cable to go into ISO-PS and Qutest.

In which case you are looking for a 5.5/2.5mm plug, not a 5.5/2.1mm plug.

As per the Cuinas web page:

I don't know what are you reffering to but John from Ciunas said that the cable that connects to the Qutest must be a male barrel of 2.1mm on the other end.He will send me an adapter to convert the one end to micro usb but I want a cable with fixed ends.2.1mm barrel male to micro usb male.


Edit.I think you are right!I am asking John for more details!Thanks for the clarification.

Do you happen to know a European vendor,dear friend?

Edit 2.Now this is more confusing...

 

[uzi2]

I don't know what are you reffering to but John from Ciunas said that the cable that connects to the Qutest must be a male barrel of 2.1mm on the other end.He will send me an adapter to convert the one end to micro usb but I want a cable with fixed ends.2.1mm barrel male to micro usb male.


Edit.I think you are right!I am asking John for more details!Thanks for the clarification.

Do you happen to know a European vendor,dear friend?

Edit 2.Now this is more confusing...

Yes it is - I'm sure you will sort it out with John.
I fully agree with the comment in the first pic. The Qutest should have had a better power supply input than microUSB and preferably with an on/off switch.
I'm not sure why you want to avoid an adapter. I can't see it causing any issues on a DC input. Any problems with going to very thin wires are unavoidable due to the microUSB. The contact patches of the barrel adapter are huge in comparison. The adapter I have linked has a short cable, so isn't going to put any additional strain on the microUSB socket.

 

[HumanMedia]

Avoid those adapters they do affect the sound and make for a crazy awkward cable setup. Just get a custom cable made up for you at http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/list-dc.html

i can recommend the 4S6G variant with JSSG360 shielding. There are other higher gauge variants but they cannot be terminated into the tiny USB connector. (And yes I have the Gotham version and don’t like.)

 

[uzi2]

Avoid those adapters they do affect the sound and make for a crazy awkward cable setup. Just get a custom cable made up for you at http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/list-dc.html

i can recommend the 4S6G variant with JSSG360 shielding. There are other higher gauge variants but they cannot be terminated into the tiny USB connector. (And yes I have the Gotham version and don’t like.)

Please explain the problem with adapters.
Surely the problem is that the Qutest has a microUSB jack for power input.

 

[JKenny]

I just registered on Head-Fi to clarify some confusion & clear up some things, not to get involved in technical discussions, etc

When Zzt231gr contacted me today about his confusion over cables, I asked him to post the following to this thread:

Sorry for any confusion but normally the output sockets would be 2.5mm & if you were making your own cable that's the barrel plug you would need to plug into the back of the ISO-PS. But I am waiting delivery of some 2.5mm panel mounted sockets. I have a stock of 2.1mm panel mount sockets so I was intending to use these instead. With my supplied cables it doesn't make any difference which output I use as the cable will fit either way.

So for anybody who is using my supplied cables, it's immaterial to them.

For those who want to make their own cables then you will now need a 2.1mm barrel plug

I have hopefully clarified the text on all the areas in my website where cables are mentioned, including the user guide.

Package also includes

• one or two two heavy gauge, 5 Amp DC cable(s) with a 2.5mm barrel plug at one end & a 2.1mm barrel plug at the other end. These cables can be plugged either way into the new 2.1mm output socket which means the far end can be either a 2.1mm plug or 2.5mm plug for connecting to device being powered.
• a 12V or 24V charging PS.

The cables are reversible when plugging into the 2.1mm output sockets that I'm intending to now use (I've tried them today) which means you can either use the 2.1mm plug end of the cable to plug into device being powered or you can use the 2.5mm plug.

What this means is that if you are having 3rd party cables made you will want 2.1mm barrel plug (centre pin positive pole) & terminate the other end in an appropriate connector for the device you are intending to power for the Qutest it appears that a micro USB plug is required.

One other thing, I would appreciate Zzt231gr deleting my private communication with him some text of which he posted here - the screen shot of this text where I say "don't quote me on this" - as I said to him, it's not cool to publicly publish private communication especially when specifically asked not to. I presume it was inadvertent?

NB Why don't people just evaluate using an adapter & source a better cable at a later date?

 

[uzi2]

Thanks for your input John

 

[DecentLevi]

Hi @JKenny it's so cool to see you on here, the warrior engineer who managed to design a DC LPS with power as clean as it gets at a lower price than any I've found - from good 'ol Ireland no less! . Not to mention I now won't have to be the go-between with paraphrasing your insights on this thread. And speaking of the DC purity, I would be interested to see someone compare your ISO-PS with the Qutest (normal powered version not the bring-your-own-battery version) to a un-regulated battery supply. Although I'm not leaning towards the rechargeable battery route this would be the ultimate comparison nevertheless.

Yes it is - I'm sure you will sort it out with John.
I fully agree with the comment in the first pic. The Qutest should have had a better power supply input than microUSB and preferably with an on/off switch.
I'm not sure why you want to avoid an adapter. I can't see it causing any issues on a DC input. Any problems with going to very thin wires are unavoidable due to the microUSB. The contact patches of the barrel adapter are huge in comparison. The adapter I have linked has a short cable, so isn't going to put any additional strain on the microUSB socket.

I've been using a 2.1mm barrel to micro-USB adapter with my ISO-PS on the Qutest, and while the sound is still fantastic, I'm inclined to believe that the DC current must be taking some sort of a hit on purity going thru the extra adapter with it's connections and internal wires of unknown gauge. I would also say that even though the final connection to the micro USB cable must be very thin strands, the overall gauge / isolation of the cable makes a difference. Just like how aftermarket headphone cables can make big improvements even though top headphones often use a single hair-thin strand of wire connecting to the driver / transducer.

Avoid those adapters they do affect the sound and make for a crazy awkward cable setup. Just get a custom cable made up for you at http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/list-dc.html

i can recommend the 4S6G variant with JSSG360 shielding. There are other higher gauge variants but they cannot be terminated into the tiny USB connector. (And yes I have the Gotham version and don’t like.)

Wow man you made my heart skip a beat, LOL... I already ordered a Gotham cable from them for around $100 including express shipping and it's just about on the way out to me. Any words on what you didn't like about the Gotham cable and what made your 4S6 cable any better? Any sonic differences or just the former was too hard to bend?

 

[JKenny]

Thanks Levi

 

[HumanMedia]

Wow man you made my heart skip a beat, LOL... I already ordered a Gotham cable from them for around $100 including express shipping and it's just about on the way out to me. Any words on what you didn't like about the Gotham cable and what made your 4S6 cable any better? Any sonic differences or just the former was too hard to bend?

The majority of people love their Gothams. And the JSSG360 shielding is easy to do with the Gotham’s as they have three separated concentric shields already in the cable. However a small number of us have ultimately not been happy with them.

Here is my experience. Added the Gotham and It has an immediate liquid midrange and good bass. Great first impressions. However over the weeks and months I noticed a slight crunchiness in the treble in my system. I never associated it with the Gotham, I didn’t know where it came from . And then I read on Rajiv’s massive computer audio thread at AS that he wasnt happy with his Gotham due to something strange in the highs and had moved on from using it. Then I thought I would swap mine out with a different cable, and when I did that mysterious rough patch in the treble vanished. I felt immediate relief. The Gotham was to blame, despite its great midrange and Bass.

That was just me and my system, and despite a small number of others finding the same, most people do not and are fine with it, love it even. Or maybe the midrange and bass outweigh any negatives in the highs, or it just doesn’t effect them.