[marcus2704]

Fiio M11 Pro -> (coaxial or USB) to DAC Qutest -> analog input (unbal.) HDV820 -> HP HD800S


You may not hear a difference in sound quality.

Perfect, many thanks for your reply

 

[Victorr]

Perfect, many thanks for your reply

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...ef=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0756VZSWS

"I have the following Amps HDV 820, Chord Hugo2, WA7tp, Dark Voice, Chord Mojo, THX AAA 789 (and more)
And here are some of my headphones:
HD 6xx, HD 700, HD 800, HD 800S, HD 820, Focal Utopia, Fostex Saphire Blue TH-900mk2 (and more)

The Sennheiser 800 series headphones benefit the most from this AMP. It seems to ‘slow down’ certain frequencies to make the soundstage / imaging perfect to my ears.
The DAC section of this is not great but when I use the DAC from the Hugo2 in combination of the Amp from the HDV 820 it sounds great.
This is the only reason I am dropping it to 4 stars.
If you intend to use this amp with HD 800 series headphones ( I actually prefer the HD 800 )
Then consider getting a Chord Qutest DAC to improve the sound along with this amp."

 

[Cekootje]

Hello lovely people, I just wanted to shout out real quick because I'm very excited. I just ordered my Qutest!
I've been drooling over this thing for almost a year now and finally the day has come!
First I was interested in a second hand Chord Dac QBD76 (that looks pretty awesome by the way!) but the seller seemed kind of shady so I went with the Qutest!

Hooray!!!!

 

[Hooster]

I have a Sennheiser HDV820 Amp/DAC which powers HD800S headphones.

I use a Fiio M11 Pro as my source, into the USB-B port of the HDV820.

Could I incorporate a Qutest into my setup? After a conversation with a sales rep I am seeking clarification that it can be used in my setup at all, and if it is likely to improve anything, as he felt it unlikely.

If it could be described to me how this would be cabled up it would go some way to clearing the picture up for me.

Any replies appreciated!

Could I incorporate a Qutest into my setup? Yes

Will it improve anything? Not sure, depends how much more you like the Qutest dac over the dac built into the HDV820, if at all.

How to cable them up? Connect the RCA outputs of the Qutest to the RCA inputs of the HDV820. Connect your Fiio to the USB input of the Qutest.

Finally, given the price of the HDV820 it makes little sense to use it as a simple headphone amplifier and bypass the inbuilt dac. You would surely be better off using a Qutest with another cheaper headphone amplifier, most likely bringing better sound for less money.

 

[silversurfer616]

I have a Sennheiser HDV820 Amp/DAC which powers HD800S headphones.

I use a Fiio M11 Pro as my source, into the USB-B port of the HDV820.

Could I incorporate a Qutest into my setup? After a conversation with a sales rep I am seeking clarification that it can be used in my setup at all, and if it is likely to improve anything, as he felt it unlikely.

If it could be described to me how this would be cabled up it would go some way to clearing the picture up for me.

Any replies appreciated!

I have exactly this configuration as a second system and I prefer the Qutest to the HDV820 dac. The latter sounds too *thick* for my taste whereas the Qutest has just more clarity/resolution. Very easy to flick forth and back, though.

 

[marcus2704]

I have exactly this configuration as a second system and I prefer the Qutest to the HDV820 dac. The latter sounds too *thick* for my taste whereas the Qutest has just more clarity/resolution. Very easy to flick forth and back, though.

Is the improvement enough to warrant a demo of the Qutest for use with my HDV820 would you say?

 

[silversurfer616]

Is the improvement enough to warrant a demo of the Qutest for use with my HDV820 would you say?

I think so. Listened the entire evening yesterday to this setup( mind I don’t have the Fiio but Baby Ambre as Roon endpoint)and it is better with Qutest compared to HDV820 alone...with my ears.

 

[Simple Man]

Finaly, my Qutest bought.
offcourse in a local, 40kms from here, Headphone Specialist.
It is on for a day to break it in. We want the best, don’t we.
Now, I’ve read this entire topic but my memory is to bad so I’ll ask this (again).
How do you all coop with the bnc connections?
Chord thought about everything but why they used these difficult connections is not clear to me at all.
So how do you use your coax to the Qutest?
thank

 

[gearocdguy]

Finaly, my Qutest bought.
offcourse in a local, 40kms from here, Headphone Specialist.
It is on for a day to break it in. We want the best, don’t we.
Now, I’ve read this entire topic but my memory is to bad so I’ll ask this (again).
How do you all coop with the bnc connections?
Chord thought about everything but why they used these difficult connections is not clear to me at all.
So how do you use your coax to the Qutest?
thank

RCA female to BNC male adapter.

 

[Victorr]

How do you all coop with the bnc connections?

If necessary, I use this kind of cable

 

[Cekootje]

I’ve got a question about the line output. The manual says you can cycle through the output levels at startup. Red: 1v Green 2v blue 3v. But when I cycle through it goes from red to blue to green... what’s up with that?

 

[moemoney]

I’ve got a question about the line output. The manual says you can cycle through the output levels at startup. Red: 1v Green 2v blue 3v. But when I cycle through it goes from red to blue to green... what’s up with that?

that sounds about right, just stop at the one you wish to work with. When I had it I always left it at "Green" and all was good. It's a one-time thing and you don't have to do it every you unplug it, or just leave it on all the time.

 

[Simple Man]

RCA female to BNC male adapter.

But, freaks as we are, spend lots of money to get the best cable and connection. Is this not a big step down in the chain?

 

[Simple Man]

If necessary, I use this kind of cable

Ok, seems fair but it must be a good quality again or not?

 

[Hooster]

Ok, seems fair but it must be a good quality again or not?

Sure, why would you want a poor quality cable?