Chord Electronics Qutest DAC - Official Thread

[George Hincapie]

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm

I use Blue Jeans in both my headphone system and main system. Excellent cables.

 

[GreenBow]

Hi everyone! I just joined because the forum is great! I’ve lurked for quite a while while doing audio research so I thought it was time because I bought a Qutest 3 weeks ago and have been listening/burning it in. It only has 95 hrs on it so far, so it’s decent but I’ve not experienced the Qutest magic yet except for one night, a Saturday night about 6pm, it was awesome until I turned the system off for the night (Qutest stays on 24x7).

I’ve experienced this in the past with other DACs and other sources so I know my mains power is likely crap despite having dedicated lines, good power cables, and a power conditioner. So I’ve been following the LPS discussion with great interest.

One key question at this time:

I thought I’ve read that the Qutest has been sold for several years. I just bought mine new from a retailer and the serial number is quite low, approximately #150. Do you think it’s possible I was sold new old stock that may not have had all updates (if any) and that could be why the Qutest magic hasn’t locked in ? By that I mean the sound is thin, bass shy, soundstage depth and width are mediocre, timbre is definitely off for the first hour of play, e.g., tenor sax sounds like alto and occasionally even soprano. Music has no body. And then there’s the power supply impact on the sound. It seems to be very large for my unit rather than minor as described many times in this thread.

I realize that I need to let additional burn in occur before I decide but I wanted your opinions. Thanks!

EDIT: I realized tonight I can’t just listen to old jazz and classic rock. I tried some much more recent albums and the Qutest displayed a very wide and fairly deep soundstage and decent bass, and good imaging. More time, more burn-in will tell but for now it’s sounding pretty damn nice! I got spoiled listening to old music with tube DACs — they’re a good fit for each other.

EDIT 2: An update. Chord responded that my Qutest is brand new. My unit was manufactured late last fall. They reinitialized serial numbers on Qutest in October 2020 so they wouldn’t run into serial numbers for a different product of theirs. Great rapid response from Chord! I received an answer the same morning I sent the request even though it must have been about 7pm there.

It's difficult to know what to advise.

I suspect it could be that you have not got the hang of the Chord signature yet, and the Qutest signature. ......... I'll explain this as brief as possible and see it it make sense.

My music started of with a Meridian Explorer (which is a budget DAC) on my PC. I had it for a good while. Then I got the Chord Mojo. It took me at least a week of very regular listening before I could think I would keep it. At first it sounded thin, cold, and metallic. It was however more detailed than my Meridian Explorer, and I was imagining keeping it because of that. At about one week of lots of listening, I came to the conclusion that it was smoother than the Meridian Explorer. I based that on it being less grainy or crackly; or distortion.

By ten days, I was finding it was actually warm because the timbres were more accurate. That was opposed to my Meridian Explorer that was warm because it had a thicker bass singature. ... Anyway from ten days onwards it was all uphill. By two weeks I was sold, and the rest is history.

I next bought the Hugo 2, which is a Qutest in other form on any other day. That was an even loger adjustment period for me. It took a moth of continuous lsitening to adjust. It was also massively more detailed than the Mojo, and I was compelled to listen. Life was too short not to listen.

(By the by, I have the TT2 and the Qutest as well now.)

I think the reason it took so long to adjust was, because I knew my music with my previous DAC. That was with every upgrade.


Anyway my guess is maybe that's how it is for you. Your old DAC signature is possibly much less detailed, or just very different. ... Of course you may have a faulty unit or a dodgy cable/connection. Stick with USB or optical for now too, as coaxial is more prone to RFI which causes brightness.

My suggestion is just listen to it as much as possible; listen, listen, listen. (Also, stick to the supplied power adapter for at least a month.) ..... When I say my Hugo 2 took a month to adjust to, I exaggerate not one iota.

 

[JazzAudioDog]

GreenBow, thank you! I had my old DAC so long, 7 years, I’ve forgotten what other digital sources sounded like. For many of those years I was into vinyl for more than half of my listening time. And I’ve been dreaming of a optical cable...

 

[GreenBow]

GreenBow, thank you! I had my old DAC so long, 7 years, I’ve forgotten what other digital sources sounded like. For many of those years I was into vinyl for more than half of my listening time. And I’ve been dreaming of a optical cable...

Well without probing about your old DAC, even old Chord's are surpassed by the new ones.

Since you said you used your old DAC for seven years though, it would suggest brain-burn-in for you. Or in other words time to adjust to the new DAC. Process all the new detail.

The reason I say this is because you had your DAC for so long. You will know a lot of your music on your old DAC, off by heart. Every tone, sound postitions in certain tracks etc. The new Qutest will be seriously quite different to your old DAC, and new details will sound disconnected. Like stuff everywhere - to me when I moved to Hugo 2 it was like new shards of sounds everywhere; almost blinding. Now Hugo 2 sounds solid and complete.

One suggestion I could make is listen to some music that you do not know. That way you will have no reference to your old DAC's performance of new music. (I think it will sound still somewhat dazzling or need time. However new music will likely sound much more complete and solid, than music you are 'old DAC' familiar with.)

 

[Jgeffen]

I appreciated the post right after that, “Now you are going to have to get a Chord M Scaler to accessorise with that Wave cable!” Translation - it’s going to cost you to climb up the KHz ladder with Chord!

I wish to have, but it's so expensive! I hope Chord will one day produce a DAC with the M Scaler in it for a reasonable price. I'm also looking to add the Denafrips Gaia, but that is a different cup to tea. One guy on another forum wrote after trying: it will better the Qutest in specific ways. Did someone on this forum try this device already?

 

[HumanMedia]

I wish to have, but it's so expensive! I hope Chord will one day produce a DAC with the M Scaler in it for a reasonable price. I'm also looking to add the Denafrips Gaia, but that is a different cup to tea. One guy on another forum wrote after trying: it will better the Qutest in specific ways. Did someone on this forum try this device already?

i checked out the Chord site last week and noticed that in the section titled “Product Types” was “Upscalers” (plural) which when you open it has a single product, the Hugo M Scaler. It sure does feel like a lot of empty space on that page. I know all this means nothing, but it sure feels like the site design implies that there will be another product in that section at some time.

 

[JazzAudioDog]

Well without probing about your old DAC, even old Chord's are surpassed by the new ones.

Since you said you used your old DAC for seven years though, it would suggest brain-burn-in for you. Or in other words time to adjust to the new DAC. Process all the new detail.

The reason I say this is because you had your DAC for so long. You will know a lot of your music on your old DAC, off by heart. Every tone, sound postitions in certain tracks etc. The new Qutest will be seriously quite different to your old DAC, and new details will sound disconnected. Like stuff everywhere - to me when I moved to Hugo 2 it was like new shards of sounds everywhere; almost blinding. Now Hugo 2 sounds solid and complete.

One suggestion I could make is listen to some music that you do not know. That way you will have no reference to your old DAC's performance of new music. (I think it will sound still somewhat dazzling or need time. However new music will likely sound much more complete and solid, than music you are 'old DAC' familiar with.)

Another excellent recommendation! Well, I did it and you’re correct. It’s that, and also the relatively mediocre quality of my choice of source material. I listened to a new material hi-res playlist on Qobuz, “Hi-Res Best of 2020 - Pop/Rock”, and it was incredible! Not the type of music that I’d normally listen to.

The Qutest magic was all there, soundstage width 4 feet outside the speakers, deep layered soundstage, good imaging, great timbre, silence between notes. It was like I was listening to an audiophile-level CD or vinyl where you don’t really like the music but it sounds so good you listen anyway. And I discovered that Taylor Swift has an incredible voice

Some of the old jazz and classic rock music has been remastered well, but not much. And very little of that matches the audio quality of the hi-res playlist I heard last night. Truly enlightening, and I discovered the excellent capability of the Qutest.

By the way, I have about 140 hours listening time on the Qutest so it‘s possible there may be more improvements with additional burn-in time. A dealer (not mine) said he gives DACs 500 hours of play time before he does critical listening.

 

[Triode User]

i checked out the Chord site last week and noticed that in the section titled “Product Types” was “Upscalers” (plural) which when you open it has a single product, the Hugo M Scaler. It sure does feel like a lot of empty space on that page. I know all this means nothing, but it sure feels like the site design implies that there will be another product in that section at some time.

The Blu2 is displayed prominently on the Choral, Full Size and Reference range photos but I can’t find it anywhere in the current products or the legacy products. Can anyone see it? Has it gone into some form of limbo?

 

[miketlse]

The Blu2 is displayed prominently on the Choral, Full Size and Reference range photos but I can’t find it anywhere in the current products or the legacy products. Can anyone see it? Has it gone into some form of limbo?

Chord discontinued production months ago, because the Phillips CD transport was no longer available.
Some dealers still advertise the Blu2, but I don't know where they will source their stock.

 

[Hooster]

The Blu2 is displayed prominently on the Choral, Full Size and Reference range photos but I can’t find it anywhere in the current products or the legacy products. Can anyone see it? Has it gone into some form of limbo?

I suppose that the Blu3 is imminent!

 

[miketlse]

I suppose that the Blu3 is imminent!

Yes, it certainly now represents a 'gap' in the Chord product line, that in an ideal world needs filling.
Will it be filled, is the bigger question. The Phillips CD drive set a high technical baseline, for its successors to follow.
Rob is also usually not interested in developing the next version of 'gear' unless the performance represents an improvement.

But we are not living in 'an ideal world' at the moment, and for manufacturers the costs of developing future products can be a showstopper.
So some 'negative' criteria in play, which gives me high confidence that Chord will prove me wrong, and pull a rabbit from the hat.
Expect a new CD transport during 2021.

 

[hikaru12]

@JazzAudioDog
Welcome, welcome..

I bought my Qutest in December, serial number 00645.

If you have doubts about your unit, I think an email to Chord will get you the production date.

Hey I saw that you mentioned you liked optical better than USB. Was the sound smoother? Coming from the BF2 the Qutest is a bit bright on the green filter but there is definitely a big jump in detail. It may become a nonfactor when I get my BHC in as I can tune it warmer but just curious on your thoughts.

 

[strider1007]

Hey I saw that you mentioned you liked optical better than USB. Was the sound smoother? Coming from the BF2 the Qutest is a bit bright on the green filter but there is definitely a big jump in detail. It may become a nonfactor when I get my BHC in as I can tune it warmer but just curious on your thoughts.

Hi, I don't think the brightness changed that much, USB sounded a bit more gritty, grainy.. Optical was definitely smoother in sound texture, not so much tonal balance.. Definition improved pretty much as well. Instruments had more discernibly their own place on the stage. USB merged them more together.

For the moment I'm using a 3m. plastic fiber optical, still waiting for the QED glass version (next week, fingers crossed) using the green filter.

On another front, I got, literally two hours ago, the sbooster power-supply. That's playing now, and first impressions are good, really good... Will follow-up later..

 

[okplayer]

is anyone using an after market power supply into a power conditioner....

my thought is since using a SR power conditioner with a dedicated circuit that the qutest being a cheap stock power supply is enough?

 

[hikaru12]

I'm conducting a bit of an experiment tonight. I'm comparing my new Chord Qutest to my "old" Holo Spring DAC. I've got my system configured in such a way (albeit temporarily) to quickly A:B both DAC's on the same amp.
For this test, I'm using a HeadAmp GS-X mk2 headphone amplifier to drive my Focal Utopia's. I have my Chord Qutest plugged into my desktop PC via a Curious USB cable. The Holo Spring is being fed by a Mano Ultra streamer. I am using ROON to stream the same album track to both DACs. .....it's not the most scientific setup, but I've gotten some very interesting results to share.

(1) The differences between the Holo Spring and the Qutest aren't as wide as I would have imagined. The Holo still punches above its weight class.
(2) I find the Qutest gives me better separation. Listening to the "Jazz at the pawnshop" I found I was able to easily focus on instruments like an upright bass without feeling other instruments "bleeding over"
(3) Although I hate pretentious terms like "micro detail", I felt that the sound of a brush on a snare was more realistic on the Qutest.
(4) Playing a live recording of the Dire Straits (live at the BBC) I actually preferred the Holo. I got a warmer, richer, thicker, more intimate "live" rock show feeling from the NOS mode of the Holo than I got from the Qutest no matter which filter I tried. The vocal's were more intimate on the Holo while the crash of the cymbals was more detailed on the Qutest.

It's rare that I've had an opportunity to A:B two DAC's so closely so it's been an interesting evening. I'll queue up some more test tracks - perhaps some flamenco guitar, acoustic guitar and acapella vocals to find additional head-to-head comparisons

Sorry to resurrect such an old post but did you have a preference when comparing the Spring vs the Qutest? I’m in that boat now. The Qutest definitely sounds more clearer than my old Bifrost but it won out on slam and tonality. It’s making me want to give a second look at the Holo and NOS Dacs in general like the Amethyst.