[jjazzy]

@jjazzy That's very good to know! I've always thought that I'd be buying a lot of features that I would never use like the headphone amp and preamp capability of the tt2. I'm assuming that you don't find it to sound "thin" compared to the Qutest/MScaler combo? I read a comment on a different forum that someone felt that way. But I'd guess that the tt2 was not burned in. Chord equipment is fantstic but needs a good burn-in to hit it's sweet spot. For the first 50 hours of listening on my Qutest I wondered if I'd made a big mistake. Then it got better - sweeter/smoother and more fleshed-out/meatier and much better bass and kept improving with additional burn-in. My MScaler needed some burn-in but was definitely better initially compared to the Qutest.

compared to the tt2 + mscaler, the qutest sounds thin, les stage (the mscaler helps somewhat, but still not in tt2 territory). I had a little less issue with headphone and amp, but connected to my full hifi set, the difference became huge. the tt2 combi has more stage, depth, air around instruments and a smoothness the qutest just can't touch.

But the qutest is a very good dac on it's own. especially for the price. I mean the tt2+mscaler is AMAZING, but that doesn't come cheap

 

[yrstruly]

New Qutest owner here - my first proper desktop DAC after using my Mojo 2 for years. Running via USB to Macbook from a Burson Soloist GT. Feelings are somewhat mixed so far. My Radiance, HD 650 and Nightowl all sound next-level incredible through it. My Utopia 2022 and VC on the other hand...I can't quite wrap my head around it yet but something feels off. I think due to the pairing with the GT which leans perhaps slightly neutral-bright it's throwing the tonality that I'm used to with the Nutopia and VC sightly off. I guess the Mojo 2 may have smoothed over their more metallic qualities before. There's an ever-so-slight glassy/glary quality in the upper mids, and the sound feels slightly drained of emotion. The sound registers more as a cerebral experience - on a technical level the sound is brilliant for sure, but something isn't quite hitting. This could just be a burn-in issue so I'll persevere - also I'm heading travelling tomorrow and hoping I'll return after some much needed rest with a different perspective, as I really do love how the Qutest sounds with some of my cans.

By way of update...resolved this issue now. It's a topic run into the ground in here now but it turned out to be an issue with the stock power supply - think the noise was accounting for the metallic/glary sound I was hearing which was throwing the timbre off on some cans. Over the past weeks I tried an iFi iPower X, iFi micro iUSB and then an inexpensive LPS - each made a positive difference, the LPS much more so. Now running the Qutest from a Plixir Elite BDC (with Signature cable) and couldn't be happier with the results. The level of detail, punch and realism I'm getting from both my Utopia and VC now is really something else, not to mention the "black background", better defined images etc.

 

[Jon L]

Now running the Qutest from a Plixir Elite BDC (with Signature cable)

Not exactly a "cheap" solution unfortunately.

 

[yrstruly]

Not exactly a "cheap" solution unfortunately.

You’re quite right. But frankly it’s done more than resolve the issue (in terms of removing the harshness) - the overall sonic improvements make it worth the outlay for me

 

[celo83]

I had one. Really nice DAC. Super easy to setup with a Mac.

 

[rush1]

You’re quite right. But frankly it’s done more than resolve the issue (in terms of removing the harshness) - the overall sonic improvements make it worth the outlay for me

Could not agree more, I am using the qutest to feed Burson Soloist 3X GT.
For the power supply I got a custom made Dual Output Linear Power Supply for the qutest and 3X GT as per their requirements of 5V3A and 24V5A.
Well it turned out quite big and heavy, has its on off switch as an added feature so I can turn off the qutest (am not using it daily). As for the sound... man, I am very much satisfied with all the improvements, blacker background thus increase separation, and removes all the glare, and everything just tightened up.

 

[LegionofDoom]

I have a nice Plixir BDC power supply for my Qutest, but am growing curious to try a 5V/2A lithium battery just to compare. In theory the battery should have zero RF interference/noise. But's its overall implementation still matters a lot, especially the regulator/rectifier stage to output the 5V/2A. So my question is for people with some experience, what battery brands have you tried?

There are a ton available on Amazon, but perhaps some experiential wisdom is available before I set out on this journey.

 

[SONDEKNZ]

This should be interesting...