[joseph69]

Congrats AmusedToD !

No offense but the chord dac`s look like a toys. I`m confident that with Ares you get many times more for the money.

They do look like toys.

 

[Goodman007]

Hello!
Already many have bought a DAC Terminator!
I would very much like to see detailed photos of the DAC and reviews and comparisons.
Please write dear owners!
Sorry for my english ).

 

[yates7592]

My Terminator is on final testing and is scheduled to ship on Monday, so hopefully I will be able to give some impressions in the next 10 days or so.

 

[AmusedToD]

Congrats AmusedToD !

No offense but the chord dac`s look like a toys. I`m confident that with Ares you get many times more for the money.

Thanks, Mr Pluto I hope it will match well with my Naim based system:

iMac i7 16GB (Roon core) - Audiquest Pearl CAT7 Ethernet cable (bridged mode) - Sotm SMS-200 streamer (Roon endpoint) powered by Sbooster BOTW P&P Eco 12.3v - IFi iDefender3.0 - IFi nano iUSB3.0 powered by Sbooster 9v - Chord C-USB cable - Denafrips Ares DAC - Tellurium Q Ultra Black RCA-RCA - Naim Supernait powered by Naim Powerline and Naim HiCap DR - Tellurium Q Ultra Black speaker cable - Dynaudio Focus 260.

The bottleneck is the Chord USB cable, but still can't decide which USB cable to go for (the highly praised Curious is too expensive for a USB cable, not sure it's worth the price at $340).

The Supernait has high input sensitivity and generally doesn't like the 3V line level output of Chord DACs. Initially wanted to go for the 2Qute, but it doesn't offer volume control like the Mojo and Hugo/Hugo 2 (where one can actually lower the output level through the volume control), so it as a no go. The Ares RCA output level is 2.2V which is more appropriate for my Supernait.

I would love to see a review (direct comparison) between the Ares and Chord 2Qute/Hugo.

 

[willsw]

I would love to see a review (direct comparison) between the Ares and Chord 2Qute/Hugo.

I can do, at some point, a direct comparison with the 2qute. Don't have easy access to a Hugo.

Unfortunately, my amp is having some sort of trouble. I may be able to borrow one, or just bring the Ares to work.

 

[bodhidharma]

Thanks, Mr Pluto I hope it will match well with my Naim based system:

iMac i7 16GB (Roon core) - Audiquest Pearl CAT7 Ethernet cable (bridged mode) - Sotm SMS-200 streamer (Roon endpoint) powered by Sbooster BOTW P&P Eco 12.3v - IFi iDefender3.0 - IFi nano iUSB3.0 powered by Sbooster 9v - Chord C-USB cable - Denafrips Ares DAC - Tellurium Q Ultra Black RCA-RCA - Naim Supernait powered by Naim Powerline and Naim HiCap DR - Tellurium Q Ultra Black speaker cable - Dynaudio Focus 260.

The bottleneck is the Chord USB cable, but still can't decide which USB cable to go for (the highly praised Curious is too expensive for a USB cable, not sure it's worth the price at $340).

The Supernait has high input sensitivity and generally doesn't like the 3V line level output of Chord DACs. Initially wanted to go for the 2Qute, but it doesn't offer volume control like the Mojo and Hugo/Hugo 2 (where one can actually lower the output level through the volume control), so it as a no go. The Ares RCA output level is 2.2V which is more appropriate for my Supernait.

I would love to see a review (direct comparison) between the Ares and Chord 2Qute/Hugo.

The Curious Cable is worth 2-3 times its price, currently it is the best commercial usb cable, I have it in my high resolution system and it's extraordinary.

 

[AmusedToD]

I can do, at some point, a direct comparison with the 2qute. Don't have easy access to a Hugo.

Unfortunately, my amp is having some sort of trouble. I may be able to borrow one, or just bring the Ares to work.

I would love to hear the results of such comparison!

 

[AmusedToD]

The Curious Cable is worth 2-3 times its price, currently it is the best commercial usb cable, I have it in my high resolution system and it's extraordinary.

Well, perhaps, but $380 plus duties and customs is a bit too much for me for a digital cable. I would be happy to grab a used one half price...

 

[Light - Man]

Furutech ADL Formula 2 USB cable is a very good cable, I have mine for over 3 years and am happy with it and I have no desire to upgrade any further.

I also heard good things about Supra USB cables but have never tried them

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Cables/F...8&qid=1494012783&sr=1-2&keywords=furutech+usb

 

[AmusedToD]

I am more inclined towards something like this http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGUSBXL

 

[Clarinetmonster2]

Please, Please Please do that comparison of the Ares with the 2Qute, and soon! I am supposed to be buying my friend's 2Qute next week, unless.......

 

[willsw]

Please, Please Please do that comparison of the Ares with the 2Qute, and soon! I am supposed to be buying my friend's 2Qute next week, unless.......

I should have some time to do it tomorrow. I'll also try to have some other ears participate.

 

[AmusedToD]

I should have some time to do it tomorrow. I'll also try to have some other ears participate.

Can't wait for the results! I just hope I didn't make a mistake by ordering the Ares instead of the 2Qute, but the lower output voltage of the Ares definitely scored a point in my book (apart from the great reviews).

 

[willsw]

Please, Please Please do that comparison of the Ares with the 2Qute, and soon! I am supposed to be buying my friend's 2Qute next week, unless.......

Can't wait for the results! I just hope I didn't make a mistake by ordering the Ares instead of the 2Qute, but the lower output voltage of the Ares definitely scored a point in my book (apart from the great reviews).

I've done some listening on headphones but need to work on other things for the next several hours so I'll post my impressions so far. The first setup was a dedicated music server (high quality USB outputs) into the USB of the 2qute and the Ares. (Side note: other listening tests have shown the 2qute to have one of the best USB inputs out there.) These are going into input 1 and 2 of an MZ2-S, and then Ether Flows. Listening to a reference album for me, the soundtrack to The Grand Hotel Budapest, I found the 2qute to have a definite edge in layering and depth of stage. The Ares does not sound compressed, but when switching to the 2qute there was more air between instruments.

After listening to several tracks, which had both instruments and choral voices, the Ares started to distort every minute or so, as I've found my unit to do when using the USB input regardless of source. I thus switched to the digital coax output of an ibasso DX80, which is a relatively high quality digital output. Things were not perfectly synced for switching between input 1 and 2, but they were within a second apart.

Listening to Avishai Cohen's Into the Silence, a slow jazz album, the 2qute had significantly more low-end detail. I switched to Bonnie Prince Billy's Now Here's My Plan and the difference in detail in the lower registers was again quickly apparent, but before I could listen more to the vocals I was called away to get going on work-work, which I must now do.

I'll try to do more listening, and some speaker comparisons, later today.

As a reminder, this is an $1800 (though now $1300 most places) DAC vs. a $600 one. I still think the Ares is an excellent performer in its price range.

 

[AmusedToD]

Interesting read, I enjoyed your review. The 2Qute is an excellent machine, and would certainly be at the very top of my radar if it didn't have such high output level.

Please post your review of the two with a dedicated amp and speakers if possible.

Are the differences between the two subtle or significant? Yes, the Chord is more expensive, but probably one third or more of its price goes to its origin and more expensive labour (UK).