Chord Qutest

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by zboski, Sep 22, 2022.

  1. zboski

    zboski Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I’m in love with this dac. Since I got nice speakers I can’t find a weakness in this piece I have the upgraded linear PS. I went from exclusively vinyl to 25% vinyl lately. Anyone else feel the love for this little gem? Favorite filter or neutral? Also has anyone found a streamer that pairs well?
     
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  2. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    The all DACs sound equal folks will scoff at this notion, but I absolutely love the sound of my FPGA based PS Audio DAC too. Great FPGA based designs can indeed sound truly wonderful if they are implemented well. :righton:
     
    zboski likes this.
  3. zboski

    zboski Forum Resident Thread Starter

    What streamer do you use? And no way all dacs are equal. The chord was the first I’ve heard that was beyond acceptable.
     
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  4. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    I use a Marantz ND8006 with my Direct Stream DAC. It sounds great! But the NA6006 contains the same streamer, just with fewer inputs and no disk drive for about half the price.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2022
    zboski likes this.
  5. chipcalzada

    chipcalzada Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Philippines
    Had mine since 2018, great little DAC that has passed the test of time. Favorite filter is neutral and I use Audirvana through an old laptop as a streamer. Recently added a Denafrips Iris DDC and it was a nice SQ bump.
    [​IMG]
     
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  6. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Yes, whole lotta love.
    I had mine for year, not interested in upgrading it any time soon.
    My favorite filters are green and orange, depending on the speakers that I am using.
     
    zboski likes this.
  7. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    It’s a great DAC for the price point. Can’t go wrong owning it. I did not hear much difference between filters. As for streamer, the Lumin U1 Mini pairs well with the Qutest. I’m sure any decent streamer will.
     
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  8. zboski

    zboski Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Love the green on most songs red once in awhile
     
    5-String likes this.
  9. Rich-n-Roll

    Rich-n-Roll Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington State
    Good stuff Chord but way out of my price range
     
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  10. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Chord gear does have an audiophile tax added on. It's good stuff if you aren't so price/value conscious and can afford the audiophile tax.
     
    Rich-n-Roll likes this.
  11. Raiderdave

    Raiderdave Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Chino, CA
  12. Olargues

    Olargues Forum Resident

    Location:
    South of France
    Heard many enthusiastic reviews about the Quest.
    If I have a NAS server and this DAC, do I need a steamer in between?
     
  13. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    Definitely … the Qutest is a mere DAC, does not have a renderer or any streaming capability. The streamer that is used must be able to ‘see’ your NAS server. Most do that nowadays.
     
  14. Olargues

    Olargues Forum Resident

    Location:
    South of France
    Understood. Many thanks!
     
  15. mikethep

    mikethep Active Member

    Location:
    New Hartford, NY
    I also added a Denafrips Iris recently. Using optical output to Qutest. Great improvement. Switched from green to white filter after adding the Iris, with Lifatek cable.
     
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  16. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    If you are streaming from your NAS over ethernet or wifi, then yes. If you are streaming from your PC to your DAC via a USB connection, then no.
     
  17. Olargues

    Olargues Forum Resident

    Location:
    South of France
    OK, got it, thank you. Will give it a thought...
     
  18. NielsSS

    NielsSS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denmark
    I love my Qutest. I use it to listen to CD from my Audio Note CDT 1.1 transport. Sounds great. Almost as good as my vinyl set up. I prefer the neutral filter. I only stream Spotify from my computer for background listening and to check unknown music.
     
    chipcalzada likes this.
  19. beowulf

    beowulf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chula Vista, CA
    I’ve thought about a Chord DAC many times, but I’ve also read and watched reviews where there are instances of vocals and instruments being displaced in the sound field with Chord DACs.

    I can’t recall if it was a specific model or across their entire line, but that would drive me crazy … Anyone experience this?
     
  20. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    I've never heard of such behavior before. Can you link to some review where they speak about this?
     
  21. Rich-n-Roll

    Rich-n-Roll Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington State
    Like I said way above my grade :)
     
  22. beowulf

    beowulf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chula Vista, CA
    One I can recall right off bat was a YouTube reviewer that said something to this effect. I’ll see if I can dig it up.
     
  23. woody

    woody Forum Resident

    Location:
    charleston, sc
    Not that I have noticed. Dr John seems like he's sitting right in front of me right now. Only brought to tears twice in 4 songs.
     
  24. chipcalzada

    chipcalzada Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Philippines
    Never experienced this. That's probably the opposite of what the Qutest does, the ace up its sleeve is how holographic and organized the soundstage is.
     
  25. chipcalzada

    chipcalzada Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Philippines
    I just googled your Lifatek optical cable, it looks like the bee's knees. Have you compared SQ of optical vs spdif cable into the Qutest? I'm currently using a spdif cable (Wireworld and Black Cat) from Iris to Qutest.
     

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