I tested the Qutest for a few weeks - good sound and soundstage and found it presented a certain dynamic varnish over the sound - not unpleasant by any means but wasn't as tonally transparent as I'd hoped. I ended up with an Exogal Comet - also FPGA, and designed by ex Wadia guys - for its tonal neutrality and warm accuracy - and its soundstage was fantastically holographic which was the decider - even more so than the Qutest which was excellent. Both CD from a Primare CD32 and Qobuz where just so vivid and 3D. Admittedly the Comet (sadly no longer made) and its LPS when new where 2x the cost of the Qutest but I managed to find one at half price. The Comets user interface is very poor but I can forgive that. I guess if I'd not had the Comet to try then the Qutest would be in the rack now.
I got mine used for $1300 with an upgraded power supply. Well spent if you have a good chain new it’s less than half of what my vinyl chain costs. If you are trying to build an audiophile system and only have 5k this is a piece I would buy used.
Yeah it’s definitely musical is how I would describe it and adds dynamics but only with the filters I think the clear is neutral. Having said that the rest of my chain is pretty neutral. I’m planning to add a rogue rp5 soon here. My vinyl chain is definitely pure.
I built my system for for half of what you paid for that chord and yes it's as you say.... audiophile
I am at this moment listening to Night Train with Oscar Peterson's trio and piano, bass and drums Seems in the right place
This is probably one of the best and in depth subjective reviews I've watched for current model DAC's. This is not the only instance that I've read/heard about Chord DAC's misplacing instruments/voices, etc., but just throwing this out there by request. I doubt this occurs regularly. That said, he has a lot of positive things to say about the Qutest. Somewhere around 32:20 he starts going into the cons of the Qutest.
I watched the video (the Qutest part), I would posit that the DAC that he compared the Qutest to (Topping D90?) is the one misplacing instruments/voices by putting the fiddle or string instrument too forward creating the 2D soundstage as he said. At the end of the day it boils down to preference, some like in your face 2d vivid and detailed sound, others prefer a more balanced 3D soundstage, the rest prefer a warmer yet still 3d analog sound (r2r ladder). Appreciate you pulling up the video, I don't agree with some of his assessments of the Qutest i.e. softened, rounded off, lacking detail. Those are hardly the adjectives that come to mind when I think of how the Qutest sounds, but that's just my opinion.
I've owned all of those 3 DACs. The D90 and RME did not last long. I sold the Qutest because I wanted something more resolving. Had to pay double for that. RME strength ... the PEQ Topping D90 strength ... the price Qutest is not soft sounding at all. The presence he's referring to is actually a more 'forward' sound. Found the D90 to be forward and does not have that much refinement. Its top end is a smidge hard. The RME is more forward than the Qutest but not as much as the D90. That's why the banjo sounds 'better'. Banjo is twangy, mids and upper mids. Thus the D90 seems to have more detail due to it having a more pronounced upper mid and highs. Yet it lacks the refinement t of the Qutest in that department.
I had the Qutest and loved it. The interface is weird though, and it’s supposed to be always on. I hated that, because it has this glowing laserbeam light shining against the ceiling. Furthermore it has almost no features. It’s install and forget. I now have a RME, which has its own quirks regarding the interface but that’s a keeper. Love the sound of it, the looks of it and the features.
One of the great features of the Qutest is the option to choose between 1,2, and 3 V output. One of my amps is a low powered 300B SET and having a dac with a 3V output saves the day.
I think that why he's describing the Chord sound like that is because he's evaluating the DAC using headphones. And the headphones he tends to use and recommend are headphones that have an exaggerated soundstage width at the expense of being able to do a cohesive phantom center image with depth. He's using headphones that are the equivalent of setting up speakers that are too wide apart for the listening position while sitting in nearfield. So of course he finds that the Chord DAC has poor center depth and that vocals in the center are weak compared to the depth and imaging he's hearing at the sides. I'm also questioning why he's describing the Chord transients and sound to be rounded off. That's not how I've heard any Chord DAC gear. I think what may be going on is that he's basing that on considering the $700-ish Topping DAC to be the reference for transients and sharpness. And anything less sharp than DACs like the Topping are rolled off. When the opposite is true. The lower cost DACs like the Topping tend to make things sound overly sharpened and tend to sound like they overshoot the transients. I consider all that to be a distortion. While higher-end DACs tend to sound smoother and more fluid. That smoother and more fluid sound isn't a rounded off transients or dulled presentation. It is in fact the proper sound without the overly hyped transients and overly sharpened distortions that the lower end DACs tend to do. So maybe he just prefers the sound of distortion that accentuates sharpness and considers that distorted sound as extra detail when it actually is not. Preferring the sound of what I consider faux detail compared to true detail.
If you have a powerful power or integrated amp you could set the Qutest at 1v so that the volume level won't be blasting at 8 o'clock on the volume knob. Conversely, if you have low powered or SET amp, 3v gives you the option to not crank the volume up to 3 or 4 o'clock.
It is system dependent. It depends on the input sensitivity of the amp and the preamp. With my Mcintosh c2600 preamp going to an MA6600 amp, 3V is a little too much, so, I am using the 2V. With my Cary 300SEI, the 3V output is perfect while the 2V sounds a little anemic, so I am using the 3V with it. As I said, it is nice to have these options based on how is your system configured.
I'm not one that is really sold on brand names it's like power chords, interconnects etc... I cannot hear a difference from or the other it's the same here, the end game of any system is the speakers and the "room" that it is in...no matter how much the $$$ spent components I know that Chord makes excellent products just not for my budget especially when I can spend less and get the same SQ
If you haven't listened to a Chord DAC (or similar level of DAC) in a suitable and resolving system then you can't know if you can spend less and get the same sound quality. In a good system you discover that the gear does make a difference even the room or other factors aren't optimal. I've listened to gear that is way beyond my ability to afford. I've listened to a Chord Dave with M-Scaler along with $15K worth of headphone and amp. And right next to that system was a Hugo 2 and Mojo. So I could compare the Hugo 2 and Mojo to what I was hearing with the Dave. And it becomes obvious what the Chord gear is doing as you move up. And it becomes obvious what Chord is aiming for and why their digital filters are special. Yes Chord gear is expensive and not the best price performance. But it is also not snake oil and is worth the price if you appreciate and are after the sound qualities that Chord does. You don't get the Chord sound with other gear. And you don't get the Chord sound for less than what Chord charges.
Some amps and pre-amps will get overloaded and end up sounding harder or harsher when you use DACs/sources with higher output voltages. The standard for RCA inputs is 1.4V to 2V. And that's what most gear is designed for. Some can handle higher input voltage like 3V or 4V which allows you to use DACs that have higher output voltage. You'll need to know the capabilities of your amp and pre-amp to handle higher input voltage. And you'll need to experiment and listen to find out what output voltage setting from the Chord DAC sounds best in your system with your gear. Don't assume that the higher output voltage is always better. Using a DAC with a higher output voltage can be beneficial if you're using a lower powered tube amp and need the source to be louder to get enough volume out from the amp. Using a lower output voltage from the amp can be beneficial if your pre-amp or amp already has a high gain and tends to get too loud too quickly as you turn the volume knob up. Having a DAC that allows you to choose the output voltage is extra flexibility.
The RME ADI2 has this feature too, you can even step up the voltage in small increments. This way you can volume match with other dacs or cd players and discover for yourself there’s actually not much difference between dacs at all
