Chord Qutest impressions

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Vtory, Jun 2, 2018.

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  1. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

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    The Qutest needs serious amount of burn in I found, in addition it appreciates a better power supply and good digital source. If these are ignored it's money down the drain.. The ifi iusb 3.0 can provide both to it.

    Initially i found it a little strange but after long burn in and listening sessions it's calmed down. It's essentially a very refined and neutral dac that doesn't lose out on details or transients even if it blunts some of the sharp edges.. it's a bit like faux vinyl sound - gets somewhat there but there's still a feel of DSP. It's unique and even though at first I was met with disappointment if you look at my posts earlier, it's improved with burn in and has grown on me. I still think it's overpriced however. I think I would have been fine just sticking with my Apogee Element 24
     
  2. gsanger

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    Well, all I need is a $2 adapter to feed it power from a linear power supply, so you've convinced me to at least do that and give it another fair shake. It was a used unit, and was actively used by the last owner, so I'm not sure how much more burn in it could get, but I'll leave it playing for some time, too. Either way, I'll see if that all helps some of the issues I was hearing. Thanks!
     
  3. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

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    Just using a battery power supply (like the ones for recharging your phone) nets improvements. Also you need a good source, wether it's a good usb to spdif converter or a usb decrapifier.

    Even with these "upgrades" the Chord sound will be there - a holographic wall of detail in front of you, but with some smoothness so it's not harsh to listen to, but demanding attention. Give it a chance for burn in and compare it with your other DACs, longer listening session might show you what it does better.
     
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  4. sheldaze

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    I cannot restate what @limesoft has written above any more clearly. But at the price of a Qutest, it is probably worth a little experimentation. I first plugged in a phone charger, for a sound that was a little softer, but better/clearer, definitely easier to listen to long term. I'm using an inexpensive linear power supply, generally sold as a USB upgrade power source for a Raspberry Pi. Same "Chord" sound, but it now kicks and is listenable far longer than stock.
     
  5. gsanger

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    There it is! It finally sounds like music! Just wanted to drop a quick note, as I've spent the last week or so making a few changes.

    First off, the rectifier tube in my amp died, so I swapped in my Monarchy SM70 Pro, which in retrospect, I should have done sooner. Relative to the Decware, the SM70 hits harder (this helped overcome the "soft" nature of drums, percussion, etc. I perceived in the Qutest), and it resolves reverb, decay, and a sense of space a bit deeper than the Decware (this helped with my perception that the Qutest was truncating reverb and other spatial cues). I have some tubes en route, but the rest of my observations have been with this new amp, so, a bit of an apples to oranges comparison from when I wrote last. Anyway, in short, the Monarchy amp helped, but didn't make the Qutest suddenly listenable for me - it still seemed to have a lot of the short comings I wrote about.

    Next, starting last Thursday, I rigged it up to my server, and just fed it music 24/7 to really burn it in. This was a used Qutest, and the previous owner only sold because they upgraded to a Hugo, so I assume it had seen plenty of use before I got it, then I had it another month, playing on and off. After the first day, it still seemed about the same. Same after the second day. But, somewhere around the 60-70 hours of burn in, I did notice a change. My initial complaint about the Chord having a hard time with complex and busy passages started to melt away. The attack on notes also seemed a bit punchier, but still a step or so behind the Bifrost.

    I didn't notice much change after the 60-70 hour mark, but I kept it burning. On Sunday, I sat down, and for the first time, kind of enjoyed the Qutest. I didn't love it, and I didn't listen to more than two or three songs with it. It still had those shotcomings, but I did notice that instruments, especially acoustic instruments, started to sound a bit more tonally rich compared to the Bifrost.

    Then yesterday, that $2 adapter came in (I tried a battery pack like @limesoft suggested, but for whatever reason, the ones I had on hand wouldn't work), and everything about the Qutest changed! So I have the Allo Digione Signature as my transport, and the Shanti power supply to go with it. I pulled the power line feeding the "dirty" side of the board, popped on the adapter and fed that to the Qutest. I left the clean side of the Allo being fed by the LPS, but did put a switching power supply on the dirty side - which if I understand it correctly, is only there to power the Raspberry Pi, and doesn't fed the HAT, so, the Allo should still be a good source.

    And with that, a lot of the differences between the Bifrost and the Qutest disappeared. Reverb is no longer truncated. Rather than the Qutest sounding up front and closed in, it's suddenly spacious. The change in how the Qutest renders ambient cues is probably the biggest change I've heard from the LPS, but it's not the only one. Impacts from drums and the like are much closer to the Bifrost. I think the Bifrost may still hit just a touch harder, but I also think I might just be holding on to what I learned the Qutest sounded like originally, so I'll need to listen more before I declare a winner here. The Christopher Walken demanding more auxiliary percussion is gone, and the tipped up harshness in the upper frequencies is, too. The sound is much more balanced. I also think the bass may have tightened up a bit, but will have to listen more before committing to that, too - just a feeling at this point. And any last hints of the Qutest turning busy mixes to mush is also gone - left to right, front to back, there's fantastic separation. So much so, that on vocal tracks with a couple of voices singing in harmony, it's able to render each voice with more separation, making it easier to pick out individual voices and single lines of harmony. And in all of this, the Qutest has maintained its characteristic smoothness and richer tonality.

    Still have more listening to go, but now with the linear power supply feeding it, over 100 hours of continuous burn in (on top of whatever playing life it had before me), and using a downstream amp that is a better match, I have to echo what @limesoft and @sheldaze have said about the Qutest - if you don't love it out of the box, there's some tricks to get it to really sing.
     
  6. Music_as_medicine

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    Hello all,

    Just bought a Chord Qutest to go with my JDS Atom Amp+ and Denon AH-D9200 headphones.

    Excited to listen to them next week - any suggestions on a short(ish) RCA cable to use? Looking for solid build + connectors.
     
  7. SONDEKNZ

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    We've had the CHORD QUTEST for over a year.

    Two ESSENTIALS for best sound are: -
    • Toss the stock CHORD Wall Wart Power Supply. We have ended up with a $50 Cellphone Power Bank that even betters our ifi iPower plug on the QUTEST.
    • Weeks of burn-in.
    Thereafter, this in one superb DAC.

    Given the chance, I will try a quality Linear Power Supply one day, but currently we don't feel the itch.
     
  8. EagleWings

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    You should look into the Allo Shanti.
     
  9. Music_as_medicine

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    Thanks mate - will look into it.

    Only worry is voiding the warranty.
     
  10. Josh Schor

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    Asking if anyone has a Qutest that I could borrow to listen with my system, currently have the Gungnir A2 MB with unison and would love to compare them.
    best,
    josh
     
  11. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    I have had the pleasure of having a Qutest in house for the last week or so thanks to SoupRknowva. I have been comparing it to a Gungnir A2 MB with Unison. The end results in my system is the Gungnir is better to my ears.
    Chord- Less detail top to bottom, pleasing and enjoyable, sweet top end and bass was well defined. Some folks have mentioned an artificial sound, I did not find this as to me all home systems are artificial. The Chord had good tonality. There was not a lot of air around each instrument. I used both Spidif with the Eitir and the USB. I preferred the Usb as it had a little more bite to each note.
    Gungnir- yes there is a slight greyness and great micro detail. I could hear in to the space around each instrument. Bass was better defined and quicker.
    I found the Gungnir to be more engaging and to draw me in to the music more. Glad I was able to have it in house, its a good dac and worth listening to.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2022

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