Hi, do you use an upgraded power supply for the chord? I'm using the mojo 2 combined with a powerbank, it is sounding better, sounstaging and placement. Thank you.

Thanks Sean I’ll do it more I think

I thought some might like that. I might do that in further videos, as it does give a bit more objectivity and rankability of the traits people want. Thanks very much for watching.

suddenly every comparison that _doesn't_ include a bulleted list like that seems deficient now

Thank you very much for all your support. I’ve yet to review the S17 but as I said in my FiiO R9 review I like it more than the amp in the R9, admittedly the R9 has all the features / interface etc, so compromises there. please do chat to me on patreon about the S17.

I did that because I put up a table showing the different elements of their sound character, in the sense of their ‘musical’ traits.

Thanks Erwin

Thanks Louis. Yes that’s right , as I think I subtly gave away by a shot of the iPad on the Hegel and shot of my speakers too 😀

Thanks very much, I think it’s just the price and relative sound really.

Ok but I’m talking relatively and not absolutely. What are you talking relatively too?

Did you find HQplayer to work well with the qutest? I was thinking of trying it with Roon. (I already have Roon)

@@13thnotehifireviews7 everything in audio is relative. Even with Hqplayer some filters have more depth than others. I have a hugo2 and a TT 1, but long ago before HQP, I used schiit dacs which had better depth.

@@YouSoundButtHurt I use it with hugo2, which is similar to Qutest. To use it properly you need SRC-DX with LP filter and DC blocks. That is about $700 USD. USB ( no matter what source) is very noisy with 384 and higher up. Roon works so well with Hqplayer.

They have different use cases and purposes so that would really be a discussion for patreon

No not much. It’s not value for money. Both people I know with hi end systems say the same and it’s been my experience with the systems I tried it in when I reviewed it per old video on my channel. It makes much better sense to swerve it and use the money on a better DAC. Remember it’s only an upscaler - it can’t improve the sound much beyond the quality of the dac and conversion already.

As I said - covered in the other video. Also see my other comment on another commenter from this video....

I agree with you they do look that way. But I like the quirky looks and it’s distinct. So many hifi boxes look boring.

@@13thnotehifireviews7 yes, I agree, I do think that most manufacturers tend to do a boring black (or occasionally silver) box. So in general I welcome diversity, it's just that when done wrong it can look a bit silly and not do the product justice.

It doesn’t look serious. But its performance is like Nagra looks. I wish they would make them look deadly serious too. The other thing is the qutest has a feature set hidden behind the different coloured leds and while attractive is such a pain to have to remember. My Pontus just has over sampling button on front and the slow sharp filter which is easy enough to configure. The only thing tough about it is using i2s but I haven’t even configured that yet

Thank you , I haven’t tried that one no.

Thanks Stu.

Covered in the sc1 video then add it to this one!……I did visit an audiophile with one and he had atc scm40 with exposure monoblock electronics, twin rel subs, and a chord Dave plus auralic g1.1 and he said he could pick out the change with the sc1 using his ether Regen. I could pick out the change but it was small. I heard more differences with the Aune S17 headphone amp, partnered with S9C and SC1 and my HIFIMAN Arya Stealth planar headphones ie more differnece in a cheaper headphone system to my pricier Hegel/PMC system with the Eversolo DMP-A6 on streamer transport duties over USB. Hope this gives people an idea/reference. Cheers.

Not really - i'm more sensitive to how on/off the bass is, it's just way more precise than the chord. But it is deeper and more realistic and I don't tend to listen that loud most of the time anyway. Also the way the image is more focused onto the music and midrange with this DAC. The diffuse nature of the Qutest - whilst I find it presents as nice and spacey, that becomes too much of the music being distant and not there when you compare it against this DAC, especially where you need to focus music around a point source like midrange. Dare I say it - more musical and present. The fact too you save half the money and if you get the SC1 clock, which adds more performance (and equals the Chord price), it's a bit of a no brainer. Consider this - two boxes with all that aluminium and all the components for the same money to a small DAC with aluminium. You can't help but think about the way different prices and branding of these brands! (I bought the Qutest)

@@13thnotehifireviews7 I'm with you, I do think the chord is overpriced for its options but I also think the implementation of FPGA is a step up from off the shelf delta sigma chips plus you get full UK warranty, service which may be important if the dac fails. Never a good experience dealing with Chinese companies for warranty repairs. Keep up the good work

@@carlitosgomez71 Thanks very much...when you listen to products like the Hegel Mohican CD player that I reviewed (replaced by the Viking now) and other DAC topologies, you start to realise the implementation of the DAC is the most important thing - not it's own inherent technology. So the Holo May DAC KTE is up with the Hugo TT2 for instance, and quite different DAC technologies. Or how about the DCS Bartok vs Chord DAVE - again different. Things like the analogue output, power supply, even with bog standard ESS and AKM chipsets. The implementation isn't in the FPGA with the Chord anyway- it's just part of it. If you buy from Adam at Eden Audio you don't have to deal with Chinese companies as he will deal with support and you have the same statutory rights as buying from British companies - Consumer Rights Act (2015) etc. 🙂

@@13thnotehifireviews7 Very help and timely advice... Thank you.

Adam told me he put it in, but you can contact him on his website. I put his phone number in the description too.

Not sure the only ones, but the ones I tried - spring and May are bloody good.

I went from a Qutest to a Pontus II and imo it's a much more natural tone. I found myself listening to a lot more electronic and pop/rock when I had the Qutest, and now with the Pontus II I am back to mainly classical and jazz which I prefer. Hope that helps

@@padde1 Thank you, it helps. I listen to a lot of electronic but also acoustic so I'm a bit in the middle. I can always get a Pontus II and keep the Qutest. :)

I went from a Denafrips Ares II to a Qutest a couple of years ago. Then moved on to a Pontus II, but changed within a month back to the Qutest. It is more detailed, deeper soundstage, more refined. More ‘audiophile’ as u wish (vs the Pontus more laid back indeed). It’s what suits your system and music best.. Then I upgraded the Qutest with linear PS Farad Super 3 and later on with fuse swap to Purple fuse: waauw! If you like to stay with the Qutest, I realy do suggest these upgrades. Enjoy!

@@maxvdl1262 Thanks for the comments, definitely gave me something to think about. I'm using an iFi iPower 2 wall wart but I could try to update this to something like your PS Farad Super 3 and see how it reacts. Maybe a sbooster power supply.