Thanks for sharing!

The older DAC 64 mkii is a good unit too. I have Bel Canto 2.7 which is better than the Qutest to my ears. I had a Qutest for around 2 years. The timing seems better. But the Bel Canto is more expensive. There are up and down sides. But agreed the Qutest is reasonable value for money.

I have the Chord Qutest too, but simply wait for the 2 version, without a hurry.

@@jos5067 Are version 2 about to be released?

No qutest v2 in production, at least not this year

@@mrt6349 Yeah I'd like to know this too.

Ah good to hear about the USb INPUT, did you try this yourself too? I do have a great BNC cable of Wireworld (which exactly do you have?) as in input, wondered wether a USB top cable would perform better. So you don't think so. Curious after your experiences. Like to hear from you. Greetings from the Netherlands. 🙂 PS I did compare the 3 settings of 1,2,3 Volts output and after extensive tests I did find the 2 green Volt the best most balanced sound. The blue 3 Volt indeed more aggressive but less fine, a bit distorted.

Yes I second that, the dc ipurifier not only improves things after an smpsu, even after a lin psu (here s-booster plus ultra)

Which voltage do you use yourself?

Depends on amp & speakers. My SET amp likes 1v, push/pull 2v, and D-class 3v. With the SET & push/pull I use Zu speakers w/sensitivity on the high side. My Microzotl pre has plenty (maybe too much) gain too. Sure, more voltage is initially big bold bassy & dramatic, but I find I lose soundstage width & depth & the Qutest is great because u can change it easily to taste. i wish more dacs offered variable input voltage.

I'm not sure mine is set at 3 volts. They say to press and hold both buttons doing the initial setup. I see it's cycling through the 3 lights. But not sure if I'm set correctly. I believe blue is supposed to be three volts.

Technically it is actually the OUTPUT voltage! But that then obviously becomes the input voltage to the amplifier, so a forgivable mistake 😉 Usually not a problem for a modern integrated amp which could easily accept a 3V input, but take care if you are using an older pre-power amp combination that was designed primarily for use with a turntable, and that has an inbuilt phono pre-amp. On those the output from the internal phono board is usually around 0.15V, and the gain from pre-amp input to output can be x10-15 in order to hit the 1.5V ideal input into the power amp (with the volume control on full). Most power amps have a bit of headroom, so can usually accept up to 2V or so without clipping. However, this can really become an issue when you plug in modern CD players and streamers with 2-3V outputs into the pre-amp. My 1992 vintage Naim NAC72 pre-amp gain is x13, so using 3V at the input would end up 39V at the output!!! Unmodified that would mean I could only use about 1/10th of the rotation of the volume control between silence and deafening / clipping, even with the Qutest output at 1V! Luckily I found some third party plug-in circuit boards that modified the gain, giving you a choice of x1.3, x4 or x13. I found the best combination was to use 1V out from the Qutest and a x4 gain in the pre-amp. That means I can comfortably use about 50% of the rotation (gain) of the volume control (1V x 2 = 2V) with Qutest without the power amp clipping, and full rotation when using my turntable (0.15V x 4 = 0.6V). As I have sensitive speakers I rarely go beyond the '10 o'clock' position on the volume control with the Qutest, or 3 o'clock with the turntable.

Hello, thank you for your comment. Do you mind sharing which streamer you got?

@@alexk1239 I went from a Node2i to an Aries G1.1

I've thought of doing one, but figuring out how deep to get into it is a problem. It gets very complex, very fast.

@Currawong thanks so true! Thanks to one of your videos I splurged on a Utopia. Have a good one.

The iFi has filtering. Basically, SMPS PSUs have high-frequency noise issues, but you can filter them out.

@@Currawonghi which ifi psu did you use? There is the black 50€, the 100euro white X-version, and the silver 300euro version… I found the black one to bleed into the power grid, the white one too (perhaps different), but its dc output is way better. Of course, those who run devices all with SMpsus, including amps, they might not notice SMpsu hash at all. I should add, my Qutest is powered by an S-booster with ultra module and an ifi dc purifier on top. The streamer is powered the same way, and jointly it’s actually quite good I found, despite overkill alarm. Seemingly sibilance may result from certain power supply combinations between streamer and Qutest.

I have a couple of different options: iUSB 3.0 with either an iFi iPower or linear PSU, or the Neo Stream, which is basically the same thing.

Yes.

I used it with optical from the Node to the Qutest

For those who use Qutest with Node - is it (a big) upgrade compared to internal dac?

I’ve heard some say no change in sound quality where others say major difference. I have a 3rd generation Node and looking to improve it with stand alone DAC.

I did compare it with a PSU upgrade when I compared it to the Hugo 2 at the 17:18 minute mark. I didn't compare it directly to the R26 though. A few people have asked about that, so I might do it vs. the Hugo 2, which will be essentially equivalent.

i have both qutest and (much bigger) gustard r26 they are both equally good, just different taste and use case for me

@@HercahyoAdiSaputro Thanks for sharing. How would you describe the differences and strengths between the two?

Could be system-dependent. Shifting and/or eliminating electrical noise in one way or another can be very noticeable.

This is an answer in the category of non answering, saying nothing. Of course in a system that is resolving enough to at all implement a good dac like the Qutest. There are so many reviewers who are just saying... something without the right context. Sorry, disapointing.@@Currawong

Actually, my answer was based on having a supporter who has been experimenting quite a bit with a Qutest, and some of his results are different to mine. The only thing we have left to conclude is some difference in the amount and type of noise in our respective systems being different. Yes, it's a fancy way of saying "I don't know." 😀 I put all my wall-warts on a power filter board so that they don't inject noise into the rest of my system. The "big" differences may well be not the Qutest, but the effect of noise generated by different power supplies on the amplification -- it picking up noise through the ground plane of the power. That was something we worked out with Rob Watts!

It's again no no no! 🙂 It differs a LOT. 🙂 But you have to have of course a revealing system. But also that's what a qutest is made for. :-) But (again) I also do like your: ' Yes, it's a fancy way of saying "I don't know." 😀' 🙂 Mostly that's understandable, it's all very expensive and you can't test all. And a more professional answer also to say you couldn't test this or that.@@Currawong​

​@@onnonugteren2935 Hi, I'm said supporter with a Qutest. I agree with you that all psu's tend to make a difference with Qutest. At least when using BNC or USB, haven't tested that with optical recently. Even the DC cables make a difference. The only tweak I've found which doesn't work with Qutest is optical cables, as long as they are clean and not a crazy length, they all sound the same. Not everyone cares about the smaller differences a power supply can make, id bet most reviewers could hear a difference though there may be a value issue. Is the time and effort spent comparing and learning the difference worth my time and money investment? For most people that would be no. We are in the minority. Reviewers can only share their own experience and what the manufactures say. When you don't feel the value in something, you becomes biased to brush over things or just outright not believe them to be true, even when there is people like us saying they make a difference. So in summary, yes get a better psu if you can afford it. Compare it with stock and let us know what you think or just put it in and forget about it to quench your audio nervosa. I recommend the LHY Batt 5v 1.2 with a short USB cable to the Qutest. I use a 15cm Fasgear usbc cable with adapters as I enjoy its even and dense sound. I've compared about 5 power supplies and about 6 different batteries and a range of cables. The LHY batt setup beats them all if you're going for the best quality and not a flavor of sound.

Ok so the Chord DACs are better than the Hegel, that's all you had to say.

That's the TT2.

@@Currawong I should have specified I mean between the tt2 and the qutest

Then Qutest + Anni. I don't think they'll do an integrated version of that combo.

Rob Watts recommends optical, as it wont carry electrical noise. The USB input is excellent though.

One is a HD8XX. I was about to shoot a review when it went out of stock.

If there were any, it would be due to parts availability. I do know that newer DAVEs are slightly different, but it doesn’t affect how they behave sonically.

Buy a Chord MOJO😂

Buy a first generation Chord MOJO used.😊

No. Even if you are not colour blind you might have forgotten the meaning of several colours. But in reality you just need to switch through until you get your channel and your sound. Sound? Yes: it is notably different, yet somewhat subtle. So the white mode can be found relatively easily (incisive and thats what it is: least blurred, just instantaneous), then there is the same algo with slightly rolled off response, followed by a warmer algorithm in flat characteristics followed by same algo with rolled off response, followed by white /incisive-flat mode again. I suppose a display may cause hash, same does a iR remote.. I find it not a big issue, though a remote would be nice.

@@gioponti6359Mojo's volume indicator is even worse ;)

The connectors cost near nothing. You can find them as low as US$800 second-hand though, which is an insane price for 40 years of engineering research.

@@Currawong There is maximum 30 USD worth of components on that mainboard, excluding the FPGA chip, and it costs a little bit less then a RTX 4080 GPU card from Nvidia, that can output HD Video with audio on 4 screens at parallel, has 16 GB of RAM memory, supports AI processing and 3D graphics calculations, and needs 400 Watts of power to run 🙂

Thanks for the comment I think at least two of your thoughts are gross mis-judgements. Allow me to address each point. 1. It looks like a child's toy. It has 30+ years of research built into it. I guess they could have put it in a huge, mostly empty box, with a fancy front plate (or a large box full of unnecessary, power sucking linear power supplies) and sold it at twice the price to make it more attractive, but they don't do that. 2. If you feel you "need" to spend thousands of dollars to bring it up to its full potential, then the same is true of most *every* DAC out there. You could also use the SRC-DX hardware plus HQPlayer for a lot less to get close, if not the same results. 3. Definitely, if you prefer all your music to have a particular colouration, like the deliberate harmonic warmth of most R2R DACs, then it wont be for you.

@@Currawong Hello and thank you for the response. Gross mis-judgements? Come on, brother. I think you are taking my comment personally. Why is that? Let's go through it: 1. It is of no consequence to me how long it took to develop this device. I dislike the aesthetic of this thing. To me, it looks stupid. I don't care if it's solid billet etc. - The build might be nice, but to me it looks stupid, like something Fisher-Price would offer. A child's toy. Aesthetics are always subjective, and while some might love it, I dislike it. I am allowed to dislike something if I like. I don't berate you because you like the way it looks - that would be wrong. And on the subject of power supplies, if I am going to spend 2 grand on a DAC, it better come with something better than the crap they provide. 2. The argument I hear most often when someone says they don't like the sound of this thing is "Well the rest of your chain needs to be upgraded. You need better speakers, a better amp etc. otherwise you aren't getting the most out of it." Or, "get the mscaler". Yeah right, I am going to spend 5 grand more to improve a DAC I already spent 2 grand on? That math doesn't work for me. Or, I have to buy an uber-expensive amp, speakers, cables and so on to get the most out of it? Others might think that is reasonable, and that is fine. I don't. That said, the software option you mention shows great promise and is most likely a great alternative approach. 3. You are exactly right, here. This DAC isn't for me. And that's OK. My next DAC will most likely be of the R2R topology. Would I like to try this and see if maybe I was wrong? I would love to, but what are the chances of that happening? And anyway, I know what I like, and this isn't it. This is based off of what I have seen and read as well as your input in point 3. Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I very much respect your work and look forward to seeing more of it. As I have discovered your channel fairly recently, I have a lot of catching up to do! Cheers.

Enjoy the R2R journey. It's far worse. People will say that, after you buy the DAC, you'll need a good USB to I2S converter, then an external clock (and only specific types with specific sockets and cables), then a network streamer, then optical isolation for the streamer, then better power supplies for each component. Then HQPlayer, which you have to configure specifically to get the best results, and so on. 😄

@@Currawong I'm laughing right now because you are right on point! I have heard all of those things. At the end of the day, you just have to make the best decision you can based off of the knowledge you have acquired, what sounds good to you and what you can actually spend on any one solution. Budget matters, brother! 😁And who knows, as I learn more, I may circle back to this FPGA topology in the future and see it (and hear it) in a different light.

That’s your opinion

@@nk-gp1ml Exactly. I think it looks great.

Beauty is in the ear of the receiver, looks don’t count !

Brightness is easy to mistake for detail.

@@Currawongvery well stated!