[adrian.clopotari]

Thanks for the immediate response.

The TV remote or my smartphone.

90% of the times I listen music from youtube or playing movies.

The signal comes via an optical cable and enters my 20$ Fiio DAC. This DAC doesnt have a volume control, but a never needed one on the DAC.

Plus ... the Adams A7x have a volume control on the front https://www.adam-audio.com/en/ax-series/a7x/ but a rarely use it. 100% i use to control the volume by remote.

So ... the whole purpose of the preamp is to control the volume? Cause i imagined that i will get damage to my DAC or Monitors, burn them, loose waranty, something bad like this, if i dont match the output level of the DAC with the input level of the Active monitors.

 

[Rob Watts]

Rob, how are the 3 output voltage values of the Qutest achieved? Are these done digitally or in the analog stage?

Also, how many dBs under 0dBFS is the max output at the 3V setting?

It is done digitally, using Hugo 2's volume control. This ensures complete transparency, as the truncation is aggressively noise shaped, ensuring -400 dB accuracy.

The actual 0dBFS does not actually represent max modulation from the noise shaper as this will increase distortion levels. It's a bit complicated to explain!

 

[Music Alchemist]

So ... the whole purpose of the preamp is to control the volume? Cause i imagined that i will get damage to my DAC or Monitors, burn them, loose waranty, something bad like this, if i dont match the output level of the DAC with the input level of the Active monitors.

Pretty much. You can certainly skip the preamp and control the volume your way. Just be sure to start at a low volume and gradually increase it.

The Qutest has "a user-selectable output voltage available in 1, 2 and 3V RMS outputs for flexible connectivity with a wide range of partnering devices."

I used the 2Qute (which outputs 3V) with active monitors and a passive preamp just fine.

 

[adrian.clopotari]

So you used the preamp just to control the volume, otherwise it worked fine for you just the 2Qute with the Active Monitors? Thanks!

Whats the danger with not having a preamp and starting at a high volume? Can something get damaged?

Your recommendation is to start the Qutest at 1V Output and to go from there? Increasing the voltage will mean higher volume to the speakers?

So many new things for me today!

 

[Music Alchemist]

So you used the preamp just to control the volume

Yes.

otherwise it worked fine for you just the 2Qute with the Active Monitors?

I never used it without the preamp.

Whats the danger with not having a preamp and starting at a high volume? Can something get damaged?

Yes: your ears. (And potentially the speakers too, but not likely.)

As a rule of thumb, no matter what equipment you are using, always start out at zero volume and gradually increase to your desired level, going no higher than that.

Note that with your setup there is the possibility of accidentally being too loud. A preamp has a volume knob that you can leave at a certain level, so at least it's set there, whereas all sorts of things can happen with digital devices that you use for volume control.

Your recommendation is to start the Qutest at 1V Output and to go from there?

That could work. But you should be fine with 3V. If it gets too loud too quickly, lower the voltage.

Increasing the voltage will mean higher volume to the speakers?

Yep.

 

[adrian.clopotari]

Thanks a lot! A will place my pre-order for the Qutest then!

Keep up the good work you are doing right here!

 

[musicday]

Thanks a lot! A will place my pre-order for the Qutest then!

Keep up the good work you are doing right here!

Salut și bine ai venit.
The Qutest will work great for your needs, or if you can reach further maybe get the stellar Hugo2.

 

[adrian.clopotari]

Bine te-am găsit!

I dont need the portability of the Hugo 2 or the headphone capability.

A never listen to headphones in the house.

I wanted to buy 2qute 3 months ago, but I informed myself on this forum that CES 2018 could bring a succesor so I waited. I only need a desktop DAC. Plus, I supose that Qutest is somehow a better desktop DAC than Hugo2, like the 2Qute was better than Hugo1.

I sure hope that Qutest will bring a great improvement to my 20$ DAC owned in the present.

 

[bmfmarius]

I use a hydra-z USB bridge > coax spdif to Mojo> rega elex-r amp
I'm curious what improvement I could get with the new qutest DAC connected via BNC coax?!! ( Hydra has this). I'm curious what improvement could the galvanically isolated USB can add.., as Mojo's performance is a little more bright, with more sibilance via direct USB.

One more thing @Rob Watts , why don't you add a HDMI input for i2s direct connection?!
I've read that demultiplexing all the clock's from the spdif would degrade de original signal!

Thx

 

[michaelvv]

Look forward to read the first review of the Chord Qutest.

 

[Rob Watts]

I use a hydra-z USB bridge > coax spdif to Mojo> rega elex-r amp
I'm curious what improvement I could get with the new qutest DAC connected via BNC coax?!! ( Hydra has this). I'm curious what improvement could the galvanically isolated USB can add.., as Mojo's performance is a little more bright, with more sibilance via direct USB.

One more thing @Rob Watts , why don't you add a HDMI input for i2s direct connection?!
I've read that demultiplexing all the clock's from the spdif would degrade de original signal!

Thx

Yes traditional SPDIF receivers are not good at recovering the SPDIF and creating a clock, as they rely on an analogue PLL - and the data itself modulates the clock, so you get signal correlated jitter which is extremely audible. But my SPDIF receiver is all digital, and relies upon the low jitter local clock, and does not create signal correlated jitter. The SPDIF receiver creates I2S data, with zero signal correlated jitter; plus a word clock, exactly as if it was transmitted via a real I2S connection.

But, the word clock - whether from a direct I2S or SPDIF, still will have source jitter. And this must be eliminated - and that is the job of my DPLL, which completely eliminates any source jitter. So there is absolutely no benefit in using I2S, so no need to go to the complexity of HDMI - the video noise would cause extra problems to worry about too.

 

[SoundeScapes]

Look forward to read the first review of the Chord Qutest.

Me too. Yesterday I found a video on Youtube comparing H2 and TT, from "Pursuit Perfect System".
A blind test actually. His very personal conclusion in the follow up video was that H2 is the brain
and TT the body, referring to the more detail and resolution of the H2 and the better presentation of TT.
Personally I'm very interested in the presentation aspect and whether Qutest will differ in any way from H2 or not.

 

[bmfmarius]

@Rob Watts, thx for your reply.
Ok, then I'm set as the bridge has audio grade clock's from Crystek 2xCCHD-950/957
http://audiobyte.net/products/hydra-z

I believe that the BNC connection is better / preferred ( impedance wise), to RCA / jack (Mojo's)

 

[dcp10]

I need some advice from the forum veterans please!

Most of my listening is with headphones (Sennheiser HD800), but occasionally with loudspeakers. I already have a capable headphone amp (Lehmann Black Cube Linear) and I'm considering either:

1. Buy Qutest and partner with the Lehmann amp (plus rest of my HiFi system - all Naim, BTW)

or

2. Wait for a rumoured Hugo TT2 and use this as both a DAC and a headphone amp.

Clearly option 1 is cheaper - and available very soon. The question is, which would give me better quality?

(I guess this may be more a question about how good the Hugo TT/2 is as a headphone amp - but it's relevant to this topic because my need might be addressed by the Qutest)

Ideally, I'd like to have a combined DAC/Headphone amp, simply because it is purer and reduces clutter - but I don't want to compromise on quality).

Many thanks!

 

[Music Alchemist]

I need some advice from the forum veterans please!

Most of my listening is with headphones (Sennheiser HD800), but occasionally with loudspeakers. I already have a capable headphone amp (Lehmann Black Cube Linear) and I'm considering either:

1. Buy Qutest and partner with the Lehmann amp (plus rest of my HiFi system - all Naim, BTW)

or

2. Wait for a rumoured Hugo TT2 and use this as both a DAC and a headphone amp.

Clearly option 1 is cheaper - and available very soon. The question is, which would give me better quality?

(I guess this may be more a question about how good the Hugo TT/2 is as a headphone amp - but it's relevant to this topic because my need might be addressed by the Qutest)

Ideally, I'd like to have a combined DAC/Headphone amp, simply because it is purer and reduces clutter - but I don't want to compromise on quality).

Many thanks!

Chord is going to have better measured technical performance, but you may still prefer your amp.

The Hugo TT has the same maximum output power specs as the Hugo and Mojo. The Hugo 2 actually has more power, though this in itself wouldn't matter.

We can only speculate about a hypothetical Hugo TT 2.

What I can tell you is that I barely heard any difference between the Mojo and 430HAD when driving the HD 800 despite the latter costing $4,300.

The most realistic option for you, in my opinion, is the Hugo 2. You can also use it with an external amp and compare to direct drive.