[Juko]

@Juko I was using Coax.

Ok, that´s interesting. Thanks

 

[hifipassion]

Hi,
@Skampmeister : Could you please share with us what coax cable have you used with Qutest ?
And what micro usb cable you use for the power?
Personally I found these to make a great difference...

 

[Skampmeister]

@hifipassion i used to stock power supply cable and a Clearer audio Silver-Line 75 coax.

 

[hifipassion]

In my opinion, the stock one cannot give great results.
Powered from a IfI Micro iUSB 3.0, the Qutest gets things to another level.
And getting a factory made BNC cable (like Audioquest Diamond, without adapters from coax I mean) could improve things further.
For me, in order to have the biggest jump in quality, you need these factors:
- quality power source
- quality micro usb used for power
- quality USB cable or BNC
- quality transport
- quality interconnect

 

[maxh22]

Just bought mine and very happy with it.

I used to use QuteHD but wasn't too keen on the 2Qute so moved on to iFi micro iDAC2 instead, but now I'm back to the Chord camp once again.

As the flashy rainbow light suggests, the sound is quite mesmerizing...

Can you do a short comparison between H2 and Qutest?

Do you hear any difference between the two of them?

 

[adrian.clopotari]

In my opinion, the stock one cannot give great results.
Powered from a IfI Micro iUSB 3.0, the Qutest gets things to another level.
And getting a factory made BNC cable (like Audioquest Diamond, without adapters from coax I mean) could improve things further.
For me, in order to have the biggest jump in quality, you need these factors:
- quality power source
- quality micro usb used for power
- quality USB cable or BNC
- quality transport
- quality interconnect

For the average consumer, does all that cable stuff make a real difference? If yes, than what %?

Cause I belive you are talking from the point of view of someone who has real fine years.

To me, from the point of view of the average music consumer, its way more important to have good speakers and good room isolation.

I certanly cant hear any difference between a 100$ cable and a 10$ cable.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[daredevil_kk]

Anyone with Aurender N10 experiencing dropout with the Qutest on the Coax? I don't have any problem with the USB input.

@hifipassion i used to stock power supply cable and a Clearer audio Silver-Line 75 coax.

CA coax... good choice...

 

[hifipassion]

For the average consumer, does all that cable stuff make a real difference? If yes, than what %?

Cause I belive you are talking from the point of view of someone who has real fine years.

To me, from the point of view of the average music consumer, its way more important to have good speakers and good room isolation.

I certanly cant hear any difference between a 100$ cable and a 10$ cable.

Just my 2 cents.

You forgot the "clean power"
It's true that some companies are selling "not-so-great" entry-level cables at $100 that sound sometimes worse than a $10 stock cable.
While this forum it's not the place to debate the importance of cables, all I can tell is:
in average systems the difference is most likely not audible, but if you have a high-end system, that is revealing, you will be able to identify immediately the differences, no "golden-ears" necessary (only a bit "educated").
So, maybe you don't have the system to see the difference and maybe you have not spend enough $$$ to test a really great USB cable (like DH Labs, Audioquest Diamond, WW Platinum Starlight).
Those ones cost a lot more than 100$ unfortunately for us...

 

[sandalaudio]

Can you do a short comparison between H2 and Qutest?

Do you hear any difference between the two of them?

There wasn't such a significant difference, both sounded fairly similar via RCA line out, but I did prefer the Qutest somewhat in that context.
Hugo 2 brought forward the high mid too much, almost like it's competing with what the following amp is doing (Pro iCAN in this case), whereas Qutest partnered nicely with good balanced presentation throughout. I prefer Hugo 2 much better on its own without adding anything behind it. I would have just bought the Hugo 2 if I needed something just for headphones.

 

[adrian.clopotari]

You forgot the "clean power"
It's true that some companies are selling "not-so-great" entry-level cables at $100 that sound sometimes worse than a $10 stock cable.
While this forum it's not the place to debate the importance of cables, all I can tell is:
in average systems the difference is most likely not audible, but if you have a high-end system, that is revealing, you will be able to identify immediately the differences, no "golden-ears" necessary (only a bit "educated").
So, maybe you don't have the system to see the difference and maybe you have not spend enough $$$ to test a really great USB cable (like DH Labs, Audioquest Diamond, WW Platinum Starlight).
Those ones cost a lot more than 100$ unfortunately for us...

So ... I have a pair of Adam A7x with an Adam Sub 7. https://www.adam-audio.com/en/ax-series/a7x/

Does that qualify to be a high end system or not?

I really cant belive that the cables are more important than the actual speakers and room isolation. It doesnt make sense.

 

[maxh22]

Hugo 2 brought forward the high mid too much, almost like it's competing with what the following amp is doing (Pro iCAN in this case), whereas Qutest partnered nicely with good balanced presentation throughout. I prefer Hugo 2 much better on its own without adding anything behind it. I would have just bought the Hugo 2 if I needed something just for headphones.

So the Qutest is basically slightly more laid back than H2 in the upper mid range?

 

[hifipassion]

Please don't get me wrong, the subject of our discussion was "can't hear any difference between a 100$ cable and a 10$ cable."
I have never stated that "cables are more important than the actual speakers and room isolation", please read carefully what is being written.
What I say is that expensive usb cables make sense in high-end systems.
While I have never listened to Adam monitors, someone with a $100000 system will definitely say he owns a high-end one - at least from the price perspective
Cables do matter in those systems.
In your case, you might want to stick with the general rule: spend 10-15% from the system price on cables.
If you want to find out in what degree cable matters: go listen ! Stop saying "I don't believe", see for yourself and speak from your experience, no offence.

 

[VintageFlanker]

There wasn't such a significant difference, both sounded fairly similar via RCA line out, but I did prefer the Qutest somewhat in that context.
Hugo 2 brought forward the high mid too much, almost like it's competing with what the following amp is doing (Pro iCAN in this case), whereas Qutest partnered nicely with good balanced presentation throughout. I prefer Hugo 2 much better on its own without adding anything behind it. I would have just bought the Hugo 2 if I needed something just for headphones.

What voltage do you use with Qutest? it is still hard for me to decide between 2V and 3V

 

[plsvn]

after a few days on 3v I just switched to 2v
volume knob, on my tube pre, still in the very same position and can't hear any meaningful difference in loudness
I'm under the impression overall sound is *maybe* a very tiny little bit "cleaner" but... need more time to be sure
anyway... either 3 or 2v works fine here and differences (if truly any) are abysmal

 

[VintageFlanker]

after a few days on 3v I just switched to 2v
volume knob, on my tube pre, still in the very same position and can't hear any meaningful difference in loudness
I'm under the impression overall sound is *maybe* a very tiny little bit "cleaner" but... need more time to be sure
anyway... either 3 or 2v works fine here and differences (if truly any) are abysmal

It may depend about amping, certainly.

I do hear a VERY noticeable difference switching between 3V and 2V on my Nova 300 (both speakers and headphones). Sound is more forward and fuller using 3V (appart from the volume level, of course!) and seems to be a bit too thin on 2V.