[kovacs]

Natural, & 'you-are-there' sound.
Qutest lifted a veil that I was not previously aware of.
The Soundstage with my speaker system opened up both in width & depth. Vivaldi CD's violin just floated in space - instruments had tangible 'body' that I haven't experienced before.

Agree with this description 100%, perfectly explains the improvements I’m hearing. It lifted a veil I didn’t know was there and it’s letting me hear details and information I didn’t even know could be on a regular CD.

 

[Sound Eq]

i am in search for a desktop dac the provides the same kind of mojo mids, to my ears the mojo mids when connected to my ifi pro can sounds so much better than ifi black label
as it sounds fuller and richer and more forward than ifi black label

how doe qutest compare to mojo as just dacs

 

[Bill13]

I read an opinion that the Qutest sound quality is roughly 75-80 percent of the Dave. Assuming that this opinion is reasonable, then the Qutest is a good deal for not-so-well-healed audiophiles.

At CanJam 2018 NYC I listened to the Dave with Blu2 (Blu2 provided a 1 million tap FPGA-based upsampling M-scaler which was connected at the Dave's digital input). I also did a comparison to the Qutest at NYC 2018 CanJam.
Mr. Speakers Aeon flow closed-back planar magnetic headphones reduced the ambient noise a bit.
The CanJam show's ridiculous noisy environment made any judgment of comparative sound quality difficult to make. However, even in this environment the Qutest aquited itself surprisingly well, IMO.

 

[x RELIC x]

i am in search for a desktop dac the provides the same kind of mojo mids, to my ears the mojo mids when connected to my ifi pro can sounds so much better than ifi black label
as it sounds fuller and richer and more forward than ifi black label

how doe qutest compare to mojo as just dacs

The Qutest actually has the same analogue stage as the Mojo so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some similarities. On the other hand it has an improved WTA filter and 10e vs 4e Pulse Array DAC, which may sound different to Mojo tonally but more precise.

I’m interested in a direct comparison as well with Qutest vs Mojo, for reference. The Hugo2 has the same WTA and 10e Pulse Array as the Qutest, but a different analogue stage. The Hugo2 is definitely more incisive and has much better transients compared to the Mojo, IMO, but Hugo2 sounds slightly brighter overall than the Mojo.

 

[Skampmeister]

Dunno about anyone else, but the PSU talk is getting old. Again, the supplied PSU performs as well as a battery.

 

[MusicJunky]

For someone that already has the DX200, would it be a good spend to buy the Qutest as a dac and use the DX200 as the source? Is the Qutest dac worth it over the ES9028pro dacs inside the DX200? Thanks.

 

[naynay]

Qutest 2volt output big improvement using Rega Elex-R amp.

 

[Zzt231gr]

Just ordered Qutest-I am so excited!

Kovacs,that was a great review.

How do you find CXC as a transport in general?
Have you tried optical vs RCA output for sound quality?
Have you compared Rega vs CXC as transport?

 

[Sound Eq]

The Qutest actually has the same analogue stage as the Mojo so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some similarities. On the other hand it has an improved WTA filter and 10e vs 4e Pulse Array DAC, which may sound different to Mojo tonally but more precise.

I’m interested in a direct comparison as well with Qutest vs Mojo, for reference. The Hugo2 has the same WTA and 10e Pulse Array as the Qutest, but a different analogue stage. The Hugo2 is definitely more incisive and has much better transients compared to the Mojo, IMO, but Hugo2 sounds slightly brighter overall than the Mojo.

somehow i liked the forward mids on mojo than hugo 2

 

[Zzt231gr]

The Qutest actually has the same analogue stage as the Mojo so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some similarities. On the other hand it has an improved WTA filter and 10e vs 4e Pulse Array DAC, which may sound different to Mojo tonally but more precise.

I’m interested in a direct comparison as well with Qutest vs Mojo, for reference. The Hugo2 has the same WTA and 10e Pulse Array as the Qutest, but a different analogue stage. The Hugo2 is definitely more incisive and has much better transients compared to the Mojo, IMO, but Hugo2 sounds slightly brighter overall than the Mojo.

Are you sure about the output stage being the same??

 

[kovacs]

Just ordered Qutest-I am so excited!

Kovacs,that was a great review.

How do you find CXC as a transport in general?
Have you tried optical vs RCA output for sound quality?
Have you compared Rega vs CXC as transport?

The Rega is a great CD-player, I like it a lot, but used as a CD-transport it less impressive. It's hard to explain, but something seems off, music doesn't flow like it should, it sounds harsh and uneasy. I heard it before with my Musical Fidelity V90 as a DAC and I'm hearing it again with this DAC, I guess bits aren't bits after all. The Cambridge audio CXC seems much calmer and composed, the Rega sounds chaotic in comparison. It's not a small difference either, I find it hard to listen to the Rega as a transport. I haven't compared the optical vs the RCA output on the Cambridge, but it's something I can easily do since both outputs work simultaneously on the CXC and the Chord Qutest allows me to quickly change between the two. Give me a few days and I'll report back to you. Currently I'm using a nice BNC to RCA digital cable from Ghent audio. If I can't hear difference I'll keep using that since I want to use the optical input for my airport express.

 

[Zzt231gr]

^^Thank you.So,I might buy a new transport.

I am also a click away from buying Belden 1694A with Canare 75Ω RCA to Canare BNC.Your comparison would be crucial for me.

 

[Zowie1]

Has anyone paired their Qutest (or 2Qute) with ifi Micro iDSD? If you have, how were the results compared to just using Micro iDSD? My current chain goes like this: iDefender 3.0 > Mercury 3.0 cable > iPurifier2 > Micro iDSD BL > HE1000 with iSilencer 3.0 and ISO Regen added soon. I was wondering if adding a separate DAC would improve the sound even further.

 

[x RELIC x]

Are you sure about the output stage being the same??

I wouldn’t have posted otherwise.

Yes I too saw that... But 2 qute, although having a discrete op stage, is not powerful; it was never intended to drive any low impedance at all. Qutest op stage has been upgraded, but it's not the same as Hugo 2. The op impedance has not been measured, so any mention of it is an error. But I have increased the drive on the discrete op stage, and I have used the Mojo op stage. This has the benefit of being very small, but capable of delivering large currents. But let's be clear; qutest was designed as a DAC only! As an aside, the Mojo op stage is the same as Hugo 2 electronically, but differs with the packaging and power delivery of the op transistors.

Yes it's the same number and transistor packaging as Mojo.

And no power button - as Qutest only consumes a modest couple of Watts.

 

[daredevil_kk]

I wouldn’t have posted otherwise.

From the above statement, this what I understand. The Qutest has similar circuit as the Hugo 2 but with Mojo opamp stage...
Am I right?