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Review and Measurements of CHORD Qutest DAC

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The business is always looking at ways to make more money from non technically minded enthusiasts.
There are plenty of expensive accessories that do nothing being convincingly hawked and very profitable too
Forgive me but this is a very general view! Not at all ... scientific !! The adoption of this type of (Lpsu) power supply does not only concern this company, but also many others that manufacture quality audio products. Too many.

I do not accept your argument ..
 

pozz

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Thank you for

Thank you for your comment. It would be interesting if amir made a comparison of Chord's input power supply with a Chord tt2 dac, with one, or everything I mentioned in my first Post. It is certainly no coincidence that many serious manufacturers choose linear rather than intermittent power supply. And in fact two !! (https://us.auralic.com/products/aries-g2-1?variant=34539988615336. Please read the section referring to the dc power supply of the device.

Surely they know more than us and Amir ...
If you go here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Audio_Equipment_Reviews/

After some filtering you'll find:
1596048286564.png

None of provide anything useful over the stock power supply.
 

BDWoody

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I understand that the Site is not suitable for different points of view, but I will continue to read it.

Actually, this site is one of the best for different Informed points of view.

For those who choose to come in with guns blazing but are shooting blanks, the forum will generally let them know. How they respond is up to them. You've decided that for lots of reasons, none of them having anything to do with science, that an LPS is better than a SPS. Awesome...now tell the class how and why. Simple.
 
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Actually, this site is one of the best for different Informed points of view.

For those who choose to come in with guns blazing but are shooting blanks, the forum will generally let them know. How they respond is up to them. You've decided that for lots of reasons, none of them having anything to do with science, that an LPS is better than a SPS. Awesome...now tell the class how and why. Simple.
..if I judge by the aggressive behavior of a member, it probably is not! I think all Audiphle can distinguish the stage depth, the stage image, the performance of the instruments of an orchestra, the distance between them, the height of the music stage, the performance of the low frequencies and much more. So do not say show me numbers. The play shows ..
 

Veri

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I think all Audiphle can distinguish the stage depth, the stage image, the performance of the instruments of an orchestra, the distance between them, the height of the music stage, the performance of the low frequencies and much more. So do not say show me numbers.
Well... I'd say you're wrong ;) it is all to easy to claim these things but when asked for explanations, these people generally fall back on something like "just use your ears!!". :rolleyes:

Forgive me, but I expect more polite answers from you.
I understand that the Site is not suitable for different points of view, but I will continue to read it.

Thanks everyone for the chat!
That's the spirit, sorry if you think some of us are not polite, but I think your convictions will not find many supporters, here.
 
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Well... I'd say you're wrong ;) it is all to easy to claim these things but when asked for explanations, these people generally fall back on something like "just use your ears!!". :rolleyes:
..tell me why I should definitely know exactly why the sound upgrade happens? I am looking for the good performance of my system, and then I want to enjoy my music! Is it about changing the power supply, or the correct support of the audio machines, or the correct placement of the speakers in the space, or the care of my dedicated room?
That's the spirit, sorry if you think some of us are not polite, but I think your convictions will not find many supporters, here.
I knew from the beginning that my views would provoke such reactions. The politeness in the answers, however, must not be lost.

That is what I believe..
 

Naumm

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Out of curiousity, I used the 1a rail of the Shanti exactly as you described, and the 3a rail to power my USBridge Signature. Both worked perfectly.
I believe you noticed a difference in sound, so you use that power supply. Can you describe the difference between a allo shanti and a factory power supply on a Qutest dac?
 

blueninjasix

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I believe you noticed a difference in sound, so you use that power supply. Can you describe the difference between a allo shanti and a factory power supply on a Qutest dac?
Ha ha! I wouldn't dare to provoke the sound police that frequent this forum. I didn't say I heard a difference or an improvement. I wouldn't risk saying that in case I was jumped on by rude pushers of the one true way.
 

Naumm

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Ha ha! I wouldn't dare to provoke the sound police that frequent this forum. I didn't say I heard a difference or an improvement. I wouldn't risk saying that in case I was jumped on by rude pushers of the one true way.
I
I got what you mean. I'll read between the lines .. Thanks
 

Darvis

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Forgive me but this is a very general view! Not at all ... scientific !! The adoption of this type of (Lpsu) power supply does not only concern this company, but also many others that manufacture quality audio products. Too many.

I do not accept your argument ..
You should spend money on a more expensive power supply, I believe it will satisfy you. You'll appreciate all the sound quality improvements that you anticipate.
 

VintageFlanker

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The politeness in the answers, however, must not be lost.
Yep, I may sound rude but, come on: you know perfectly what you're doing. Come here to make such claims about audiophile PSUs, without any technical argument... You expected this, but you did it all the same.:rolleyes: And this, Speaking of ASR community, is completely unacceptable:
And they are certainly not experts.
Whatever... if you don't believe Rob Watts any better, nor any tier-measurments, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for you. Keep "believing", then.
I knew from the beginning that my views would provoke such reactions.
Then you just can't do passive trolling and then play the innocent victim. We're not as dumb as you think.;)

Best regards.
 

maxxevv

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Just to add, if you can't believe what Rob Watts has to say, then there really is no reason to believe in his Chord products to be magic panacea and that they are better than other cheaper competing products that measure equally or even better either.
 

Frank Dernie

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..if I judge by the aggressive behavior of a member, it probably is not! I think all Audiphle can distinguish the stage depth, the stage image, the performance of the instruments of an orchestra, the distance between them, the height of the music stage, the performance of the low frequencies and much more. So do not say show me numbers. The play shows ..
:facepalm:
 

Frank Dernie

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..tell me why I should definitely know exactly why the sound upgrade happens? I am looking for the good performance of my system, and then I want to enjoy my music! Is it about changing the power supply, or the correct support of the audio machines, or the correct placement of the speakers in the space, or the care of my dedicated room?

I knew from the beginning that my views would provoke such reactions. The politeness in the answers, however, must not be lost.

That is what I believe..
I have been a hifi enthusiast for just over 50 years. I am an engineer so I do tend to try to understand why and how things work.
There are lots of things which are said to make a difference. Many of these have sound technical reasons why they do indeed make a difference but, disappointingly IMO, there are several which demonstrably can not be making a difference which are strongly marketed and sell because of expectation bias and the fact that humans have a short aural memory, so are easily persuaded to hear things which are not there.
I like to understand why things make a difference and experiment to get an idea of the magnitude of any effect.
Thes things make a big difference IME.
The listening room.
Particularly the position of the loudspeaker in the room.
Cartridge (for LP playback)
Record player and particularly where it is in the room.

These things make a small difference IME
Protection of sensitive to microphonics valve equipment from vibration.
Power amplifier - is it powerful enough? does it have an output impedance big enough to effect the frequency response of the spoeaker.

These make no difference IME, as long as correctly engineered for purpose.
Interconnects and speaker cables.
DACs, I have compared several level matched and without knowing which is playing - all the differences I thought were there vanished... They were from £1000 to £14,000, including dCS, Linn, Chord etc., I haven't auditioned an inexpensive one.
Power supplies. I have only made one comparison but it was a much hyped improvement which did not exist when I did not know whether it or the standard one was connected.

Expectation bias and the placebo effect are strong.
In the end, the only thing connecting your DAC to the rest of your system is its output. We can measure the output, it only has voltage magnitude, frequency and phase which we can certainly measure to a level of accuracy way beyond the tested acuity of young ears.
If there is no change to the output of the DAC when changing power supply there can not be any change to the sound, obviously, so if you believe you are hearing one you are decieving yourself.
In any case, if somebody who worked for me designed something to be connected to mains power and it needed an accessory supplied by somebody else to work correctly I would consider the employee incompetant and he would be looking for another job. Any DAC which would be improved by changing PS would be a bad design, and the Chord is very good.
 

Sgt. Ear Ache

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..if I judge by the aggressive behavior of a member, it probably is not! I think all Audiphle can distinguish the stage depth, the stage image, the performance of the instruments of an orchestra, the distance between them, the height of the music stage, the performance of the low frequencies and much more. So do not say show me numbers. The play shows ..

The play shows...how easily we fool ourselves. The numbers (and a bit of honest blind testing) show the truth.
 

Darvis

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I have been a hifi enthusiast for just over 50 years. I am an engineer so I do tend to try to understand why and how things work.
There are lots of things which are said to make a difference. Many of these have sound technical reasons why they do indeed make a difference but, disappointingly IMO, there are several which demonstrably can not be making a difference which are strongly marketed and sell because of expectation bias and the fact that humans have a short aural memory, so are easily persuaded to hear things which are not there.
I like to understand why things make a difference and experiment to get an idea of the magnitude of any effect.
Thes things make a big difference IME.
The listening room.
Particularly the position of the loudspeaker in the room.
Cartridge (for LP playback)
Record player and particularly where it is in the room.

These things make a small difference IME
Protection of sensitive to microphonics valve equipment from vibration.
Power amplifier - is it powerful enough? does it have an output impedance big enough to effect the frequency response of the spoeaker.

These make no difference IME, as long as correctly engineered for purpose.
Interconnects and speaker cables.
DACs, I have compared several level matched and without knowing which is playing - all the differences I thought were there vanished... They were from £1000 to £14,000, including dCS, Linn, Chord etc., I haven't auditioned an inexpensive one.
Power supplies. I have only made one comparison but it was a much hyped improvement which did not exist when I did not know whether it or the standard one was connected.

Expectation bias and the placebo effect are strong.
In the end, the only thing connecting your DAC to the rest of your system is its output. We can measure the output, it only has voltage magnitude, frequency and phase which we can certainly measure to a level of accuracy way beyond the tested acuity of young ears.
If there is no change to the output of the DAC when changing power supply there can not be any change to the sound, obviously, so if you believe you are hearing one you are decieving yourself.
In any case, if somebody who worked for me designed something to be connected to mains power and it needed an accessory supplied by somebody else to work correctly I would consider the employee incompetant and he would be looking for another job. Any DAC which would be improved by changing PS would be a bad design, and the Chord is very good.
I can't take you seriously since you forgot one critical component: wine. It has been proven that 2 or 3 glasses of it significantly improve sound quality and general satisfaction.
 
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