Qudelix-5K Bluetooth DAC & Headphone Amp

[buz]

FWIW, for any somewhat reasonable headphone I think it will play fairly loud by itself. I had zero desire to plug it into an amp to listen with my HD600 for one.

Don't have power hungry planars to test though.

 

[jhaider]

If it was a power amp people would call it bridged instead of balanced - both sides are driven.

It is a power amp, of course.

 

[Deleted member 23839]

I got the Qudelix 5K and paired it with my MacBook via Bluetooth and every few minutes I notice some stutter a few seconds.

Does anybody have the same issue or know what I could do about it?

Thanks.

 

[pwjazz]

I got one of these for Christmas and I'm loving it. It's tiny, it's got enough power for my full size cans, it's quiet enough for my sensitive IEMs, can pair with and play audio from my phone and computer simultaneously(!), And the software has nice touches like automatically lowering volume when switching from low to high output power, protecting both my hearing and my equipment. Oh, and there's parametric EQ! The software is a bit buggy but totally usable, and audio quality with LDAC seems very nice.

 

[pwjazz]

I got the Qudelix 5K and paired it with my MacBook via Bluetooth and every few minutes I notice some stutter a few seconds.

Does anybody have the same issue or know what I could do about it?

Thanks.

Do you have it paired with another device too? It can accept audio from different devices simultaneously, so perhaps you're hearing your audio stream interrupted by notifications or something?

 

[mSpot]

Do you have it paired with another device too? It can accept audio from different devices simultaneously, so perhaps you're hearing your audio stream interrupted by notifications or something?

Another possibility is interruptions (notifications, etc) happening on the MacBook itself, since all system audio is sent to Bluetooth. To verify whether this is the case, listen with your headphones plugged directly into the MacBook and check if you hear the same issue.

What are you listening to on the MacBook? Is it high res?

 

[Alexander Gödde]

Hi there. Someone recently pointed me to these when I was asking about system-wide PEQ solutions for desktop use, and I have to say they look very intriguing. I mostly listen through my work laptop, which has itunes and spotify but no option to add any unapproved software like EqualizerAPO or Foobar2000, meaning my EQ options are extremely limited. Currently use a JDS Atom as an external amp and an Apple USB-C dongle as a clean if slightly low-voltage DAC solution.

Does anyone use this as a dedicated desktop DAC & EQ unit running into a standalone external amp? I know it's not the best measuring DAC in the world, but I assume it should deliver similar results to my Apple dongle with the added benefit of additional voltage as needed + seemingly robust PEQ options, which is the real draw. Any insight is much appreciated!

I often use it as a DAC into an amp, and it works well. Even during dedicated listening I have never felt that its performance was a bottleneck. Overall it is a really nice device with lots of features.

 

[ishouldbeking]

I often use it as a DAC into an amp, and it works well. Even during dedicated listening I have never felt that its performance was a bottleneck. Overall it is a really nice device with lots of features.

Very cool, thanks!

Of course now the Qudelix has suddenly vanished from the Amazon store, at least in the US :-/

 

[bobbooo]

Very cool, thanks!

Of course now the Qudelix has suddenly vanished from the Amazon store, at least in the US :-/

Qudelix say it should be back in stock on Amazon in a few days.

 

[ishouldbeking]

Qudelix say it should be back in stock on Amazon in a few days.

Great news, thank you. This thing looks like quite the contender.

 

[jhaider]

To close the circle on this, I decided not to try running it in bridged ("balanced") mode into my headphone amp. In SE mode it doesn't have the output I need to get HD580s driven by the HeadRoom Desktop Amp to a satisfying level. I ended up trying out a spare miniDSP 2x4HD as DAC/EQ and it worked beautifully.

 

[ishouldbeking]

I often use it as a DAC into an amp, and it works well. Even during dedicated listening I have never felt that its performance was a bottleneck. Overall it is a really nice device with lots of features.

Wound up ordering one of these from the incoming Amazon batch; should have it next week. How do you set it up when running into an amp? I plan to run mine at 2v through the SE outputs, but how do you set your various volume / output levels?

The reason I'm so committed to using my existing JDS Atom is both to have a dedicated volume knob and easy switching between headphones and speakers (using the Atom's preamp out). I know the usual recommendation is to run the computer audio at or close to 100%, and that makes sense for the source volume, but it doesn't seem wise to do that on the Qudelix 5K's volume if running into an external amp. Seems like it would probably be too loud, for one; but also more likely to introduce distortion in the 5K and possibly clip the Atom's input. Any insight from the ASR crew would be much appreciated.

 

[li’l ‘lectric]

I plan to run mine at 2v through the SE outputs, but how do you set your various volume / output levels? ... The reason I'm so committed to using my existing JDS Atom is both to have a dedicated volume knob and easy switching between headphones and speakers (using the Atom's preamp out). I know the usual recommendation is to run the computer audio at or close to 100%, and that makes sense for the source volume, but it doesn't seem wise to do that on the Qudelix 5K's volume if running into an external amp. Seems like it would probably be too loud, for one; but also more likely to introduce distortion in the 5K and possibly clip the Atom's input. Any insight from the ASR crew would be much appreciated.

I'm not an expert in these things yet, but perhaps I can offer a useful opinion in the meantime.

I really, really like how the Qudelix handles volume controls.

The first thing to keep in mind is that volume levels in the digital domain do not need to change the audio signal at all. Some devices (e.g., Android) will digitally compress the signal so that the amp can maintain a constant amount of gain, but that's not the norm. The USB/UAC spec provides coding for metadata about the desired volume level so that the sound samples always remain full scale but the amp can modify analog gain out of the DAC appropriately. (I do not know about Bluetooth, but I would be surprised if it isn't the same.) So, you can run the computer audio out at 100% or 10% (unless it is Android, but I think you're using Windows) without running into problems. [This contrasts with sending an analog signal out to the amplifier, in which case noise remains constant but reducing volume reduces signal, reducing the signal:noise ratio.]

Qudelix does something I haven't seen before, though I doubt it is unique to hifi. It has two volume controls: one reflecting the requested volume level from the OS, and another set within the Qudelix. The fantastic thing about this is that you can set the Qudelix to play the highest desired gain when the OS setting is at 100%. I like to listen quietly to IEMs, so I'm rarely going above 25% on most OS controls; with the Qudelix, that level of gain becomes 100%, so I have the full scale at my disposal for fine tuning. If I want even finer tuning, the Qudelix adjusts at 0.5dB increments. I have never before been able to achieve exactly the volume level that I want, every single time.

(Additionally, you can set the Qudelix's internal volume range, but that's not likely relevant in this context.)

This is independent of setting the gain to normal (1V max) or high (2V max), which I guess gives you another degree of control.

Another thing: the Qudelix presents a fine-grained volume control to the OS. I don't know why, but most devices I've used have jumped volume levels in large chunks, like they only have 16 levels available or something. The built-in device usually has fine control; my Apple dongle offers fine control; my Qudelix also offers fine control. As it should be.

All that is to say: I don't think you'll have any problem setting the Qudelix to push the exact voltage range you desire to the JDS Atom.

The final kicker, for me, is that these settings are easy to adjust. Easy enough that it is no headache to set up custom limits and EQ for one pair of headphones, then swap those settings out for another pair. All of the gain levels are marked numerically, so they're easy to return to. I've used other BLE devices that hang for a few seconds while updating settings. The Qudelix app does not hang while communicating with the device, and the changes occur within a small fraction of a second, maybe 200ms typical. So I have no problem imagining a workflow where you plug it into your desktop kit with one group of settings for your workday and then unplug it, change the settings for a set of headphones that's good for choring while listening over Bluetooth, then change the settings later for another set of headphones that's good for dedicated listening, movie watching, gaming, isolating yourself from everyone around you, or whatever other goals you have. All the while providing you exactly the sound quality you want in each context. All while being forward compatible with balanced equipment yet the box is smaller than an XLR connector. Nuts.

The Qudelix isn't perfect, but I am incredibly impressed at how well it does what it set out to do, not to mention how much the firmware has continued to improve since release less than a year ago. If you're willing to tweak a few settings -- which I suspect you are, given that you were looking for PEQ options -- then I think you'll be quite pleased, as I am.

 

[li’l ‘lectric]

I got the Qudelix 5K and paired it with my MacBook via Bluetooth and every few minutes I notice some stutter a few seconds. Does anybody have the same issue or know what I could do about it?

I don't know if this is related, but I've had stuttering that was solved by restarting the audio software. Specifically: playing music on a webpage, connecting via Bluetooth, hearing stuttering, reloading the webpage, and problem solved. My suspicion is that something in the system is having to move from 24bit/48kHz audio to 24bit/96kHz audio, but something in the Bluetooth-system-app chain isn't kicking things up to 96kHz until restarted.

 

[li’l ‘lectric]

Having offered a few perhaps useful words to benefit the community, I have a question to ask:

Is there a correct way to pronounce "Qudelix"?

I want to get it right because I know I'm going to be getting questions and making recommendations. Especially since it took an embarrassingly long time to learn that Nginx isn't "nig-i-nix" but "en-jin-ex", and then to realize that my pronunciation could easily be misheard as a racial slur.

 

[pwjazz]

I'm not an expert in these things yet, but perhaps I can offer a useful opinion in the meantime.

I really, really like how the Qudelix handles volume controls.

The first thing to keep in mind is that volume levels in the digital domain do not need to change the audio signal at all. Some devices (e.g., Android) will digitally compress the signal so that the amp can maintain a constant amount of gain, but that's not the norm. The USB/UAC spec provides coding for metadata about the desired volume level so that the sound samples always remain full scale but the amp can modify analog gain out of the DAC appropriately. (I do not know about Bluetooth, but I would be surprised if it isn't the same.) So, you can run the computer audio out at 100% or 10% (unless it is Android, but I think you're using Windows) without running into problems. [This contrasts with sending an analog signal out to the amplifier, in which case noise remains constant but reducing volume reduces signal, reducing the signal:noise ratio.]

Qudelix does something I haven't seen before, though I doubt it is unique to hifi. It has two volume controls: one reflecting the requested volume level from the OS, and another set within the Qudelix. The fantastic thing about this is that you can set the Qudelix to play the highest desired gain when the OS setting is at 100%. I like to listen quietly to IEMs, so I'm rarely going above 25% on most OS controls; with the Qudelix, that level of gain becomes 100%, so I have the full scale at my disposal for fine tuning. If I want even finer tuning, the Qudelix adjusts at 0.5dB increments. I have never before been able to achieve exactly the volume level that I want, every single time.

(Additionally, you can set the Qudelix's internal volume range, but that's not likely relevant in this context.)

This is independent of setting the gain to normal (1V max) or high (2V max), which I guess gives you another degree of control.

Another thing: the Qudelix presents a fine-grained volume control to the OS. I don't know why, but most devices I've used have jumped volume levels in large chunks, like they only have 16 levels available or something. The built-in device usually has fine control; my Apple dongle offers fine control; my Qudelix also offers fine control. As it should be.

All that is to say: I don't think you'll have any problem setting the Qudelix to push the exact voltage range you desire to the JDS Atom.

The final kicker, for me, is that these settings are easy to adjust. Easy enough that it is no headache to set up custom limits and EQ for one pair of headphones, then swap those settings out for another pair. All of the gain levels are marked numerically, so they're easy to return to. I've used other BLE devices that hang for a few seconds while updating settings. The Qudelix app does not hang while communicating with the device, and the changes occur within a small fraction of a second, maybe 200ms typical. So I have no problem imagining a workflow where you plug it into your desktop kit with one group of settings for your workday and then unplug it, change the settings for a set of headphones that's good for choring while listening over Bluetooth, then change the settings later for another set of headphones that's good for dedicated listening, movie watching, gaming, isolating yourself from everyone around you, or whatever other goals you have. All the while providing you exactly the sound quality you want in each context. All while being forward compatible with balanced equipment yet the box is smaller than an XLR connector. Nuts.

The Qudelix isn't perfect, but I am incredibly impressed at how well it does what it set out to do, not to mention how much the firmware has continued to improve since release less than a year ago. If you're willing to tweak a few settings -- which I suspect you are, given that you were looking for PEQ options -- then I think you'll be quite pleased, as I am.

The other thoughtful volume feature is that when you switch from 1V to 2V output, it automatically reduces the volume setting to keep the actual SPL constant, protecting your ears and your equipment. Not hard to do in software, but I've never seen another device do the same thing.

 

[ishouldbeking]

I'm not an expert in these things yet, but perhaps I can offer a useful opinion in the meantime.

I really, really like how the Qudelix handles volume controls.

The first thing to keep in mind is that volume levels in the digital domain do not need to change the audio signal at all. Some devices (e.g., Android) will digitally compress the signal so that the amp can maintain a constant amount of gain, but that's not the norm. The USB/UAC spec provides coding for metadata about the desired volume level so that the sound samples always remain full scale but the amp can modify analog gain out of the DAC appropriately. (I do not know about Bluetooth, but I would be surprised if it isn't the same.) So, you can run the computer audio out at 100% or 10% (unless it is Android, but I think you're using Windows) without running into problems. [This contrasts with sending an analog signal out to the amplifier, in which case noise remains constant but reducing volume reduces signal, reducing the signal:noise ratio.]

Qudelix does something I haven't seen before, though I doubt it is unique to hifi. It has two volume controls: one reflecting the requested volume level from the OS, and another set within the Qudelix. The fantastic thing about this is that you can set the Qudelix to play the highest desired gain when the OS setting is at 100%. I like to listen quietly to IEMs, so I'm rarely going above 25% on most OS controls; with the Qudelix, that level of gain becomes 100%, so I have the full scale at my disposal for fine tuning. If I want even finer tuning, the Qudelix adjusts at 0.5dB increments. I have never before been able to achieve exactly the volume level that I want, every single time.

(Additionally, you can set the Qudelix's internal volume range, but that's not likely relevant in this context.)

This is independent of setting the gain to normal (1V max) or high (2V max), which I guess gives you another degree of control.

Another thing: the Qudelix presents a fine-grained volume control to the OS. I don't know why, but most devices I've used have jumped volume levels in large chunks, like they only have 16 levels available or something. The built-in device usually has fine control; my Apple dongle offers fine control; my Qudelix also offers fine control. As it should be.

All that is to say: I don't think you'll have any problem setting the Qudelix to push the exact voltage range you desire to the JDS Atom.

The final kicker, for me, is that these settings are easy to adjust. Easy enough that it is no headache to set up custom limits and EQ for one pair of headphones, then swap those settings out for another pair. All of the gain levels are marked numerically, so they're easy to return to. I've used other BLE devices that hang for a few seconds while updating settings. The Qudelix app does not hang while communicating with the device, and the changes occur within a small fraction of a second, maybe 200ms typical. So I have no problem imagining a workflow where you plug it into your desktop kit with one group of settings for your workday and then unplug it, change the settings for a set of headphones that's good for choring while listening over Bluetooth, then change the settings later for another set of headphones that's good for dedicated listening, movie watching, gaming, isolating yourself from everyone around you, or whatever other goals you have. All the while providing you exactly the sound quality you want in each context. All while being forward compatible with balanced equipment yet the box is smaller than an XLR connector. Nuts.

The Qudelix isn't perfect, but I am incredibly impressed at how well it does what it set out to do, not to mention how much the firmware has continued to improve since release less than a year ago. If you're willing to tweak a few settings -- which I suspect you are, given that you were looking for PEQ options -- then I think you'll be quite pleased, as I am.

Thank you, very helpful indeed! As for pronunciation, I have no particular insight, but I say "cue-del-ix".

 

[pwjazz]

Thank you, very helpful indeed! As for pronunciation, I have no particular insight, but I say "cue-del-ix".

I say "cuddle ix" because my small children get a kick out of it.

 

[AlexScan]

Someone compare directly the sound of Qudelix VS the Fiio BTR5 ?

 

[Atanasi]

Someone compare directly the sound of Qudelix VS the Fiio BTR5 ?

I have both. I haven't done a detailed comparison yet. Qudelix has the better app, which is more responsive and has more features, while BTR5 has the better device UI. In particular, it is difficult to see if 5K was successfully turned on or off.