Then you should get Chord Dave if you don't have a limited budget. FPGA stuff can't compete with ASICs in cost vs performance.I guess the novelty of Chord stuff is the FPGA tech.
Then you should get Chord Dave if you don't have a limited budget. FPGA stuff can't compete with ASICs in cost vs performance.I guess the novelty of Chord stuff is the FPGA tech.
I'm actually considering getting the TT2 at some point. Maybe. You can get that for a little over $2000 which is not bad for a high end DAC-amp combo.Then you should get Chord Dave if you don't have a limited budget. FPGA stuff can't compete with ASICs in cost vs performance.
The novelty of my chord qutest is the industrial design and user interface which is nice, i like it. The concrete reason i like it is how unbelievably good it sounds with my sparko aries amp and LCD4 or LCDxc headphones. The whole combination is stunning. And my subjective opinion is backed up measurements.I guess the novelty of Chord stuff is the FPGA tech.
And my subjective opinion is backed up measurements.
I'd expect Qutest to sound good, sure. But so do many other DACs, many of which come with balanced output and more inputs/outputs..And my subjective opinion is backed up measurements.
Measurements for the Qutest, yes, it is really a well implemented DAC.
For the other items on your list, not really.
But if you enjoy them, then it doesn't matter really from a subjective point of view.
Yes Veri, id bought the Sparko Aries first and knew what my needs were for my desktop home office system in terms of balanced vs unbalanced and the inputs and outputs. Neither qutest or aries have remotes either. And balanced is of limited value for headphones except when being driven by a device like a A&K SP1000M where balanced doubles your power output.I'd expect Qutest to sound good, sure. But so do many other DACs, many of which come with balanced output and more inputs/outputs..
And balanced is of limited value for headphones except when being driven by a device like a A&K SP1000M where balanced doubles your power output.
In contrast balanced is useful for connecting components and my cambridge audio 840C / burson conductor 3X / rotel RB1080 power amp are connected with balanced XLR. I wouldn't have bought the desktop gear for my longeroom system. But both systems do a great job.
Well I meant for DACs. Qutest is a DAC.
"balanced is of limited value for headphones except when being driven by a device like a A&K SP1000M where balanced doubles your power output" this statement confuses me, pretty much any actual balanced output will output more than single ended
I'd expect Qutest to sound good, sure. But so do many other DACs, many of which come with balanced output and more inputs/outputs..
That's fair!I bought upgrade parts from Burson 10 years ago to mod a Marantz CD80, and they are great to deal with, Alex and Dennis are great and I'm happy to support an Australian company.
Yes, external switching PSU. The designer recommends to simply use the stock one, if that counts for anything.. then again in audiophile scene people tend to think they know better than whoever designed it..Does it come with a power supply? Is it a switched one? It would be interesting to test it with different PSU to see if measurement results are affected
That is so true.Recently tried some Chinese brand Dac/amps and they are also very good and clean. I guess it's just a great time for Hifi.
I guess the novelty of Chord stuff is the FPGA tech.
It's interesting schitt is often more expensive in OZ and chord less so, relatively, compared to US. but i just checked and the schitt modius is just over $500 here AU$. The chord cost me 2k $AU. Is the schitt Balanced for headphones or as a system component?Chord gets good subjective reviews for its DACs. The measurements don't pan out to superiority over other less costly DACs, though. You can avoid ground loops with TOSLINK, but then you are limited to 24/96K which further diminishes the value of the price premium. The Schiit Modius also has similar performance with much less cost and balanced outputs.
Still, I like the Chord but I could not convince myself to pay more than $500 for one, though.
Can you explain the likelihood of ground loops in a Qutest? Does the balanced design of the modius reduce the risk?Chord gets good subjective reviews for its DACs. The measurements don't pan out to superiority over other less costly DACs, though. You can avoid ground loops with TOSLINK, but then you are limited to 24/96K which further diminishes the value of the price premium. The Schiit Modius also has similar performance with much less cost and balanced outputs.
Still, I like the Chord but I could not convince myself to pay more than $500 for one, though.
As qutest uses isolated smps, itself can't be the source/part of the ground loop. However the single end connection is the issue. When the upstream and downstream devices both earthed, the likelihood of ground loop of some sort is close to 100%. The chance of it being annoyingly very audible is still rather high when the condition is right. Balanced connection + differential signalling rejects the noise and not rely on the ground reference so it's pretty much impossible to get ground loop when implemented right (almost all modern devices).Can you explain the likelihood of ground loops in a Qutest? Does the balanced design of the modius reduce the risk?
The Modius is a balanced DAC/system component..It's interesting schitt is often more expensive in OZ and chord less so, relatively, compared to US. but i just checked and the schitt modius is just over $500 here AU$. The chord cost me 2k $AU. Is the schitt Balanced for headphones or as a system component?