Hi, I’ve tried 3 of the Chord Qutest with a blusound vault 2i and they messed up, all 3 failing and producing weird electrical noises after about 2 weeks. Got my money back and bought the Naim DAC V1 and had no probs so far (2 weeks). The Chord sounded great for the small time it worked but I do prefer the Naim to be honest. I have the XS3 amp so that might tilt it Naims way anyway. Apparently there are very few probs with the Qutest but it and the Blusound obviously don’t get on, and you can turn the Naim off at night. Hope this helps a little
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Thanks for all the comments. Much appreciated.
I too had problems with the bluesound as it caused an unpleasant hum through the speakers. Thankfully this forum and a gentleman from the Naim service line was very helpful in providing a solution ie grounding the amp to my house earth solved everything.
Its probably a matter of taste and worth a listen but personally I much much prefer the chords dacs in general to the ndac, or to most naim streamers I have heard for that matter. The aesthetics don’t worry me, I bought it for its sound and not as an ornament
Perhaps try both and let us know which you prefer? 4 years ago I had the same dilemma. The Naim DAC or a Chord. In the end I picked up a Chord QBD76 and haven’t looked back. I am sure the Naim DAC will be fine too, and although I did have the intention of picking up a 2nd hand unit not too long ago, I decided not to as the idea of additional boxes is not exactly a welcome note to me. The Naim DAC needs a power supply to sound its best. It will sound mediocre without one as what I was told.
I discovered transport has a huge effect on a DAC’s performance. Bits are not bits even in these new DACs which can adjust for huge amount of jitter.
On my Chord Mojo, with the same optical cable from my OLED TV, streaming UPNP from Bubble UPNP or spotify, and then switching a google chrome cast audio streaming the same, the engagement, and foot tapping really goes up a notch.
Not sure why, maybe there is some bits or sample rate being changed internally by the TV, whereas google chrome cast sends apparently bit perfect signal.
Anyway - I have heard transports sounding different into Blu2/Dave.
so - which transport are you going to use?
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I have tried various transports at home a Linn DSM, Sonore microRendu and JRiver for Mac. During demos Auralic and Lumin streamers (neither of which sounded right to me) as well as Innuos and Melco (which were almost as good as my Mac mini, but fell down on price and software). Of the ones at home I prefer JRiver for Mac because of its DSP features, if I turn these off then I can’t hear any difference.
I use the Linn DSM in another system and the Sonore microRendu with Hugo for headphone listening (Audeze LCD3s). However, JRiver MC is excellent and I have no intention of changing it. I have tried Roon, but didn’t like it as it seemed more about reading than playing music.
I guess my transport is the Bluesound node 2i. I am somewhat wedded to it as iI prefer Amazon Music HD.
There is nothing wrong with the Node 2i I use one myself feeding my 272 DAC, its great bit of kit.
Both NDAC and Chord are very good, but I auditioned both and bought a Chord DAC.
Connect it via optical and you’re all set.
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Perhaps if the thread name was Ndac vs Qutest, more people would respond Ndac.
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If I could work out how to do that - I would!
Ask @Richard.Dane to change the title. From Qutest vs Ndac to Ndac vs Qutest.
It’s psychological. The first term attracts the most people.
At least what I feel.
It is not called that! It is
Or not vs, quite a different meaning, not a competition or battle, but making a choice…
Think we’ll be ok leaving it, there is more than enough for me to go on. Btw quite interesting programme on bbc 4 about headphones right now!
The Naim DAC looks much better than the Chord Qutest (to my eyes) and has more SPDIF inputs. The Qutest has a USB input that the Naim DAC lacks. I have a nDAC and never tried a Qutest. Thus, I do not know which one would sound better in my system. Many nDAC users feel that the nDAC needs a 555PS to shine. I use it bare and would buy a 555PS only if I knew that I will be able to use it to power a nDAC 2. So far no nDAC 2 and thus no 555PS.
Ok, well. For me it’s bit the same. People wants to choose what sounds best. But of course it’s subjective. Anyone is really better. A matter of taste.
Comme vous aimez “ pinailler”, i could have written “ Ndac or Qutest “.
Which ever around you entitle the thread I’ll still prefer the Chord. I made the decision in my own system some years before this thread existed.
I agree with @nbpf the Naim DAC looks better and the optical input on DAVE and Hugo is not the easiest to use. I tried lots of TosLinks before I found one that fitted and now Maplin no longer exists. With Blu2 DAVE, Chord solved this by making it Coax or USB only. However, I think Blu2 has been discontinued so Hugo MScalar is the only current upgrade option.
The Chord DACs do measure extremely well and this is consistent with what I hear, but it doesn’t mean everybody will share my preference.
In the end, whichever you opt for, you will have a good quality DAC.
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