Impressions of the Chord Qutest DAC

The Qutest does support dual coax, but in that setup you’ll need two MC3s as well, which is probably overkill in terms of the investment, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the resulting SQ makes it worthwhile.

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How will I connect 1 usb to 2 Mutec?

For dual coax you will need the AudioWise SRC•DX adapter, from there you can connect the two Mutecs inline.

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The Plixir Elite BDC + either the Statement DC or Ghent Gotham JSSG360 DC cable, by far.

In fact, it made more difference than all of the following COMBINED: 705k/768k sinc-filter upsampling + SRC-DX + RFI BNC filters + Intona USB 7055c isolator + Canare L8-CUHD x2 (one of the best 75r coaxial cables on the planet right now).

I love the Lavender and refuse to sell it. BUT, the Morgana is in another league entirely. Honestly, it’s faithful to the Naim sound; you just get a lot more of it.

I tried to find a Morgana 5pin DIN to DIN for my NDX 2, but gave up and ordered a pure silver Gothic Ella instead. Honestly, it’s quite the competitor to Morgana. Might even be slightly better. But I only have a lavender DIN to DIN to which I can compare it, not a Morgana DIN-to-DIN.

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I’ve never tried a lavender but I’m also very happy with Morgana.

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Up sampling should really be avoided if possible. It’s oversampling that usually is beneficial as no digital maths errors are added into the modified sample stream, but with up sampling it typically is.
However powersupplies and DAC reconstruction are like comparing chalk and cheese. Sure they can change the audio replay performance but from very different perspectives. You would be best to consider them together rather than either/or.

With oversampling, there is no super magic with it, it is a technique that transforms the sample rate so less steep anti aliasing filters are required for the pass band. The steeper a filter is the more distortions or artefacts it introduces. Mathematically over sampling also removes the noise power of any original jitter in the original sampling or sample stream creation process.

Also perhaps there is some confusion with filters and the sinc response. Sampling and reconstruction is a compromised process. Perfect sampling requires a sample to be created that represents a level for an infinitely small time… which of course is impossible. The sinc function is a response curve that simulates like what a pulse for an infinitely small time would look like if passed through a digital filter. This is multiplied or convolutioned with the real world filter response to help gain a more accurately shaped filter response for a given digital filter on a sample stream. It is subtle. Most quality DAC reconstruction processes consider this however.

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Do they have an option for micro USB cable or are you using it with an adapter?

Lavender would be a distinct step backward in SQ from Morgana. However, I think Lavender cables need a good hime, so don’t sell it. Lol.

Lavender cables really are superb cables, especially for the $$$.

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At the time I bought my Elite BDC from James Soh @ Plixir, they did not but supplied an adapter. That was a while ago and may not reflect current realities (i.e. he may have a cable that terminates in Micro USB).

I was actually the person to share the cable/connector pinout for Plixir Elite BDC’s with Ghent @ Ghent Audio. He made me the very first Plixir compatible DC cable and he made mine in a Micro USB termination. That was the Gotham GAC 4/1 UltraPro JSSG360 cable.

The fact that DC cables make an obvious difference is still fascinating to me. Plixir ships a std DC cable with all LPS’s even if you order the Statement cable as well. The gap there is pretty pronounced. Unless you are listening to early 90’s Krell power Klipsch Heritage series (read: BRIGHT), it likely isn’t the most optimal. I would relate it to the Naim Lavender; it’s only crimes are of ommission and it is very polite. Expected for a copper cable, frankly.

The Statement cable is a solid upgrade and, if you don’t want to go down the rabbit hole, a no brainer upgrade. Jay @ Audio Bacon described the difference between the two very well.

The Ghent Gotham GAC 4/1 Ultra/Pro JSG360 takes all of the clarity, air, and holography thatyou get from the Plixir Statement DC cable and turns up the “Naim-ness”. You get more meat on the bone, more PRaT, more punch, and an overall subtly warmer spectral tilt, but lose no resolution in the process. Once I inserted the Ghent JSSG360, there was no going back for me.

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Thanks for the info, excellent contribution. In case you haven’t heard there’s an UpTone Audio JS-4 triple-regulated, isolated dual-output in the works, announced for Q4 2024, estimated MSRP $1,350 USD, should be quiet interesting.

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You had me at Triple Regulated. :heart_eyes:

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Maybe just regulate it once, but do it properly!! Or perhaps it’s like thrice cooked chips?!

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Absolutely, regulators do tend to add high frequency noise of their own… but the gains out weigh the disadvantages usually, and the hf noise is very low level. Adding three regulators in series this noise is going to become more prominent… sure you can try and filter, but in doing so I would have thought you are going to lessen the effectiveness of each regulator stage…
Obviously someone somewhere thinks it works, but I agree I would focus on a single stage done well.

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About the Qutest set up, what filter choice and output voltage works best with your Naim gear?

Presumably three different type of regulation will be used, each providing a different benefit. Just like parboiling chips before sticking them in an air fryer. :grinning:

Naim use 2 regulators in their high end CD players and Dac. Regulation in the PSU, then in the head unit.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the new classic series pre-amps now include regulation in the pre-amp as well as regulation in the PSU.

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For a moment when reading that I missed the word on the second line, and thought that’s an interesting concept!

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I would be interested in an answer to this

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With regard to the choice of output voltages of the Qutest, I find 3volts is too high. There is a coarsening of the sound that I don’t like. 2volts is OK, but it limits the range of volume control settings I can use. 1 volt is probably best matched to the preamp input sensitivity.

Filters? I have stuck to the incisive neutral setting. My system or more probably my ears don’t do high frequencies so well, so the HF roll off settings don’t help. The MCRU power supply smoothes out the treble in any case, so HF roll off filters are too much of a good thing.

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This afternoon, I connected my Arcam DT91 tuner via a Chord Prodac cable to the Qutest. There is a definite improvement in clarity and more body to the sound of FM with the Qutest in play and a reduction in noise. That is the most positive improvement I found so far.

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Hi @glowinthedark ,

Thought I’d tell you about my ‘regress’ to the Chord Qutest.

I am doing an upscaling/upsampling exercise for which the Qutest is best suited, of the DACs I have at home.

I replaced my Weiss 204/102psu with the Qutest; powered by an Sbooster and Ultra. This was going into my M-Scaler.

Oh dear. Rather disappointing.

The mids were a tad beached and the bass well controlled, but lacked resonance.

I removed the M-Scaler. The tone improved and the sound was better balanced. But, the soundstage lost detail and three dimensionality.

BUT, the Nimek cables I use to my pre-amp with the Weiss are not well suited to the Qutest. I replaced them with Cardas Ref cables and the sound quality took a nice step forward.

Putting the M-Scaler back restored music.

…so, how much better is the Weiss?

I know that I will be happy with the result when I put it back, but sometimes these great strides forward we all can talk about be somewhat less than we think!

A friend of mine has had to send his Mola Mola Tambaquie back home for repair. In the meantime he is using his old Qutest, and also a Deco DAC. He knows he isn’t getting the full picture, but what is presented is thoroughly enjoyable.

I am always pleasantly surprised by how good the Qutest is for the money. I would place it in the same bracket as the nDAC for a company giving excellent VFM.

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