Really?
Sometimes I wonder if it’s not a Chord forum, lol. 
Why did you buy it?
RME often get mentioned as an alternative to the Chord Qutest , really it’s about distribution .
RME are easy to order from suppliers in UK, but their market is pro-audio and they tend to be the suppliers. Any number of Chord dealers.
I would be prepared to buy without auditioning but always try and do my research first. To a degree with far fewer audio shops , that’s a trend I can see increasing
Going through this forum, I come across brands I’ve never heard of before , such as Denafrips - but they need to increase their reputation or distribution
This has always been a HiFi forum hosted by Naim, rather than a Naim users forum. That is very much to Naim’s credit in my view, and they are a strong enough brand that they can hold their own against the competition.
It’s also a very shrewd move on Naim’s part in my opinion. It allows wider and more interesting discussions, and the predominance of Naim fans here inevitably results in far more people turning from other brands to Naim, and then climbing the upgrade ladder, than doing the opposite.
Besides, nearly all Chord users here are Chord DAC users, and Naim don’t even make a separate DAC any more, so how many sales are they actually losing?
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Denafrips sells directly to consumers from Singapore, so they have a different distribution model without local dealers. They say it’s one of the reasons why they can keep their prices low. Their level of support is apparently quite good, despite them not having local representation.
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You appear to be interested in arguing a point for the sake of something I’m not getting a grasp of.
Let’s make this easy. I have a Chord DAC. It is fugly and the UI is dreadful. It’s also set and forget and sounds great. I don’t have to look at it. I listen to it. I don’t have to worry about whether its technology is new or old or the dogs b. If the looks are a deal breaker for some I totally get that but after years of peeing about trying to get an all Naim system working as it ought I’ve spent the last 9 months listening to more music than I have in years. Pays your money. Takes your choice.
All that said, I think the Denafrips is a better DAC by some distance. I couldn’t care less about how it looks; whether some hilariously believe the mere act of buying outside the UK guarantees a better level of support and service than some of the comically bad dealers we have in the UK; whether the technology is new or old. Does it do what’s it’s supposed to do and do it better than others?
Unlike many here I don’t see “better” and translate that into there being something wrong with my system and thus instantly desire an upgrade. If there was a need rather than a desire then it would be on the list of things to revisit along with no doubt other products which already exist or have yet to appear.
To update what I said earlier, neither Naim nor Chord are the top of the mountain. They are merely one of a number of scenic views and beauty is in the eye of… etc.
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I was more kidding Chrissu
Yes, I realise that, but in practice I think Richard maintains a very good balance, and people should not feel reluctant to discuss whatever hifi they like here as long as it doesn’t turn into a crusade for one of Naim’s competitors.
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Quite rare, a new high end Burr-Brown NOS DAC has just been released by German company T+A. Notable features include a class-A preamplifier with analog meters (yay) and multiple HDMI ports. I think it looks pretty cool.
(price is 5.490 euro)
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I have an NDX 2 and is my first Naim product, all my other dac’s and gear are from other brands. Never had a chord dac and for sure chord plays DSD much better than any Naim streamer.
And chord is a very solid brand as a lot of other brands. But in a Naim forum is understandable that the users have found a good synergy of chord with Naim amplifiers.
I found the Qutest dry and unexciting compared to bare Naim DAC in a 3 week home trial.
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Who care about the tech.
What does it sound like.
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Was surprised at the hype for the Mojo. Very disappointed when I finally heard one with headphones.
Expected much better from the Qutest but after a similar period to yourself I can’t say dry was the word I’d use. I would say that it was incredibly forward and in your face. As that front row quality is something many love with Naim I’m not surprised it has much love with Naim but it was far too much for the family and I. Pity really as it would have saved a nice chunk of money.
The Naim DAC is an interesting one. Much less of the front row quality of the Qutest but much loved by some Naim fans for exactly that reason. It’s a decent DAC but it was never a class leader and there was always a sense of it being a bit of an interim “we ought to have one of these in the catalogue” sense to it. A stopping point on a road map still being drawn but by no means a destination.
In a straight battle with my Hugo TT2, having been offered a third hand Naim DAC, I found it had similar qualities - 8 rows back rather than front row - but didn’t have a lead in any one of them. Not as good on PRaT. Nice on timbre but not as good as the Chord and so on.
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Who cares about tech is just easy way out approach to issues which are all about engineering
For me chord Dac got the best and most involving sound in terms of timing, resolution and bandwidth. Also the unique ability to extract more information from the recording in terms of the start and ending of a note. Got the best transient resolution also
No other company even talks about transient accuracy. As I switch from Mojo to Dave and Dave with Mscaler it’s quite audible with snare drums getting more dynamic and sounding a lot more realistic as more information especially start and end of the snare drum is extracted.
So for me Chord With it’s unique transient accuracy Beats the best products of Linn, DCS and Naim
Others might disagree and that’s fine. The chord is transparent to the streamer driving it and not all prepared to set one up properly. Including using a quality digital cable and analogue interconnect. Which is maybe why not all get the full potential of a chord Dac
For me the mojo is the best hi fi product I own as it gives me music on the road and is small enough to go anywhere
Unless you’ve tested and measured simply hundreds, perhaps thousands of DACs, that is not a fact but a subjective opinion. And if you’ve come to that conclusion from listening to only about 30 DACs (which would already be a large number), then it’s nothing more than your best guess dressed in fact’s clothing based on their marketing hype and conversations with their engineers.
I seriously doubt even Chord, behind the green curtain, are able to chisel those claims in stone having also not tested every DAC out there. Because no one reasonably can.
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My best advice is you simply need to try for yourself and that goes for everything.
I can tell you what I like and works well with what I have, but it all means nothing really.
As for me the nd555 didn’t do much more than a nds
Chord, especially the dave was cold and clinical
The dcs rossini and clock was just stunning.
Everyone is different so you need to do the leg work.
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Are you sure about that Mike? I seem to recall that it was very well received indeed at the time - definitely placed right at the top of the class by the critics, and it won a bunch of awards, including WHF’s Best Hi end DAC a couple of years running; “Naim’s first DAC is a great one. It’s right up there with the best and is at the cutting edge at this price”.
If WHF isn’t hi-end enough for you, there is of course Martin Colloms’ review from Hifi Critic which is still available online as a pdf download, and Tone Audio’s reviews as well.
Well, I’m glad you’ve got a DAC (or 3), and more importantly a hifi system (or 3), that you enjoy.
Your reasons why are because you like transient resolution, timing, resolution, bandwidth, and the ability to extract more information from the recording in terms of the start and ending of a note.
That’s not how I listen.
I listen holistically - to the music.
Do I get drawn into and enjoy Keith Jarrett, Jack de Johnette and Gary Peacock - or Charlie Haden, Paul Bley and Paul Motian - or Bill Evans, Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro…each trio’s music as they played it that particular day?
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Right, well said.
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I’d tell that everyone listens to the music. However, the devices, speakers, headphones, introduce some coloring, noise, distortions, etc. These things might not please your hearing because everyone is different and unique.
Say, I was totally indifferent to jazz, blues, and vocal until I bought my Spendor 
Since then I’ve been listening, say, to Cohen, Diana Krall, Beth Hart, and Bonamassa. However, I’ve found that other guys such as Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, and ZZ Top became a bit dull, crumpled with the same Spendor.
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