Jimmypowder Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 2Qute continues to amaze! Just listened to James Taylor - Gorilla - Steve Hoffman master 24K gold cd ripped to flac.Just amazing SQ. IDK how it could be any better. It's a very very good dac . Link to comment
DrN Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm using a quteHD with an LPS and it's the best digital I have heard. Regen on the way. I did not like the Sabre DACs I have heard.The Oppo is very over rated unless using for home theater systems. http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/11392.html System profile Link to comment
Jimmypowder Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm using a quteHD with an LPS and it's the best digital I have heard. Regen on the way. I did not like the Sabre DACs I have heard.The Oppo is very over rated unless using for home theater systems. What LPS are you using ? Link to comment
Jimmypowder Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 The Chord 2qute freaks me out sometimes with cymbals . Very very realistic . Feels like the drummer is in the room . Link to comment
audio.bill Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 The Chord 2qute freaks me out sometimes with cymbals . Very very realistic . Feels like the drummer is in the room . I find that cymbals are generally one of the hardest instruments for digital to recreate realistically, since too often they are reproduced with an overall graininess instead of wood hitting metal and being able to capture their shimmer and natural decay. I can't wait to hear the upcoming top of the line Chord DAVE, with its designer and advanced technology I expect it to reach an entirely new standard in digital playback. Link to comment
Rexp Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 The Chord 2qute freaks me out sometimes with cymbals . Very very realistic . Feels like the drummer is in the room . Cool, how does it sound with the bass drum? I tried the Hugo and felt it robbed the power from John Bonham's drumming (The IFI Micro was better in this regard). Link to comment
Jimmypowder Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Cool, how does it sound with the bass drum? I tried the Hugo and felt it robbed the power from John Bonham's drumming (The IFI Micro was better in this regard). Ill play Moby Dick and let you know . Link to comment
Jimmypowder Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Cool, how does it sound with the bass drum? I tried the Hugo and felt it robbed the power from John Bonham's drumming (The IFI Micro was better in this regard). In no way is the Ifi micro idsd a better dac than the Chord 2qute. I have both . The Micro plays Dsd better though . johndoe21ro 1 Link to comment
Jimmypowder Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Cool, how does it sound with the bass drum? I tried the Hugo and felt it robbed the power from John Bonham's drumming (The IFI Micro was better in this regard). Just listened to remastered version of Moby Dick on small kef ls50's ,not exactly rock speakers. Using 2Qute with Primaluna integrated amp and KT120 tubes(good for rock) and I see plenty of Bonham's power and didn't even turn it up very loud. Cymbals shimmered with outstanding clarity and decay. Link to comment
al210 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 In no way is the Ifi micro idsd a better dac than the Chord 2qute. I have both . The Micro plays Dsd better though . ifi great DAC for the price but 2Qute is in a whole other league. I have had/auditioned 3 other DACs in the $1200 or less range. In my system the 2Qute just blew them away. My redbook stuff never sounded so good. If I didn't know I would swear some of it was HI-Res material. My Hi-res files 96 & 192K sound awesome as well. DSD sounds good to. I was buying mostly SACDs and ripping them with a ps3 because my previous DACs sounded the best with these hi res files. I feel that now I can buy more redbooks and lower hi res material and save money because the 2Qute does a fantastic job with the lower formats over other DACs. Sonictransport i9, DCS Bartok Apex DAC/Streamer REL Acoustics S/510 Sub Woofer Audionet Watt Integrated Amp - Vivid Audio Kaya 45 loudspeakers Link to comment
Jimmypowder Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 ifi great DAC for the price but 2Qute is in a whole other league. I have had/auditioned 3 other DACs in the $1200 or less range. In my system the 2Qute just blew them away. My redbook stuff never sounded so good. If I didn't know I would swear some of it was HI-Res material. My Hi-res files 96 & 192K sound awesome as well. DSD sounds good to. I was buying mostly SACDs and ripping them with a ps3 because my previous DACs sounded the best with these hi res files. I feel that now I can buy more redbooks and lower hi res material and save money because the 2Qute does a fantastic job with the lower formats over other DACs. The 2qute destroys my Benchmark 2 hgc but the Benchmark is great with headphones and has a preamp .the Benchmark will likely be my last sabre dac . Link to comment
Norton Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 ifi great DAC for the price but 2Qute is in a whole other league. I have had/auditioned 3 other DACs in the $1200 or less range. In my system the 2Qute just blew them away. My redbook stuff never sounded so good. If I didn't know I would swear some of it was HI-Res material. My Hi-res files 96 & 192K sound awesome as well. DSD sounds good to. I was buying mostly SACDs and ripping them with a ps3 because my previous DACs sounded the best with these hi res files. I feel that now I can buy more redbooks and lower hi res material and save money because the 2Qute does a fantastic job with the lower formats over other DACs. Pretty much exactly mirrors my experience with the Hugo. Made me think for the first time that perhaps just doing RBCD right is the way to go. Link to comment
al210 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Pretty much exactly mirrors my experience with the Hugo. Made me think for the first time that perhaps just doing RBCD right is the way to go. Right Norton. Its quit amazing to me. Ive pulled out redbooks that I have not listened to in a long while because they just didn't sound good. This dac is making a difference for sure. Sonictransport i9, DCS Bartok Apex DAC/Streamer REL Acoustics S/510 Sub Woofer Audionet Watt Integrated Amp - Vivid Audio Kaya 45 loudspeakers Link to comment
Rexp Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Just listened to remastered version of Moby Dick on small kef ls50's ,not exactly rock speakers. Using 2Qute with Primaluna integrated amp and KT120 tubes(good for rock) and I see plenty of Bonham's power and didn't even turn it up very loud. Cymbals shimmered with outstanding clarity and decay. Thanks for the insights, much appreciated! Link to comment
Norton Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Cymbals shimmered with outstanding clarity and decay. Although I'm listening to Classical and on the Hugo not the 2Qute, cymbals are exactly where I also really noticed the SQ - instead of hearing a single brief note, with the Hugo I can hear that a cymbal clash is actually made up of a cascade of different "micro-notes" that then change and decay over time. Link to comment
photonblur Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 USA LPS? Would prefer to avoid shipping/return complications from Israel and Britain etc. Gotta b black. Budget $400. thanks- pb Link to comment
Melvin Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I also used one of these with my Qute Ex: KingRex psu mkii power supply at Moon Audio Link to comment
nick77 Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 USA LPS? Would prefer to avoid shipping/return complicationsfrom Israel and Britain etc. Gotta b black. Budget $400. thanks- pb My Sigma11 diy supply has proved to be quite adequate. These guys will build one for you, quoted me $300. YBM Audio products The σ11 regulated power supply Holo Spring Kitsume Level 3, Singxer SU-1 Link to comment
al210 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Have been listening to my 2qute hooked up to an Acopian "A" series LPS for the last 3 days. Their "A" series is supposed to be their high performance option. I can honestly say that I don't really notice any sonic benefit at least in my system. 2015 Mac mini running HQ player - Audioquest Cinnamon USB to 2Qute. Your milage may vary but all my gear is running off AC line filters and UPS units running on a dedicated single circuit. This may make the use of an LPS less effective. Sonictransport i9, DCS Bartok Apex DAC/Streamer REL Acoustics S/510 Sub Woofer Audionet Watt Integrated Amp - Vivid Audio Kaya 45 loudspeakers Link to comment
jtwrace Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Yeah, 300 hours is what I found with almost all the Qute and Hugo series. It's quite linear after about 200 hours. I will detail more in my review, but last night I installed the Amber Regen into the 2Qute. My source is the HQPlayer NAA (Caps dn2800MT) with JCAT card, and the card is powered by a Red Wine modded Acopian linear 5V. Card filter is off. The Regen is powered by an Uptone JS-2 at 7V (I think, maybe 9). The 2Quet is powered by a Hynes SR3-12. The improvement was substantial, both in terms of noise floor and soundstage solidity, a remarkable achievement given the level of optimization already on the table. (Note: The Regen requires an umbilical since there is no room for it at the USB port; on the back panel of the 2Qute the space between the USB and RCA outputs is too tight to fit interconnects and the Regen body/adapter. A 90 degree adapter would work, leaving the Regen on its side) HQplayer was not upsampling redbook, only 24 bit stuff to either 176 or 192. Poly sinc-short-mp. When do you try the JS-2 in place of the Hynes? W10 NUC i7 (Gen 10) > Roon (Audiolense FIR) > Motu UltraLite mk5 > (4) Hypex NCore NC502MP > JBL M2 Master Reference +4 subs Watch my Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMw_bZWBMtRWNJQfTJ38kA/videos Link to comment
ted_b Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 When do you try the JS-2 in place of the Hynes? Jason, I have but probably failed to report on it. The Hynes and JS-2 are identical on the 2Qute (which Rob Watts says is immune to 3rd party linears; just use the wallwart). Both provide a step up in sq that is less than what the Hynes did on the other Qute series stuff. But either is clearly worthwhile. However, on the exaSound the JS-2 is a better, more fluid and heftier sounding ps than the Hynes. Weird stuff. Thanks for the reminder. I'm am so buried by all this. johndoe21ro 1 "We're all bozos on this bus"....F.T. My JRIver tutorial videos Actual JRIver tutorial MP4 video links My eleven yr old SACD Ripping Guide for PS3 (needs updating but still works) US Technical Advisor, NativeDSD.com Link to comment
jtwrace Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Jason, I have but probably failed to report on it. The Hynes and JS-2 are identical on the 2Qute (which Rob Watts says is immune to 3rd party linears; just use the wallwart). Both provide a step up in sq that is less than what the Hynes did on the other Qute series stuff. But either is clearly worthwhile. However, on the exaSound the JS-2 is a better, more fluid and heftier sounding ps than the Hynes. Weird stuff. Thanks for the reminder. I'm am so buried by all this. Thanks! W10 NUC i7 (Gen 10) > Roon (Audiolense FIR) > Motu UltraLite mk5 > (4) Hypex NCore NC502MP > JBL M2 Master Reference +4 subs Watch my Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMw_bZWBMtRWNJQfTJ38kA/videos Link to comment
al210 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Have been listening to my 2qute hooked up to an Acopian "A" series LPS for the last 3 days. Their "A" series is supposed to be their high performance option. I can honestly say that I don't really notice any sonic benefit at least in my system. 2015 Mac mini running HQ player - Audioquest Cinnamon USB to 2Qute. Your milage may vary but all my gear is running off AC line filters and UPS units running on a dedicated single circuit. This may make the use of an LPS less effective. I have to revise my quote above. I initially thought that the 2Qute sounded no different between the wallwort and the Acopian LPS. After listening to the 2Qute with the LPS for several days, I went back to the wallwort and noticed that the bass did not sound as detailed as with the LPS. What I noticed the most was more clarity on bass guitar notes. It wasn't a night and day difference but there was a noticeable difference depending on the track being played. Sonictransport i9, DCS Bartok Apex DAC/Streamer REL Acoustics S/510 Sub Woofer Audionet Watt Integrated Amp - Vivid Audio Kaya 45 loudspeakers Link to comment
photonblur Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 My review will be out in a couple weeks. I own the Hugo and the Qute EX and have reviewed or commented heavily on both. Are you still planning to release this review? Link to comment
ted_b Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Are you still planning to release this review? Yes, I'm a bit behind (duh!). "We're all bozos on this bus"....F.T. My JRIver tutorial videos Actual JRIver tutorial MP4 video links My eleven yr old SACD Ripping Guide for PS3 (needs updating but still works) US Technical Advisor, NativeDSD.com Link to comment
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