Chord Qutest

[feelingears]

58 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

I get the sense also that these guys don’t pay much mind to what Rob says about power supplies as their own experiences tell them that he may have a blind spot there.  Again, I’m not trying to beat up on Rob - he’s a freaking genius.  But he’s human just like the rest of us and that means he’s not omniscient. 
 

 

"The dogma is strong with that one..." 😉

 

There's another well-known and very successful audio company that makes great products but eschews commentary on what we as their consumers, hear or don't hear. Just as well, and yet because of how prominent they are, and because of how their demographic is influenced by them, I wish they would "care" about power and cables as much as the more discerning ears here do. Regrettably, we're all simply human and they have their blind spots as we all do.

 

My dogma: Everything counts in large amounts, and clean power uber alles, and YMMV. 

 

When I try a Qutest someday, it will be with "audiophile-grade" power. Nothing to fear but hearing itself. 😀

[feelingears]

2 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

But that begs the question....My Qutest becomes a $2700 DAC....should I sell and simply buy a new DAC such as a Denafrips Venus?

 

I recently spent a couple weeks with the Qutest, Denafrips Pontus II, and Schiit Yggdrasil A2 in my home system. 

 

YMMV: In relative terms, the Qutest has distinctive qualities that present sound with a consistently propulsive drive and tonal detail without being lush or warm, per se. The Pontus II (and by extrapolation, the Venus and Terminator, based on Hans B's videos) presents sound with a more "human" musical pace, and with a less incisive, less-fast rising sonic attack that is more like natural sound, to my ears. Detail is also there but less in-your-face, calling attention to itself like it can with Qutest.

I like them both, but they are not interchangeable components, they are apples and oranges to my ears, and system/room matching would be (should be) very important. 

 

I would also say the Yggy is not between them on a linear scale, but via AES input the Yggy is a nice blend of the two, leaning more towards the Qutest in terms of propulsion and sonic attack.

 

YMMV–buy what you like. Between these three units, price is not a determining factor of your sound. Your preferences and the style of music you like and your ears are.