Naim Dac or Chord 2qute for USB-connection

I only know the Hugo, however it seems that a majority who have heard both prefer the Hugo. Not sure why that is because according to Chord the key parts are the same, however it mightbbe something to do with the output stage as the 2Qute's is clearly different, not being designed for headphones.

what the Hugo lacks is isolation on its electrical inputs, which is/can be an issue with computer-based sources, these inevitably having electrically noisy (RF-rich) outputs, even if the stock power supply is replaced with a linear one. One solution is optical connection from the computer, but that limits quality to the computer's soundcard, which although better than a noisy electrical connection doesn't normally have the same potential quality as a dedicated USNpB output bypassing the sound card, but for that an isolator of some sort is needed between computer and Hugo. Apparently that is not true for the 2Qute, but possibly SQ then being limited by the DAC's possibly lesser performance than Hugo.

If I understand correctly nDAC has better isolation than Hugo, but it doesn't have a USB input so you either have to suffer the quality from the computer's soundcard or use a USB-SPDIF isolator, most if not all of which are also isolators that would be usable with the Hugo.

perhaps you need to audition Hugo, 2Qute and nDAC to decide which has the right character for you, in your system.

You cannot connect a computer to nDAC via USB; the USB port only supports iPods and thumb drives etc.

You would need a HiFace or Gustard, I am told; or just use an optical cable -- it is what I do.

Nick

I think you have to be pretty careful here: the (synchronous) USB input on the Naim DAC is for iOS devices or memory sticks / external drives... I don't think it is suitable for use with a USB connection to an external computer, since that requires an asynchronous input, which in the Naim family means a V1. Perhaps a closer look at specs, or advice from an N-DAC owner is what you need next.

Regards, alan

You can use a Naim DAC but not via its USB port - as others have explained, they are only for USB sticks or IOS devices.   To use the Naim DAC you should use a dedicated USB-S/pdif convertor.  In fact, if going direct from a computer, whether your DAC has a USB input or not, you will most likely find that the best dedicated USB-s/pdif convertors will be rather better than any onboard solution in your DAC.

I ran my Mac via USB with the DacV1 for a long time and was pretty happy with it. If you really want to use your computer I think it is a good solution because of the asynchronous USB-mode. But with a NAS in use I personally would think about a streamer like nd5xs (also for movies via SPDIF) especially when you plan to get a Supernait2. I ran the V1 with the Nac202/Nap200-combo only as a Dac and for other sources than USB it's a different league than the ndac I later got. So for me the question would be: Do I use computer AND nas for a longer time?

Indeed the 2 Qute is not quite up to the Hugo but is slightly cheaper (and has the words.... no it doesn't).

I use one in my system connected to a MacMini, some good improvement can be made with various interconnect and USB leads.

DAC V1 can use USB input but again is Hugo ish price. 

Hugo of course is portable as well maybe that is a useful feature for you.

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

I'm not too sure about batteries, but I think what has been suggested on here most commonly is that that on the Hugo, you can adjust the volume output whereas you can't with the 2Qute. The higher output of the 2Qute may well be the culprit as I believe that this may just be a bit too hot for Naim preamps which introduces a slight hardness to the sound. So I'm not too sure whether a better power supply dor the 2Qute would make a difference or not. 

Mayor West posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

I'm not too sure about batteries, but I think what has been suggested on here most commonly is that that on the Hugo, you can adjust the volume output whereas you can't with the 2Qute. The higher output of the 2Qute may well be the culprit as I believe that this may just be a bit too hot for Naim preamps which introduces a slight hardness to the sound. So I'm not too sure whether a better power supply dor the 2Qute would make a difference or not. 

The 3v output of the 2Qute was mentioned a while ago and I confirmed with Naim support that in my case the 272 was fine up to 9v RMS, so it doesn't appear to be that.

I don't experience the harness in the sound with the 2Qute although I've not compared it with a Hugo.

I'm planning to order a Paul Hynes SR3 PSU for the 2Qute so it will be interesting to see what it brings to the party. 

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

I'm not too sure about batteries, but I think what has been suggested on here most commonly is that that on the Hugo, you can adjust the volume output whereas you can't with the 2Qute. The higher output of the 2Qute may well be the culprit as I believe that this may just be a bit too hot for Naim preamps which introduces a slight hardness to the sound. So I'm not too sure whether a better power supply dor the 2Qute would make a difference or not. 

The 3v output of the 2Qute was mentioned a while ago and I confirmed with Naim support that in my case the 272 was fine up to 9v RMS, so it doesn't appear to be that.

I don't experience the harness in the sound with the 2Qute although I've not compared it with a Hugo.

I'm planning to order a Paul Hynes SR3 PSU for the 2Qute so it will be interesting to see what it brings to the party. 

 

That's interesting, although there are many others who are happy with their 2Qute so I assume it must be a system dependant thing as to whether you experience any harshness or not. It will be interesting to hear how you go on with the Paul Hynes PSU.

How does the 2Qute compare to the DAC in the 272?

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

Not in my experience (Linear PS).

G

GraemeH posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

Not in my experience (Linear PS).

G

Would you mind expanding on that?

Paulebarrow posted:

GraemeH posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

Not in my experience (Linear PS).

G

Would you mind expanding on that?

 

 

I had a Hugo, changed to a 2Qute but the slight 'edge' irritated so I tried an MCRU Linear PS which (after initially convincing myself otherwise) made no difference. Repurchased a Hugo and the sound was nicely restored to the quality I remember.

G

GraemeH posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

GraemeH posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

Not in my experience (Linear PS).

G

Would you mind expanding on that?

 

 

I had a Hugo, changed to a 2Qute but the slight 'edge' irritated so I tried an MCRU Linear PS which (after initially convincing myself otherwise) made no difference. Repurchased a Hugo and the sound was nicely restored to the quality I remember.

G

Did you notice this "edge" of the 2qute even when it was connected through usb into a computer?

hifinerdwannabe posted:

GraemeH posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

GraemeH posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

Not in my experience (Linear PS).

G

Would you mind expanding on that?

 

 

I had a Hugo, changed to a 2Qute but the slight 'edge' irritated so I tried an MCRU Linear PS which (after initially convincing myself otherwise) made no difference. Repurchased a Hugo and the sound was nicely restored to the quality I remember.

G

Did you notice this "edge" of the 2qute even when it was connected through usb into a computer?

No - SPdif BNC-BNC is the only connection I use.

G

For me the 2Qute into a 272 works well, which might be related to the lower input sensitivity of the 272 compared to e.g. 282.

Although the 2Qute is superior to the 272's internal DAC IMHO, I'm keen to try a Hugo TT, too...

S

Though still keen to hear back from Paul if the PaulHynes PSU makes a difference to the 2Qute. I seem to remember that Watts himself was surprised about the neglegible effects of PSUs/batteries on the Hugo-family - which fits to Graeme's finding.

Mayor West posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

Paulebarrow posted:

Mayor West posted:

I can't comment on the Naim DAC. But as others have said, Hugo seems to better 2Qute over USB even though it isn't supposed to. Defnitely woth auditioning all three I would say.

From what I understand the Hugo and 2Qute are effectively the same DAC technology implemented in different ways. i.e. for mobile use and static. However, the fundamental difference as far a as I can see is Hugo is battery powered and 2Qute from a small switcher, so Is it the battery that gives Hugo the edge?

If so could a better power supply (linear) on the 2Qute make the difference or even a battery supply?

I'm not too sure about batteries, but I think what has been suggested on here most commonly is that that on the Hugo, you can adjust the volume output whereas you can't with the 2Qute. The higher output of the 2Qute may well be the culprit as I believe that this may just be a bit too hot for Naim preamps which introduces a slight hardness to the sound. So I'm not too sure whether a better power supply dor the 2Qute would make a difference or not. 

The 3v output of the 2Qute was mentioned a while ago and I confirmed with Naim support that in my case the 272 was fine up to 9v RMS, so it doesn't appear to be that.

I don't experience the harness in the sound with the 2Qute although I've not compared it with a Hugo.

I'm planning to order a Paul Hynes SR3 PSU for the 2Qute so it will be interesting to see what it brings to the party. 

 

That's interesting, although there are many others who are happy with their 2Qute so I assume it must be a system dependant thing as to whether you experience any harshness or not. It will be interesting to hear how you go on with the Paul Hynes PSU.

How does the 2Qute compare to the DAC in the 272?

I think you're correct that it's system dependent as it is with many things.

I had never intended to move away from the internal DAC of the 272 as I was very happy with the sound of my system. However, having read so much about Hugo etc I wanted to check out what all the fuss was about and borrowed a 2Qute. The fact that it's now a permenent feature of my system, I guess tell's the story.

Whilst the 272 DAC is excellent, the 2Qute just produces a wonderful open and airy sound with oodles of detail & depth. There was no going back.

A pal of mine has just recently added the Paul Hynes SR3 to his microRendu. I heard his system yesterday and it's a no brainer so thats the direction I'm going to take with the that and the 2Qute.

Stefan Vogt posted:

Though still keen to hear back from Paul if the PaulHynes PSU makes a difference to the 2Qute. I seem to remember that Watts himself was surprised about the neglegible effects of PSUs/batteries on the Hugo-family - which fits to Graeme's finding.

 

The nice thing about the Hugo it is completely immune from its PSU. In fact whilst listening and enjoying it, shut your eyes and get someone to silently disconnect the PSU... you don't they know when they have done it, you don't notice a thing, thete is no change at all to the sound... very impressive.