Chord Qutest demo

flammenwerfer posted:

“The Hugo had a nice bass..”

What happened to the Qutest?

I think you understand I ment Qutest, Flammenwerfer. For me Chord stands for Hugo, since it was that dac that made them so famous four years ago. It was of course the Qutest. 

Bob the Builder posted:

Thanks for taking the time to post your findings it just goes to show that to some of us improvements in technology do not always mean an improvement in sound,  I think this just proves that we all prefer different things which is great.

Thank you Bob. I really agree with you, and I also think it is great that we like different. What a boring world it would be if there only was one objective "good".

Emre posted:

If DACs are more like a preference thing rather than fast paced technology maybe we need a just streamer rather than dac/streamer, which I think they add few things vs old ones, like stability, new streaming services, Roon etc

maybe we can connect them to two DACs and enjoy them... old and new ones

 

I Emre. 
I think it is a nice thing to have different dacs if one can afford them. Like Simon said I would probably like the Chord for bigger orchestra (When I said I Liked the Naim on Vivaldi it was because it was a piece with few elements, the one with Galliano on accordion) music and Naim for Rock, Trio jazz, pop etc. 

On the other hand transport can make a really big difference. I startet with NDX and I am now on SOTM-sms 200 into Teddyspdf/usb into dac... It seems like every part plays a smaller or bigger part. 

Fred

NJB posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

Thanks for taking the time to post your findings it just goes to show that to some of us improvements in technology do not always mean an improvement in sound,  I think this just proves that we all prefer different things which is great.

I am a firm believer that it is the synergy between the various components that is the critical ‘extra’ that elevates a good sounding system to one that is excellent.  And, let’s not forget, that we all have different views on what excellent is.  Given the progress over the years with digital reproduction, we are normally talking about different rather than clearly better, which leaves it to the listener to decide what they prefer. 

That is exactly my findings through this whole experience, NJB. I Also think that there is something in our time that makes us think "new is always better because of taps and technology etc" which is not always true for everyone. I think one should really try out new stuff in their own setup and be critical to throwing out old for new to fast. 

Regards 

Fredrik

NJB posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

I think this just proves that we all prefer different things which is great.

  And, let’s not forget, that we all have different views on what excellent is.  Given the progress over the years with digital reproduction, we are normally talking about different rather than clearly better, which leaves it to the listener to decide what they prefer. 

Of course, depending what the difference is, one may sound clearly better to one person, though just different to another...

it of course is all subjective, as indeed is the music we listen to through our systems.

i think the difficulty is when someone new to hifi, coming with no preconceptions, wants to know what is “good”, or seeks guidance on what is “best” only to find there are a plethora of different views, and they can end up confused and disheartened. Easy when there is an unbiased dealer available who is able and willing to demonstrate many different things to help the person decide, and a large number of people don’t have access to such dealers, and it is they who need the most objective descriptions of sound and differences because they may have no option but to assemble a system on paper and just buy, places like this forum supplementing manufacturers claims and specs, and whatever veviews there may be out there.

Fred11 posted:

flammenwerfer posted:

“The Hugo had a nice bass..”

What happened to the Qutest?

I think you understand I ment Qutest, Flammenwerfer. For me Chord stands for Hugo, since it was that dac that made them so famous four years ago. It was of course the Qutest. 

I’m looking to upgrade to the Qutest from the Mojo, so thanks for the review.

It’ll be nice to take BNC out from my Uniti Core to the BNC in on the Qutest.

And perhaps make use the other Qutest BNC input when an M-scaler comes along.

flammenwerfer posted:

Fred11 posted:

flammenwerfer posted:

“The Hugo had a nice bass..”

What happened to the Qutest?

I think you understand I ment Qutest, Flammenwerfer. For me Chord stands for Hugo, since it was that dac that made them so famous four years ago. It was of course the Qutest. 

I’m looking to upgrade to the Qutest from the Mojo, so thanks for the review.

It’ll be nice to take BNC out from my Uniti Core to the BNC in on the Qutest.

And perhaps make use the other Qutest BNC input when an M-scaler comes along.

Dear Flammenwerfer

You are welcome. Try and do a demo at your own place with your equipment and find what works best for you. Perhaps dangerous to make up ones mind before deciding. 

Fred

Innocent Bystander posted:

Fred11 posted:

The overall winner is...... The NDAC! To our ears it was rawer, gutsier and also offered more insight into the midband, attacks was more pronounced and much more fun to listen to. And this is without the PSU! Ok. The Hugo had a nice bass, an easiness and perhaps a analogue feel. But the midband felt really recessed, compared to the Ndac. Our foot stopped tapping and our blood stopped rushing with the Chord. 

 

 So, a key question is, does the nDAC have an emphasised midrange, or does the Qutest have a recessed midrange?

(An emplasised midband is sometimes hinted at as a Naim Sound trait?  don’t know the Qutest, but other Hugo range DACs seem generally regarded as neutral.)

The Naim got the emphasized midband.

ive done the test many times myself.

the chord has a more liquid and agile way to play music but without any mid range emphasis.

analogmusic posted:

were the interconnects the same for both?

also about using modded kit - not so sure your results are valid.

But if it makes you happy... LOL

analogmusic posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Fred11 posted:

The overall winner is...... The NDAC! To our ears it was rawer, gutsier and also offered more insight into the midband, attacks was more pronounced and much more fun to listen to. And this is without the PSU! Ok. The Hugo had a nice bass, an easiness and perhaps a analogue feel. But the midband felt really recessed, compared to the Ndac. Our foot stopped tapping and our blood stopped rushing with the Chord. 

 

 So, a key question is, does the nDAC have an emphasised midrange, or does the Qutest have a recessed midrange?

(An emplasised midband is sometimes hinted at as a Naim Sound trait?  don’t know the Qutest, but other Hugo range DACs seem generally regarded as neutral.)

The Naim got the emphasized midband.

ive done the test many times myself.

the chord has a more liquid and agile way to play music but without any mid range emphasis.

analogmusic posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Fred11 posted:

The overall winner is...... The NDAC! To our ears it was rawer, gutsier and also offered more insight into the midband, attacks was more pronounced and much more fun to listen to. And this is without the PSU! Ok. The Hugo had a nice bass, an easiness and perhaps a analogue feel. But the midband felt really recessed, compared to the Ndac. Our foot stopped tapping and our blood stopped rushing with the Chord. 

 

 So, a key question is, does the nDAC have an emphasised midrange, or does the Qutest have a recessed midrange?

(An emplasised midband is sometimes hinted at as a Naim Sound trait?  don’t know the Qutest, but other Hugo range DACs seem generally regarded as neutral.)

The Naim got the emphasized midband.

ive done the test many times myself.

the chord has a more liquid and agile way to play music but without any mid range emphasis.

I agere on this. But for me, I happen to like the emphasis. It makes the music more engaging. Drums stand out, solos makes you sweat and snaredrums hit you in the chest. But as you write, Chord is more liquidy, absolutely.

fred

analogmusic posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Fred11 posted:

The overall winner is...... The NDAC! To our ears it was rawer, gutsier and also offered more insight into the midband, attacks was more pronounced and much more fun to listen to. And this is without the PSU! Ok. The Hugo had a nice bass, an easiness and perhaps a analogue feel. But the midband felt really recessed, compared to the Ndac. Our foot stopped tapping and our blood stopped rushing with the Chord. 

 

 So, a key question is, does the nDAC have an emphasised midrange, or does the Qutest have a recessed midrange?

(An emplasised midband is sometimes hinted at as a Naim Sound trait?  don’t know the Qutest, but other Hugo range DACs seem generally regarded as neutral.)

The Naim got the emphasized midband.

ive done the test many times myself.

the chord has a more liquid and agile way to play music but without any mid range emphasis.

Ali, the NDAC/555PS certainly has no emphasised mid band, if anything it’s slightly recessed in my experience. What the NDAC/555PS has is a slightly enhanced bass which can work quite well with some genres.

There is a thickening of vocals Simon....

analogmusic posted:

There is a thickening of vocals Simon....

What does that even mean ?

Fred11 posted:

analogmusic posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Fred11 posted:

The overall winner is...... The NDAC! To our ears it was rawer, gutsier and also offered more insight into the midband, attacks was more pronounced and much more fun to listen to. And this is without the PSU! Ok. The Hugo had a nice bass, an easiness and perhaps a analogue feel. But the midband felt really recessed, compared to the Ndac. Our foot stopped tapping and our blood stopped rushing with the Chord. 

 

 So, a key question is, does the nDAC have an emphasised midrange, or does the Qutest have a recessed midrange?

(An emplasised midband is sometimes hinted at as a Naim Sound trait?  don’t know the Qutest, but other Hugo range DACs seem generally regarded as neutral.)

The Naim got the emphasized midband.

ive done the test many times myself.

the chord has a more liquid and agile way to play music but without any mid range emphasis.

I agere on this. But for me, I happen to like the emphasis. It makes the music more engaging. Drums stand out, solos makes you sweat and snaredrums hit you in the chest. But as you write, Chord is more liquidy, absolutely.

fred

Sometimes at live gigs the snare drum is over-emphasised, too loud, detracting from the performance, and I don’t like it. To me, drums are musical instruments, and are best played that way, keeping the rhythm, yes, but not above other instruments, and the other percussion should be playing their parts effectively - and it should be the bass drum rather than the snare that hits you in the chest, or makes your trousers flap (combined with an underscoring bass line that you feel as well as hear...)

Of course, it all depends on the musical style, and I find it interesting that there seems to be a disproportionate (to me) number of people liking jazz amongst the Naim fratrnity, so perhaps there is something in that. (As a generalisation, I don’t like jazz!)

Fred11 posted:

Emre posted:

If DACs are more like a preference thing rather than fast paced technology maybe we need a just streamer rather than dac/streamer, which I think they add few things vs old ones, like stability, new streaming services, Roon etc

maybe we can connect them to two DACs and enjoy them... old and new ones

 

I Emre. 
I think it is a nice thing to have different dacs if one can afford them. Like Simon said I would probably like the Chord for bigger orchestra (When I said I Liked the Naim on Vivaldi it was because it was a piece with few elements, the one with Galliano on accordion) music and Naim for Rock, Trio jazz, pop etc. 

On the other hand transport can make a really big difference. I startet with NDX and I am now on SOTM-sms 200 into Teddyspdf/usb into dac... It seems like every part plays a smaller or bigger part. 

Fred

My excat feelings for hugo vs naim

i have AK sp1000 and listened wm1z dap

both very good both very different animals

technical vs warm

i like both if i can afford best of the two world

since i sold my 272 very much interested in sotm/hugo combo till i save enough for one of the new streamers, like to hear your comments

Emre posted:

My excat feelings for hugo vs naim

i have AK sp1000 and listened wm1z dap

both very good both very different animals

technical vs warm

i like both if i can afford best of the two world

since i sold my 272 very much interested in sotm/hugo combo till i save enough for one of the new streamers, like to hear your comments

Why aim for one of the new streamers if you have chosen a good DAC - even more of a question if you decide it is good to use different DACs for different music? Wouldn't it be better to get a goodcrenderer, and stick with thevDA(s), and/pr then upgrade the DACs separately?

Innocent Bystander posted:

Emre posted:

My excat feelings for hugo vs naim

i have AK sp1000 and listened wm1z dap

both very good both very different animals

technical vs warm

i like both if i can afford best of the two world

since i sold my 272 very much interested in sotm/hugo combo till i save enough for one of the new streamers, like to hear your comments

Why aim for one of the new streamers if you have chosen a good DAC - even more of a question if you decide it is good to use different DACs for different music? Wouldn't it be better to get a goodcrenderer, and stick with thevDA(s), and/pr then upgrade the DACs separately?

definitely , with 272 you can not use a separate DAC but Naim streamer is always a good transport with out being a computer engineer...  having 555PSDR and SL DIN/DIN ready is also a factor for me to choose Naim streamer....

then i can add a chord or some other brand is depends on budget and differences in SQ