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Chord Qutest——>No difference

Just picked up a pre-owned Chord Qutest (off Audiogon) and hear no difference against my Bluesound Node’s internal DAC. The two are connected via a Chord Company:

  • C-USB Cable - Type A to B

The Node registers the Qutest, which seems to be operational bc the sample rate indicator changes color. Still, it sounds the same.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Charlie

128x128teh_chucksta
ddude003
161 posts
 

You might try and change the output voltage (variable line level voltage 1v, 2v & 3v) on the Qutest and see if you can hear any difference... If not, something is not right... You do have the output of the quest going to a line stage preamp?  And your not upsampling the original source material before feeding it to the Qutest?

theo's avatar
theo
2,694 posts
 

I owned this combination and noticed the Qutest brought more warmth and definition to the sound field. So I am surprised to hear your response to the change. I had traded a Rega DAC in on the Chord so I never really used the Bluesound direct to the preamp. However I did try a few digital cables before settling on the Kimber Kable D60 and have since upgraded to the Hugo TT-2

I’ll be curious to see if your assessment changes 

 

good luck

teh_chucksta's avatar
teh_chucksta OP
54 posts
 

@ddude003 
@fuzztone 

Changing the variable line level voltage to 3v seems impactful - the music certainly is louder.  My wife likes the change; maybe I was expecting miracles? Thanks for your input.

Charlie

teh_chucksta's avatar
teh_chucksta OP
54 posts
 

@theo 

See my previous comment.

theo's avatar
theo
2,694 posts
 

Teh-chuckles

i experimented with and found 2v worked best for me. But I think that is really pre-amp specific, I have an audio research. I did contact AR as I was concerned 3v might be too much, but they said it wasn’t. 
 

Anyway it sounds like you’re getting it dialed in. Enjoy!

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