DAC contest: Border Patrol Sei or Chord Qutest?

@decooney 

just read what I wrote don’t just take piece to fit your response 

why do I have to listen to a guy he seems to have knowledge on everything post on here ?

like I said most people are looking for hands on  experience From actual owners 

not from random people who has zero experience but pretending to have 

I rather listen to a reviewer who is actually has hands on experience  to the particular dac I’m interested 

@lordrootman "...why do I have to listen to a guy he seems to have knowledge on everything post on here ?"

You don't have to. And we all appreciate hands on experience, no argument there. There are responses that agitate each of us at times, no big deal - over time we kinda learn to ignore what we don't find helpful. Take away whatever we can, shrug off the rest imo. Happy listening.  👍     

These two are a lot of "apples and oranges".  In MY system, the Border Patrol is the pretty clear winner over the Qutest (and yes, I've owned them both). I really enjoyed the Qutest when I dumped my Ayre Codex about three years ago.  All the things that Chord is known for, lots of detail and space.  It's excellent and for anybody who believes more detail is better.  Until I got more resolving speakers.  With my Volti Rivals, the Chord's tone and timbre just couldn't compare with the Border Patrol (mine is the SE-I version).  If you do quick A-B comparisons of the two, I can see why some would prefer the Chord.  But if you actually just let each unit go for about of week of listening and see which one actually lets you enjoy the music more, it's the Border Patrol.  The review linked above is actually right on point.

As with all audio gear and setups, people have very different tastes and preferences, there is never one right answer.  I would imagine for example that if someone combined the Qutest with Focal speakers, it would make my ears bleed, but others would love the hyper detail.  I personally admire the Qutest more than I love it.  I love the Border Patrol and will never get rid of it even as systems evolve.

For background, my other stand-alone DAC (in another system) is a Merason DAC1 and I auditioned DACS by Ideon, Matrox, Weiss & Bricasti before going ith the Merason.  

@badgerdms "For background, my other stand-alone DAC (in another system) is a Merason DAC1 and I auditioned DACS by Ideon, Matrox, Weiss & Bricasti before going ith the Merason."

Nice. Some worthy dac comparison references there. A few colleagues of mine have those Merason dacs. Thanks for the added comments explaining how you heard enjoyable differences with more revealing speakers. This part is so key.

@badgerdms ...But if you actually just let each unit go for about of week of listening and see which one actually lets you enjoy the music more, it’s the Border Patrol. ...

The recently new BP SE-I dac model I have with the Jupiter Beeswax caps sure seems to take its sweet time to settle in. Not quite at the recommended full week of hours yet, and it’s a mind game so far. Has transformed at least 2-3 times now, and more change last night during a long listening session.

Had I not gone through this with other caps, I could see how folks get impatient and resell too fast. This explains a lot, there is a prize at the other end, as I gather it now. Curious to know what others have experienced, and did they not give it enough time? I suspect this may be the case now for some, not letting the whole dac settle in.

First 24-48 hours of use was rolled off on the high freq, rich and thick. Now with more time on it, has started to open up with added texture, really interesting and engaging midrange, particularly with tracks I normally would not listen to, yet I can with this dac. Gary at BP instructed it would be at least a solid 75hrs burn-in to start, and another 2-5% gain later with more time. I can begin to understand what he’s talking about now. It’s sound is transforming exactly as he said it would, nice.