Digital Processor Reviews

would be great to hear your thoughts compared to the Yggy and RME ADI-2

Hi John,

Something I’ve noticed for a while now, but in your wideband spectrum of white noise measurement, Fig. 3 & Fig. 4 in this case, it states -4dBFS, but doesn’t the graph show it at -40dBFS?

When one sounds a tad better is it because of the Interconnects?, the difference in Interconnects?, the associated equipment's interface preferences, the physical location of magnetic fields or what???

I've done this same test yielding day to day performance flips. Am I Neurotic? Are all of us Neurotic? My Esoteric Audio Store Ownership experience provided convincing evidence that Audiophiles are a combination of Neurotic & Psychotic behaviors. ( which is probably why families/wives eventually condemn us to the dam Basement ).

Dave Wasserman ( Stereo Exchange ) just did an Audiophiliac Video about his Decades as a Used Equipment Specialist. He reveals the underlying foundation of our audiophile Hobby. It's a Must-See!

Dam it, that Chord Stuff is nice, probably nicer than the PS Audio stuff but PS is one of our few local outfits. We gotta nod to Paul McGowan, don't we?, I sure do! And... we gotta nod to Schiit despite their shitty name, phew, when are they gonna changeover to Stoddard & Moffat? ( isn't S&M naughty enough for them and their youngish, tatted-up customer base?)

We're just around the corner from everything being Class D, no look'n back but there will STILL be the White-Nuckle Grip on Analog from a tiny group tenaciously holding/collecting/hoarding and loving their Fossil Fuel Based, Ozone killing music Format and their Class A Hot Box Electronics, god love em. Harley-Davidson just announced their new Line of Electric Motorcycles ( not made in USA )

Chord is gorgeous stuff, especially if a person lives somewhere in the British Empire, has there ever been a more beautiful Hi-Fi ? It just seems like a person can't go wrong choosing Chord.

Tony in Michigan

JA can't seem to cut the 'Chord' :-) ............

May be JA could review the new Chord Hugo2 and Hugo TT2 ........ and review the new Meze Empyrean 'phones with the Chords and compare them with his Audeze LCD-X headphones? :-) ............

I'm listening to the Angela Hewitt CD right now. Hyperion recordings are often remarkable as you have written numerous times.

Thank you for the review. It's good to see comparisons.
Though Shannon's 1948 work is not a "thesis", it is a theorem, thus as proven as Pythagoras' triangles, and so is not susceptible to dispute or MQA's "rejection".

However:
Having owned several DACs from £100 to £18,000 since I started 'computer' audio in 2010 I have come to a simple conclusion.
I now will NOT purchase any DAC that uses an 'off the shelf' DAC chip such as the various Sabre, Wolfson, etc chips. Not only are such chips purposefully designed to be cheap enough to be used in portable digital radios, TVs, music centres, car audio, etc, they mean the DAC designer is merely implementing other peoples's ideas as best they can, sometime charging thousands of dollars for a box that depends on a five dollar heart.

And the Chords, DCS, and PS Audio ones sound so much better. Also the superiority of even the £400 Chord Mojo over the 'standard chip' sort is instantly obvious on first hearing, though its ergonomics are not best suited to a 'home' system and its battery longevity is suspect.

Were I starting today, from my experience with the Mojo, the Qutest would be my 'go to' DAC regardless of price, even if unheard before purchase.

Be aware that Chord DAC sound is not for everybody. Had original Chord Hugo for couple months and sold it. Had Chord qutest for 6 weeks and sold it. To my taste sound was to much sterile and without emotions. Now I am happy with ciunas ISO DAC

I am quite sure this DAC sounds very well as all I have heard about Chord's DACs are good comments regarding their sound. Unfortunately, they insist on this industrial design line. To my eyes, they resemble toys, or game consoles.They are not Qute, even less Qutest. I cannot live with what are to my eyes ridiculous looks and therefore this happens to be their main drawback. Of course tastes are tastes and I assume there are thousands of satisfied consumers who approve their controversial design. Moreover, who are willing to pay for them.

tested by John would be very interesting!

“Chord Electronics FPGA DAC Technology Explained” (Video: 5 min. 27 sec.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCYUujl1zTM&t=11s .

I was just looking thru two early-90s Stereophile issues (Dec. 1992; Mar. 1993) ... not a single analog/phono review or article (tho' I did see an Acoustic Sounds ad with LPs and equip.). Some tube gear. And MANY multibit DACs or CDPs -- reviews, articles, ads, classifieds.
I have a late-1980s aftermarket-modified Philips CDP, with the classic TDA1541A and SAA7220 (4x DF) chipset. It is better sounding than all more-modern DACs in my collection (that feature delta-sigma).
Indeed, those early-90s Stereophiles were full of glowing reviews of Arcams and MSBs and Naims ... all using that classic Philips platform.

I have some non-oversampling (multibit) gear, too. And it has that whatchamacallit sound charc. that appeals to some. Not me. BUT, I'll take well-done NOS over poorly-done DS any day.

My suggestion for JA and other Stereophile reviewers is to go into their attic or basement storage ... and dig out legacy gear. And use THEM as a basis of comparisons against Chord, Border Patrol, Benchmark, etc.

Oh ... JA ... please webify that 1995 Fabio article. He had VERY high-end $$$ system based on a Krell CDP. No phono, no tubes.

….the poor ergonomics of some Chord DACs don't matter in actual use, which is listening, not testing.
Take the Qutest filters. Most people will find the one they like best and stick to it. Let's say you find that you like the 'green' one best. Having selected it once, the next time you switch it on it will also be green as it remembers the last setting. Even if you want to try different filters all the time it is not the filter specification that matters, it is whether you like the result or not. And it's just as easy to remember "this sounds most to my liking on the blue filter" as it is to remember the "quick rolloff HF filter".

And as for sample rates, you play what you have, some of which will be 44.1, some 96, or whatever. The only time you actually need to know it is in the initial setup or your player, such as JRiver or Tidal MQA/non-MQA, for example. It's the player and/or the recording that sets the sample rate, not the DAC. Once setup to play the recordings at their 'native' rate (or, for example, if you prefer some upsampling rate) you don't need to know what the rate actually is anymore. You are listening to "Beethoven's Ninth", not "44.1" or "MQA".

I've never owned, touched much less heard a Chord product. Nevertheless, I like the overall "Apple-like" product design.
For example, with the form factor of DAVE (and similar DACs going back to 2001), Chord managed to squeeze in all components (incl. a switching PS) into a nice, compact unit. It's not a big, heavy thing like many high-end DACs.

Chord designs kinda look like the space ship in the Spielberg film 'Close encounters of the third kind' :-) .........

Dear JA,

Thank you for another great review. As the PS Audio DS is very much a moving target due to regular firmware updates it would be helpful if Stereophile would always specify which FW version was used when comparing this DAC in reviews.

Thanks!

Love it or hate this Qutest, just use it with external USB battery power bank; more detail...getting it closer to dCS.

Oh man. The (audio) world over, praises the Chord 'QUTEST' to the near heavens, and yet this Stereophile (Herby) review goes on to suggest 'Ifi' models, 'Mytek' (and PS Audio -all strong advertisers) somehow are "comparable" ?

All other 'reviewer's simply and plainly state the the 'Qutest's' clear superiority over competing models (and I'd go on to say competes/beats far more pricey DAC's) yet Herby feels the need to (laughingly) state:

" ....However, Ms. Podger's violin sounded a bit reedier than I was used to, as did Giuliano Carmignola's instrument in his performance of Bach's Violin Concerto in E with Concerto Kîln (16/44.1 ALAC file, from Archiv 0289 479 2695 5), which sounded too thin."

LOL. Herb's: Your comment is about as truthful/authentic as a three-dollar bill !

Your futile attempt at minimizing the superiority of this FPGA-programmed DAC by a brilliant designer/engineer (Rob Watt's) is both obvious -and unwarranted.

To suggest an Off-the-Shelf silicone chip (as found in the Mytek, Benchmark (either ESS 9018 or 9028PRO) competes with a Watt's design is absurd.
No other reviewer/magazine has ever said (or would dare) say such a ridiculous thing but you have no issue in doing so?

Writer's/reviewer's and magazines) lose credibility when arguments are introduced (against/in comparison to) that use such foolish language as Reichert decided to use. I suspect since he knows no other way of communicating than to refer to a snippet of a recording (or two), suggesting it was "reedier" than he "remembers" ! (?) Gimm'e a break.

Say it like it is man, stop this 'wishy-washy' language. And for goodness sake, get Herbs' an editor. A good one.

pj

Jim (Austin), John Atkinson: I'm surprised at your anger with respect to my reply / comments ?

You/the magazine have no issues with anyone expressing their opinions -well, I did so.

Clearly, you took exception to my comments, and I in turn, to yours. You state:

" but gratuitous (and anonymous) insults and allegations of corruption will not be tolerated."

Insults! Really ? I'm putting the 'reviewer' to the test for the sake/benefit the reader (potential customer) -let him answer for himself, or explain further.

And this: " ....and allegations of corruption will not be tolerated."

What allegations (of corruption) did I make ??

It appears I erred in assuming Herb was the writer/reviewer. I note it was in fact John Atkinson. For that, I apologize.

I will commend Stereophile for a very liberal-minded forum with respect to accommodating 'open dialogue'. It's a rare/unique quality (maturation in reality) in North American publications/Forums -a vital distinction.

peter jasz

>>What allegations (of corruption) did I make ??

Fourth paragraph.

Furthermore, civilized people can participate in civil discussion/debate while being courteous and respectful. We expect that here.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

Mr. Austin: Thank you for your reply.

Your answer to my question 'of what alleged corruption did I remark?', you tell me, "paragraph four (4)", which reads:

"LOL. Herb's: Your comment is about as truthful/authentic as a three-dollar bill !"

Jim, that's not an accusation of corruption, but rather (to my mind) a response to a poor argument/review on a noted, impressive DAC -from a brilliant designer (Rob Watts).

If anything, my comment speaks to the listening skill (interpretation) of the reviewer, nothing else. Since it is clearly an entirely subjective 'response/review', there are no 'Facts' where one can accuse of corruption.

Finally Jim, you state:

" ...Furthermore, civilized people can participate in civil discussion/debate while being courteous and respectful. We expect that here."

Respect is earned. As is 'courtesy'.

peter jasz

Stereoplay February 2015 "Klang" scores

Astell&Kern AK240 (CS4398):64

Chord Hugo: 62

Marantz HD DAC1 (CS4398): 59

Ayre QB-9 DSD: 69(24/192, 24/96), 66(16/44.1)

Pioneer N-50A: 61(24/192, 24/96), 60(16/44.1)

T+A PDP 3000 HV: 67