Cable Between Node 2i and Chord Qutest?


Thought it be a better topic for here vs. “over there”...😆

I have a Bluesound Node 2i going to anChord Qutest via a DH Labs SPDIF.
it sounds good.

but, is USB “better”?
Is there a better solution than coax?

if so, what is it?
thanks,
ian
ianrmack
You can't go USB out of a Node far as I know.

I had really good sound running a Black Cat Silverstar 75 between a Node 2 and a 2qute I'm sure it would work well in your system as well.
@ianrmack Your DH Labs is probably a fine cable. Can’t recall if elsewhere you mentioned you’re using an aftermarket power cable on your Node or not but if not that will make a nice improvement. I’m running a Vault 2 with an RME ADI 2 fs DAC and I upgraded the stock power supply on the RME which improved things more than cables. If your Chord uses a switched power supply you might want to look into upgrading that as well.

As mentioned you can only run out of your Node Coax or Toslink to your DAC. Coax/SPDIF is the way to go. The USB is for storage devices.
You can't go USB out of a Node far as I know.
this is correct

cullen cable makes excellent digital cables for reasonable cost - suggest you get a 1.5 m length one

no affiliation, just a happy customer
Ok, cool, thanks.
I have an audioquest PC on the node 2i and a Teddy Pardo power supply on the Qutest.

just wondering f the digital connection between node and chord was worth exploring.

This is an old thread, but for future readers who might stumble onto it, I have evaluated the DHLabs coax against some other wires with a later generation Node and found a huge difference in sound performance.  @ianrmack, I ended up buying a used Chord Signature Super ARAY that cost as much as the Node.  I have no regrets, and I am currently using it to connect my Node 130 to a Chord Qutest DAC.

Here is the result of my coax cable testing:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/yes-digital-cables-matter-too/post?highlight=Knownothing&postid=2542107#2542107

Fwiw, the Chord QuteHD DAC used in this analysis had an upgraded MCRU power supply with a very good power cable and was surprisingly close to the Qutest in performance.