I've got a Qutest. Use to feed it with a mac mini as well. My suggestions for you would be buy a Sonore Ultrarendu. It's much better at feeding the qutest than the mac. If you want to get better than that, buy a Uptone Audio Etherregen, switch to windows, use Audiophile Optimizer and Fidelizer and use Roon as a shell. Or go Linux and use Rock(Roon). The idea is to 1. Optimize your Endpoint/Server(Ultrarendu). 2. Optimize your core machine for playback(Computer) and 3. Optimize your network(EtherRegen). This has changed my Qutest into a totally diffrent DAC. It was a bigger jump doing these things, than going to a newer generation DAC(ie. 2qute to Qutest). You really should put the Qutest on a Linear Power Supply as well. I have a Teddy Pardo feeding mine.
Network Transport vs. CD Transport
So I decided to conduct an experiment. I pulled the old Marantz cd player circa 1999, around $400 retail, from storage along with few CDs. Using a coax digital cable with a $4.97 rca to bnc adapter from amazon, I sat down to listen. I played the CD, the ripped version (AIFF) of that CD, and a Qobuz redbook version thru my zmac Mini. Long story short...the reason why I did it was because there is something missing in the Mac Mini sound quality and I got tired of trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
Anyways, that old cd player used as a transport into the Qutest DAC sounds considerably better than the Mac Mini that right now I will need a few days break before I can can listen to the Mac again. I figured (assumed) that a dedicated network transport will pretty much better the Mac Mini and be comparable or better than what I heard with Marantz player as transport. Eyeing Auralic G1, Lumin D2 and Lumin U1 Mini as candidates (I need wifi capability), will any of these be comparable or better than let’s say a decent CD transport feeding the Chord Qutest? For example a Cambridge CXC, or a used high end player?
I can go back to spinning CDs, but figured I don’t want to give up on streaming just yet.
What are your thoughts - Auralic G1, Lumin D2, Lumin U1 Mini, or a dedicated CD transport for high quality playback. Forget convenience, let’s talk purely sound quality...thanks!
System:
Rogue RP-1, Rogue ST-100, Martin Logan Montis, Chord Qutest dac.
Anyways, that old cd player used as a transport into the Qutest DAC sounds considerably better than the Mac Mini that right now I will need a few days break before I can can listen to the Mac again. I figured (assumed) that a dedicated network transport will pretty much better the Mac Mini and be comparable or better than what I heard with Marantz player as transport. Eyeing Auralic G1, Lumin D2 and Lumin U1 Mini as candidates (I need wifi capability), will any of these be comparable or better than let’s say a decent CD transport feeding the Chord Qutest? For example a Cambridge CXC, or a used high end player?
I can go back to spinning CDs, but figured I don’t want to give up on streaming just yet.
What are your thoughts - Auralic G1, Lumin D2, Lumin U1 Mini, or a dedicated CD transport for high quality playback. Forget convenience, let’s talk purely sound quality...thanks!
System:
Rogue RP-1, Rogue ST-100, Martin Logan Montis, Chord Qutest dac.