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A Pragmatic Endgame: Qutest to Headphones

Thanks to Atriya S., (USA) for these pics and system notes. Atriya has been able to extract the best from his Qutest DAC and headphones.

"I love that AudioWise products are very innovative. Dan has been great in helping me, initially with PGGB-IT! to resolve issues with upsampling my DSD collection, and then to share his expertise in helping me understand his hardware products. I have applied SRC-DX, RF-STOP DC filter, LP-FILTER, DC-BLOCK, DAC-WRAP, STABILANT-22 and Dan's BNC/Coax adapters. These have significantly improved my Chord Qutest-based headphone system. I consider this approach to be a unique (and most likely cost effective) solution. Thanks to Dan for his advice and quality products!"

Atriya's system:

  • Raspberry Pi 4 running HQPlayer NAA (using LNS15 noise-shaped digital volume control on HQPlayer Desktop) to play PGGB files or HQPlayer upsampled music.
  • Short USB adapter with 5V linear power injection and filtering.
  • SRC-DX USB to Dual-Coax.
  • LP-FILTER & DC-BLOCK on BNC/Coax adapter connection for the ideal signal connection to Qutest. Ultra short and shielded connection eliminates antenna effects.
  • Chord Qutest with DAC-WRAP to prevent magnetic fields from disturbing DAC internals
  • Hifiman Arya SE directly drived by Qutest via the RCA outputs.
  • RF-STOP DC Filter maintains ultra-low noise power from a linear power supply to the Qutest.
  • STABILANT-22 on all cable-to-connection points provides the stability of a soldered joint without a physical bond.
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