DAC Comparison: Chord Qutest vs RME ADI-2 DAC FS 

Very well explained man. Now I'll also watch your ADI-2 review.

Your channel is dangerous, man - I’ve been catching up on old videos ... now my head is spinning. In the market for some kit. And you make it all look so good!

Awesome review, thanks!

Love the video comparison. Thank you 🙏🏼

Adding my experience to the mix in case it helps someone else make a decision. I just finished putting the Chord Qutest up against the RME ADI-2 FS with ESS chip. (Note: there was a DAC chip change from AKM to ESS a while back due to supply issues / fire at AKM manufacturing facility) My usage is solely in a two channel system consisting of Focal Chora 826 speakers, a pair of SVS SB-2000 Pro subwoofers, Focals are powered by a Lexicon RV-6 receiver. Source is a Raspberry Pi with Allo Digione transport, connected to DAC via BNC or coaxial digital cable and running Roon software. I started by comparing the Qutest to the built-in DAC in my Lexicon receiver (Cirrus CS42528). I ran the Qutest into a separate input on my receiver so I could quickly switch back and forth from the listening position. With the Qutest set to the default filter (Incisive Neutral) the first thing I noticed was a smoother presentation of the upper mids. Example would be listening to Adele's "Hello". When she starts to push, her voice can take on a kind of reedy sound that came across as being a little harsh with the built-in DAC but was much smoother and realistic with the Qutest. The highs of the Qutest were simply amazing. Best way I think I can explain this is that they sounded more detailed but lush. Not harsh in any way but silky smooth without being attenuated. Overall soundstage width sounded like it was about 4-6 feet wider on each side with the Qutest. Center image seemed just a little less prominent but there was a depth to it that seemed like it better separated the center vocals from the other instruments in the background. Almost like you could hear around and behind the center image. After watching this video, and quite a few others that rated the RME DAC up there with the Qutest, I decided to order an RME to put up against the Qutest. I split the digital signal from my transport into each DAC and then ran both analog outs to my receiver using identical interconnects (Audioquest Golden Gate). It didn't take me more than about five minutes to realize that the RME wasn't going to cut it. The upper-mids and highs seemed to sound almost grainy. The center image sounded like it had less depth and the overall soundstage sounded equally wide but seemed to have a reduced height. Overall, it just sounded like a more 2D presentation with a little grain on the top end. I tried the various filters and equalization but couldn't get the RME to sound as good as the Qutest with any combination of settings. I think having the built-in headphone amp would make this a great candidate for my work / gaming / music creation desk with Yamaha HS8 monitors but I'm not at a point where I'd spend $1300 on a DAC for my desk. I did not try the headphone amplifier so I cannot comment on that part of the unit. I know this isn't too important but I do want to say that I'm not a big fan of the aesthetics of the Chord. Sure, it's a solid block of aluminum but it really doesn't give me feeling that I got my money's worth... until I listen to it. I realize that's not a big deal, but it does leave me a little disappointed because I think it just looks like a $300 black box. If it's going to sit on a shelf in a hi-fi rig, at least the front of it could be dressed up a little bit. Move the Chord badge to the front panel instead of the top? The RME looked and felt like it was worth a little more than the Chord but at the end of the day, it's the sound that matters so the Chord is staying in my main rig.

Keep it up, you're getting the attention you deserve.

Super detailed and helpful review...thank you!

Thank you for such an excellent review. The best so far comparing both DACs.

Very good comparison! Your detailed elaboration on the sound stage differences are very handy. I find it frustrating when some reviewers don't elaborate on what they say, leaving the listener guessing at what they truly meant.

Excellent comparison. Thank you.

Really good job. I actually compared the RME ADI-2 with the Hugo 2 (which I understand uses the same DAC as the Qutest) and I see the difference exactly as you described it. Very well done, you've helped me out a lot with this. You are now forgiven for the mistake of recommending the Ares II. :) Really, really happy with your super-professional reviews, keep it up!

Once again, you've made another extremely useful, and extremely grounded review. We're all familiar with (and probably guilty of, on occasion) hyperbolic audio commentary, so thank you so much!

Thank you for the insightful and informative comparison! I own both DACs -- the Chord's in the living room driving Focal 3-way active spkrs through a Hegel pre-amp, and the RME's in the office/studio driving ATC monitors and Sennheiser HD660S or HiFiMan Sundara cans or Westone IEMs. After quite a while with both, I'd amplify your comments concerns the Qutest's lack of a UI (I have it on a shelf, so I need to pick it up to see the sample rate) and lack of balanced outputs; single-ended [RCA-terminated] cables are very effective antennae in any system that mixes analog low-level audio with video, internet and other signals. I rarely use the RME's fancy features, but on some recordings, a bit of EQ or cross-feed makes all the difference, and the low-noise IEM output is an asset. Your sound-related comments are also spot-on; the difference between "chip" DACs (generally sigma-delta) like the newer RME's ESS Sabre DAC versus a long reconstruction filter with high-order overlap like the Chord's will never be subtle over suitable (hi-quality) down-stream components. (I've read too many reviews where they use $100 headphones to listen to $2000 DACs.) It's in the transients and the timing for sure. Other comments: (1) always upgrade the power supply you use with the Qutest to a linear one; (2) make a pair of RCA-to-XLR cables (with floating ground) and run your Quest using the optical input and an ungrounded power supply; and (3) upgrade your headphone cables (most all mid-range cans come with crappy cables). Again, thanks for your contribution to the community, mate!

Appreciate your very detailed and informative review. I have Hugo 2 which I understand is similar in sound to Qutest. Resting easy after your conclusion!

What an outstanding DAC review. I was really impressed by your ability to anticipate the questions of a perspective buyer. I immediately subscribed to you channel and look forward to viewing more of your videos.

Great review

Informed and a very well presented review. You would have to be one of the best hifi reviewers on RU-vid!

Echo comments - excellent review. Professional and cogent. Horses for courses. I intend to get the ADI because I need the range of functions. It was good to find out that the ADI came reasonably close to the Chord. If I come into some money, the Qutest will get hooked into my HDV 820 😂

Excellent channel, keep it up, you’ll be big

Nice work.

Solid review. Haven't heard the RME, but you describe the exact qualities I like about the Qutest. So much (inner) detail but somehow airy, natural, and non-fatiguing with it. Especially in the top end where all other DACs I've heard apart from some NOS ones have that etched glare you mention. Even the smallest amount of it matters now and sounds wrong in comparison. Again though haven't heard the RME so it could be closer than I'd imagine.

And so continues the centuries long battle between English refinement and German efficiency 😂 Cheers for the interesting comparison, Lachlan!

I hope someone will review the newer RME add 2/4. It's supposed to be a big upgrade. You do a great job of explaining the details. I hope you can review one soon.

Thank you for the comparison. When I was deciding between both, I went for the RME. Use it as DAC with my THX AAA 789. with some headphones I prefer my ifi xDSD as DAC feeding the THX, for a better synergy. What you told us about staging- I‘d second it.

Thank you for this excellent review, sir. I am an ADI-2 owner, but you got me interested in seeing what I'm missing out with the Qutest. I'm going to see if I can pick up a nice second hand unit somewhere. All the best from Rotterdam!

I have an RME ADI-2 PRO FS which is my only DAC and I also transcribe my vast LP collection with it. It was good out of the box, but adding a iFi iGalvanic3.0 to isolate it from the computer, made a huge improvement in the soundstage size. Then I got a motorcycle battery and completely got the ADI-2 off the grid. The results were amazing - best $100 spent. My AC power is balanced through an isolation transformer, still inter-component ground loops are insidious in their degradation of details.

fun review

Just a great review. Two key things for me. I'd luv to see an RME -ADI-2 upgrade, with the ak4499 chip. Believing in the ability of that chip. And would like to see a Hugo 2 TT and namely the Dave reviewed, they rarely are. But both these devices you reviewed are absolutely nice. I'd personally like RME, being too have Balanced to another amplifier, and that I luv the combinations of iem's and headphones, both. But I'd take both, to be honest 😁 Good review! Truly 👍🏼

Perfect comparison. For people looking for a not so crazy high price for dac but also not the chi-fi like D90 this is a perfect comparison. RME is a bit more tinkering but what a classy device. Chord is a nice beast too at that small size but a bit decor unfriendly :)

I'll happily keep my RME ADI-2 DAC FS then. It's amazing.

Just the comparison I was looking for. One of the negs I have on the qutest is the lack of XLR, which I currently use as a 2nd output to use for active speakers. Hearing you describe the presentation, I think I'll take the qutest either way and figure something out for the outputs.

I'm using Hifiman Ananda. I got the RME since I get a very good headphone amp. I'm addicted to the 'Loud'ness mode. The Ananda's bass response became just tooo goood with Loud turned-on. whomever I demoed this combo had a wide grin on their face...

Its funny that you used TVs as a example and I agree with your point which is probably why I always preferred the natural picture of a Sony over a Panasonic or Samsung. Although I never heard the ADI the one thing that always strikes me when hearing any of the Chords is how incredibly natural and analog they sound and with 10,000 records and considering how dedicated I am to analog I generally find the sound of the Chords pretty amazing.and I love the fact that it is made in England and not China.

Excellent review, thank you for the effort! I had a Chord Mojo and like the sounds quality, so planned to upgrade to Chord Qutest. However, after reading/watching reviews of Denafrips DACs, I am now a little bit hesitate on which way to go. Do you have any experience of listening to R2R DACs, especially Denafrips Pontus or Aries?

What headphone amp do you suggest I pair the chord qutest to? I like the sound signature that you described of the Qutest. I wanna kind of have an endgame pairing for the purpose of listening to music with headphones. Currently I am using a pair of Audeze LCD-2 Classic.

I will buy Qutest for my Mac and bw 803. You sb a hypnotist.

The Qutest really benefits from a good power supply like a power supply or an ifi PowerX. It is also responsive to different usb cables. I settled on a Ghent usb cable for $40. It beat out an AQ Carbon, WW Starlight 7 Red and a couple of others. You get more detail and smoothness at the same time. Background is much blacker with a better power supply.

On the ADI some feeling that the bass is truncated may be due to the DC Protection being set to "filter" instead of on or off. This filters the very low frequencies.

Thankyou for the comparison. In terms of pure DAC comparisons have you heard/lived with a schiit bifrost 2 or any of the Giesler DACs and could make any basic comparisons to the Chord? Thankyou

I love your reviews and you describe what I want to hear in terms of the type of sound one would get. I chose my supra usb cable watching a comparison you uploaded and you were right. That of course makes me sad because I was about to pull the trigger on that RME. I currently own a Burson dac and I want to upgrade so I can play DSD files and maybe refine my sound a little. would you say that the RME would be better than the Burson in the holographic presentation arena? I asked that because the Burson creates space around each speaker and I like that, it also sounds very analog, detailed but not harsh, realistic. Thanks!

Excellent channel and review. I'm curious if if you had the chance to listen to the Musical Fidelity MX-DAC. It seems to be similar to the Qutest in terms of features

Is the RME superior to the E30 if by DAC performance alone? I noticed they use the same chip. Looking forward to your response and keep up the great work.

Thank you for such a detailed review. I am a fan! Couple of questions: 1) The RME ADI-2 DAC has another version ADI-2 FS. How does that compare? 2) You mentioned the treble being edgier on the ADI-2. Can that be addressed by controls? Much appreciate it.

Another spot on review Lachlan 👍 I recently had the opportunity to compare the bluesound node 2i vs a project stream box s2 ultra connected to my Qutest Dac. The node was connected via coax and the s2 ultra via usb digital out. The differences I noticed were that the node had a bit more bass punch and mid range warmth, while the s2 ultra had a little more detail in the top end. Very subtle overall. If I had to put a figure to it maybe +10% bass from the node vs +5% treble detail from the s2 ultra. I kept the node and returned the s2 ultra. Its such an easy to listen to streamer for the money and the app is very good and stable. Keep the videos coming! Love your channel.

Have you done a Qutest vs Bifrost comparison? Interested in these two. Have you also ever heard the original 2qute compared to the qutest?

Hi, Thank You for the great analysis. I just bought the ADI-2, and i'm getting lost through the menu/buttons system, really super user un-friendly. (The comic 70 pages manual doesn't help). Apart from that (still have to find out how manage the EQ.. ), the sound is very detailed and sweet at the same time. Fast attack and decay too. I'd say a modern sound. Maybe to my ears it's not very "wow" or very exciting, or magic. I feel like an inspector, looking for sound flaws, instead of loosing space-time into the music flow. Not sure if I prefer the much more grainy and congested sound of the Jolida Fx Tube Dac, which I used for years.. (Mullard tubes added :)) But there's something more "dynamic", more raw, more real, even with much more distortion and much less details, in the chinese one. Something less digital and more analog. I hope to appreciate the Adi-2 more, maybe after some EQ settings.

I had a Qutest which I returned as it failed. I got an RME ADI2 instead and I think your comments around the difference in SQ are very much in line with my experience. I’ll swap back at some point.

Great video and very informative and very pleasant way how you present (voice, gesture, lighting,...) - really enjoy, even content I would not need to listen to. Re the Chord, obvoiusly, their engineers did a terrific job with programming their own DAC chip. This provides the opportunity of 'enhancing' the sound stage and make it sound a bit wider by adding a (tiny) bit of psycho acoustics to their algorythm, such as a very decent reverb, plus a small portion of spatial stereo widening to compensate for any sound stage narrowing effects from the reverb. I can imagine what internal debates and endless listening sessions their engineers and product managers must have gone through to get such a great sounding device to the market. Do I know? Not really, but exactly this would be my approach if my engineering team needed to develop the decoding by themselves for a custom developed DAC-chip. I am just in the phase of experimenting with adding very subtle reverb to the music I am listening to - with superb sound enrichment and stage depth. The trick is to keep the reverb that low that you would never detect any signs of reverb, such as short echoes when stopping yoour source to play. Im am doing it with the PC software VoiceMeeter Potato which is a great platform for experimentation for different ways of altering sound without the need for costly hardware.

I'm a bit confused on the RME's outputs. Can I use my HD800s with a balanced xlr connection rather than the front 1/4 headphone jack? Thanks.

Well done! I think you characterized the Chord sound perfectly: musical realism.

I agree with your analysis of the cutest. The remaining bit of the puzzle, is how will the rca perform in a fully balanced headamp with xlr inputs. (Rca also available). Case in point is Oppo HA1 headamp. Or should I just sacrifice the cutest in favor of the rme, simply because of the xlr outputs.

How would the RME stack up with a Topping A90 amp? would it be more optimal sound-wise to pair it with a Topping A90, or just sell the A90 and use the ADI-2 as an all-in-one solution? I was thinking of running the A90 + the ADI-2 fully balanced, including headphones via 4 pin xlr input on A90. Thanks in advance! Love the channel, some of the best HIFI gear content out there.

I watched because I might be in the market for one of these, so thanks for your interesting review, which seemed quite balanced. What was the music played around 6 minutes please? It sounded good even on my crappy PC speakers.

I bought both a Schiit and an ADI-2 DAC and wound up returning both. I found them too "digital" sounding and they were tiring to listen to for long periods. I obtained a Qutest on loan from my local dealer. Wow. The Qutest was the first affordable DEC I heard that just plain sounded "musical." I ended up buying a Qutest.

would be interesting to compare matrix audio dacs with that mix since they have cheaper options or slightly more expensive yet newer chips

Nice review, was it all headphone listening though? Do you think using speakers would reveal the subtleties between them? I fancy a Qutest but don’t know if it’s worth it as I never really hear much difference on DACs in my lounge/speaker based setup. Got a Schiit Modius DAC now and sounds great, can a Qutest really move the game on I wonder?!!

Hi. Thank you for your amazing reviews. I need to buy a new dac and therefore I became a huge fan of your channel. I’ve watched every video I could and your reviews are so professional and complete!Probably you could help me to choose properly. You see, I’m a concert pianist and what I would like to get is a more natural as possible sound. I don’t want the sound to be beautiful, nor bombastic, I want it to be as close as possible to reality. I have a McIntosh ma6500 amplifier, ProAC Future 0.5 speakers, MIT shotgun s3 cables and, at the moment, Cambridge Audio CXC and CXN. Would the RME give me a more truthful sound? Should I make a bigger effort and go for a more expensive dac? In the future, I’ll probably get also a new network streamer. Thank you again

Great review! I currently own a RME ADI-2, and looking for some dac smoother and more natural as an upgrade or complementary, do you feel the difference between Qutest and ADI-2 is significant enough for me to buy it and keep both? If not, which should I try? Im thinking Ares II or Pontus II from Denafrips as well

would be curious to see how the ESS revision is compared to the original chip.

As a satisfied owner of the ADI 2, I thought this was an interesting revue, the only way it could be fairer would be if you had changed anything in the ADI's settings that made you like the effect the most. An obvious setting change from S D sharp to long, for example. My decision to buy the RME was not based purely on sound if it had been I probably would have bought the Schit Bifrost 2 , I chose it because in combination with my valve amp I have the freedom to sett my sound to such a grate extent that if I don't like the sound, it would be my fault for not making the right choices.

Tyvm, Great vid as always. Do you think it would be possible to run the Chorde Qutest w/ RCA to XLR Balanced? I want to run a XLR switch box to switch between amps and one of my amps is across the room.

Thank you for this review! I have a Qutest and I agree 100% with your thoughts on this one. I wonder if you like the Qutest more than the Mojo 2 as a DAC only? - I can’t pick a winner…

What a great patient review. I’ve been a fan of RME FS after hearing it in a store in neck to neck comparisons with Gungnir etc. At the moment I’m running a Schitt Modius between my Mac mini and active Dynaudio Xeo 20 speakers. (I know Xeo 20 has internal DSP etc so this is two rounds of conversions but for some reason there’s a better sound when running via the Modius.) So question - will upgrading to Bifrost or even Qutest upgrade the sound quality?

I have the RME pro version,its amazing sound with HUGE functionality....

May I ask, They don’t discount with price list? Normally retailer will discount alot %

great video. I heard the RME can´t play native DSD only via PCM? Another good DAC can´t play MQA but DSD damn I don´t know which one to buy

I really liked your video and production and know how much hard work is involved. did rme loan you this dac? I compared both and was confused with your SQ comparison. I compared both in my review and I found more soundstage space with the Qutest but the RME is more mid centric. What one trades the other makes up. I tried with atc SCM40A’s. This is a preference issue and the way to look at it, isn’t what you prefer as to what is best, but what others might think. The question to ask when doing a review is would more people prefer one over the other or be indifferent to either, and the answer is definetely the latter. These are so close to make it not possible to answer in my view. The decision is on the fact you might as well have all the other features for less money.

Great videos! I was getting ready to buy a Burson Conductor 3XP, but everyone keeps talking about the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. How would you compare them? I'm looking for a warmer sound with Focal Clear Professionals. I'm currently using an Eddie Current Black Widow which has a "tubey" sound that I love, but it's quite clunky for a desktop setup so I'm looking for something with better physical design.

Dont underestimate that the digital cable used has a major effect on the sound as does the source.

I have two things to ask, for the sound comparison did you increase the dBu output on the ADI? Second, I am assuming you never tinkered with the EQ? Many reviewers mentioned it hurts the soundstage and I was curious to know if there was truth to that, as it would deem a primary function useless.

To my ears, the bass is where the RME shines the most. It`s, perhaps, the only dac, to my knowledge, that handles bass "correctly". There is a interesting video on this exact thing on RME`s channel, where the adi is the only reference level converter in the shootout who can control the low end properly.

Hello, I have a Topping E30 and L30 stack and I was thinking to upgrading to RME ADI-2 DAC FS to pair with my HD800s. Would that upgrade be worth the money for the SQ gains? I have no opportunity to testing RME ADI-2 DAC FS in my country. And TBH with all this measurements "META" in audio community, you making a video comparing a budget stack with good measurements and high end stack with about the same measurements and explaining their differences would be a great video for audio beginners like me that read the forums where people only talk about measurements and not how things actually sound. Thanks!

I dodn't test Qutest, but tested RME. I must say it sounds much more detailed compared to my old lavry, but it also sounds a bit tiring after some time in closed heasphones, as it's very crisp, detailed, but the bass is quite strong. The sound is vibrant, energetic, but at the same time analytic, like studio monitors. Some tracks sounded amazing, and I must say I felt a new impression of music I didn't imagine, as I thought my dac is quite capable. The image is very clear, not any mud when many instruments at the same time. I tried to reduce highs, but it ruins the image. So I'm not sure it's a good choice for me personally. I'm not sure it it's a good pick for music, but if you like details, it might be a good choice

Have you tried Octo Dac 8 Stereo? I can only find a few reviews but all exceptional. Stereophile rated it Class A and comparable to $15k MBL. My curiosity is peeked.

Hi I am going to buy an Adi 2, besides all the features do you think will be an upgrade in terms of sound quality compared to mi Cambridge Dac Magic Plus?, I Have paradigm Studio 60 v.5, Marantz preamp, an Also a head amp Woo Wa7 Audio Fireflies

Hi Passion for sound, you describing Qutest more envolving and circular in its soundstage, with a more vibrant-room filling bass, against a more horizontal - wider but less depth soundstage on RME Adi-2. Those consideration are made by HP audition? Should differs playing by SPKRs? Does RMA offer some filters/options to let the sound as smooth and enveloping as the Qutest?

I'd like to see you review the RME Adi-2 Pro FS R.

Hi Passion for sound, I bought RME Adi-2, boxed and sold it after a while as disliked its soundstage flatness (playing from floorstandings spkrs) and the excessive edgy highs. Furthermore it has a lot of functions that Ill never use. Im using a Xantech MY 2010 (a 170€ DAC with Dolby surround processor 2-in-1) that offers a very good soundstasge deepness and holography. Is Chord the same in that aspect? Which btw Mojo 1/2, Hugo 1/2 does offer a deeper and more holographyc soundstage? Some say that the 2nd versions are less analogue than the 1st one. On 2nd hand does worth Hugo1 for 700€ against Mojo1 for 300€?

Hello I just became a sub. I know this is not Q&A but if you read this maybe you can take an educated guess. I have an Arcam irDac with an original wall wart. Would you assume an external liner power supply would make a reasonable improvement or will it be throwing money away vs buying a Chord Qutest with its standard power supply? Thank you for sharing you audio knowledge with us all, stay well.

Loved the music in the background. What is the name of the song?

How would you compare the RME ADI 2 DAC to the Topping DX7 or the SMSL M500 MK3 as a dac?

Which one has more defined vocal? or more lively I should say? Do you think Amp affects the vocal character more or the Dac?

How would you compare the audio on the RME to the Burson Audio Composer 3XP?

Lots of bull concerning those BNC connectors. They were originally designed for analog video where an impedance of 75 ohms was very important, and the connector had a bayonet mount to ensure proper safety lock since often those cable had long runs on floors. Digital signal should not affected by impedance unless there’s a huge interference problem that would provoke loss of data, hence more error correction at the DAC stage. The main advantage of a BNC cable is its shielding but high end RCA coaxial cables are as good and smaller than bulky BNC cable.

How does the Chord Qutest compares to the Geshelli Enog2 Pro ?

In order for us to hear the diff. we need the raw files, it's lost on YT conversion.

Hi what would be good to pair with the campfire Polaris v2 in a desktop set up. I was looking at the dragonfly cobolt Or apogee groove but is there anything else to consider? These rme and qutest are out of my range at the moment

Apart that the tonality of the REM internal amp is more inline with a 789 although I understand a little more musical, how would this stack up against the bifrost 2 and Jot2?

Sounds like both sound good enough and unless you are sitting there AB ing them your not gonna know. Now add all those not used equalizer functions to get what you want

I really am not a sniper but there is a significant difference in signal to noise between RCA and XLR. Unfortunately some manufacturers put XLR jacks on unbalanced devices. Respectfully submitted. ( It's been a pet peeve of mine over decades.

I have the utmost respect for companies like Chord and Schiit for making their own DAC designs rather than using off the shelf chips. Granted Chord and Schiit go about it a very different way but respect none the less!

I recently started using an iFi Elite power supply (15v) with my RME and found that it improved its already excellent sound quality. I found that the RME with the SDLD Foster beat out the Qutest in sound quality by a nose. Moving to the Slow filter with some recommended make-up EQ (per RME) gives it a really peerless impulse response and remains flat to 20k. I totally disagree that the RME filters don’t make much difference; I found they made quite a difference and the SD Sharp is not a great filter compared to SDLD. It is dry and edgy compared to SDLD. But moving to Slow +EQ, the biggest winners are transparency, soundstage size, and depth. Still, even with the SDLD filter and factory PS, the ADI-2 narrowly beat the Qutest in that sense of 3D. Lastly, ensuring that the RME’s output voltage equals that of the Qutest Is also very important. The Qutest is shipped with a 3v rms output voltage. The RME manual doesn’t call out the equivalent settings to achieve that voltage (AutoREF on, +13 dB Ref level, -1dB volume). Gain staging has an enormous effect on SQ.

What about hugo2 vs qutest like dac?

Hi! now i'm lost! I already ordered the Singxer SA-1 and was thinking of buying the Topping D70S DAC to use with my Sennheiser HD 800 S ... but after round and round I wonder which will sound better, if the Singxer together with the D70S or together with the Qutest? ?? Or which DAC would you recommend below US $ 2000?

Hi and thank you for making such a good comparison video. I need to replace my integrated DAC Peachtree as it is dying so I am considering getting a DAC/pre amp with headphone option, then a power amp (Kinki EX M7?) as it it safer if something breaks and potentially provides better sound. I was leaning towards the RME but have just realised that the Hugo 2 is selling for a similar price here in Japan. Do you think a Hugo 2 would work successfully in a home setup enabling me to get the Qutest benefits plus pre amp/headphone versatility? I am pretty sure the sound will be more natural and live which is what I like. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

18:48 I don't think that the ADI-2 is lacking anything...there's a different design philosophy between the two of these manufacturers. The Qutest probably has an analog stage that the signal passes through that emphasizes or excites certain frequencies and when they are rendered by the clock it sounds sweet. It has that "digital kiss" in the high end. Where as the RME is looking to produce more of smooth transient that is more true to how we actually hear, having less excitement and/or saturation. Maybe I'm wrong but that's my 2 cents that were not asked for. 😊

2:50 you're wrong. Just check out the specs. Distortion is lower on the XLr output than on the rca. I'm not sure we can hear it but XLR is technicaly better even for short distance. that is acualy why you prefered the sound throught it. Still a VERY nice review!

i will watch this review again when i get ADI-2 tomorrow, hooked up :p

Does anyone know if the RME ADI2 and the ADI Pro use the same DACs?

XLR sound from ADI probably sound "better" since DB's are up on XLR versus RCA. It boosts volume, sometimes making it seem like it sounds "Better".