Dac+Streamer advice

[Vanzapp]

Just wondering.. why Chord dacs so popular? I t seems evetyone has one) Is it realy worth the price? I thinking to go for Auralic Altair..wich is streamer and dac in one...but it seems dac installed in it is not the best one...

Chord DACs are popular because they are very good. One of the few (if not the only) companies that have deigned and manufactured their own chips. The best way to know for sure is to audition a few back to back at a decent hifi emporium. Your ears will tell you which one to go for.

[MasterTape]

Definitely go for a dedicated streamer to go along with the DAC. Supposedly the Allo Digione is the value king at the moment if you want to leave as much as possible for the DAC. I haven't tried any other dedicated streamers but after hearing it I wouldn't consider plugging a USB or Optical cable into my desktop or laptop ever again.

[infinitus]

I'm leaning towards to Chord 2Qute plus Zen mini..what do you mean about being able to help please?

A used Chord 2Qute will probably be your best bang for buck for your DAC....I might be able to help you there As Jimbo has suggested, go for a dedicted audio server as your source if sound quality is important to you. Try to audition one against a laptop or pc, the differences may surprise you.

[Vanzapp]

PM'd you Erikas.

[Yomanze]

I would recommend a Chord Qutest and and a second hand InnuOS Zen mini server. I have evaluated both together recently and they make a stunning digital system, far better than using a MacBook. I tried mine and it sounded very ordinary compared with the InnOS Zen mini.

...this is very DAC dependent, I wonder if your Qutest is using the +5V USB power. I have always gotten the best results from bypassing the USB power pin and feeding it with a low noise +5V supply. When I do this, the differences between laptop, media server etc. disappear.