First, as PSA: you may find it written that there is no need to upgrade the cheapo switching power supply that ships with the Chord 2Qute.
This is a lie. Upgrading to a low noise, regulated linear power supply makes all the difference in the world.
The 12V 4A Brzhifi power supply I use is shown in the background of this photo:
While I haven't opened up the case to check, the Brzhifi power supply internals are supposed to look like this:
It's a standard extruded aluminum project box, serviceable toroidal transformer, 2x 12 VDC outputs (not independent, just two taps connected to the regulated output), power switch, and indicator light. Reassuringly the output measured 12.1 V on power up and remained 12.1 V after warm-up, unloaded, no funny business whatsoever. Whether it can meet its specified 4 A output without flaming out is an open question, but let's face it I'm not going to be putting that to the test.
The 2Qute DAC itself is at once understated and outlandish. The milled aluminum pillbox case is extremely solid and carefully finished with deeply engraved lettering on the top. At 400g, the case is heavy enough that it doesn't usually lose the fight with stiff cables. The magnifying "eye" window is centered above a single indicator LED that changes color with the sampling rate or the selected input. Speaking of inputs, there is one each coax (RCA), Toslink, and USB, switchable with a tiny button on the rear. It's easy perhaps to mock that cyclops window, but it absolutely works from an aesthetic standpoint.
Inside, it's just a small circuit board, powered by 12V DC delivered through a sleeve-type 5.5x2.1 mm power jack. What distinguishes these Chord DACs from just about all the other DACs on the market is the use of an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chip instead of an off-the-shelf, purpose-built DACs from AKM, Wolfson, ESS &c. An FPGA is microchip with user-configurable logic. It isn't a DAC, but with enough programming effort, it can be turned into one. While expensive, in the context of high-end audio the parts costs are manageable [The XC6SLX9 Chord uses in the 2Qute is currently less than $50 at digikey, but it might have been more in 2014 when the DAC was introduced.] I'm not sure what it is Chord needs this chip to do that can't be accomplished by a dedicated DAC chip - something about lots of filter taps - but I can't argue with the results.
This is a lie. Upgrading to a low noise, regulated linear power supply makes all the difference in the world.
The 12V 4A Brzhifi power supply I use is shown in the background of this photo:
While I haven't opened up the case to check, the Brzhifi power supply internals are supposed to look like this:
It's a standard extruded aluminum project box, serviceable toroidal transformer, 2x 12 VDC outputs (not independent, just two taps connected to the regulated output), power switch, and indicator light. Reassuringly the output measured 12.1 V on power up and remained 12.1 V after warm-up, unloaded, no funny business whatsoever. Whether it can meet its specified 4 A output without flaming out is an open question, but let's face it I'm not going to be putting that to the test.
The 2Qute DAC itself is at once understated and outlandish. The milled aluminum pillbox case is extremely solid and carefully finished with deeply engraved lettering on the top. At 400g, the case is heavy enough that it doesn't usually lose the fight with stiff cables. The magnifying "eye" window is centered above a single indicator LED that changes color with the sampling rate or the selected input. Speaking of inputs, there is one each coax (RCA), Toslink, and USB, switchable with a tiny button on the rear. It's easy perhaps to mock that cyclops window, but it absolutely works from an aesthetic standpoint.
Inside, it's just a small circuit board, powered by 12V DC delivered through a sleeve-type 5.5x2.1 mm power jack. What distinguishes these Chord DACs from just about all the other DACs on the market is the use of an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chip instead of an off-the-shelf, purpose-built DACs from AKM, Wolfson, ESS &c. An FPGA is microchip with user-configurable logic. It isn't a DAC, but with enough programming effort, it can be turned into one. While expensive, in the context of high-end audio the parts costs are manageable [The XC6SLX9 Chord uses in the 2Qute is currently less than $50 at digikey, but it might have been more in 2014 when the DAC was introduced.] I'm not sure what it is Chord needs this chip to do that can't be accomplished by a dedicated DAC chip - something about lots of filter taps - but I can't argue with the results.
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