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Am I deaf?

Hello all,
Just got a Chord Qutest to use as an outboard dac with my Oppo BD 105. Connected the Chord to the Oppo coax out with an Audioquest Carbon coax cable. $2100 for the Qutest including the cable! I'm not hearing it. I think the Oppo dac may sound a bit better than the Chord. Tried all the filters. Am I nuts?
Ben
honashagen
milpai's avatar
milpai
1,341 posts
 
@honashagen,On avsforum there is a person who claims that he prefers his Oppo UDP-205 over his Esoteric K-01. Everyone hears differently. That does not mean that person is deaf. Maybe a cable change or break-in is needed in your system. Maybe it does not "suit" your system very well.The person who recently purchased my $1.6k TVC emailed me couple of days back, how it beat the Bespoke TVC ($12k starting price). So your finding does not come a surprise. All that matters is what you prefer.
clearthink
672 posts
 
Why would you spend $2100 USD on equipment that sounds worse than the equipment you already own, use, and prefer in actual operation that does not make sense!
honashagen OP
87 posts
 
Chord says break in is not needed. Warm up is enough. The reviews on this dac are all spectacular and that's what I was expecting. I have an Audioquest Carbon optical cable coming. Can't imagine it can make a difference. 
uberwaltz's avatar
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uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
Clearthink.

Obviously the OP was not expecting it to sound worse!
Hence his thread to see where he maybe going wrong.
rcprince
2,830 posts
 

Just to confirm, you are comparing CDs, not SACDs, right?  The Chord would decode the CD layer, while the Oppo could play the SACD layer.

In any event, I don't think you're going nuts, you just prefer your Oppo's sound.  While there are differences in DACs, they may not be as great as you would be led to believe, and some of the differences are more sonic "flavorings"--hence the different filter settings on the Chord.  Could you find one you liked better than the others?

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