DACs Chord Qutest vs Cary DMS-500

[PENG]

What is the fascination with all these limited use single boxes? Just to appeal to audiophilia?

No different than the big boxes called amplifiers. You probably know I have a few of those boxes too, people believe what they believe and "hear" what they believe regardless of science. For me, it's just fun, they are just toys.

 

[Doge]

I'm missing the example, or the fascination part. It is a practical way to do it. This is my computer audio. I can't think of another way to do it other than my laptop sound card, laptop 3.5 (dac) and that all sound awful.

I don't have, or want a "getto blaster" and you can't get one that is a PC and edits video.

I have separate speakers, and an integrated amp (two monos, and preamp in one) and drive it from my separate laptop.

If the DAC is mature and inexpensive technology, it should be in the amp, the PC, the phone. But clear to me they don't all get the same thing.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm missing the example, or the fascination part. It is a practical way to do it. This is my computer audio. I can't think of another way to do it other than my laptop sound card, laptop 3.5 (dac) and that all sound awful.

I don't have, or want a "getto blaster" and you can't get one that is a PC and edits video.

I have separate speakers, and an integrated amp (two monos, and preamp in one) and drive it from my separate laptop.

If the DAC is mature and inexpensive technology, it should be in the amp, the PC, the phone. But clear to me they don't all get the same thing.

Just yanking your chain a bit (plus some post oral surgery drugs ). I just stream from my laptop or use hdmi to an avr but mostly just stream wirelessly over my network. Never had the desire for a dac in a box

 

[Doge]

I guess the New LG and Samsung phones are paying attention and doing pretty good audio out that 3.5 jack. I assume many of the Bluetooth receivers are also good at converting Digital to Analog. Either phone could be a headphone amp for old-ear listeners.

Maybe gaming type PCs, or Macs have good DACs. Specifically my Lenovo P50 does not. It is not an inexpensive machine with an 8 core Xeon processor, 64GB RAM 2 SSD drives 1.5TB - and a cheapo DAC.

Having tried the Dragonfly, I think it would be an option. As I need something there - or forget the whole listening experience (as for the last 30 years), I went with the cool alloy billet brick.