chord vs chord?

[Daniel 1]

I am after a dac/headphone amplifier. What would you consider better?

Chord Hugo or Chord 2Qute and seperate headphone Amplifier.

I am kind of leaning towards the seperate headphone amplifier and 2Qute as I will be using it for home use only.

Any thoughts?

I will eventually want to add a amp and speakers but this will not be for a few more years minimum.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The Hugo will keep things nice and neat, whereas the 2Qute option keeps things separate, allowing you to change one or the other at any point. Also, the 2Qute option allows you to choose any headphone amplifier you want, although more and more headphone amplifiers nowadays have an onboard DAC.

The Hugo can be used as a pre-amplifier for whichever system you decide to go for - just add power amplifier.

 

[Daniel 1]

Think seperates def appeal to me more. Having the freedom of changing up as and when.

Any thoughts on a headphone amp to pair with 2Qute I have looked at Rupert Neve Designs RNHP Precision amp looks very appealing of course you got the Audeze deckard and Fidelity Audio amp although I cant seem to find the previous model Hpa 100 only the newer model HPA 200 but at £650 not sure?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Think seperates def appeal to me more. Having the freedom of changing up as and when.

Any thoughts on a headphone amp to pair with 2Qute I have looked at Rupert Neve Designs RNHP Precision amp looks very appealing of course you got the Audeze deckard and Fidelity Audio amp although I cant seem to find the previous model Hpa 100 only the newer model HPA 200 but at £650 not sure?

There are a lot of headphone amplifiers out there, and just like matching an amplifier to a pair of speakers, it's a case of choosing a combination that works for you. auditioning is your main goal here.

It does seem a bit of a waste to buy an offboard DAC as well as a headphone amp with onboard DAC too, but I suppose if the headphone amp is exactly what you're after and provides exactly what you need, it'll be worth the money with or without the DAC.

 

[Daniel 1]

I was not meant to put the Audeze as it has a internal Dac slipped my mind talking of which out of interest can you use the Audeze deckard as a dac in a hifi setup?

 

[Frank Harvey]

I was not meant to put the Audeze as it has a internal Dac slipped my mind talking of which out of interest can you use the Audeze deckard as a dac in a hifi setup?

If its output is variable, you can use it as a pre-amp, allowing analogue in and digital USB in. If it's output is fixed, you can connect via a tape loop, and yes, in theory, use it as a DAC via that tape loop. A little limited on inputs though.

 

[Daniel 1]

No offence you lost me at tape loop I am not that tech savvy just yet. But I see your point it is rather limited. So much choice these days I will continue looking but I think as for now the 2qute option is def the strongest.

 

[Frank Harvey]

You'll see on the back of the Deckard that there's two pairs of phono connections - one pair in, one pair out. These would usually connect to the input and output connections of a tape loop on an amplifier, so whenever you want to listen to headphones, you select your source via the "tape monitor" on the amp. Again, I'm presuming the in/out on the back of the Deckard are fixed, not variable.

 

[Daniel 1]

Having gone back and fourth I think I am finally getting somewhere I am new to headphones so I figured a safe option is a Dac and AMP combo. I am pretty much decided on the Audeze deckard as I keep finding my self coming back to this. My only thing now is headphones do I start low like something like Grado sr80e or more expensive like Shure 1840 talking of which out of the two Shure 1840 or 1540 other than one is open back and 1 is not is there any differnece in quality have I missed something?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Decent headphones start around £100-150, so start with a few in that price range, but ideally you'll be getting a good enough quality pair of headphones to match the Deckard. Although I suppose you could think of this like an amp/speaker pairing, the better the amp, the better the speaker gets, even if the amp's cost is out of sync with the headphones (i.e., a lot more expensive).

 

[Daniel 1]

Thanks David

I see what my balance allows me... cheers