Question Is it worth upgrading my dac?

[SamyBoy13]

As per the title I need to decide which DAC would be a nice upgrade over my Fiio D03K. I was looking at Chord Qutest and Yamaha CDS2100/3000 but not sure which one would be better. I can audition Qutest but not Yamaha thus would appreciate your input, including other recommendations. Thanks in advance

My current setup
PC -> Amazon Music Hd -> HDMI -> TV -> Optical cable -> Fiio D03k -> QED reference 40 rca -> Yamaha AS3000 -> Dali Opticon 6

 

[Gray]

Is it worth upgrading?
As you can audition the Chord, it's a question that you (and only you) will soon be able to answer.
I've tried a few DACs up to around £600 and, like many other people, have found sound quality differences to be subtle at best.
A quick look shows the Qutest to be around 40x the cost of your Fiio!
It would be really interesting for you to get a dealer (or someone with you at home) to play the same track(s) switching between the Chord and your Fiio, without you knowing which you're listening to.
There could be no better way of answering your question.

I see the Yamaha is a CD player as well, but both would give you the useful USB input option, for direct connection to your PC - something you'd also get with much cheaper DACs of course.

I'm quite interested in the Kahdas tone board, I'm not saying you should be, not least because you'd really need to put it in an enclosure, but, in terms of performance, I think it could be all that's required.
I own a little £100 DAC , it's in an enclosure (not unlike your Fiio), nothing much to look at and out of sight anyway - it's the sound that counts.
This video is under 10 minutes long so might be worth a look.
OK, it's not the Qutest and it's only one man's opinions, but I think it nicely illustrates the subtle differences between vastly different price points.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj7NQ5EPzls

 

[gasolin]

Something like a Yamaha CD-S700 buy some good power mains, digital,analog cable, the perfered dac.

What you need is a silent cdplayer with a digital out, best is both a optical and coaxial so your not limited to one type of digital out

If you only buy on thing buy a good dac, if you already have a cdplayer

What do you use now for cd's ?

 

[Esra]

The chord Qutest is a good measuring Dac with no audible issues as many other Dacs too.

If you wish/need a CD Player completing your system with a Yamaha CDS2100/3000 is a nice and smart choice . You would not buy it if the Dac is your most and only concern.

If you are looking just for a Dac:

Have a look at one of these

Topping D70 DAC AK44972 XMOS XU208 USB DSD512 Native 32Bit/768kHz Balance XLR Decoder with Remote Control (Black): Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy Topping D70 DAC AK44972 XMOS XU208 USB DSD512 Native 32Bit/768kHz Balance XLR Decoder with Remote Control (Black) at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

This is a state of the art Dac and has much nicer connectivity like XLR for your Yamaha.

But don´t expect much difference to a Dac like

JUNWER Topping D30 DSD Audio Decoder USB Coaxial Optical Fiber XMOS CS4398 24Bit 192KHz: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy JUNWER Topping D30 DSD Audio Decoder USB Coaxial Optical Fiber XMOS CS4398 24Bit 192KHz at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

also doing it´s job perfect as the Chord.