I’ve owned a Qutest (and enjoyed it) but now have the TT2 and very happy with the upgrade. The TT2 is a step up in terms of clarity, refinement, smoothness and engagement. I know Chord DACs can get a lot of criticism, and it’s worried me at times, but I really do think the TT2 is an excellent and enjoyable DAC. I take the point that the TT2 can also be used as a (very good) headphone amp and pre-amp but in addition to that it can also drive efficient speakers directly should you ever want to (was once an itemised feature but Chord keep this one under wraps now) and it’s Bluetooth input I find really handy if I want to listen to a YouTube video through the HiFi.
Theres a few tweaks though that I think help elevate the TT2 in my system.
1) I prefer filter 3. The internal upsampling in the TT2 is a two stage process. Stage 1 increases the sample rate to something like 768kHz, the second stage increases that further to something like 5Mhz. As I understand it, Filter 3 (and 4) omit the second stage of upsampling and to my mind it sounds the better for it. Whether that’s down to simply less manipulation of the digital audio signal, less noise produced by the FPGA, or something else, I don‘t know, but it sounds (relatively) a bit hard and strident and less engaging under filter 1. Although I’m curious to hear one, I’ve never actually heard a Dave. One thing that would put me off (or be very wary about) is that it doesn’t have any filter selections like the TT2 does. So if I like filter 1 less than I like filter 3 on the TT2 then I’m stuck with essentially filter 1 with the Dave.
2) Even though I’m running my TT2 into an integrated amp, with it’s own pre, I still prefer the TT2 with a little digital attenuation, -4dB in my case. Could be a result of something internal to the TT2, could be my pre input prefers a slightly lower level than the standard 3v output from the TT2
3) Replace the stock power supply with an Sbooster BOTW power supply.
4) Use the SPDIF coaxial input rather than USB
I‘ve previously owned an Mscaler and used it with the TT2 but ultimately preferred it without so sold it. With headphones, the improvements were easy to hear, but in-room less so. Plus after going back and forth, with and without, I felt the Mscaler had the effect of thinning out the sound slightly. Probably it was more correct that way, but in my system, in my room, to my ears, I preferred the slightly more warmer and inviting sound without it, plus with it, it reminded me more of Filter 1.
So personally if I already owned a Qutest + Mscaler, I’d seriously consider adding the option of going from there to a TT2 standalone.