[Waddiewadkins]

Too bad we cant meet, otherwise i would bet you you wouldnt be able to tell which is which if you didnt know beforehand . Unless the BTR7 intentionally colors the sound like the ifi blu does.

! theres a knock on GoBlu!.. thought it was a "natural" analog in the main, without XBass button.. and then also with the XBass button it's at least an analog boost and not a bloated effect

 

[Waddiewadkins]

! theres a knock on GoBlu!.. thought it was a warmish "natural" analog in the main, without XBass button.. and then also with the XBass button it's at least an analog boost not overly strong

 

[Ferdinando1968]

Too bad we cant meet, otherwise i would bet you you wouldnt be able to tell which is which if you didnt know beforehand . Unless the BTR7 intentionally colors the sound like the ifi blu does.

If we could meet, I wouldn't mind doing the blind test with BTR7 at all, I would be much more interested in exchanging opinions on our equipment, trying equipment I don't have, discovering new music I don't know, etc

Coming to the point, I personally believe that most of the sonic differences we perceive are due more to the transducers than to the amps/DACs (psychoacoustic considerations aside).

However, I think that some sonic differences exist between the various electronics.

I don't think BTR7 intentionally 'colours' the music (it doesn't have xbass filters or similar), I believe that the 'colour' that differentiates the sound performance of some DAC/AMPs is due to the differences between the power supply and amplification/filter circuits .

Then there are some sonic differences due to the different DACs and their circuit implementation, differences that become more evident with R2R DACs for example.

Anyway,
a blind test, well done so as to be scientifically valid, I have actually never performed it with BTR7 - 5K.

Maybe I will
(I have little time available unfortunately).

I made some comparisons between RU6(NOS)-RU7(dsd256)-GOLD-BAR(BP), and, using resolving IEMs (EA1000 for example) and modern quality recordings,
I can hear the sonic differences between the various devices.

But all this has nothing to do with the 5K - BTR7 comparison.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

Bought a replacement 5k ... They are too good not to have in the collection.

 

[mtnegg]

I've been loving my Qudelix 5k so far (couple months). I primarily use it in USB mode in combination with Tidal's exclusive mode. This means that Tidal's volume is set at max, and I adjust volume either via the 5k's hardware buttons or via the Chrome extension. Primary headphones are a pair of HD 800S.

However, I'd really love to have a physical volume dial control the Qudelix 5k volume. I have a rotary encoder on my QMK keyboard which controls Windows volume - is there some way I could program this to interface with the 5k? Or use some kind of third party USB volume dial?

Or, alternately, I know I could just use the Qudelix 5k as a DAC and plug it into an amp...but I'd rather not add another piece into the chain if possible, the 5k has enough power for me at least so far. Something like the https://jdslabs.com/product/el-amp-ii/ looks nice, but seems a bit expensive for what I was thinking.

Any pointers or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[kalibri]

Power output difference imo isnt worth mentioning as a pro for the BTR7, as in reality 320mw its a 1db loudness difference over 240mw. Also max voltage output is 3.2v on the balanced port fpr the BTR7, while its 4v on the 5K, meaning 5K will be louder with higher impedance headphones.

Edit:
Also noise floor of 5.5uV for the BTR7 on the balanced is high, and i think it has some potential of having hiss with high sensitivity iems. Dont have the device so im just assuming, based on E1DA Powerdac 2.1 i used to have, which had around 7uV noise floor if i recall correctly, and it had hiss even with iems with 100db/mw sensitivity.

I agree about power not being significantly higher, it is higher though if someone cares enough I guess.

Also, the BTR7 doesn't have any hiss even with super sensitive IEMs, to my ears at least, so it's pretty good in this regard.

Purely from a sound perspective I do like the BTR7 slightly more, I find it a bit more crisp, it's hard to describe but it's like it has more dynamic range and it's more neutral whereas I find the 5k to be ever slightly warm.

The BTR7 with the 5k software would be my grail device I swear.

 

[kalibri]

And the BTR7 is also twice the price of the 5K. In that price range, I'd start considering things like DAPs and newer non-bluetooth dongles.

True. I have the Hiby R3 II for comparison, which is probably the closest to the BTR7 and yeah, except the clunky Bluetooth operation it's not too bad.