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Product of the Year – Best DAC Over £500 - 2025 – What Hi-Fi? Magazine
Editors’ Choice Award 2022 - The Absolute Sound
Recommended Component 2022 - Stereophile
Best DAC of 2021 Award – What Hi-Fi? Magazine
Award Winning 'Pure' DAC
Qutest is the latest 'pure' DAC from Chord Electronics. It does not contain headphone amplification or rechargeable batteries like some of Chord's other products, hence the 'pure' DAC specification. Qutest is designed to improve sound quality in the home. It is one off Chord's most affordable standalone DAC, replacing and upgrading the multi-award-winning 2Qute.
Award-Winning Performance
England's What Hi-Fi? magazine honored the Chord Qutest by naming it the Best DAC Over £500 for 2025.
"Chord has managed to do it again. The Qutest sets a new benchmark at this price."
"We reckon Chord might well find another way to hoist the benchmark another notch when it's ready. No pressure."
"Until then, or until a superior DAC from another brand comes along, the Qutest occupies the gap in the pecking order between the Chord Mojo 2 and Chord Hugo 2 as the DAC that lesser rivals look up to at this price mark."
Even More Awards
"The Qutest snagged an Editors’ Choice Award from The Absolute Sound, which reports, "I would strongly recommend trying the Qutest before you replace your DAC with something with an additional zero at the end of its price tag. The Qutest qualifies as a solid piece of engineering at a reasonable price that delivers digital music with power and finesse. What’s not to like?"
Stereophile named the Qutest as a Recommended Component 2022. "Overall, the Chord Qutest delivered blizzards of detail, and a weighty musicality that completely captivated my mind. It stimulated me in a way that suggested it might be doing something unusually right in the time domain. Something seemed musically correct in a way that's new to me," observes Herb Reichert.
"The Chord Qutest is a must-audition for every serious audiophile—especially those who think all DACs sound the same.
Proprietary FPGA Technology from Class-Leading Hugo 2
Qutest, which is a What Hi-Fi? magazine Star of CES 2018, is based on Chord's award-winning proprietary FPGA technology developed for the class-leading Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp, giving it proven class-leading technical and sonic performance. Perfectly equipped to bring the benefits of Chord digital technology to a wide range of connected devices, Qutest features a galvanically isolated USB-B, optical and coaxial digital input, giving an instant performance upgrade, plus the ability to modernize aging digital source components.
In a February 2021 online article, "Best DACs of 2021," What Hi-Fi? magazine terms the Chord Qutest "pound for pound the best DAC on the market right now." According to What Hi-Fi?, "Chord continues to light up the premium market for DACs and the Qutest is the proof. It's the product that lesser rivals look up to at this price point. The DAC delivers a crisp, clean and concise sound, with Chord's now familiar neutral tonal balance."
All-New Chassis
The Qutest chassis is all-new, too. It has significantly greater mass than its predecessor and has been precision-machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminum billet. The Qutest PCB nestles within a shallow cavity in the solid aluminum chassis, giving the circuit board greater protection within the casework and additional isolation from external vibration compared to previous designs.
Frequency-Shaping Filters and Input Selection Controls
Qutest offers Hugo 2's proprietary user-selectable frequency-shaping filters and input selection controls, available via two fascia-mounted spheres, introducing useful flexibility. It also features RCA analog outputs for connection to integrated amplifiers, preamps and headphone amps, plus high-resolution dual-data digital inputs for connection to future Chord Electronics products.
A further new feature is a user-selectable output voltage available in 1, 2 and 3V RMS outputs for flexible connectivity with a wide range of partnering devices.
Four Selectable Filter Options
By cycling through the four filter options, it is possible to subtly change the device's tonal characteristics. Qutest achieves this not by strictly applying an equalization curve, but by changing the way in which the FPGA handles the data.
The Incisive Neutral Filter is designed for all who wish to hear the full spectrum of audio no matter what sample rate. This option has an ultra linear frequency response. For the technically minded this includes a 16FS to 256FS WTA2 filter.
The Incisive Neutral HF Roll-Off Filter is designed for purists in mind, who playback high sample rate PCM recordings. This option has an ultra linear frequency response with a high frequency filter past 20kHz to remove HF distortion and noise from these recordings. This includes a 16FS to 256FS WTA2 filter with the HF filter enabled.
Designed to introduce a little warmth to recordings, the Warm Filter will satisfy. This is a 16FS WTA1 filter only.
The Warm HF Roll-Off Filter introduces a little warmth to recordings. This filter will satisfy and is ideal for high resolution PCM playback. This is a 16FS filter but with a high- frequency roll-off.
Four Selectable Digital Input Options
With four selectable digital input options, Qutest is a standalone DAC that acts as a digital hub to allow audio components to be instantly upgraded. Many hi-fi and audio components can benefit, including CD transports and players, streamers, computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones, plus most audio devices with a suitable digital output.
The HD Type-B USB Input allows up to 768kHz and DSD 512 native playback. DSD 64 - DSD 256 via DoP, native DSD via ASIO.
The Coax 1 Input provides up to 384kHz and up to DSD 128 (via DoP). The Coax 2 Input offers up to 384kHz and up to DSD 128. The Optical Input allows up to 192kHz and DSD 64 (via DoP)
"It is Indeed My Reference DAC"
"As for the Chord Qutest, it is indeed my reference DAC for now and sometime in the future I will add the highly regarded Chord M Scaler to take it up a few levels," notes Steve Huff, stevehuff.photo, November 19, 2020."
"Unless I win a lottery and can buy a DAVE DAC I am thrilled with this little DAC which does deliver reference sound when everything else is right (amp, speakers, cables, etc)."
"Nails All the Tests I Threw at It"
"The Chord Qutest DAC is a versatile, easy to set up and easy to use audio component that is as at home in an audiophile rack as it is plunked down on your desk. Paired with its desktop brethren, you have a small form factor army of audiophile components that could make for a kickass overall system for the modern world," reports Jerry Del Colliano, futureaudiophile.com, May 1, 2024.
"From pure performance point of view, the CHORD Qutest nails all the tests I threw at it, garnering the top spot in DACs I have tested," observes amirm, Administrator ataudiosciencereview.com.
