Chord | SKU: NEW-CHQUTEST-BLK | Barcode: 5060295370122

Chord Qutest DAC - Black

The Chord Qutest brings extraordinary focus, timing, and transparency to an existing stereo without adding needless complexity. Its custom FPGA DAC, selectable filters, galvanically isolated USB input, and compact aluminum chassis reward careful listening.

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Product of the Year – Best DAC Over £500 - 2025 – What Hi-Fi? Magazine
Editors’ Choice Award 2022 - The Absolute Sound
Best DAC of 2021 Award – What Hi-Fi? Magazine
Recommended Component 2022 - Stereophile

$1,795.00

Condition

New

In Stock. Ships in 1–3 business days

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Chord's Digital Engineering, With Nothing Else Attached

The Qutest does one job. It converts digital to analog, and it leaves the amplifying, the volume and the switching to whatever comes after it. Everything Chord spent on this box went into the conversion itself.

That conversion runs on a custom-coded Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA rather than an off-the-shelf converter chip, executing a 49,152-tap filter written in-house. Four filter settings are selectable from the front, so the presentation can be adjusted to the recording or the system.

It is small in a way the price does not suggest: 16cm wide, 8.8cm deep, 4.5cm tall, and 770 grams. It runs from a 5V supply and comes in Jett Black, with a drawstring bag and a USB cable in the box.

What It Will Take From Your Sources

USB is the headline input, accepting PCM from 44.1kHz all the way to 768kHz at 16 to 32 bits. Native DSD runs from DSD64 up to DSD512. Very little music exists at the very top of that range, but nothing in your library will be turned away.

Two coaxial BNC inputs each accept up to 384kHz. Used together in dual-data mode they carry 768kHz, which is how a Chord upscaler feeds the Qutest at its full rate. An optical input handles up to 96kHz, which suits a television or an older disc player.

Output is a single stereo RCA pair, and that is deliberate. There is no headphone jack and no volume knob, because both would mean putting circuitry in the signal path that a dedicated converter does not need.

Who Is This DAC Best For?

You already have a preamp or integrated amp you like — the Qutest adds conversion without duplicating anything you own, so none of your budget goes on a second volume control.
Your library is a mixture of everything — PCM to 768kHz and native DSD to DSD512 mean CD rips, hi-res downloads and DSD files all play without a format you cannot open.
You want to tune the presentation — four filters are selectable from the front panel, so a bright recording and a soft one do not have to be listened to the same way.
Your shelf is full — at 16 by 8.8cm and 770 grams it fits where a full-width component cannot, and runs from a simple 5V supply.
You want level and switching handled upstream — the Qutest converts; one of our preamplifiers takes care of the rest

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Run the RCA output to a line input on your preamplifier or integrated amplifier. A computer or streamer connects over USB, a disc player or upscaler over coaxial BNC, and a television over optical.

If your source can drive both BNC inputs in dual-data mode, use both and the Qutest accepts 768kHz. Then work through the four filters on your own recordings and settle on one.

Pairs Well With

Building around the Qutest? Here are some great companions:

Preamplifier: The Qutest needs a volume control after it — see our Preamplifiers.
Music Streamer: Feed the USB input — see our Music Streamers.
CD Transport: For the coaxial BNC inputs — see our CD Players & Transports.
Interconnects: A short RCA pair onward — see our Interconnect Cables.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is inside it?

A Chord-programmed Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA running a 49,152-tap filter, rather than a standard converter chip from a catalog.

Which inputs does it have?

USB Type-B to 768kHz, two coaxial BNC to 384kHz each, and optical to 96kHz. The two BNC inputs together accept 768kHz in dual-data mode.

Does it play DSD?

Yes, natively, from DSD64 up to DSD512 over USB.

What do the filters do?

Four selectable settings change the filter's character. They are chosen on the front panel, so you can switch while listening and keep the one you prefer.

What size is it, and what comes with it?

16 by 8.8 by 4.5cm and 770 grams, with a 5V power supply, a USB Type-A to Type-B cable and a drawstring bag included.

What finish is available?

Jett Black, with the illuminated sphere controls Chord is known for on the top panel.

See It in Action

Passion for Sound reviews the Qutest on its own terms:

Audio Arkitekts explains where it fits in a system:

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Learn More

Want to learn more about digital converters, digital filters, or building a source-first system? Visit our Learning Center for guides, tips, and expert advice.

Product of the Year – Best DAC Over £500 - 2025 – What Hi-Fi? Magazine

"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."

- What Hi-Fi?, October, 2025

Editors’ Choice Award 2022 - The Absolute Sound

"If you have a basic but flagship-level DAC that is more than ten years old, and you have been thinking about modernizing 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?"

- Steven Stone, The Absolute Sound, April 26, 2019

Recommended Component 2022 - Stereophile

"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."

"The Chord Qutest is a must-audition for every serious audiophile—especially those who think all DACs sound the same.

- Herb Reichert, Stereophile, March 2019

Best DAC of 2021 Award – What Hi-Fi? Magazine

"Pound for pound the best DAC on the market right now."

"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."

- What Hi-Fi?, February 2021

"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. 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)."

- Steve Huff, stevehuff.photo, November 19, 2020

"The Qutest gives the listener a clearer window into recordings, perhaps better than you may have ever heard before. I would love to listen to it with the M Scaler. Some tell me that it's an impossibly good upgrade, transforming the pair into reference grade sound equipment."

"There is no doubt in my mind that this is a DAC with serious performance and for a very reasonable price. The more I think about it, I can't put forward a suggestion of a better DAC for the money, so I'll put my money where my mouth is and purchase this review sample."

"While Chord Electronics' DAC range is exceptional with real performance to be enjoyed at each price point, the Qutest is, without doubt, the bargain to be had in its lineup."

- Mark Gusew, StereoNET Australia, July 4, 2019

"Gosh, what is there not to like about the Qutest as a pure DAC? Whilst not a total carbon copy of the Hugo 2’s DAC signature it still resolutely detailed and fantastically natural sounding with just about any amp I can throw at it."

- Marcus, Headfonics, October 24, 2018

"Chord has managed to do it again. The Qutest sets a new benchmark at this price."

- What Hi-Fi?, October 8, 2018

"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."

"But desktop audio isn’t our focus at FutureAudiophile.com, as we are more into traditional, two-channel configurations, for which the Chord Qutest DAC is a really capable stereo DAC that should give you years of strong performance at a very fair price."

- 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."

- amirm, audiosciencereview.com, January 1, 2019

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