Disclaimer: The Chord Electronics Qutest was provided to me on loan for this review, it will be returned after publication. Chord Electronics is not affiliated with Headfonia and not a site advertiser. Many thanks for the opportunity to listen to the Qutest on an extended period and to review it!
About Chord Electronics
Chord Electronics is an English manufacturer of amplifiers, digital to analogue converters, upscalers and streamers. They have been active for many years already and are best known in our space of audio for their ground-breaking Hugo FPGA loaded DAC and of course for their massively popular Mojo. A cigarette sized DAC/Amp that surpasses every competitor with its incredible performance. Chord Electronics is seated in Kent and has a team of 27 persons in total.
The Chief Designer and Managing Director John Franks has started out in aviation electronics before he later on founded Chord Electronics. According to the interview we did with him last year, he was greatly influenced by that time, because no mistake was allowed without a perfect fix, no workarounds are accepted. This also is the philosophy of Chord Electronics. Don’t accept anything but the very best possible. That is why their designs are considered as segment leaders. Up to today, Chord has brought us a lot of gear which was loved all around the globe. Their Mojo has to be one of the most sold items ever.
A few years into the history of Chord Electronics, John Franks got in touch with Rob Watts, a DAC designer who made far superior products. Rob Watts is responsible for all FPGA DAC/Amps Chord has brought out in the past years. That includes their ultimate DAC – the DAVE, as well as the super popular Hugo range, of which the product we’re looking at today is a member – the Qutest.
Chord Electronics Qutest
About Qutest
It was at CES at the beginning of this year, when Chord announced their upcoming FPGA based DAC, the offspring of their previous 2Qute – Qutest. It is built on the programming of their Hugo2, which I personally hold very high and which is one of my favourite products of all. Unlike Hugo2 it is a stationary product though, designed to sit tight in your home-audio chain.
When I received Qutest for review, I knew already it would be small, but I was not prepared for it to be this tiny. Qutest fully lives up to its name with its 16 x 4.1 x 7.2 cm (WHD) dimensions. With 700 Grams the Chord sits firmly on your desk and won’t be pulled backwards by the RCA cables. This is something Chord has changed due to feedback they got from the 2Qute owners in the past.
Qutest does not derive power from an internal battery, it sources juice from a 5V micro USB input. In theory you can hook up a power bank to it to get it away from your noisy mains. Qutest is what Chord describes as a pure DAC. It even says „This is pure audio“ on the packaging. Qutest has no built-in amplifier in it, so it spits out unaltered Voltage via its back-sided RCA’s. Depending on the input sensitivity of your amplifier, you can set the output Voltage of Qutest to 1, 2 or 3 Volts. This is a very welcome feature for me, as my integrated amplifier at home can only handle 2 V at its analogue inputs. Everything above causes it to go nuts with distortion.
Chord Electronics Qutest
Qutest has a tap-length of 49,152 taps and uses a ten element pulse array design, just like Hugo2. It supports sample rates of 32 bit / 768 kHz and native DSD up to 512. It has a measured dynamic range of 124 dB (A weighted) and a channel separation of impressive 138 dB (at 1 kHz, 300 Ohms). What can’t be measured though is the Noise floor modulation, as it is so damn low. Total Harmonic Distortion comes in at 0.0001% (1 kHz, 2.5V RMS, 300 Ohms). The frequency response goes all the way from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Qutest has a total of four digital inputs. All are located on the back side of the unit. There is a USB B, one optical and two coaxial (BNC) inputs. The coaxial inputs can be used in dual data mode, so you can also hook up Chord’s Blu Mk2 upscaler and push the tap-length of Qutest even further.
Qutest comes solely in black colour and will set you back 1,895 US Dollars.
Package
Qutest comes in a very nice and sturdy card board box, that beholds all accessories and of course the DAC itself. The packaging itself consist of three parts, the outer layer, a top and a bottom „drawer“. Flip open the card board box and you’ll be looking at your new DAC. It sits secure in a layer of cut out foam. In the bottom drawer all accessories are stored, that includes the 2.1 A power supply, a manual, a two meter USB B cable and a raw silk accessory bag.
All in all a rather standard packaging, what I’d have love to find was a BNC to RCA adapter or a BNC to RCA coax cable. Though the BNC connectors are superior to RCA, they are not standard in today’s consumer audio world. I was lucky enough to have an adapter myself.
The review continues on Page 2 after the jump
Chris K
Chord products are insanely overpriced and overhyped. Build quality has always been sub-par too.
Linus
Hi Chris,
thanks for your comment.
While I don’t agree with you, everyone’s entitled to his/her opinion and I completely respect yours.
As you can read in the review, I feel different than you on this. I have seen a few high-priced electronics and must say, the Qutest (to me) is of great build quality, can’t say that about others I have encountered in my non-Headfonia-life. Also I liked the sound of it, a lot.
Anyways, enjoy your weekend.
Milvin T Torrevillas
A good complete review of this product, although I must agree to it being overpriced. But, through this linus review of the Qutest, I am somewhat intrigued and excited to see what this DAC can really bring to the table, for recording and audiophile purposes left open for this sole purpose. Excellent review linus and Chord Electronic bravo! For continuing to push the technological and artistic envelope for random glimpses of what’s to come.
Charley C
Hi Linus. GREAT review! The Qutest is on my short-list to upgrade my Oppo Sonica DAC in my home office. My only concern is, I go straight from my Oppo DAC (has volume control) to my amplifier, so I would need some preamp/volume control in-between the Qutest and my amp. I’m not too excited about having to introduce a pre-amp into the audio chain (adding noise). My setup is an iMac OS X running Roon, to my Oppo DAC to my amp (Crown XLS1502) to SVS Ultra Bookshelves. Also, going from Oppo DAC to an SVS SB-2000 subwoofer. Any thoughts/suggestions on the best way to replace my Oppo DAC with the Qutest? Thanks !!
Linus
Hi Charley,
thank you so much for your comment.
I assume you have a power amplifier, right?
If that’s the case you will need an additional pre-amplifier to use volume control with Qutest, as it is a standalone DAC. I think there are many good choices out there for each budget. If you have a decent HiFi dealer near you it might be best to drop by and see what they can recommend.
Of course you can also just jump to the Hugo2 and put it in desktop mode (needs to be connected to the power outlet for 24hrs). You gain a few additional features with it too.
Charley C
Thanks, Linus. The Hugo 2 is the conclusion I came to, also. Don’t really “need” a portable DAC, but it’s probably the best solution for my needs. The Hugo 2 TT is also about to be released. However, I think the price tag is a little more than I want to invest. Thanks for the reply!
Linus
No problem Charley, happy to help.
The Hugo2 is one of the best products I own, hands down. I also think it would be the logical solution for your situation. The Hugo2 TT certainly is also very interesting, but I can’t comment on it. All I know is that it will be available this Autumn/Fall.
If you can, give Hugo2 a try.
Jin
Hi Linus,
I totally agree with you for the review. I have both H2 and Qutest, the Qutest just arrived a week ago because I just quit the headphone world and go into hifi 2CH. The H2 sound more natural to me, more organic while the Qutest sounds bright. I also prepared an AQ diamond USB cable for the Qutest. When pairing I found the qutest is just too bright, really bright, thought it would sound the same as H2.
Sooo, what’s your opinion about H2 and Dave. I prefer neutral sound, not the bright sound, if I say the Qutest is bright, what you would say about the Dave.
Thanks!
Linus
Hi Jin,
thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
How I wish I could chime in on the Dave. Haven’t had many chances to listen to it yet, and I am strongly against listening impressions from shows with gear I am not familiar with… Hope you’ll understand.
Cheers,
L
Shahriman
Better than my Chord MOJO and iFi NANO iDSD. But not better than many good desktop R2R DACs.
Linus
Hi Shahriman,
thanks for your comment.
R2R DACs are indeed very nice, I’m glad you have your personal favourite. I wish more manufacturers wouldn’t go the “lazy” way and do some special designs, just like Chord with their unique FPGA coded DACs. R2R, discreet and non oversampling DACs should be more highlighted in this industry in my opinion. I guess they faded away when people started craving numbers instead of sound…
Lindsay
Thought I’d drop a note here…. after several years of searching for a DAC to mate to my Pioneer Elite PD-75 CD player followed by Sugden AU41 pre-amp & AU41 Amp hooked up to Paradigm Studio Monitor speakers. I settled for the Chord Qutest as I was very impressed with its build and sound. I purchased it as an early Christmas present for myself and have had it setup for 10 days burning in. At first I noticed the detail and enhanced the soundstage and warmth. In the last couple days I’ve notice fuller bass Exhibiting benefits of ongoing burn-in time. This was a huge upgrade coming from a 1 bit DAC built into the PD-75. I am sincerely enjoying the digital side of my equipment now.
gareth
I’m currently enjoying mine after reading your review and a few others. But I have to say the Hugo 2 has a great sound but as others have said the build quality really wasn’t where it should of been for the price, at least the demo unit that borrowed wasn’t. Split line didn’t meet up ( could see the lights through the seam line) buttons rattled about, and the roller volume felt like a messy roller mouse from the 90/00 ( could actually see this posing a real problem in few years for a lot people). Certainly not what I would expect for the price. As I say though sounded great.
However the Qutest has none of these problems and sounds great through a class A Sugden with Klipsch Heritage Heresy 3.
Harry
Not so many listeners can’t or won’t pay that much for a DAC. If every DAC would play even near like that, the music would be different. I have the Qutest together with the much more expensive M-Scaler, and the play great together. I tested some ohters lower price solution, but none of them was satisfying. Now I hope both tools will play the next 20 years.
Brian
Thank you Linus for comprehensive review of Chord Qutest.
On my wish list for desktop solution component.
Read elsewhere on internet that Qutest is available in silver finish as well as black.
Think person who said it’s available in sliver finish is misinformed.