





Designed in
the UK
Best for
Indoor Use
3 Years of
Warranty
UPGRADE YOUR HOME SET-UP'S SOUND
Unlike other DACs by Chord Electronics, the Qutest does not have headphone amplification or rechargeable batteries. It is a pure DAC made to improve your home listening set-up. With its FPGA DAC, you get superior technical and sonic performance. With 49,152 taps, this DAC is able to support even Native DSD 512 (Octa-DSD).

MULTIPLE CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS
Connect to a wide variety of devices with the Qutest’s optical, 2 BNC Coax and USB Type-B digital inputs. These are galvanically isolated to give an instant performance upgrade as well as to modernise ageing digital source components. Connect to future Chord Electronics devices with Hi-Res dual-data digital inputs. RCA analogue outputs let you connect to headphone amps, preamps and integrated amps.


SUPPORTS ALL YOUR CHOICES
The Qutest lets you select from its four frequency-shaping filters and input selection controls. This can be done via the two fascia-mounted spheres. You can also choose whether you want the output voltage to be 1, 2 or 3 RMS for connecting to a range of devices. It supports a wide range of frequencies like 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 358.8kHz, 384kHz, 717.6kHz and 768kHz.



HIGH-QUALITY, DURABLE ALUMINIUM CASING
The Qutest sports a show-off-worthy chassis. This all-new chassis has been precision-machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium for better durability. The PCB has been kept in a shallow cavity in the casing for additional isolation and protection from external vibration.


DEVICE POWER SUPPLY | 5v 2amp Micro USB |
DIMENSIONS | 4.5cm (H) x 16cm (W) x 8.8cm (D) |
WEIGHT | 770g |
BOX CONTENTS | Chord Qutest DAC |
1.5m 5v 2a Switching Micro USB Power Supply | |
2m Type A to Type B USB Cable | |
Qutest Owners Overview Manual | |
Raw Silk Drawstring Bag |
CHIPSET | custom coded Xilinx Artix 7 (XC7A15T) FPGA |
FREQUENCY RESPONSE | 20 Hz – 20 kHz +/- 0.2dB |
THD | <0.0001% 1 kHz 3v RMS 300Ω |
THD & NOISE | 117dB at 1 kHz 300ohms @3v RMS |
CHANNEL SEPARATION | 138dB at 1 kHz 300Ω |
TAP LENGTH | 49,152 |
PULSE ARRAY | 10 element pulse array design |
PCM SUPPORT | 44.1 kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 358.8kHz, 384kHz, 717.6kHz, and 768kHz. |
DSD SUPPORT | Native playback supported. DSD64 (Single) to DSD512 (Octa-DSD) |
DRIVER SUPPORT | Driverless with Mac OS X and Linux, driver required for Windows OS |
INPUT | USB Type B (White): 44.1 kHz to 768kHz – 16 bit to 32 Bit |
2x BNC Coax (Red): 44.1 kHz – 384kHz – 16 bit to 32 Bit | |
1x Dual data mode input (using both BNC coax inputs together): 44.1 kHz to 768kHz – 16 bit to 32 Bit | |
Optical (Green): 44.1 kHz to 96kHz – 16 bit to 24 BIT | |
OUTPUT | 1x stereo pair of RCA (Left and Right) |
Variable output | Fixed, but selectable between 3v (blue), 2v (green), and 1v (red) via dual press of ‘Filter’ + ‘Input’ upon startup |
GENERIC NAME | Digital Audio Converter |
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN | United Kingdom |
IMPORTER DETAILS | Importers Name: Ferrari Video Address: 63/18, 1st Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Chennai - 600020 Contact No: 044-24420733 |
NET QUANTITY | 1 |


The History of Chord Electronics
The Chord electronics marked its beginning with the world of aviation where they believe in unyielding standards. Right from the beginning in 1989, John Franks, the owner of the company has been instrumental in developing the philosophy of the company. The very first amplifiers designed by the Chord Electronics were delivered to the BBC. The company then went on to do business with world-class studios such as the Abbey Road, Sony Music (New York) and eventually The Royal Opera House. The success of Chord electronics in the professional space lead to increasing demand for a domestic range incorporating the best of the finest professional products. All the Chord Electronics products made in Britain use proprietary technologies and offer studio-grade audio performance with all the Chord Electronics products.
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Inside the Chord Studios
When Jamie spends one half of his time in the studio and the other half in the location, he needs best in class Digital to Analogue converters to keep up with his task and this is precisely why he places his trust on nothing else but Chord Electronics. Jamie has already installed the Hugo TT DAC in the Studio room as well as the listening room to feed his monitors and then employs Hugo for mixing on the go along with headphones.

The FPGA DAC Technology
The cutting-edge FPGA DAC Technology is consistent across the Chord's DAC range like the Mojo, 2Qute, Hugo, Hugo 2, and Dave were instead of using the traditional industrial DAC chip, they use the advanced field-programmable gate array.

Learn how to make the most out of your Chord Qutest with information on how to protect and clean your device from time to time. Get information on battery life indicators and configuring these with other devices.
Read More3 Year Warranty
Don't sweat it, this Chord - Qutest comes with a warranty
from Chord Electronics that covers manufacturing defects.
All products featured on Headphone Zone are backed by an original manufacturer's warranty.
Read more about Chord Electronics's warranty in India.

Best DAC £500 - £1200
What Hi-Fi? Awards
Nov, 2019

Best DAC £500 - £1200
What Hi-Fi? Awards
Nov, 2018
Best Product Award
EISA Award
Sep, 2019

Best Buy
Winner
AVForums
July, 2018

Stars of CES Winner
What Hi-Fi?
Jan, 2018

Editor's Choice Winner
Hi-Fi Choice
Feb, 2018

Best DAC £500 - £1200
What Hi-Fi? Awards
Oct, 2020
"What Hi-Fi? Awards 2019 winner. Chord has managed to do it again. The Qutest sets a new benchmark at this price. Clear, precise and subtle performer with stylish build."
Read More"The Chord Qutest is a perfect fusion of science and art.Capable of astounding clarity, Chord’s Qutest DAC cuts the cost of audiophile grade digital decoding."
Read More"Gosh, what is there not to like about the Qutest as a pure DAC? It gives resolutely detailed and fantastically natural sounding with just about any amp I can throw at it."
Read More"The Qutest was detailed, natural, very atmospheric with great 3D imaging. The Qutest is a cuddly, small aluminium box which is machined from a solid billet of aluminium and then black anodised."
Read MoreYouTube Reviews
Watch the most popular YouTube reviews for the Chord - Qutest
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