Chord - Qutest

This is the best and only DAC that you'll ever need. The sound is extremely clean. Soundstage is huge and it looks beautiful. It is built like a tank and is quite heavy over 700 gms. It has no ventilation holes and is dust proof. So maintenance is easy. When I first opened the box, my first reaction was wow. The box looks so awesome and the qutest looks even better!

I pair the Qutest with Schiit Magni 3 for listening through headphones (Hifiman Ananda, HD 800, HD 598SE, ATH M50x). This combo sounds awesome. You can clearly hear the difference between high quality flac and mp3 which is expected from a good DAC. I earlier would use dragonfly black and now I never seem to use it after listening to the Qutest. Of course dragonfly black is better for portable listening on the go.

I also paired the Qutest with my studio monitors Yamaha HS8 through a hardware volume controller and the sound can just blow your mind. Extremely clear sound.

Be aware that there can be pops and crackles if you listen to flac 192 khz and above on windows 10. This is not a problem of Qutest, but an issue in the way Windows processes USB audio. You can use Foobar2000 with ASIO driver to reduce the pops and crackles. However, with high bit rates like 24 bit 192 khz and above, there may still be ocassional pops. I prefer using Ubuntu linux with Audacious audio player where there is no such issue of pops or crackling. You need to make sure you select USB in the audio output option of Audacious for best sound quality.

Definitely recommended if you are willing to spend for stunning audio quality.

Thanks to headphonezone received the within 24hrs of placing the order. Its been a week with the DAC 3 days with me and 4 days with a friend (so that I could get an unbiased review). Initially I was skeptical of the purchase as the price is 1.2L (which was way above my budget) and the combined price of my speaker + amp is 60K . This DAC has replaced my current CA Azur Dacmagic. Look wise awesome (specially the lights), sonically terrific. The sound is very smooth and non-fatiguing. Could clearly spot the difference with the previous DAC. My friend also noticed the same difference with a higher end amplifier+speaker combo.
Definitely a recommended buy.

One of the best DACS I have ever heard, period. The soundstage is sublime, I listened to Coke Studio for about 2 hours straight with a Massdrop THX AAA 789 and HD800S, bliss, heavenly, felt like I was in the middle and the sound was all around me, definitely a big yes from my side.

I have been using the Qutest for a few months now and it has definitely had enough time to burn in properly. A few quick thoughts on the packaging - it is excellent and you definitely know it is a premium product from the moment you start to open the box. The DAC itself is small but weighty. It is beautifully built with smooth edges, everything feels solid and this is something that will last for years. First impressions are positive even before you plug it in and switch it on.

About the sound - this DAC has been reviewed by many publications and reading the reviews (all exceedingly positive) gives one confidence to buy the product without a prior audition. Switching it on and it has a bit of a hard edge to the sound. The burn in takes ages so you need to be patient for it to reach full performance. And it is worth it! In my collection I have CDs I have owned for nearly 15 years and I heard details that I had never heard before. These are subtle things that greatly increase your appreciation and enjoyment of a piece of music and the reason to be an audiophile. It becomes much easier to understand the lyrics being sung (something that is not always the case with other DACs). All this resolution does not mean a hard or fatiguing upper midrange or treble. Contrary to this - with the best recordings the sound is smooth and sweet yet highly resolving! On the other hand - if your music is not well recorded you will instantly know it. There are filter options that allow you to tune the sound to taste but the difference is still subtle. The other point worth highlighting is that this DAC sounds excellent with standard resolution files / streams and does not need high resolution files or streams to sound it's best. Provided the rest of your system is well balanced and you are not looking at an overtly warm or euphonic sound this is absolutely perfect.

Highly recommend this to anyone looking at an excellent DAC at this budget. It handles all the formats you need except for MQA (not an issue for me). I hope to add the M Scaler in the future once my funds allow it.

It’s soundstage full of very crisp yet clean and concise. I dare not forget to mention it’s explicitly detailed instrumentation they fills the space between my klipsh floor standing speakers.

Qutest offers brilliant resolution. Sweet texture and nuance cling to the wheeling cymbal, double bass and crisp vocals.

The four filters are almost the same. While they don’t make the world of difference, they’re worth experimenting with and I realised they for a person with a keen ear they do. To my ears they did not make much of a difference but to my daughter’s ears they did. She could make out the changes from warmness to coolness and a neutral feel. Guess age is catching up with me.

Over the past few days, I have been running this continuously and can make out that this needs a bit of running in. So don’t judge it right out of the box.

The music I have been playing is Amber Rubarth and boy or boy... this little thing bring best of her recordings especially the chesky produced ones. One can feel the room in which the recording was done. Then I moved onto the jazz kemerata by Carlos Franzetti and it was brilliant. Subsequently played retrospective by Christy baron am I must say this does an awesome Job. After listening to a lot of vocals and jazz, I moved to check how it plays a bit more complex music like the ones by Brian Eno and david bowie. It’s brought out the best of their work. Lastly, I must mentioned the sound track of Thir thin red line by Hans Zimmer man. This starts off with a very low bass and while a lot of people may not agree to me adding a sub woofer to a stereo set up, But I do have a small KEF active one in the loop. The qutest did a brilliant job here too.

The spacing, staging and separation that it provides is worth every rupee spent on this little one with a huge heart!

I must also mentioned that this is my first purchase from headphone zone and the team work is worth a mention. Prompt and on time delivery.

Thank you Raghav and team. Good work guys and keep it up awesome work.

My heartiest compliments to headphone zone for a wonderfully curated and seamless experience.
I am a regular audiophile consumer and must say this was the best for a high end audio equipment purchase
Keep the mojo going headphone zone and service rewards handsomely.

Really nice experience , able to hear details of music and warm sound output

Ive been eyeing this piece of equipment for some time now, having multiple DACs like Schiit Modi, Ifi Zen dac , Aune X1s, Meridian Director who are all currently functional and in use in multiple audio set ups. This though is on a different level, pureplay DAC with no headphone amp built in, it makes your speakers shine. Go for it ! Absolute recommend

Chord - Qutest