Chord Electronics Qutest

The Chord Electronics Qutest is Chord's stand-alone DAC solution and the successor to the much acclaimed and much loved Chord 2Qute among Hi-Fi enthusiasts. This Qutest is based on the Hugo 2's award-winning FPGA platform and delivers exceptional sound performance, not only in this price range.

This Chord Qutest is, unlike the Chord Mojo, not equipped with a headphone amplifier or battery. This DAC is mainly intended for home use in a conventional Hi-Fi set. However, this Qutest does share the same robustly built and perfectly EMI / RFI shielding housing with the same recognizable design as its Chord family members.

The DAC has an optical Toslink input (max. 24/96), two coaxial S / PDIF connections (max. 32/384) and a USB port (max. 32/768 PCM and native DSD512). For an optimal jitter-free connection, Chord has equipped the coaxial inputs with BNC connectors. Via the large, easy-to-operate buttons on the front of the Qutest, you select the desired digital input and, just like the Hugo 2, choose the filtering that best suits your personal taste.

The analog RCA output signal has an adjustable 1V, 2V and 3V RMS output voltage with which it can be matched even better with an amplifier. Use this Chord Qutest as a DAC supplement to your existing Hi-Fi set, or use it as a higher quality DAC with an outdated digital source component such as a CD player or a first generation network player.

Specifications:
Chipset: Chord Electronics custom coded Xilinx Artix 7 (XC7A15T) FPGA
Tap length: 49.152
Pulse array: 10 element pulse array design
Frequency response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.2dB
Output stage: Class A.
THD: <0.0001% 1kHz 3v RMS 300Ω
THD and noise at 3v RMS: 117dB at 1kHz 300ohms "A" weighted (reference 2.5v)
Noise 2.6 uV "A" weighted: No measurable noise floor modulation
Channel separation: 138dB at 1kHz 300Ω
Weight: 770g
Dimensions: 4.5cm (H) 16cm (W) 8.8cm (D)