Chord Electronics Introduce thier New Standalone DAC: The QUTEST, it is a pure Desktop DAC, made to replace the multi-award-winning 2Qute. Qutest is designed to improve sound quality in the home, and the Standalone in the naming means it does not contain headphone amplification or rechargeable batteries.
Qutest is based on Chord's award-winning proprietary FPGA technology developed for the class-leading Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp, giving it proven class-leading technical and sonic performance.
Qutest is our ‘pure’ DAC (it does not contain headphone amplification or rechargeable batteries like some of its range stablemates) and is designed to improve sound quality in the home. It is the latest evolution of our most affordable standalone DAC, the multi-award-winning 2Qute, which it directly replaces. | |
Qutest, which is a What Hi-Fi? Star of CES 2018, is based on our award-winning proprietary FPGA technology developed for the class-leading Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp, giving it proven class-leading technical and sonic performance. Perfectly equipped to bring the benefits our digital technology to a wide range of connected devices, it features a galvanically isolated USB-B, optical and coaxial digital input, giving an instant performance upgrade, plus the ability to modernise ageing digital source components. | |
The Qutest chassis is all-new, too. It has significantly greater mass than its predecessor and has been precision-machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium billet. The Qutest PCB nestles within a shallow cavity in the solid aluminium chassis, giving the circuit board greater protection within the casework and additional isolation from external vibration compared to previous designs. | |
Materials: Precision machined aluminium casing with polycarbonate buttons and glass viewing portal. Available in black. Device Power Supply: 5v 2amp Micro USB Connectivity (input): USB Type B (White): 44.1kHz – 768kHz – 16bit – 32bit 2x BNC Coax (Red): 44.1kHz – 768kHz – 16bit – 32bit Optical (Green): 44.1kHz – 192kHz – 16bit – 24bit Connectivity (output): 1x stereo pair of RCA (Left and Right) PCM support: 44.1kHz, 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) Variable output: Fixed, but selectable between 3v (blue), 2v (green), and 1v (red) via dual press of ‘Filter’ + ‘Input’ upon startup Driver support: Driverless with Mac OS X and Linux, driver required for Windows OS |
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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’ wighted (reference 2.5v) Noise 2.6 uV ‘A’ weighted: No measurable noise floor modulation Channel separation: 138dB at 1kHz 300Ω Weight: 770g Dimensions: 41mm (H) x 160mm (W) x 72mm (D) Boxed Weight: 1500g |