DACOverreview

Chord Qutest

Three labs call it one of the cleanest DACs ever measured. Listeners still can't agree what that sounds like.

21 sourcesUpdated
$1,795Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

Chord Qutest

The short version

What to know.

A line-level DAC whose measured performance is settled: three independent benches find distortion, noise and jitter at or near the limit of the instruments. What sources split on is everything after that. Most reviewers hear a neutral, refined presentation that is detailed without glare; a steady minority hears the same box as lean or bright on its default filter and reaches for the warm or roll-off settings; and the measurement community holds that a DAC this clean has no sound of its own to hear. Owners argue about whether the supplied switch-mode power supply holds it back, while the bench and the designer say it does not. The machined chassis is universally admired and the feature set is deliberately bare — no balanced output, volume control, remote or headphone jack. The price is the other fault line: a bargain beside Chord's own flagships, or several times what a chip DAC that measures as well costs.

About this product

The 2018 desktop DAC that replaced the 2Qute — a Hugo 2's conversion engine without the headphone amp, battery or volume control. Not the 2Qute or Qute EX before it, and not the Hugo 2, Hugo TT 2 or Mojo 2, which add headphone outputs. Sold only in black.

Chord Electronics builds its converters on programmable chips rather than buying an off-the-shelf DAC, and the Qutest is the cheapest way into that approach without a headphone amp attached. Launched in 2018 to replace the 2Qute, it runs the same 49,152-tap filter and four selectable filters as the Hugo 2, in a small machined-aluminium box powered from a 5-volt USB supply, with USB, optical and two BNC coaxial inputs and a single pair of RCA outputs.

It has been a fixture of What Hi-Fi?'s DAC awards since launch and a reference point in every argument about whether expensive DACs sound different. The measurements are not what that argument is about.

A good fit for

  • Systems that already have a preamp, integrated amp or headphone amp and want a small, very clean converter in front of it
  • Listeners who want filter options to trim the top end in a bright system
  • Owners of a Chord M Scaler or Blu transport, which connect through the dual-BNC input
  • Anyone who values measured performance and a premium chassis in the same small box

Think twice if

  • You need balanced outputs, a volume control, a remote or a headphone jack — the Qutest has none of them
  • You judge DACs by measurements and price alone; cheaper chip DACs measure as well or better
  • Your system already leans bright; the default filter is where the 'lean' reports cluster
  • You plan to run it from an aftermarket power supply and want the warranty question settled first

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

4 / 6topics divide opinion
featuresbuildtransparencynoiseergonomicsvalue
2 Mostly agree4 Divided opinions

Common ground4

  • Distortion, noise and jitter measure at or near the limits of three independent test rigs
  • The machined-aluminium chassis is beyond criticism
  • The feature set is deliberately bare: one RCA output, no balanced output, volume control, remote or headphone jack

Points of contention4

  • Whether it sounds neutral and refined, lean and bright on its default filter, or — as the measurement camp holds — like any other transparent DAC
  • Whether the supplied switch-mode power adapter holds it back, as many owners claim, or makes no difference, as the bench and its designer say
  • Whether the colour-coded orbs are simple once learned or need the manual

A closer listen.

6 topics · 4 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Transparency

PositiveDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment19 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split three ways. The largest group hears it as neutral and refined — resolving, but without the glare they associate with chip DACs. A smaller group hears it as lean, forward or bright, at least on the default Incisive Neutral filter. The measurement community says it is simply transparent, and that any 'Chord sound' is expectation rather than signal.

Measured

John Atkinson (Stereophile, Audio Precision SYS2722) measured the second harmonic at -120 dB (0.0001%) into 600 ohms, close to 21 bits of resolution, no jitter sidebands with 24-bit data and channel separation above 120 dB, and called it "state-of-the-art measured performance." Amir Majidimehr (ASR) found only a second harmonic beside the test tone and ranked it at the top of the DACs he had tested in January 2019. Soomal's RMAA loopback found distortion "very ideal" but was limited by its own sound card at 24 bits. The two HF roll-off filters are about 1 dB down just below 20 kHz; the other pair is flat to 20 kHz.

vs. listeners — Nothing on any bench is tilted bright with the default filter — the response is flat to 20 kHz. Three things line up with the bright reports instead. They cluster on the Incisive Neutral filter, and the listeners who heard it lean (Atkinson, Reichert) settled on the Warm or roll-off filters, which measure only about 1 dB different at 20 kHz. Owners connect brightness to the power and USB chain: one Head-Fi owner's brightness disappeared when they swapped an aftermarket supply back to the stock one, and another heard USB as brighter than optical. And the output ships at 3 V rather than the usual 2 V, so in an unmatched comparison it simply plays louder — which ASR members point out flatters it against DACs at the usual level.

Where it splits
Neutral and refined — resolving without glare62%

“The Qutest is simply a perfectly transparent window on the music you choose to play on it and for that reason, it is an unquestionable Best Buy.”

Ed Selley, AVForums
Lean, forward or bright — especially on the default filter20%

“这样的高频，如果以一台万元级以上台式解码来要求，它在搭配大多数器材时，虽然极限很出众，但听感感觉还是略显密度太好，发力过猛了一点。”

Soomal (translated: judged as a desktop DAC above ¥10,000, its treble — though exceptional at the limits — sounds a little too dense and pushes a bit too hard with most equipment)
Measurably transparent — no house sound to hear18%

“If that is not a bother to you and you can afford it, the CHORD Qutest will provide exceptional performance and transparency to your audio system.”

Amir Majidimehr, Audio Science Review
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Form factor
Desktop
DAC
Chord Electronics custom coded Xilinx Artix 7 (XC7A15T) FPGA
PCM
768 kHz / 32-bit
DSD
DSD512

Connection

Digital inputs
USB-B, Coaxial, Optical
Line outputs
RCA
Preamp output
No
Power
External power supply

Physical

Weight
770 g
Dimensions
160 × 88 × 45 mm

The two coaxial inputs are BNC and can be paired in dual-data mode for 768 kHz; optical is listed to 96 kHz. The line output is fixed but switchable between 1, 2 and 3 V. Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from chordelectronics.co.uk.

Follow the evidence

Sources 21

1–6 of 21 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 4

  1. A read of where the reviews land as of October 2026. The Qutest has been on sale since 2018, and much cheaper DACs that measure as well have arrived since — which is a large part of why the value argument is still live.

  2. How it sounds depends on what surrounds it: the amplifier, the filter you pick, the output level you set and, some owners insist, the power supply. Compare it at matched volume — its default 3 V output plays louder than most DACs, and louder tends to sound better.