Feeling Like a King Again Chords
TechRadar Verdict
Capable of phenomenal clarity, Chord's Qutest DAC cuts the cost of audiophile grade digital decoding. It's a glorious Hullo-Fi upgrade!
Pros
- +
Stunning clarity and rhythm
- +
Wide sample range support
- +
Built to last
Cons
- -
No Bluetooth
- -
Idiosyncratic interface
- -
Lacks coaxial digital input
- -
If yous want to brand the near of your digital music drove, it makes sense to invest in a decent DAC (Digital Analogue Converter).
While DACs are commonplace - you'll find them in any digital sound device with an counterpart output - most aren't up to the challenge of procuring the best audio. The majority sound perfectly adequate, simply at that place can exist big sonic gains to be had when using a standalone DAC purpose built to restore digital music to something akin to its original analogue waveform.
UK Hi-Fi outfit Chord Electronics is renowned for its innovative DACs. This is because the company doesn't buy off-the-shelf solutions; it designs its own from the ground up.
The Qutest can be plant at the higher terminate of the DAC marketplace, and as role of Chord'due south Hugo range is a direct replacement for the 2Cute. It'southward expensive, certainly, but as it mirrors tech found in the brand'due south stride-upwards Hugo 2 which sells for twice as much, it can genuinely be construed as one of the all-time bargains in loftier-finish audio.
Blueprint
Rather compact, the Qutest measures a convenient 41 x 160 x 72mm (H/W/D) and features a beautiful brushed aluminium case, with characteristic Infinity Stone-style LED selectors. The quality of stop is dreamy.
Up meridian is a glass porthole with a color coded sample rate indicator. Red indicates 44.1kHz PCM data, with colors cycling as the sample rate rises. This rainbow interface may expect fun but it'due south non particularly intuitive.
Input selection is also colour coded, with the polycarbonate input selection push glowing white for USB, yellowish and cherry for the ii BNC coaxials, and green for optical. The brightness of its LEDs tin can exist contradistinct betwixt 'high' and 'depression' by pressing the 'filter' and 'input' buttons simultaneously; just equally well, equally in a nighttime room it's as festive as a Christmas tree.
Thankfully, despite its loftier-stop aspirations, there's actually not much involved in setting upwardly. One time powered, the Qutest goes through a brusk initialization routine, and then yous're proficient to go.
Features
The Qutest offers wide-ranging sample back up: A USB type-B handles PCM up to 32-bit 768kHz, or DSD 512; there'southward a 24-bit 192kHz optical digital sound input, plus two BNC coaxials, which stretch to 24-chip 384kHz, or 768kHz in parallel dual-data mode. The latter can be used with Chord'south M-Scaler CD upscaler, which has a matching dual-data output. Useful, but we would've liked a convenient standard coaxial input.
Analogue output is via unbalanced phonos, suitable for use with integrated amps, preamps and headphone amps, and source components might typically include CD transports, players, streaming devices, set summit boxes and laptops.
The Qutest is compatible with Mac OS 10, Linux and Windows. The Chord website is the identify for Windows drivers.
Unfortunately, there'due south no support for MQA decoding. Sorry Tidal fans.
Performance
The only reason to invest in a high calibre DAC like this is to extract more item from your digital recordings - and there's no question that the Qutest succeeds in that regard as information technology lifted a veil on David Bowie's Diamond Dogs (a Japanese SHM-CD release).
During the opening of Future Fable, just before the band crash in the album'due south title track, we establish ourselves able to isolate hubbub in the faux oversupply that we've not pinpointed before in umpteen listens. Similarly, the lilting piano refrain in Sweetness Matter constitute itself elevated above that runway's improvised anarchy. Using the Qutest was similar hearing the song again for the first time.
But a good DAC isn't but defined by item. It's also about creating an intangible, heightened emotional connection to your music.
Queen Live at the Rainbow '74 (CD), painstakingly restored and remastered, punched u.s. in the chest. Freddy teasing 'Here I stand' before the band thunder into Now I'yard Hither, seemed almost 3 dimensional via this Chord.
Moving from sixteen-chip to 24-fleck files proves equally entertaining. Fritz Kreisler's Viennese Caprice, a delightful trip the light fantastic toe for violin and orchestra, confirms a wonderful lightness of touch on, while Mozart'south Pianoforte Sonata in B Major is deliciously evocative. Close your eyes and you could almost be walking aslope the composer to the Maria Prain church on the outskirts of Salzburg.
How is information technology doing that?
While there'southward a lot happening under the hood, iv frequency-shaping filters are available which tailor the tonal characteristic of the DAC. They comprise Incisive Neutral, Incisive Neutral with an HF roll-off, Warm and the same with an HF roll-off. It'south best to take the labelling of these with a pinch of salt. The differences between them are far more subtle than their tags might suggest.
According to notes supplied past Chord, the Incisive Neutral filter offers a full, unexpurgated sound spectrum, regardless of sample charge per unit, while the HF roll-off edition is for use with high sample rate PCM. The Warm filter aims to do what it says on the can, again with an HF roll-off filter for high resolution PCM playback.
If this all sounds a bit familiar, it's because information technology is. The Qutest shares the aforementioned DAC pattern and frequency filter gear up as that much more expensive Hugo 2 (£1800). The divergence is there'southward no headphone amplifier or rechargeable bombardment hither. Despite its handy size, the Qutest is unapologetically a desktop design. Perchance equally a consequence, there'southward no Bluetooth on-board either.
Of the four filters, our default was the Incisive Neutral, simply because of its stunning clarity, offer virtually seismic definition between instruments and vocals and inviting you lot to dissect familiar songs.
Final verdict
While the proprietary FPGA technology behind the Qutest may be heed-meltingly complex, you don't demand to understand how it works to appreciate the nuance and detail it reveals. That being said, offering gloriously detailed sound and exhilarating to listen to, the Qutest is a fabulous desktop DAC.
There are pocket-sized caveats, like the lack of MQA support and Bluetooth - and the pattern is definitely idiosyncratic - only there's no question that it's an immaculate musical performer. The Chord Qutest is a perfect fusion of scientific discipline and art.
- Want to upwards your audio game? Don't miss our round-ups of the best over-ear headphones and best portable DACs
Source: https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/chord-qutest
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