Chord Qutest dac

[iceman16]

Has anyone had a listen to this new dac from Chord? I really like the simplicity of the casework and features but I don’t think it has bluetooth connection.

 

[insider9]

Hahaha and when I contacted Dale at Fanthorpes about the £795 offer for 2Qute and whether there was a new model in the pipeline he gentlemanly forgot to answer. That's was on Friday if memory serves me right.

 

[insider9]

Please can we have a review, pretty please!

 

[ellisdj]

first I have heard about it but of course if I can get one.

going to look it up now

 

[insider9]

first I have heard about it but of course if I can get one.

going to look it up now

Yes, please 🙂

I'd happily put it on my Valentine's Day gift list...

 

[ellisdj]

in my review for the hugo tt I asked for a version without a headphone amp. maybe they was listening 🙂

no headphone amp plus
not running off battery a negative and a positive.

could be the ideal dac for most people if its performance is akin to the hugo 2

 

[insider9]

Looking at specs it's the Hugo 2 without headphone section and battery. Same number of taps. Just as I was looking to upgrade my digital end.

Plus I like good looking components and this one is Qutest *biggrin*

 

[ellisdj]

its likely going to come with a wall smps.
however 600 saving on the hugo 2 goes a long way with paul hynes for a serious quality lpsu

 

[insider9]

Yes but some may have one already. Also if it sound like Hugo 2 at that price it will be good value. Especially as I wasn't keen to use portable DAC in my system. Mojo sounded good but charging was a pain.

 

[ellisdj]

The Qutest runs on 5V from a microUSB input for greater accommodation of third party power supplies

means can run it off battery after all - very easy make a battery supply for this

 

[Hawkwind16]

I'm just looking at DAC's for my system and it looks like Chord are taking over the world..

 

[BigH]

Have a look at Schiit they get good reviews.

 

[Al ears]

I'm just looking at DAC's for my system and it looks like Chord are taking over the world..

Only if your sucked into the design and the ethos. In a blind test you're hard pushed to distinguish between them and others, and unless you are really impressed you're paying too much. ;-)

 

[insider9]

Just saw a short video of Rob Watts and John Frank's at CES talking about Qutest.

https://youtu.be/-UqzcNhQOrE

 

[insider9]

Just saw a short video of Rob Watts and John Frank's at CES talking about Qutest.

https://youtu.be/-UqzcNhQOrE

 

[ellisdj]

I think they just copied what I had said a few days before ...... *biggrin*

 

[insider9]

They didn't put as much detail as you did but good to hear it from them. It looks a very exciting product indeed.

 

[ellisdj]

I think I won on enthusiasm as well *biggrin*

 

[newlash09]

I heard the Hugo TT in my friends setup with my parasound amp and PMC DB1i's. And I felt it sounded exactly the same as my setup with the chord 2 qute and PMC twenty 26. Iam still confused why I can't hear differences which people say exist as night and day. So wanted to know your impressions of the 2qute and the Hugo since you've heard both. Thanks 🙂

 

[ellisdj]

For me the Hugo is quite a bit better than the 2Qute, however if your not hearing it dont worry about it

 

[insider9]

For me the Hugo is quite a bit better than the 2Qute, however if your not hearing it dont worry about it 

Is that 2Qute vs Hugo 2?

 

[ellisdj]

Yes Hugo 2 and TT sorry I havent tried the Hugo 1

Thats with the 2qute off the stock power supply

 

[newlash09]

For me the Hugo is quite a bit better than the 2Qute, however if your not hearing it dont worry about it 

Glad to know that the Hugo is much better than the 2qute. Will certainly bear in mind, if I go for the active ATC SCM 40's come summer 🙂

 

[ellisdj]

If you dont need a mobile dac then the Qutest makes more sense and its cheaper - performance pending

 

[newlash09]

If you dont need a mobile dac then the Qutest makes more sense and its cheaper - performance pending

I went for the chord 2 qute as I wanted a straight dac without preamp or headphone functionality . And I would stick with the 2 Qute for now. And the qutest seems the most logical uograde if I changed for the ATC SCM 40 actives .