The Qutest DAC is designed to improve system sound quality, instantly. It is the latest evolution of our most affordable ‘standalone’ DAC, in other words, one that does not contain a built-in headphone amplifier, like the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2. The Qutest is What Hi-Fi?’s ‘Best DAC’ 2023 £1,000+ and a What Hi-Fi? ‘Best DAC’ winner every year its inception (2018-2022). It is a proven class-leader and is based on our award-winning proprietary FPGA technology giving it unrivalled 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. Qutest offers Hugo 2’s proprietary user-selectable frequency-shaping filters and input selection controls, available via two fascia-mounted spheres, introducing useful flexibility. It also features RCA analogue outputs for connection to integrated amplifiers, preamps and headphone amps, plus high-resolution dual-data digital inputs for connection to future Chord Electronics products. A further new feature is a user-selectable output voltage available in 1, 2 and 3V RMS outputs for flexible connectivity with a wide range of partnering devices. The What Hi-Fi? ‘Best DAC’ 2023/24 Qutest is the definitive small audiophile DA convertor.
FPGA chipset:
Based on a proprietary technology programmable chipset, uniquely custom-coded for unrivalled performance (49,152 tap length)
Four-stage filter:
User-configurable filters to fine tune Qutest’s output to taste
USB Galvanic isolation:
Prevents noise from source components entering the DAC
Up to 768 kHz*and DSD 512:
Decodes sample rates up to 768 kHz/DSD 512
Dual BNC input:
Can connect to a Hugo M Scaler for ultra-high-resolution upscaled playback (up to 768 kHz) - hi-res audio from your music files
High-quality metalwork with a compact footprint:
Ideal isolation of the main PCB board, plus Qutest’s small footprint makes it easy to place in a wide range of systems
Selectable line-level output:
1-3 V output. Simple output-matching with all pre-amplification system components
