DACs

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Chord Qutest

£1195

When this powered DAC was launched in 2018, Chord called it the ‘world’s most advanced’. It may be that’s no longer the case, but as the Qutest has now bagged our Product of the Year Award for the fourth year running, it’s hard to argue that it’s still right at the top of the tree.

To Chord’s credit, a superlative was really the only way it could go when naming a successor to the three-time Award-winning 2Qute, and the Qutest justifies it. It’s not wholly surprising, considering it’s largely based on yet another Chord Award winner, the Hugo 2.

It uses the same DAC architecture, software coding and frequency-shaping filters, but ditches the headphone amplifier and rechargeable Li-on batteries that make the Hugo 2 portable.

The technical evolution from the 2Qute to the Qutest left this unit’s overall sonic character – crisp, clean and explicitly detailed – unchanged. The Qutest offers more resolution, and