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Chord Qutest DAC (OPEN)

Chord Qutest DAC (OPEN)

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Regular price $1,449 In stock now!
Regular price $1,595 Sale price $1,449 In stock now!
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Chord Qutest DAC (OPEN)

Qutest is Chord's ‘pure’ DAC (it does not contain headphone amplification or rechargeable batteries like some of its range stablemates) and is the latest evolution of Chord's most affordable standalone DAC, the multi-award-winning 2Qute.

Qutest is based on Chord's award-winning proprietary FPGA technology developed for the class-leading Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp, giving it proven class-leading technical and sonic performance. It features a galvanically isolated USB-B, and optical and coaxial digital inputs.

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 devices.

Specifications

Power supply: 5 V, 2 A Micro USB

Tap length filter: 49,152 – 10 element Pulse Array design

Inputs 
USB Type B (White): 44.1 kHz to 768 kHz – 16 bit to 32 bit
BNC Coax (Red): x 2, 44.1 kHz – 384 kHz – 16 bit to 32 bit
Dual data mode input (using both BNC coax inputs together): 44.1 kHz to 768 kHz – 16 bit to 32 bit
Optical (Green): 44.1 kHz to 96 kHz – 16 bit to 24 bit

Output: 1 x stereo pair of RCA 

PCM support (kHz): 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 358.8, 384, 717.6, and 768

DSD support: Native playback supported. DSD64 (Single) to DSD512 (Octa-DSD)

Variable output: Fixed volume, but selectable between 3 V (blue), 2 V (green), and 1 V (red)

Driver support: Driver required for Windows OS

Dimensions (HWD): 1.77" x 6.3" x 3.46" (4.5 x 16 x 8.8 cm)

Weight: 1.7 lb (770 g)

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