EISA DAC
Designed as a replacement for the acclaimed 2Qute, the Chord Electronics Qutest differs from the company’s other compact DACs in that it has no built-in headphone amp, but puts all its effort into delivering top digital-to-analogue quality. Based on the company’s celebrated FPGA DAC architecture from the Hugo 2, it has optical and coaxial digital inputs, plus an isolated USB-B input for computer connection. All this is wrapped in Chord’s superb-quality milled aluminium casework, with analogue outputs adjustable to suit power amps, preamps and headphone amps. If you want a big, dramatic sound from a compact DAC, this is the one.