These two are a lot of "apples and oranges". In MY system, the Border Patrol is the pretty clear winner over the Qutest (and yes, I've owned them both). I really enjoyed the Qutest when I dumped my Ayre Codex about three years ago. All the things that Chord is known for, lots of detail and space. It's excellent and for anybody who believes more detail is better. Until I got more resolving speakers. With my Volti Rivals, the Chord's tone and timbre just couldn't compare with the Border Patrol (mine is the SE-I version). If you do quick A-B comparisons of the two, I can see why some would prefer the Chord. But if you actually just let each unit go for about of week of listening and see which one actually lets you enjoy the music more, it's the Border Patrol. The review linked above is actually right on point.
As with all audio gear and setups, people have very different tastes and preferences, there is never one right answer. I would imagine for example that if someone combined the Qutest with Focal speakers, it would make my ears bleed, but others would love the hyper detail. I personally admire the Qutest more than I love it. I love the Border Patrol and will never get rid of it even as systems evolve.
For background, my other stand-alone DAC (in another system) is a Merason DAC1 and I auditioned DACS by Ideon, Matrox, Weiss & Bricasti before going ith the Merason.