I just bought a Chord Qutest today, after spending three hours comparing it to the half-as-expensive Audiolab m-DAC+. The setup at the dealer was some PMC TwentyFive 23s driven by a Cyrus amp. The difference was really easily audible on most tracks. Those PMCs can produce prodigious bass... I genuinely thought there was a sub in the room, until I was told there wasn't. But listening at first on the m-DAC+, I didn't enjoy it, the bass felt bloated and the rest of the music seemed overwhelmed by it. Well, plugged in the Qutest, and it was a whole different story. The bass was SO much tighter and cleaner, every instrument sounded more separated, and the composition of tracks with complicated layering suddenly came together as it should have.
The only area where the m-DAC+ gave it any competition was, for example, Diana Krall's vocals, which sounded a bit warmer and richer (albeit less clear) than with the Qutest. However, applying the "warm" filter on the Qutest then brought them close to par on the vocals, while the backing instruments still sounded way cleaner with the Qutest. So, it was a surprisingly easy decision to go with the £1200 Qutest over the ~£600 m-DAC+, without even a slight bit of post-purchase doubts in my mind.
I actually pre-ordered my Qutest over a week ago (with the ability to change to the m-DAC+), and apparently it's still likely to take another two weeks to arrive at the store. Apparently a combination of case production delays and high demand has the waiting list getting on for a month, but it's easy to see why!
The only area where the m-DAC+ gave it any competition was, for example, Diana Krall's vocals, which sounded a bit warmer and richer (albeit less clear) than with the Qutest. However, applying the "warm" filter on the Qutest then brought them close to par on the vocals, while the backing instruments still sounded way cleaner with the Qutest. So, it was a surprisingly easy decision to go with the £1200 Qutest over the ~£600 m-DAC+, without even a slight bit of post-purchase doubts in my mind.
I actually pre-ordered my Qutest over a week ago (with the ability to change to the m-DAC+), and apparently it's still likely to take another two weeks to arrive at the store. Apparently a combination of case production delays and high demand has the waiting list getting on for a month, but it's easy to see why!