Luxman DA-06 DAC vs Chord Qutest/Hugo 2

Out of those 3 DACs you listed above I would go with the Luxman DA-06. 
However, Chord makes excellent Chord Dave DAC but it retails for $10k new. 
Chord Hugo 2 is a great portable headphone amp/DAC for headphone listening IMO. Some people use the Hugo 2 as a standalone DAC for real setup too.

Specifically why would you go with the DA-06?  Have you compared them?  Thanks.

I own all 3. Luxman DA-06 is not in the same league as the Chord DACs. It is however smooth like butter but it lacks the 3D soundstage Chord gives you. I have it hooked up to a pair of Focal Shape 65s, studio monitors. And I can listen to it all day long with any recording without doing anything. Chord is considerably truer to the source, which is not always a good thing, especially with studio monitors.

I’m siding with @astelmaszek. I heard both using a variety of headphones, mostly Audeze LCD 3 and Focal Clear.


The Luxman was smooth but not nearly as dynamic as the Chord Qutest. I was very impressed by the Chord - my main gripes were really only the flimsy power supply/connecter, the limited input types (SPDIF via BNC and USB, but not AES or even RCA SPDIF input), and lack of balanced outputs. I think the DAC is identical to the Hugo 2 but without the headphone section, so the only reason to buy a Hugo 2 over the Qutest seems to be to bundle a headphone amp.

Thank you all for your responses.

Luxman is revamping it's product line look around the the DA06 can be found for half price

^^^ What is that supposed to mean.  Either you know something or you dont

I must say I disagree with this assessment in DAC performance...Chord v. Luxman.  I own both, through my ears the Chord Hugo2 is hands down a superior DAC.  The main advantage is soundstage width and depth and 2 channel separation.  The Luxman used to be on my main system...no longer. I can go into greater detail; however, if you play them side by side I would not have to....

@shannere , you wrote this 2 years ago, and the DA-06 has been discontinued. Have you heard any rumours about any heir to it?

I am not aware of any upcoming upgrades/replacements for the DA-06. 

Any other thoughts on the comparison between the Luxman DA-06 and other DACs such as Chord Qutest/Hugo/TT or Denafrips Pontus 2 etc.? I may have the opportunity to pick one up.

I own the Chord QBD76 which is my reference DAC in the main system. It sounds very good and I love it a lot, so much that the power cord that’s connected to it actually costs more than the DAC, as silly as it may sound. I am aware the Luxman DA-06 will sound different, but will it sound significantly inferior in comparison to some of the good DACs costing up to say $2k? From the comments above the Luxman was said to lack detail and 3-d soundstage when compared to the Chord Hugo/Qutest. Is it a big difference? What are the strengths of the DA-06?

It doesn’t matter if the Luxman doesn’t sound as good as the Chord but it needs to perform to a certain level isn’t it? Otherwise any $500 DAC would do it.