Bought the Chord Qutest. Love it. Hate the power supply.

Particularly if it’s in a component described as incredible. Did you perhaps choose this term inappropriately?

It’s not inappropriate. Incredible is used in the context of the system. Any incredible sounding component can be improved. A $10 power cord can sound incredible and that goes the same for a $100 DAC, if you get my drift.

To the OP - the reason I avoid most Chord DACs is they can’t take a full fledged power cord. I have the Chord QBD76 which sounds awesome. I have a good power cord attached to it which took it to another level.

Good luck.

I have a Qutest and use an Sbooster linear power supply with the Ultra Mk II in line plug in which Sbooster recommends for the Qutest. But even a basic iFi power supply will provide cleaner, quieter power than the stock SMPS. 

Rob obviously knows how to engineer DAC's. Doesn't mean we can't think for ourselves, do what makes sense to us and share our experiences. Or ask one another questions.

I think the quality of the Qutest bears tweeking and upgrading. In fact I feed mine through an Mscaler that I picked up here second hand. This is not Chord's recommended way to move up their product chain, but I am very happy with the result and it is my end game DAC. 

Cheers, and enjoy your Qutest!

i would agree with the above comment

the qutest is engineered to a relatively low price point, no doubt the power filtering is not as extensive nor advanced as the hugo tt2 or dave models well up the chain

also concur with the m scaler being a significant sonic upgrade for the qutest (as well as other dacs, chord and otherwise)... you pay dearly for the upgrade though, making it an obstacle for some, to be sure... but the step up in sound is real, and significant

I realize this an old thread, but adding a few thoughts.  I am a big fan of lps to replace switching supplies in my system.  This is for three reasons: 1) get switching supplies off my power distributor completely to reduce noise potentially fed back into the mains, 2) clean up the power supply to the supported gear and provide more reserve for transient peaks (yes, even with relatively low current source gear), and 3) this allows me to experiment with different high quality power cables that both affect the sound of the target gear and can reduce noise between cables in my relatively tight space on my rack.  

I have just acquired and new Chord Qutest.  If I keep it, it will replace a Chord QuteHD that is currently powered by a souped-up 12V MRCU lps with a good PC made from quality Furutech parts.  Right out of the box, the Qutest with a switching supply is not as engaging as the QuteHD, with the Qutest sounding harder and less liquid or natural and with a meh soundstage.  I have a 5V ifi PowerX switching supply that works very well on my ifi purifier 2, but sounded noticeably worse with Qutest than the stock Chord supply provided with the DAC.  Score one for Rob Watts.

This was a surprising result that the three generation older Chord DAC with 1/5 the computing power connected to a quality lps was not only in spitting distance of the Qutest, but bested it in my system.  A fair fight would involve reverting to the stock switching supply that came with the QuteHD which is even dinkier than the one that comes with the Qutest, and allowing time for the Qutest to run in which has been noted as important in multiple places.  But the positive effect of the MRCU lps on the older Chord is undeniable.

If I do keep the Qutest, I will get an lps to replace the stock supply.  If any of you have updates on which supplies have worked for you, I would appreciate your suggestions.  Thanks in advance.

kn