Chord Electronics Alto DAC

You have more than one pair of headphones — and you like comparing them — plus a pair of bookshelf speakers on the desk or in the bedroom, and you want all of it on the same volume knob. Alto is that one box, barely bigger than a sheet of A5. On the front, four outputs, including the balanced 4.4 mm of today's high-end headphones, so A/B comparing is pressing a button, not replugging. On the back, 50 watts into 4 ohms for the speakers, from the same Ultima error correction that makes a BerTTi transparent — fast and clear, as Chord itself says. XLR and RCA in, XLR through for a power amplifier later. Alto has no converter on board — a Qutest or Hugo in front does that — and 50 watts is for bookshelf speakers, not for the floorstanders in the living room.

Specifications

Inputs	1x set of XLR inputs; 1x set of RCA inputs
Outputs	4x headphone outputs (1x 3.5mm, 1x 4.4mm balanced jack, 2x 1/4"); 1x pair of banana sockets for speakers; 1x pair of XLR for additional volume control or signal passthrough; 1x 12V DC jack output for use with other products
THD	0.003 % into 4 Ω (speakers); 0.001 % into 100 Ω (headphones)
Signal-to-noise ratio	120 dB
Channel separation	-95 dB
Frequency response	6 Hz – 60 kHz
Output voltage	15 V RMS into 8 Ω
Output power, speakers	50 W into 4 Ω
Output power, headphones	2250 mW into 100 Ω
Output stage	ULTIMA dual-feed-forward error correction, fully balanced, HF switch-mode power supply
Maximum input voltage	6 V RMS
Operating voltage	80-250 V AC auto-switching
Dimensions	Length 215 mm, Width 200 mm, Height 57 mm
Weight	1946 g