Chord Electronics

Chord Electronics is a British digital audio manufacturer renowned for producing some of the most technically ambitious and uniquely engineered DAC technology in high-end audio today. Designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom by founder John Franks and legendary digital designer Rob Watts, Chord products have developed a strong worldwide following through their highly individual approach to digital conversion, FPGA processing, and advanced filtering technologies.

What makes Chord Electronics particularly distinctive is that the company does not rely on conventional off-the-shelf DAC chipsets. Instead, Chord products are built around proprietary FPGA-based DAC architectures programmed directly by Rob Watts, allowing complete control over digital filtering, timing accuracy, interpolation, and transient reconstruction. This gives Chord Electronics products a very different design philosophy compared with many traditional DAC manufacturers.

At HeyNow Hi-Fi, Chord Electronics products appeal strongly to listeners seeking exceptional detail retrieval, speed, transparency, and spatial precision from digital playback. There is an immediacy and articulation to the presentation that can reveal extraordinary low-level information and dynamic nuance within high-resolution systems.

Manufactured in England, Chord Electronics DACs are built around proprietary FPGA processing platforms rather than commercially available DAC chips. Central to the company’s philosophy is Rob Watts’ extensive research into transient timing accuracy and digital filter design, leading to the development of Chord’s highly advanced WTA (Watts Transient Aligned) filtering technology.

Products including the Mojo 2, Hugo TT 2, DAVE, and M Scaler have become especially respected for their ability to reconstruct digital signals with remarkable timing precision and spatial accuracy. The M Scaler in particular operates as an advanced upscaling platform designed to dramatically increase interpolation performance before digital conversion occurs, contributing to improved image focus, depth layering, and overall realism when partnered with compatible Chord DACs.

Sonically, Chord Electronics products are known for their speed, transparency, and highly resolving presentation. The sound feels exceptionally clean and dynamically expressive, with impressive image precision and low-level detail retrieval. Within well-matched systems, Chord DACs can create an expansive and highly holographic soundstage with remarkable separation between instruments and vocals.

The Mojo 2 remains one of the most accessible entry points into the Chord philosophy, combining portability with genuinely high-end digital performance, while products such as the Hugo TT 2 and DAVE move further into reference-level digital playback territory.

The Chord Electronics range available through HeyNow Hi-Fi focuses primarily on DAC and digital playback technologies including the Mojo 2, Hugo TT 2, M Scaler, and selected flagship digital products including DAVE and BLU. Across the range, the emphasis remains firmly on proprietary digital processing, advanced FPGA design, and preserving timing integrity throughout the playback chain.

Chord Electronics products are particularly appealing for listeners seeking a highly revealing and technically sophisticated approach to digital music playback. Their unique engineering philosophy and strong focus on transient accuracy have helped establish the brand as one of the most recognised names in modern high-performance DAC design.

At HeyNow Hi-Fi, Geoff and his experienced system setup team provide assistance with digital system matching, streamer integration, DAC configuration, and optimisation to ensure Chord Electronics products perform at their full potential within each customer’s listening environment.

Explore the Chord range:

DAC's

Streamers

Phono Pre-Amplifiers

Power Amplifiers

Pre Amplifiers

Equipment Rack

Headphone Amplifiers