Many audiophiles claim they want to hear precisely what the producer/band/engineer hears in the studio. You can do so now that Chord Electronics has made the Alto headphone amplifier available beyond the pro-audio world.

Introduced in January as part of Chord Electronics' Pro range and spotted at CanJam London (below), the Alto amplifier will undoubtedly become a desktop favourite for those looking for a flexible high-end headphone amp that can also drive speakers such as nearfield monitors.

While the company's Anni might have a similar skill set, Alto is what it will probably want to become when it grows up. Alto is still remarkably compact for its capabilities but portable enough at 44.45x200x215 mm (HxWxD) to enable professionals to carry it with them between studios.

Moreover, the Alto can drive four pairs of headphones simultaneously thanks to its array of front-panel outputs – a 3.5mm jack, two 6.35mm sockets and, for the first time in a Chord product, a 4.4mm Pentaconn connection for balanced high-end headphones.

Meanwhile, around the rear, the Chord Alto offers stereo connectors for banana plugs to accommodate speakers, to which the Alto can deliver 25 watts into 8 ohms (or 50 watts into 4 ohms). Additionally, the balanced XLR outputs enable bypass/throughput functionality for external monitor control, for instance. This can be used at the same time as headphones or loudspeakers in a joint output mode. Rounding things off at the back are balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs.

All outputs are driven by the company's flagship Ultima amplification, the company's dual-feed-forward error-correction technology, which monitors and then immediately corrects signals before the output stage. This technology debuted in the high-end mono and preamp designs as part of the brand's 30th birthday celebrations in 2018. Since then, the technology has found its home in the larger Ultima series; the latest to land at StereoNET was the Applause Award-winning Ultima Integrated.

Chord Electronics' founder, owner and chief designer, John Franks, told StereoNET:

The new Alto offers levels of performance not yet seen in any headphone/nearfield-monitor amplifier. It features our advanced Ultima circuit topology to give this new amplifier the high-energy power levels and fast transient power that Chord Electronics' products are known for.

Of course, all of this is wrapped up in Chord's trademark precision-machined aircraft-grade aluminium casework, with high-quality anodising and colour-changing LEDs indicating power status and input/output choice. A remote control is also supplied for added convenience.

The Chord Electronics Alto is available now and priced at $4,320 USD.

Visit Chord Electronics for more information