Audiophile on a budget series: Chord DAVE power supply upgrade

[Legolas]

good-music-server-results-on-a-tiny-budget.

So after completing the Mac mini M1 music server power supply mod, which was an unofficial YouTube subject to follow, and that sounding very nice indeed, I looked at what else in my front end I can upgrade next.



The Chord DAVE is super DAC, very detailed, great soundstage and separation of instruments, very low digital feel to the sound. But as you may know, all Chord DACs have small SMPS (switch mode power supplies) for their power. They are compact to fit inside the DAVE chassis, low heat, very efficient and cheap to make, though I think the last point is not the reason they are in there.

I started digging around for other DAVE users who had done this mod, and found about 20. All seemed delighted with the change. The early adopters seem to use a Paul Hynes Linear Power Supply, the more recent ones the Sean Jacobs DC4, ARC6 (7K USD) or the Farad Super3 (3K Euros) with the supplied internal DAVE board.

Home - Farad

What’s the true sound of your system? Nothing beats experiencing the true performance of your audio system. A high quality power supply is fundamental to achieve such results. Farad Power Supplies developed a new principle for ultra-low noise wide bandwidth power supplies based on the use of...

faradpowersupplies.com

The Farad was the one that caught my attention. They looked well built, compact and the modification kit looked pretty easy to fit.





I ordered this one, and 2 weeks later it arrived. It was very well packed. The fit and finish is excellent, and the new internal DAVE board was very well made. There are 3 separate Linear Power Supplies for the DAVE kit, as it needs 15v DC, -15v DC & 5v DC. The -15v DC is quite a rare thing.

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[Legolas]

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Fitting the Farad kit to the DAVE​

I set up my desk, got my PC Torx set out and started the work.

There is an instructions sheet to follow for the assembly. I am detailing my own process here, which is the same method used.

First you have to take off the glass 'window' by removing the 8 Allen screws. Then there is a central Allen screw to remove at the bottom of the circle. Next remove the (same size) 3 Allen bolts left and right, the top and bottom ones you leave. Now you can carefully lift off the top case of the DAVE. Take care, it is quite heavy and there is a ribbon cable attached underneath.

Lay the top on its side behind the DAVE, and release the ribbon cable from its slot. Now you have put the top aside till later.

​

Next, TAKE some photos of the DAVE internals, especially a close up of the 4 pin connector from the SMPS and the DAVE board. You need to ensure the new connector goes in the correct way round!



Next take off the cable connector from the SMPS to the circuit board left side. Now unscrew the 4 Torx screws at each corner of the SMPS board. You may have to take off the earth connection to get at one of these screws. Put the SMPS aside. You need the board spacers and screws later.

Not carefully take up the SMPS and at the same time, slide up the IEC and switch panel out of it's slot at the back of the DAVE left side.

Next, go back you the old SMPS and take off the black spacers under the board. Using the screws that attached the SMPS fit the screws and spacers to the Farad control board. Finger tighten the spacers underneath.



Now test place the Farad board and the 3 cables into your DAVE. Take care to keep the cables supported. You need to avoid bending the wire that are soldered to the board. It all fits nicely but it a bit fiddly.



Now screw the 4 Torx screws on the new Farad board to the place the old SMPS was fitted. Next run the black connection cables from the Farad control board through the DAVE slot behind it, exactly where the old SMPS cables were routed. Now carefully push fit the 4 pin female Farad connector to 4 pin male connector on the DAVE board, left side.

Check over all your work, make sure the wires from the Farad board are intact and still connected / soldered to it's board.

Now you need to refit the DAVE top. Simply do a reverse of what you did before, but take care with the grey ribbon cable, it is routed very close to the heatsink, and can get snagged as the top case is refitted. I slid over this ribbon cable to the right a bit, and made sure it bends behind the heatsink, not on top of it.

Refit the glass window and bezel, don't forget the single centre bolt bottom of the window. Also check for dust or grease on the inside of the window glass.

Refit the 6 Allen screws on the top sides of the DAVE. Note, don't overtighten all the screws, you don't need to go crazy.



So you DAVE is all back together! Next set up the 3 Farad supplies, I stacked mine. I booted them up not connected to see they warmed up ok. The startup takes about 20-30 seconds. The LEDs go red, then slowly go Blue. The -15v LPS is the slowest to boot, this is normal.

After powering them down, and letting the LEDs go out, fit the silver Farad power cables from the DAVE to the relevant LPS. Double check you get this correct.



Connect your DAVE to you hifi. Set it to Mute. Plug in your Farad supplies. They will boot after 30 seconds. Then the Farad board in your DAVE will let all 3 power lines connect to the DAVE and it will power up as normal. This is how it works now, you no longer have the IEC and switch on/off button on your DAVE.

After your DAVE boots, you are ready to enjoy!

 

[Legolas]

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Listening Impressions​

Being pretty impatient and also curious, I started listening to music. My PassLab 60.8s had to warm up, but pretty much right away I could tell something sounded different.

I love the DAVE, and could probably have left it as stock. But recently I upgraded my Pure Audio Project Quintet15s with a new compression driver and big wooden horn, plus upgraded most of the crossover as well. These increased the speed and depth / detail of the speakers, and as we know, you move up the ladder and find another bottle neck or something you suspect may ned a tweak as well.

One of the first tweaks I did was change out the Curious USB cable back to the Final Touch Audio Sinope. This controlled the treble forwardness very nicely, and added a more organic and smooth signature yet lost no details.

After the Mac mini LPS mod, I thus had to look at the DAVE. Digital has always seemed a challenge to get right to my ears especially in the presence region, and the table regions. I can hear a subtle haze and noise in many digital front ends, some more than others. And I could now, after my speaker upgrade, hear this in the DAVE. It was not bad, but I know it was there, forever lurking in the background, and popping up depending on the music type and quality of the recording.

This haze I am delighted to say has GONE. I can't quite believe it. I had the DAVE running off a PS Audio P10 which does reduce a lot of hash, but the Farad mod completely removes it. Superb result.

This aspect was obvious to my ears, not subtle. I thus chilled out for a few days and began to explore what other changes the Farads were making to the sound. TBH if nothing besides the treble haze, I would have been happy.

However there was more, a LOT more....​

I began to hear a lot more bass detail, deeper bass, and tons more texture in the bass. This was a surprise. I use 2 x Subs with the Quintet15s, to fill in below 45hz, and they were now working harder, the current getting to those subs had definitely increased.

Digging through different types of music, I realised the location of instruments was much more obvious, separation between them had increased, and stage width and depth had grown a lot. The DAVE already excels in this aspect, even on headphones. But it is now doing that on a higher level than before, no question.

But what truly pleases me is female vocals, violins, cymbals, they all sound so smooth and carry better weight, it is far more realistic, and thus carries more emotion in the music. Many late night ensued, a good sign, though I got exhausted!

All this happened in the week since the mod, so I expect more to come from the Farads yet. Farad suggest 300+ hours to fully burn in.

So, yet again, I can say I am delighted with an affordable mod to my hifi system. The Quintet15s mods cost roughly 2K euros, the Music Server 500 euros, and the Farad mod 3K euros (ex VAT in the EU).

All of those mods have really worked for me. The Farad mod was the only official kit v the speaker mod and the server mod, so less risk. I would heartily recommend the DAVE mod, if you like your DAVE already, you will be super happy post mod. It just gives you more of the good stuff, and IMO elevates the DAVE to top DAC territory, it is that effective.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

@Legolas it looks great! Not too difficult to do the conversion, right? I think the Farad team makes it easy.

For those interested, I did my conversion in 2020 and all is well here. Sounds great. No issues over the past five years.

I did the Sean Jacobs version you mentioned, but added a Denefrips Gaia D2D converter and use S/PDIF input to the DAVE, bypassing the Amanero USB implementation in DAVE. I don't care about file res limitations in this upstairs system.

I'll post a few pics for comparison. The Farad version is neat and tidy, whereas my early-adopter version is a bigger affair. Chapeau, sir!

 

[Kcin]

View attachment 162112​

Listening Impressions​

Being pretty impatient and also curious, I started listening to music. My PassLab 60.8s had to warm up, but pretty much right away I could tell something sounded different.

I love the DAVE, and could probably have left it as stock. But recently I upgraded my Pure Audio Project Quintet15s with a new compression driver and big wooden horn, plus upgraded most of the crossover as well. These increased the speed and depth / detail of the speakers, and as we know, you move up the ladder and find another bottle neck or something you suspect may ned a tweak as well.

One of the first tweaks I did was change out the Curious USB cable back to the Final Touch Audio Sinope. This controlled the treble forwardness very nicely, and added a more organic and smooth signature yet lost no details.

After the Mac mini LPS mod, I thus had to look at the DAVE. Digital has always seemed a challenge to get right to my ears especially in the presence region, and the table regions. I can hear a subtle haze and noise in many digital front ends, some more than others. And I could now, after my speaker upgrade, hear this in the DAVE. It was not bad, but I know it was there, forever lurking in the background, and popping up depending on the music type and quality of the recording.

This haze I am delighted to say has GONE. I can't quite believe it. I had the DAVE running off a PS Audio P10 which does reduce a lot of hash, but the Farad mod completely removes it. Superb result.

This aspect was obvious to my ears, not subtle. I thus chilled out for a few days and began to explore what other changes the Farads were making to the sound. TBH if nothing besides the treble haze, I would have been happy.

View attachment 162113

However there was more, a LOT more....​

I began to hear a lot more bass detail, deeper bass, and tons more texture in the bass. This was a surprise. I use 2 x Subs with the Quintet15s, to fill in below 45hz, and they were now working harder, the current getting to those subs had definitely increased.

Digging through different types of music, I realised the location of instruments was much more obvious, separation between them had increased, and stage width and depth had grown a lot. The DAVE already excels in this aspect, even on headphones. But it is now doing that on a higher level than before, no question.

But what truly pleases me is female vocals, violins, cymbals, they all sound so smooth and carry better weight, it is far more realistic, and thus carries more emotion in the music. Many late night ensued, a good sign, though I got exhausted!

All this happened in the week since the mod, so I expect more to come from the Farads yet. Farad suggest 300+ hours to fully burn in.

So, yet again, I can say I am delighted with an affordable mod to my hifi system. The Quintet15s mods cost roughly 2K euros, the Music Server 500 euros, and the Farad mod 3K euros (ex VAT in the EU).

All of those mods have really worked for me. The Farad mod was the only official kit v the speaker mod and the server mod, so less risk. I would heartily recommend the DAVE mod, if you like your DAVE already, you will be super happy post mod. It just gives you more of the good stuff, and IMO elevates the DAVE to top DAC territory, it is that effective.

Nice - I have experienced similar results with the Farad mod to the DAVE. The DAVE remains very competitive - if not unruly with this mod in today’s context - and I have had a few dacs through to test the DAVE

Enjoy

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...it's a nice hack, in the best sense of the word. And what a storm it kicked-up on the Head-Fi threads. That was a lot of fun.

 

[Kcin]

...it's a nice hack, in the best sense of the word. And what a storm it kicked-up on the Head-Fi threads. That was a lot of fun.

Indeed, the Sean Jacobs is the one to have --- however, not being able to compare I am very satisfied by the improvements brought by the FARAD upgrade.... and I'm not even a digital guy

 

[WAVE High Fidelity]

I think it is great that there are alternatives at different price points for the Dave power. I am also a Sean Jacobs convert and first had his DC3 version of the Dave power supply. After a year I upgraded to his DC4 version and then later had that converted to the DC4 ARC6. Each one was a quantum leap in sound quality compared to the previous version but I appreciate these are not cheap. I think each one is worth the cost, particularly the DC4 ARC6, but if the cost is too frightening then clearly the Farad is worth a look.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I stopped modding just before the ARC6 upgrade. I did the cap-board add-on though. This lives in a second system upstairs, so I put the brakes on further exploits. But helluva second system.

And before I did all that DAVE modification stuff, I had your dual-BNC cables to very good effect! At one point, with the MScaler too. All good fun, Nick. Hope all good.