CHORD DAVE On A 2CH Rig Anyone?

[Lee]

The DAVE is really meant for two channel systems as much as headphone rigs. Bluebird had a very good two channel system at RMAF with the DAVE doing digital duties and SME for an analog source.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2017/10/28/rmaf-2017-bluebird-music-sets-the-table/

And the big news was the new DAVINA ADC.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2017/10/26/rmaf-2017-big-news-from-chord-electronics/

 

[Lee]

As for depth and width, there was a classical track that Bluebird had that demonstrated this plus excellent dynamics.

The Chord DAVE and its siblings offer up excellent detail but it sounds more analog that the typical Sabre chip implementations we usually here. Like the PS Audio gear, the FPGA implementation allows the designer to create better filters than the off the shelf DAC chips. It's a petty remarkable technology to be honest.

 

[Hifi Boy]

As for depth and width, there was a classical track that Bluebird had that demonstrated this plus excellent dynamics.

The Chord DAVE and its siblings offer up excellent detail but it sounds more analog that the typical Sabre chip implementations we usually here. Like the PS Audio gear, the FPGA implementation allows the designer to create better filters than the off the shelf DAC chips. It's a petty remarkable technology to be honest.

Hi Lee. Seeing as how you seem to have had quite a bit of experience with DACs, had you ever had a listen to Linn Klimax DS/3 and how would you compare it to Dave?

 

[Legolas]

As for depth and width, there was a classical track that Bluebird had that demonstrated this plus excellent dynamics.

The Chord DAVE and its siblings offer up excellent detail but it sounds more analog that the typical Sabre chip implementations we usually here. Like the PS Audio gear, the FPGA implementation allows the designer to create better filters than the off the shelf DAC chips. It's a petty remarkable technology to be honest.

Have you heard DACs that don't use a filter, and don't upsample? I find they avoid the pitfalls and get back to a more natural (analogue?) sound. The ringing issues with digital and the dreaded filter can be avoided completely by just removing it and avoiding and logic or processing in the chip, i.e. straight through data. Just a thought.

 

[Lee]

Hi Lee. Seeing as how you seem to have had quite a bit of experience with DACs, had you ever had a listen to Linn Klimax DS/3 and how would you compare it to Dave?

I have not heard this DAC yet.

 

[Lee]

Have you heard DACs that don't use a filter, and don't upsample? I find they avoid the pitfalls and get back to a more natural (analogue?) sound. The ringing issues with digital and the dreaded filter can be avoided completely by just removing it and avoiding and logic or processing in the chip, i.e. straight through data. Just a thought.

Yes, I have heard a number of DACs that don't use a filter or upsample. I have not found that they sound any better than these newer FPGA designs from Chord or PS Audio. There may be one or two exceptions.

 

[wisnon]

Dave is the only FPGA Dac I really like and only for PCM.

 

[Hifi Boy]

I have not heard this DAC yet.

It's actually a network player, but some people say that it sound better than even Dave.

But it comes on at almost twice the price.

 

[Lee]

It's actually a network stake, but some people say that it sound better than even Dave.

But it comes on at almost twice the price.

I pulled up a photo and I have heard this at shows but remember little about it. It has two huge issues: no digital inputs and no DSD.

 

[Hifi Boy]

I pulled up a photo and I have heard this at shows but remember little about it. It has two huge issues: no digital inputs and no DSD.

That's true, but I personally don't have a need for DSD. Also there's a DSM version which does have digital inputs. But no DSD or MQA, which I'm actually willing to give a chance to.

You can read this review, where it specifically says its better than Dave.

 

[Lee]

That's true, but I personally don't have a need for DSD. Also there's a DSM version which does have digital inputs. But no DSD or MQA, which I'm actually willing to give a chance to.

You can read this review, where it specifically says its better than Dave.

Well, just one person's opinion and I don't know their background. I will try to get some time with it. Maybe our local Linn dealer will lend it out.

 

[Legolas]

That's true, but I personally don't have a need for DSD. Also there's a DSM version which does have digital inputs. But no DSD or MQA, which I'm actually willing to give a chance to.

You can read this review, where it specifically says its better than Dave.

I was at a hifi show in the UK in 2016 and the Linn room playing there latest and greatest was one of the worst sounds in the show IMO, flat and lifeless. The room was empty, just 2 reps. Other rooms were not. Just saying.... I heard the DAVE at Can-Jam this year and through the LCD-4s it was very good, that was out of the headphone socket so direct. It does seem a great DAC for HPs as the soundstage as very wide and deep. I don't own the DAVE, so no bones for me either way.

 

[Lee]

I was at a hifi show in the UK in 2016 and the Linn room playing there latest and greatest was one of the worst sounds in the show IMO, flat and lifeless. The room was empty, just 2 reps. Other rooms were not. Just saying.... I heard the DAVE at Can-Jam this year and through the LCD-4s it was very good, that was out of the headphone socket so direct. It does seem a great DAC for HPs as the soundstage as very wide and deep. I don't own the DAVE, so no bones for me either way.

How do you like your Audio Note DAC?

 

[Hifi Boy]

@Lee

I agree, people have different tastes so you never know how you're going to feel about a product, that someone else says is awesome. But there is this consistency in the reviews I've read like this and this one, which pretty much all proclaim it to be the best digital they've ever heard. But I think it would be great if you could actually try the DS/3 at your local dealer and let us know the results!


@astrostar59

Yes, these are things to always look out for. In this case, you never know whether there's something wrong with the setup, or the product is just terrible. In the end you always have to listen to it by yourself and make the call to either buy or not.

For me, it pretty much comes down to the fact that I don't want to have too many parts in my system. I will tell you right now, that for me, Dave is my reference DAC, and I haven't heard anything better than that. But the fact of the matter is that it's just a DAC, with no playback capabilities. I was thinking about also getting the Aurender A10, because it supports Tidal, but then again, I can bet that it's DAC portion is no where near Dave, and for an endgame system, that's what I'm looking for.

On the other hand, if I get A10 and Dave, then I'm pretty much approaching DS/3 territory, money wise, and that's a 1 box solution as opposed to 2! So the only question now remaining to be answered is, how does it really sound? Obviously, I won't really know the answer to that question until I try it out for myself.

 

[Lee]

@Lee

I agree, people have different tastes so you never know how you're going to feel about a product, that someone else says is awesome. But there is this consistency in the reviews I've read like this and this one, which pretty much all proclaim it to be the best digital they've ever heard. But I think it would be great if you could actually try the DS/3 at your local dealer and let us know the results!

Do you own the Klimax DAC? Have you compared it in your own system with the Chord? What stereo components do you currently have?

 

[Legolas]

@Lee

I agree, people have different tastes so you never know how you're going to feel about a product, that someone else says is awesome. But there is this consistency in the reviews I've read like this and this one, which pretty much all proclaim it to be the best digital they've ever heard. But I think it would be great if you could actually try the DS/3 at your local dealer and let us know the results!


@astrostar59

Yes, these are things to always look out for. In this case, you never know whether there's something wrong with the setup, or the product is just terrible. In the end you always have to listen to it by yourself and make the call to either buy or not.

For me, it pretty much comes down to the fact that I don't want to have too many parts in my system. I will tell you right now, that for me, Dave is my reference DAC, and I haven't heard anything better than that. But the fact of the matter is that it's just a DAC, with no playback capabilities. I was thinking about also getting the Aurender A10, because it supports Tidal, but then again, I can bet that it's DAC portion is no where near Dave, and for an endgame system, that's what I'm looking for.

On the other hand, if I get A10 and Dave, then I'm pretty much approaching DS/3 territory, money wise, and that's a 1 box solution as opposed to 2! So the only question now remaining to be answered is, how does it really sound? Obviously, I won't really know the answer to that question until I try it out for myself.

I would say you don't need to go A10 costs, if you can handle a bit of hassle. I built a great music server up with a Modded Mac Mini and LPS and feed my DAC with a Rednet 3 using Ethernet. That is about 2K all in cost. I also prefer the ability to use the paler software I want, and be able to update it as I want. I am not keen on pre-built servers.

But you will have 2 extra boxes then and need to control the Mac Mini with an iPad. What about the new Auralic streamer?

 

[Hifi Boy]

@Lee

No, I've only ever heard Chord Dave and consider it my reference DAC. I was wondering whether the Linn was better, because of the reviews I read. It certainly would be great if that were the case, even if they were on the same level, because with Linn you would also have a streamer. In other words, a 2 box solution (amp + streamer) instead of a 3 box solution (amp + streamer + dac). My current gear is:

Hifiman HE-1000
KR Audio KT-88 + Psvane 12AU7
Elekit TU-8200
M2Tech Young DSD DAC
Mutec-MC3+USB
Cybershaft OP14
PS Audio Power Plant P5
Kimber Axios Copper HP Cable
Wireworld Eclipse 7 RCA
Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB

@No custom builds for me. I already have a MacBook Pro and Audirvana and I'm usign an iPad Mini to control it. Its pretty good but I want to go all the way and get the Mac out of the way. Whether I get Auralic or Aurender is not really the issue, the issue is the sound quality. They are both not as good as Dave, so it would still have to be a 3 box solution if I get the Dave.

 

[Iamrael]

There is a lot of chatter regarding the DAVE and Blu2 combo. I think that there are many ways to get your files to the DAC but with a great deal of diminishing returns beyond the SOtM-200/linear PSU. The Blu2 is said to increase the performance of the DAVE by magnitudes in a way that no server at any price tag can. The downside is it is an additional box, and ~10k.

 

[Hifi Boy]

There is a lot of chatter regarding the DAVE and Blu2 combo. I think that there are many ways to get your files to the DAC but with a great deal of diminishing returns beyond the SOtM-200/linear PSU. The Blu2 is said to increase the performance of the DAVE by magnitudes in a way that no server at any price tag can. The downside is it is an additional box, and ~10k.

I've actually ripped all my CDs to my Mac and now I store them on Dropbox. It's actually easy to play them on my phone using the mconnect app. As for the MacBook as the source, like I said, I just use Audirvana. So no, I would not go back to the CD players, no matter how good they are. The goal is to completely go streaming, which means Tidal + Dropbox. Not sure whether Linn or Aurender can be connected to Dropbox but I'm pretty sure that could be added as an option in a future firmware update.

One interesting thing to note is the Blu2 you mentioned. I've actually listened to it and found it lacking. Few days ago, I've also read some discussion on Head-Fi where quite a lot of people shared my views. There seems to be a problem with either the unit or how its connected to Dave. Because not only did I not hear a quality that's better than Dave, it was actually worse.

If anyone can shed some light on this, it would be great.

 

[Lee]

Very nice gear. I heard the Elekit TU-8200 at Bob's Devices with Senn 800s. Really nice sound. Wrote a show report on it today in fact. I am looking into a listening session with the Linn stuff.

@Lee

No, I've only ever heard Chord Dave and consider it my reference DAC. I was wondering whether the Linn was better, because of the reviews I read. It certainly would be great if that were the case, even if they were on the same level, because with Linn you would also have a streamer. In other words, a 2 box solution (amp + streamer) instead of a 3 box solution (amp + streamer + dac). My current gear is:

Hifiman HE-1000
KR Audio KT-88 + Psvane 12AU7
Elekit TU-8200
M2Tech Young DSD DAC
Mutec-MC3+USB
Cybershaft OP14
PS Audio Power Plant P5
Kimber Axios Copper HP Cable
Wireworld Eclipse 7 RCA
Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB

@No custom builds for me. I already have a MacBook Pro and Audirvana and I'm usign an iPad Mini to control it. Its pretty good but I want to go all the way and get the Mac out of the way. Whether I get Auralic or Aurender is not really the issue, the issue is the sound quality. They are both not as good as Dave, so it would still have to be a 3 box solution if I get the Dave.