[7ryder]

So, I auditioned the DAVE at my home about 3 weeks later, and upon first listen, this was a totally different DAC. I then got a bunch of other big names DACs into my home at the same time, and it's just that simple: the DAVE won out as the best DAC I had ever heard.

 
I'm curious, which "big name DACs" did you compare to DAVE?  Thanks.
 
ChrisG

 

[a1uc]

  Kind of defeats the whole purpose of paying 2500 dollars for a stand for the Dave doesnt it?Particularly since some people maintain the stand provides additional isoloation which would obviously be mitigated by placing something beneath the legs

 

  Kind of defeats the whole purpose of paying 2500 dollars for a stand for the Dave doesnt it?Particularly since some people maintain the stand provides additional isoloation which would obviously be mitigated by placing something beneath the legs

Defeats the purpose for sure , I will figure out a fix not the end of the world . All it would of took is the legs being 1/4' higher .
I just figured for the cost I would not have to had deal with this issue . Otherwise it sure is a sweet looking add on  

 

[Toolman]

The angle tilt made me think twice about the cradle since most of my cables are terminated with balanced XLR so I will have additional short adapter from XLR --> 1/4" plug, and it just won't work with the cradle.

I know the cradle designed for the Chord system rack so that tilt works but not when you are using them with Dave on it's own

 

[EVOLVIST]

I'm curious, which "big name DACs" did you compare to DAVE?  Thanks.

ChrisG

The Schitt Yggy, Metrum Pavane, Bricasti M1 SE, Berekely Alpha Reference 2 and the dCS Vivaldi.

 

[Jawed]

Defeats the purpose for sure , I will figure out a fix not the end of the world . All it would of took is the legs being 1/4' higher .

Hmm, so it seems there's not an adjustment mechanism built in to the legs.

 

[Mojo ideas]

I wish it was it bit higher or the Dave was
angled different , some of the 1/4 plugs are
a bit tight against the surface

We have three sizes of the legs they are all the same price for simplicity.

 

[a1uc]

This was not offered to me as an option , what are the
lengths offered? and what are my options at this point ?

 

[jlbrach]

I love my Moon Neo 430 and have been using it with my Dave and LCD-4...up until now I have been using my Utopia straight out of the Dave but found it to be a bit bright and with a narrow soundstage...I recently have been experimenting with the 430 along with my Utopia and the results have thus far been very nice.The soundstage opens up,the bass is a bit deeper and it is not quite so bright.Yes,I recognize that there is going to be a slight loss of transparency and yes i understand that the 430 imparts a bit of its own sound but the combination is an improvement to my ears and quite stunning actually! 

 

[ubs28]

I suppose you tried HF FILT ON on the Chord Dave already to reduce some of the brightness?

 

[jlbrach]

No,I have not as yet tried the fliter

 

[GryphonGuy]

I cannot perceive a difference in DAVE's presentation of music with the HF Filter on or off. I leave it ON.

 

[ubs28]

With my ears I notice a reduction in brightness with the HD 800 S. It could also depend on the headphone used whether a difference is noticeable or not.

 

[romaz]

 
Quote:

It is like throw a grilled chicken through a jet engine at full power, so you should not hear any difference or with a highly expensive power cable in my book, but i use both above mentioned things for the looks, and i like to connect my products with the correct polarity nevertheless, but i should sleep very well without the fancy power cable, ( that does nothing) it is our mind and placebo to think it makes a differentiation because it thicker and heavy , our mind pre set itself to listen to the full bodied sound, with darker background with very fine crisp resolution automatically, but the DAVE sounds exactly the same as with a descent shielded "cheapo" cable also.

I have tested this very carefully so i am sorry guys, but you have tricked yourself to think you hear a difference.

So using a overly expensive power cable to feed a switch power supply seems not so clever if you understand the technique and point behind a switching supply.

Placebo it is called...

Then your hearing fluctuating over one day, if you are tiered or hungry for example, you hear differently and you got a more tuff time to focus.

 
I both agree and disagree with you on this one, Fredrik.  One of the hallmarks of a good electronic component is that it has a high PSRR (power supply rejection ratio) and the higher this value, the greater the ability that component has to not just reject the noise created by its power supply but also the noise that might be present in the mains line.  DAVE obviously has a very high PSRR because as I have traveled with my DAVE, whether I plug it straight into the noisy receptacle of my hotel room or at an audio show venue, it always sounds clean with the blackest of backgrounds even when used with a generic power chord.  I suspect this is what you mean when you say that you don't need a fancy power chord with the DAVE for it to sound good and I completely agree.  I would also agree that with many chords I have tried with the DAVE, you can't hear a difference and again, this probably has to do with its high PSRR.  At the same time, if you recall, I did a comparison of various power chords with my DAVE nearly 7 months ago and 3 chords in particular stood out.  The differences weren't major but they were discernible even with blind testing.  At the time, I thought it had to do with their ability to filter noise but I have since changed my position on this.  Here is that post from 7 months ago:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/766517/chord-electronics-dave/2745
 
Quote:

 
It really goes to prove that one doesn't have to spend an arm and a leg to get the most out of DAVE, and because of this, it makes it more apparent that Rob's design is nearly flawless in its independence of peripherals. Sure, experimenting is cool, and yes there are benefits that one can get from USB cables, power cords, AC regenerators, etc., but the gap is not as large as I was originally reading from others.

 
I agree with you, Nick.  DAVE by itself sounds wonderful and you don't have to do much for it to sound wonderful.  When people describe what they hear with different USB cables, power chords, etc., it's challenging to know how accurate their descriptors are since one person's "great" might be another person's "mediocre" and because audio is an emotional hobby, I'm sure we are all guilty of hyperbole every once in a while.  Obviously, when there is a thread that consists of thousands of comments about how great a certain DAC is, it's probably natural to believe that this DAC should be able to walk on water and so this is a problem the DAVE has -- expectations with it are sometimes unrealistically high.  Finally, there is also the issue of accommodation.  I recall when you first got your DAVE, you also believed it was an extremely bright DAC and during your initial comparison of it against the Berkeley Reference 2, you weren't so impressed.  When the DAVE's presentation is different from anything you've previously heard, it can take awhile to accommodate to it.  Brain burn-in is real.
 
While I agree that the intelligent design that went into the DAVE is extraordinary, there are ways to get much more from the DAVE.  Some of these methods are inexpensive and unfortunately, some of these methods are not.  As with all things, YMMV.  My intention here is to show that the DAVE harbors even more potential than many people believe.
 

 
+10 for buying the WireWorld Silver Electra 7 power cord. I auditioned many, many power cords, and I even dumped the Shunyata and High Fidelity Cables (even the Ultimate) for the bliss I received from the Silver Electra 7. I, too, tried the Platinum, but it just couldn't compete.
 

Quote:

Sadly, the Silver Electra 7 is not working out in my system and will have to go back. 

 

I think it's clear that what works for one person doesn't work for all.  If you ask a person what the most important characteristic of a good audio system should be, I'm sure you'll get a variety of responses ranging from resolution to transparency to clarity to dynamics and so on.  While there is no wrong answer, I believe the most important characteristic should be balance and izzard's recent comments illustrate this very well:
 
Quote:

  Regarding the brightness of the microRendu, I have been feeling the same since I added the Uptone LPS-1 into the system, although it's a step up from the Meanwell, it feels like adding it moved the balance upward a little bit, the result is more HF and less bass (although tighter) and mid-bass. I have been trying to find ways to fix this by, for instance, replacing the Utopia stock cable with Dana Reference or replacing the LPS-1 with Sonore Signature Power Supply, but not sure where to start. It would be helpful if others can chime in.

 
As many of us know, assembling the best-reviewed music server, DAC, amplifier and speakers/headphones doesn't always result in a balanced system.  System synergy is difficult to figure out and can take a very long time to get right.  While there are our personal preferences to consider, it's quite possible that our personal preferences might also change in time as the advancement of technology provides us more and more options and so that holy grail that we each seek will likely always be a moving target. 
 
If there is one component that each of us must get right, I believe we would all agree that it is the transducer (headphone or speakers).  This is the final interface between our audio system and our ears and has the most say in terms of what we hear.  These were my concluding statements for the article I wrote for Inner Fidelity last year and I continue to believe them to be true today:
 
Final Thoughts
I won't soon forget this experience as it reaffirmed a few headphone setup principles for me:

• Find the headphone that you love first, everything else comes second.
• Equipment synergy cannot be overstated. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your headphone and find an amp (and DAC) that optimizes its strengths and minimizes its weaknesses.
• You don't have to spend a lot of money to get great sound. The headphones, amps, DACs and players being produced today are more consistently of a high standard and the best technologies of just a few years ago have trickled down to even entry level gear. 

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-participant-report-roy-romaz#podX0BWm5RLUAH2z.99
 
Now, here is what I find interesting.  If we all attended an acoustical unamplified concert, regardless of what we thought about the quality of the performance or whether we cared for that genre or not, I'm sure that we would be unanimous in our assessment that the sound we heard was natural, clear and organic sounding.  How could it not be?  Yet, when we buy headphones (or speakers), we each gravitate towards different headphones with different sound characteristics as if one headphone sounded better than another.  Then we each proceed with spending boatloads of money trying to get these different sounding headphones to all sound the same and that is to sound as real as possible.  This is, of course, the audiophile dilemma -- with so many options and so many opinions, what's the best way to get from point A to point B?  Yes, it helps to find a set of headphones or speakers that speak to your heart and to find a DAC that speaks to your mind but my opinion is that the foundation of any good system is always going to be good power and this includes the DAVE.
 
I am not an electrical engineer, electrician, cable maker or physicist and so feel free to be skeptical of what I say but I have been speaking to many of these types of people lately and I have been doing a lot of listening and comparing and here is what I have found.  While DAVE is largely immune to noise in the line, it is not immune to line resistance.  In other words, you can put a choke hold on the DAVE and prevent it from sounding its best.  While I can't say for sure that this is true in every case, those who suggest their DAVE doesn't sound much better than their Mojo or other DAC, look at your power.
 
I have heard many arguments suggest that of all the miles of power cabling from your utility company to your audio equipment, why should the final 6 feet of cabling that connects your components to your wall make much difference?  Of course, I believe that the best a mains cable can do is get out of the way and that the best cable is no cable at all but practically speaking, there must always be some length of cable to connect your component to the wall followed by another length of cable that connects your wall receptacle to your main panel and then another length of cable that connects your main panel to your utility company's closest transformer and so on.  While you can't do much about the cabling that connects your main panel to your utility company's transformer, most of us can do something about the cabling in our homes.  I do also believe that the lengths of cabling that are closest to your equipment have the greatest potential to help as well as hinder your system.
 
When looking at your cabling that goes from DAVE to the wall, the mantra should be "help if you can but at the very least, don't get in the way."  When you buy a diamond, there are four characteristics we look for that will justify its price (cut, color, clarity and carat weight -- the four Cs) and worldwide, there's very little debate about this.  In this sense, it's much easier to buy a diamond than it is a power chord.  With power chords, there are no set standards that justify price and so it can get quite confusing but there are some common sense principles to keep in mind that may have bearing with the DAVE:
 
1)  Conductor:  This can range from tin to iron, brass, gold, copper, silver and graphene (the fastest electrical conductor known to man).  Here are the relative conductivity of various conductors:
 

Material IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)
Ranking	Metal	% Conductivity*
1	Silver (Pure)	105%
2	Copper	100%
3	Gold (Pure)	70%
4	Aluminum	61%
5	Brass	28%
6	Zinc	27%
7	Nickel	22%
8	Iron (Pure)	17%
9	Tin	15%
10	Phosphor Bronze	15%
11	Steel (Stainless included)	3-15%
12	Lead (Pure)	7%
13	Nickel Aluminum Bronze	7%

 
Graphene isn't listed but it is claimed to have a conductivity 100x of copper.  Note that silver is 5% more conductive than copper and that purity matters.  UP-OCC grade purity is the purest form of silver or copper that is commercially available (guaranteed to be 99.99997% pure).  Unfortunately, silver is much more expensive than copper and UP-OCC grade is much more expensive than standard OFC (oxygen-free copper).  What does increased conductivity get you?  Decreased line resistance.
 
2)  Conductor gauge:  Most basic computers come with 18g power chords.  Audiophile power chords for low power digital components seem to range from 12-16 gauge while chords designed for high current devices like amplifiers and power distributors are as large as 6 gauge.  What happens as wire gauge gets bigger?  Once again, line resistance goes down and large conductor gauge is especially important for the conduction of lower frequencies.  
 
3)  Dielectric:  This is an area of controversy and there isn't consensus on what is real and what is hype.  In short, dielectrics are designed to function as insulators against other conductors within a cable but also against its outer environment.  One premise held is that the only perfect dielectric is a vacuum (negative air pressure) and that any other material used as a dielectric will have some negative impact on SQ due to skin effect.  With alternating currents running through a conductor, it has been said that lower frequencies (bass) travel at the inner most core of a conductor while also occupying the largest cross section of a conductor as it travels down that conductor.  This is the premise on why large conductors are so important for bass transmission.  The higher frequencies (midrange and treble) travel toward the outer edges of the conductor.  With the perfect cable where you have a conductor that is highly conductive and a dielectric that has zero impact, then the high and low frequencies arrive at their destination at exactly the same time (meaning perfect timing).  Because it is the highest frequencies that travel at the outer edges of a conductor, the dielectric used will have impact on these higher frequencies potentially resulting in treble and even midrange smearing but also timing issues.  This is often where cable companies get creative and why some cables can cost so much.
 
Here are examples of the dielectric constants of various materials:
 
Air (vacuum) 1.0
Cotton 1.3
Wood 1.4
Teflon (PTFE) 2.1
Polypropylene 2.2
Kevlar 3.5
Neoprene 4.0
Distilled water 34
 
Teflon and polypropylene are the most commonly used dielectrics because of their durability and heat resistance.  Certain manufacturers have gone to cotton as a primary dielectric (i.e. DHC, Zenwave) and I believe their results speak for themselves.  Once again, what is the impact of the dielectric on the conductor that supposedly leads to this purported smearing?  It has to do with the build-up of an opposing electrical charge but ultimately, this is once again a form of line resistance.
 
There are other factors like cable geometry, solid-core vs stranded wire and litz configuration which I won't get into here but the strategy for their use is to reduce line resistance.
 
Finally, there is shielding.  All cables are shielded but some shields are especially designed to repel or mitigate EMI and this is the concept behind cables designed for "digital" gear with the idea that it is our digital gear that is most sensitive to EMI.  While important for certain components, it has been my observation that well-made components with high PSRR have less need for exotic shielding and this includes the DAVE.
 
So which types of cables make the most difference with the DAVE?  While DAVE consumes less than 20 watts and can sound decent connected to a generic 18g mains cable, my experience suggests it can sound so much better when it has instantaneous access to the exact amounts of current it needs at exactly the right times even if we are talking about something as miniscule as a tenth of an amp.  Any cable can deliver an electrical impulse but can it deliver those impulses rapidly and in rapid succession (microseconds apart)?  If a DC power supply has this level of responsiveness, it is important that the AC supply feeding it has this level of responsiveness also.  This is important during macrodynamic passages such as when the cannon goes off in Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture but also in microdynamic passages such as the fine reverberations of an acoustical guitar as it is gently strummed or the sharp staccato of a banjo as it is plucked.  
 
This is where silver cables are superior to copper and where UP-OCC grade is superior to standard OFC.  They are simply more responsive.  There are now cables (Synergistic Research and Cerious Technologies) that incorporate graphene and while I have not heard these cables, reports from others have been very positive.  The problem with silver cables (especially UP-OCC grade) is they are prohibitively expensive and so often, a manufacturer will either create a silver-plated copper cable (Wireworld Silver Electra 7) or a smaller gauge silver cable (Wireworld Platinum Electra 7 is 12 gauge).  While I have not heard the Silver Electra 7 with the DAVE, I have no doubt people are hearing a difference with it.  In my power chord comparison that I did in May, one of the three cables that stood out was the Challenger AE15, a cable similarly made of silver-plated copper.  
 
The problem with silver-plated copper cables is that these are hard to get right.  While the dielectic used tends to slow down the higher frequencies, plating the outer edge of the cable with silver doesn't always result in proper compensation and so what you can get is a cable that overemphasizes the treble.  While it is this emphasis that can result in a more energetic presentation that is desirable for some, it can be equated as an annoying brightness by others.
 
With the Platinum Electra 7, while I have not heard it, I suspect I would much prefer it to the Silver Electra.  It probably won't have the immediate wow factor of the Silver Electra but it will likely provide a more balanced, more relaxed and better-resolved sound.  While silver has the reputation of sounding bright compared to copper, properly done silver cables are not bright at all.  Those of you who own a DHC Silver Complement, Silver Spore or Prion know exactly what I am talking about.  Peter uses only UP-OCC grade silver in a litz configuration with a cotton primary dielectric and these cables are extremely smooth and relaxed in their character while also being highly resolving.
 
Is there a good alternative to silver cabling?  Yes, large gauge copper.  If you look at the conductivity chart above, notice that silver is only 5% more conductive than copper.  A competent 10g UP-OCC grade copper mains cable should easily outperform a Silver Electra 7.  It may not have the obvious treble zing of the Silver Electra but the DAVE should provide you better dynamics with this chord and may outperform the Platinum Electra as well.  Using that reasoning, would an 8g cable sound better than a 10g cable and would a 6g cable sound better than an 8g cable?  I happened to do this testing for myself.  
 
Another one of the three cables that differentiated itself during my cable evaluation back in May was the Shunyata Alpha Digital, a 10g OFC cable that incorporated a special EMI shield and so this cable was designed specifically for digital gear.  I didn't care much for this cable since it resulted in "over conditioning."  This time around, I borrowed 3 more Shunyata mains cables but these cables are not sissy cables designed for low power digital equipment, these are HC (high current) cables designed for hungry amplifiers or giant power distributors.  Aside from larger gauge copper, they incorporate Shunyata's DTCD (Dynamic Transient Current Delivery) technology.  The inexpensive Venom HC ($295) comes in at 11g, the Alpha HC ($999) is effectively a 7g cable and the giant snake-like Sigma HC ($2,795) comes in at 6g but also incorporates a different geometry that further improves it ability to deliver current.  For reference, I also compared these cables against an Audience AU24SE LP chord, a 16g OCC copper chord designed specifically for low power digital equipment (<50watts):
 

 
I want to reiterate that these HC chords are NOT designed for low power digital gear like the Chord DAVE.  In fact, Shunyata suggested to me that these chords would be overkill but I can tell you that each of these HC chords sounded noticeably better than the 16g Audience AU24SE and that the 7g Alpha HC sounded considerably better than the 11g Venom HC.  What is interesting is that the 6g Sigma HC didn't sound any different than the 7g Alpha HC.  It would appear there's no benefit to going bigger than the Alpha with the DAVE.
 
Here's another experiment that further supports my claims.  That large black vertical power conditioner you see in the photo is Shunyata's new Denali 6000T.  Shunyata conditioners like the Triton/Typhon are unique in that have zero impact on dynamics meaning they don't add line resistance because their modules work in parallel and not in series.  The Denalis are special because they incorporate Caelin Gabriel's new medical grade CCI (Component to Component Isolation) technology that is supposed to result in profound levels of isolation against any noise that your other components might generate and 4 of the 6 receptacles incorporate this level of isolation.  The other 2 receptacles are HC receptacles and incorporate Shunyata's QR/BB technology which is designed to improve dynamics by providing more current on demand to power hungry components compared to plugging straight into the wall.  Some line conditioners offer this feature through the use of energy storing capacitors but then these capacitors also add to the line resistance and so there is a tradeoff but this new Shunyata technology apparently does NOT use such capacitors and adds no line resistance.  Once again, these 2 HC receptacles offer less filtering but more current on demand and are designed for hungry amplifiers while the other 4 receptacles are supposed to provide medical grade isolation and are designed for sensitive digital gear.  As I plugged DAVE into any of the 4 receptacles that were supposedly designed for it, there was indeed some improvement in terms of a certain crispness and clarity to the sound with no perceived loss of dynamics compared to plugging straight into the wall but when I plugged DAVE into one of the HC receptacles, it was an unexpected "Wow" moment.  The dynamics were convincingly improved and the soundstage became more spacious.  When I plugged my Paul Hynes PSU that powers my microRendu into the other HC receptacle, it was another "Wow" moment.  The microRendu barely consumes 4 watts and yet it greatly benefits from the same instantaneous current delivery that the HC receptacles provide.  While I borrowed this Denali purely to test my theory, the improvement is so incredible that I have now purchased a Denali.
 
High Fidelity Cables are a completely different beast.  Nick suggested he "dumped" the HFC cables for the Silver Electra 7 and that's perfectly fine as I am not trying to convince anyone to buy any specific brand of cable.  Most know that I have a bias for the magnetic conduction technology that HFC has a patent on but by no means is it the only good cable for the DAVE nor do I consider it a great value.  In fact, the baseline CT-1 at $2k, while very capable, doesn't result in any great impact.  If you read my review from May, it was only when paired with the MC-6 Hemisphere where it really set itself apart but that will set you back $4,800 for the combination.  The CT-1 Ultimate is where HFC's cables become legitimately good with the DAVE but at about $6,500 for 1.5 meters, this is not a cheap proposition.  HFC's higher end cables (from Ultimate onward) are difficult to evaluate when borrowed from places like www.thecableco.com because they only allow you a week to try one out and it takes at least a week for this cable to begin to sound good and several weeks to sound exceptional.  They also don't lend themselves to quick A/B comparisons because they take so long to take effect but once in full effect, their impact is not subtle and when you pull them out of your system, the collapse is quite shocking.
 
While I have said plenty about HFC in the past and have no desire to promote it again beyond this post, in a nutshell, its magnetic technology is designed to concentrate the electrical current to the very core of the special coaxial cable that it uses and away from the periphery of the cable.  As you go up the line, the level of magnetism increases and so the electron beam becomes even more focused resulting in less impact from the dielectric and even faster conduction.  As I have helped Rick Schultz test his upcoming magnetic headphone device for him, he has allowed me free access to all of his cables including his TOTL Pro Series mains cable which sells for almost $22k for a 1.5 meter cable.  While this is a ludicrous amount to pay for a mains cable, he shared with me that the powerful rare earth magnets used have to be mined in China and are difficult and expensive to bring to the U.S.  They are also potentially dangerous to handle as they can cause metal objects like nails or small scissors to take flight and so they have to be fitted in a specially shielded encasement before they can be sold.  Materials cost for such a cable not including labor is about $10k.  When you factor in the 2 weeks of labor required to assemble one and the dealer's margin and considering that this is not a high volume item but rather a specialized piece targeted towards industry professionals, then you'll understand that this isn't one of those components with a ridiculous 90% profit margin.  
 
As always, the point is does it make a difference?  Without a shadow of a doubt, the answer is absolutely and emphatically "yes".  If there is anyone among you who doubts the impact a power chord can have on the DAVE, just pair it with this cable and your doubts will be erased.  As you go up the HFC line, not only does speed, control and clarity seem to be enhanced but so does tonal body.  With most things I have experienced, as things get faster (like silver compared to copper), they can also sound leaner or thinner and so there is this tradeoff.  With this mains cable, this tradeoff is not there because the image has surprising mass and heft, much more than the cables below it.  The presentation is also cohesively smooth, stunningly clear and resolved and as it has 5x the magnetism of the Helix cable just below it, there seems to be a much greater difference going from the Helix to the Pro Series than from the CT-1 Ultimate to the Helix.   The point of this description is to highlight that a mains cable has the potential to greatly impact the DAVE and that none of us probably truly knows what the DAVE is fully capable of.
 
Another often misunderstood or underestimated concept regarding power is the importance of a dedicated line.  Most people believe that the importance of a dedicated line is for clean power but really, the main role of a dedicated line should be to lower line resistance.  If you don't believe me, here is a nice piece written by Vince Galbo of MSB and I have found it to be very true in my system.  In this piece, Vince suggests that the main goal is to "Lower Resistance."  
 
"People often tell me “I have 20 amp dedicated lines”. By US electrical code definitions, a 20 amp dedicated line will have 12 gauge wire in the wall. So while you may have a “dedicated line”, 12 gauge wire is absolutely insufficient for high end audio systems. We are recommending ten gauge or thicker wire here. It is the subject and goal of this paper. The gauge of the wire is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than the fact that the line is “dedicated”. The subject of this paper works on the theory that the varying musical demands of your amplifier are actually modulating the incoming power line, divorced from the utility (power company) by some resistance (12 or 14 gauge wall wiring at some length from the breaker panel has too much resistance for audio purposes). The noise coming from your utility is probably much lower than you suspect and the gauge of the wire is far more important. The amp demands current up and down with the music at audio frequencies that are of course above and below the 60 cycles from the power company. These demands are impressed on the line wavering the incoming voltage and so the amp is re-ingesting its own noise and also making the line dirty for itself AND the audio front end. This is possible because the wall wiring back to the breaker panel has some degree of resistance depending on the length of the run and the wire gauge (12 gauge or sometimes even 14 gauge). Power conditioners and certain power cord designs help because they make an effort to “shunt” this noise (short it out and kill it) and consume the unwanted frequencies. A better answer is to reduce the resistance back to the breaker panel making it difficult for the amp to modulate the power at all and also at the same time getting maximum power for the amplifier power supply. And so there are two benefits to reducing the resistance back to the breaker panel."
 
http://www.msbtechnology.com/faq/how-to-wire-your-house-for-good-power/
 
Remember, the DAVE is both a digital and an analog device.  In my system, my DAVE wears three important hats -- DAC, headphone amp and speaker amp and so it really shouldn't be surprising that it would benefit from good power in the same way that any low impedance device or amplifier would.  In fact, in my experience, if you plug your DAVE into a 15A line that utilizes 14g wire (like in my home) that has many shared branches utilized by other components, the impact of the large Shunyata HC cables seems to have much less impact and so this might be another reason why some people can't hear much difference among various cables.
 
With regards to power regenerators, I have come to the conclusion that these are sometimes necessary evils.  Vince Galbo prefers to plug his MSB gear directly into the wall but when he travels to shows, at each of the three audio shows that I saw him at this past year, he has utilized PS Audio P10 regenerators.  In fact, most rooms seemed to be using P10s and the responses I often received were "because we have no choice."  At audio shows, rooms generally are not on dedicated circuits and with all the audio gear playing throughout the venue, it's probably not difficult to imagine how current-starved the rooms must be.  The beauty of power regenerators is not only do they create clean power but more importantly, your panel is literally now within a few feet of your equipment and if you read Vince's article, he made it clear that the distance to your panel plays as much role as the gauge of wire that is used.  The problem is that power regenerators are not necessarily low impedance devices.  If you must get one, even for low power gear, consider the P10.  According to PS Audio, the P10's output impedance is "100 times lower than any Power Plant ever built."  @jelt2359 has experience with both the P5 and the P10 and he has posted that he has noticed a difference with the two even with his low power system with the P10 being preferred.
 
To conclude, yes, the DAVE can sound good in almost any situation and you don't have to spend a ton of money to be happy with it.  My recommendation is that if you're happy with your DAVE, don't go looking for trouble because ignorance can be bliss.  For those complaining of brightness or a thin sound, for sure, look at your analog cables but also look at the quality of your power delivery.  For those looking for DAVE's ceiling, it's much higher than you think.  In my setup, to my ears, DAVE is way more than 20% better than my Mojo (and I really love my Mojo) and I believe it has much more do to with just the number of TAPS.  Moreover, battery supplies are not automatically better or quieter and they are often compromised as far as dynamics compared with the best mains-based PSUs I have heard.  
 
As for simple recommendations that don't necessarily cost a lot of money, I think the best value upgrade a person can make to their system is to get a dedicated 20A line.  Following Vince's guidelines, my dedicated 20A line cost me about $400.  If this isn't possible because you live in an apartment or condo, then you might be forced to batteries or else a power regenerator but if you go this route, go for the P10 if you can.  
 
As for a high-value mains cable, the Wireworld Silver Electra 7 sounds like a wonderful value based on several positive reports by DAVE owners but there is the proviso that this cable can sound bright.  Another option would be the $300 Shunyata Venom HC (this one is not bright at all) but if you can swing it, the Alpha HC is currently on sale for $800 and is considerably better.  While I haven't heard these cables, Synergistic Research's Black UEF AC Chord which is a 10g chord that incorporates graphene ($500) and also Cerious Technologies Blue Power Cable which is designed for High Current delivery and also incorporates graphene ($350) could prove to be great values.  
 
With line conditioners, if they are necessary, consider the ones that don't add line resistance (usually "in parallel" devices).  I found the Audience aR series to be a pretty good "in series" device but they will add 30 milliohms of line resistance.  The UberBuss is an excellent "in parallel" device that also provides power factor correction and can therefore improve current delivery for about $1k.  If you want to go higher and actually improve your wall receptacle's current output, consider the Shunyata Denali.  Since the benefit is greatest with the HC receptacles, you can easily get by with the less expensive 2000T ($3k) and this is the one I have purchased.  
 
For the absolute best, this will always be open to debate but the very best I have heard are HFC's higher end cables but they are not for the faint of heart.  As you can tell from this photo, I am insanely deep into these cables and while I never imagined I would pay more for a mains cable than my DAVE, I assure you I'm not insane enough to buy these cables if they didn't make a compelling difference.  The Pro series mains cable is truly end game for me and I expect it will be there to power my DAVE 2 and DAVE 3 in years to come.
 
 

 
 
Once again, if anyone is wondering, while I have done some consulting work for HFC and provided support for them at RMAF, I have not been paid to do it.  I have not received any financial compensation at any time from them nor have I received any free product.  I have been fortunate to find all of my HFC cables second hand from various sources including HFC themselves.  As for HFC's headphone device that some of you have recently PM'd me about, it will be called the Trinity Helix.  I got to hear it for the first time at RMAF and because of noisy conditions, it was hard to really form an opinion.  I finally received a version of it for personal evaluation a couple of weeks ago and what I can say is that this is a massive device that weighs around 10kg.  I had very high expectations for it but somehow, even after a week of use, it wasn't sounding very good.  Compared against the smaller prototype I have in my possession, I could barely tell a difference and I suspect this thing will take months to break in.  I have told Rick Schultz that most who buy it will probably lose patience with it and so this model is being re-worked.  Here is a photo of what this device looks like:
 

 
 

 

[dmance]

Regarding making DAVE sound better. I posted on the Chord 2Qute forum about how much better my 2Qute sounds with a Teddy Pardo PSU vs the factory adapter. It's really night and day. Huge improvement across the board.
YET...I have high respect for Rob Watts when he says an external PSU does not matter on a 2Qute or that it's 'third order differences'. He mentioned comparing a mains powered supply vs a battery and could discern no difference.
Alas, I think he may be wrong ...or possibly did not have a high enough resolution system. Or part of the Chord marketing is to emphasize reduced dependency on external factors.
This got me thinking...what if DAVE could sound better with an external PSU option. I trust the brilliant engineering at Chord...but they may have underestimated how good their products can be made to sound.

 

[astrostar59]

I don't have the DAVE but I do use the P10 power regenerator. It has upgraded my whole system TBH, better bass, cleaner and smoother sound, wider soundstage. I would explain it as you may have noticed how your system sounds better at 2am in the morning - well that is the clean mains time v midday sound. Double that difference and that is what you get with a P10, permanent clean power and constant high sound quality.
 
 
 
 

 
 
I also found an external LPS powering my Mac Mini gives another boost as well. This may no be possible with some servers, but is possible with a Mac Mini or a PC.
 

Finally I found USB is not good for high end audio. It has come a long way in the last few years, but I still didn't like the impact of it on the sound. I went AOIP with a Rednet and that gave a further level of smoothness and clean detail and lost the final vestiges of 'digital' to the sound. Any treble edge or glair remaining with USB was now gone. The Rednet may not suit a DAVE though as AES/SPDIF is limited to 192K. I use Redbook and NOS into an R-2R DAC so slightly different. My USB chain was nearly £2K of fixers. I have tried Offramp 5, M2Tech EVO full stack, various regen and filtering, TotalDAC USB cable.