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CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE
Dec 15, 2015 at 12:18 PM Post #994 of 25,993
Its interesting, the tempo of everything actually sounds faster, such is the bounce and drive of music played through the Dave dac. Its very alive on anything with a rythme. (I must drag out a Ska album. Could be fun. :)
 
If I were sitting at a DAW right now I would swear I had accidentally set the tempo 2-3 bpm faster. I know it is not but thats the impression I get. If this is the product of greater timing accuracy it is little wonder Vinyl lovers have decried digital for so long.
 
On the subject of overall musicality I cannot stress enough how important it is to a) Set your speakers up properly if you own 3 ways. This is critical imo and b) Use your most musical power cable with Dave. Different companies understand power flow better than others in my experience and price is not the arbiter of excellence in this respect. I have just pulled out a Circa £2000 power cable that could not live with my 10 year old favourite in regard to musicality. Shockingly different to the point that anyone would notice imo.
 
Set the speakers up correctly, use a musical power chord and it is hard to imagine any dac bettering this level of musicality ever.........but then again HiFi always has a habit of coming back to haunt us when we make such statements. :wink:
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 1:01 PM Post #995 of 25,993
daveredref-iii said:
  .... I have just pulled out a Circa £2000 power cable that could not live with my 10 year old favourite in regard to musicality. Shockingly different to the point that anyone would notice imo.
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Hmmmm.... I'm not convinced it's a good thing for power cable to be 'shocking' to the point that anyone would notice! 
tongue_smile.gif

 
Dec 15, 2015 at 1:04 PM Post #996 of 25,993
Please share your favourite power cable with us as it's always useful to know what ancillaries have synergy with DAVE - speaking as a future owner awaiting his unit. Thanks. :)


daveredref-iii said:
Its interesting, the tempo of everything actually sounds faster, such is the bounce and drive of music played through the Dave dac. Its very alive on anything with a rythme. (I must drag out a Ska album. Could be fun. :)

If I were sitting at a DAW right now I would swear I had accidentally set the tempo 2-3 bpm faster. I know it is not but thats the impression I get. If this is the product of greater timing accuracy it is little wonder Vinyl lovers have decried digital for so long.

On the subject of overall musicality I cannot stress enough how important it is to a) Set your speakers up properly if you own 3 ways. This is critical imo and b) Use your most musical power cable with Dave. Different companies understand power flow better than others in my experience and price is not the arbiter of excellence in this respect. I have just pulled out a Circa £2000 power cable that could not live with my 10 year old favourite in regard to musicality. Shockingly different to the point that anyone would notice imo.

Set the speakers up correctly, use a musical power chord and it is hard to imagine any dac bettering this level of musicality ever.........but then again HiFi always has a habit of coming back to haunt us when we make such statements. :wink:
Click to expand...
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 1:12 PM Post #997 of 25,993
Mython
I know what you are saying but I am comparing probably the worst I have heard to the best I have heard. I had another cable in which was fine but not as good as my favourite which seems to assist musicality to every make I have every plugged it into. I have heard £250 cables that have been very musical in the past. I am just looking to get the best out of the equipment I use tbh.
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 1:16 PM Post #998 of 25,993
Audience are the most musical power cables I have heard. Though they have been upgraded (and cost much more) since I bought 10 yrs ago the old one still seems to work the magic. Buyers must be happy with them because finding them second hand in the UK is nigh impossible.
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 1:43 PM Post #999 of 25,993
daveredref-iii said:
Audience are the most musical power cables I have heard. Though they have been upgraded (and cost much more) since I bought 10 yrs ago the old one still seems to work the magic. Buyers must be happy with them because finding them second hand in the UK is nigh impossible.
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Hi dave
Can you tell me what your main source is feeding your DAVE?
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 2:09 PM Post #1,001 of 25,993
LTS
Everything is Red Book from the Red Reference III but I am reading and learning about HiRez setups with a view to buying in the not too distant future. I really do rate Red Book through Dave but one cannot help wondering what higher resolution would bring (particularly in ease of flow).
 
musicman
Sorry I do not listen through headphones.
 
 
Guys I would be interested in your experience with good USB cables for streaming. Are they as good as AES or Coax for this purpose?
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 4:14 PM Post #1,002 of 25,993
I have had very good results with a USB cable from Rob at - http://www.curiouscables.com - and I know that he's gaining recognition for producing excellent cables at comparatively reasonable prices. Part of his design 'philosophy' is to separate the power and data lines, use appropriate shielding and excellent quality wire.

For wont of a better expression and at the risk of incurring the cable refuseniks wrath, my Curious Cables USB lead is the most 'musical' that I've yet heard.


daveredref-iii said:
LTS
Everything is Red Book from the Red Reference III but I am reading and learning about HiRez setups with a view to buying in the not too distant future. I really do rate Red Book through Dave but one cannot help wondering what higher resolution would bring (particularly in ease of flow).

musicman
Sorry I do not listen through headphones.


Guys I would be interested in your experience with good USB cables for streaming. Are they as good as AES or Coax for this purpose?
Click to expand...
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 5:42 PM Post #1,003 of 25,993
Smial
Thanks for the feedback.
 
I would agree with Mython btw
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 7:33 PM Post #1,004 of 25,993
brightonjel said:
(I also read the update review of the PS Audio PerfectWave DSD.  The most interesting part was where the writer, based on an interview with Ted Smith, the designer, said, "A lot of the FPGA work is contouring the low-level noise and minimizing any interaction or modulation of the digital output signals".  In other words, it seems that there is a general appreciation at least of the key design issues Rob emphasizes, albeit in the context of a different approach, namely blanket conversion of all input data to DSD after up-sampling.)
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I followed you down the rabbit hole and discovered something truly dumbfounding:

http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directstream-all-about-it/biggest-single-upgrade-just-released/#p31820

[...]But I was embarrassed that JA [John Atkinson, Stereophile measurements guy] found those problems instead of us so I ordered a new scope that was optimized for audio and had 48dB more resolution in the audio band.

Something Paul brought up when we were thinking about how best to address the low level distortion reminded me of a tradeoff in the FPGA we'd settled on quite a while back on a prototype board – much to my surprise with the new scope I could clearly see changes in distortion as I tried different tradeoffs.
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I dunno, deciding to invest in a decent oscilloscope after you've launched your product is just bizarre.
 
Dec 15, 2015 at 7:37 PM Post #1,005 of 25,993
daveredref-iii said:
Its interesting, the tempo of everything actually sounds faster, such is the bounce and drive of music played through the Dave dac. Its very alive on anything with a rythme. (I must drag out a Ska album. Could be fun. :)
Click to expand...

In my experience: fast things get faster and the slow things get slower :atsmile:
 
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