Totaldac Server is a Linux Server, Linux Real time in fact, and it works fine on the DAVE....

Agree, but man, is that stand ever so nice!!!

I believe you got it arnaud!!

I think it can surely be done, but the preamp will have to accept the lower input voltage (approx. .5-.7V GUESSING), and make up for it with enough output gain overall. You are asking the preamp to deal with this compromise of which is not standard by any means with regards to line level, and I...

I will say this, the jump from the Monobloc to the Twelve was much greater than the jump from D1 Dual to Monobloc... The Twelve is just special, very special sounding. Not only more DAC's per channel, but also omitting the output stage, make this one very transparent sounding DAC.

JaZZ, I completely agree with you. No doubt the preamp can do nothing but get in the way of perfect transparency. The presentation sounds fine with the DAVE direct to amps, it really does, and most would love it this way, even in my system. I just really like what my preamp does to my system...

Nice post, and thanks for sharing your opinions.

Wow dude.

"I believe you both when you say DAVE is less transparent feeding directly into your power amp than via the pre-amp." All good, but here you mention that I think the DAC's are more transparent through the preamp. Not so. It is just a different presentation. Both DAC's can be viewed as more...

Totally romaz! No worries at all. Passion for my system and my experience is why I posted my findings, and defended my findings. Nobody has heard my system here, and nobody else has heard the Twelve and the DAVE head to head. In my review, I really tried to highlight the strengths of both, and...

Just helping you bury my post.

Yep, differing opinions but nobody with a Twelve. I have both a DAVE and a Twelve, am I not qualified to post differences? It is not about getting someone to agree with me. What I have a problem with has nothing to do with that.

That's true. But who? That is the question.... I post a difference, and everyone tells me my system is broken because the DAVE didn't win me over. So ya, I suppose that would cause a defense, but my butt feels fine.

Which is exactly the point I am trying to make  :)   However, since there is no way any DAC could be better than the DAVE, it must be my euphonic system that makes it sound worse, and the Totaldac sound better.

To heck with it... I can't avoid this thread it seems   :)   I have a second opinion from a friend that knows my system very well also, so I have to share this for the people that don't mind the competition.   I thought this was a High End Audio Head Fi Thread? I didn't realize it was a Chord...

Technically, the Six has one more DAC for each channel. Three, where the Dual has two ladder DAC's per channel. Another improvement in the Six is an improved output stage. This is all on the website, and the Six is now the best one chassis DAC from Totaldac.   Sonically, although never...

All of the Totaldac DAC's have active output stage, except for the Twelve. Yes, this contributes to a more transparent sound and a lower noise floor.   The D1 Dual is best served from the balanced outputs, and Vincent also offers external transformers to convert balanced to single ended (RCA)...

Interesting contrasting findings Roy! I'll close with this, and this is where I end... No point in arguing my findings vs. another, or if my system has a problem limiting outcome for this or that. I have had many many amplifiers/preamps/DAC's/spekers run through here, and none of them have ever...

Hey Roy! So glad to hear of the improvement in your family members trying time.... My best to all of you and yours regarding, and I believe most all here can understand the severity of this disease, especially when it happens to a family member. It is all too commonplace anymore.   Look...

Most designers design for the measured performance they are seeking, then tune in listening tests. As far as rebuilding a broken recording, I am just not sure how this could be done with a DAC. This would have to be done at the source, and is one reason people like HQ Player, for example, so...

Yes, of course, the Twelve has a physical connectable output. So do any other audio components. What I am saying is, it does not have an active output stage after the DAC. The single ended output of the Twelve is derived directly off the DAC's, with nothing in between.   He does offer the...

I hear you. It is also something to strip away artifacts so much that more music you thought was unbearable somehow becomes listenable. The DAVE does this. Totaldac does this.

IMO, The Twelve is very brutally honest and album to album comparisons have no sameness. If it is flat, it is flat, deep is deep, if the performance is more energetic, it is energetic, small is small, big is big, if the recording has a problem, it is laid threadbare FE lacking focus, sharpness...

Yes, I did compare piano music, loads of it because I find this to be one of the most difficult instruments to get right, and found that they both do a very nice job of this. Excellent attack and sustain for both, with the DAVE giving a bit more energy, sounding more amplified. But.... I find...

I'm hooked on Euphonics!!   So that said, my preamp is in essence an analog EQ. No argument from me that this could be more transparently done in the digital domain, but I have to believe that altering or equalizing in the digital domain presents its own issues. I have been in audio long...