If I could build a server like this, I would but it's simply not possible. Even if I spent the money to design a chassis large enough to hold the motherboard used and spent even more money to devise a way to adequately cool it passively and then spent even more money to power it properly, there...

I briefly owned the Aurender N10. I have never owned the W20 but I have had it in my home for evaluation on several occasions. Recently, I had the opportunity to evaluate the W20SE. The W20SE is a nice improvement over the W20 and sounds very refined but for the price Aurender is asking, it...

No, I have never been suspended or banned or almost banned from CA or any forum. I believe this is the post you are alluding to and have somehow misconstrued it: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30519-berkeley-alpha-usb-still-relevant/?tab=comments#comment-802114 If you read it...

I have seen Mahler's 8th performed at the RAH before with Thomas Søndergård conducting. This one never gets old.

As a Blu2 owner, I can empathize with you. As an early adopter, I have had to pay this early adopter tax many times and it is never a good feeling. Fortunately, I have a 2nd listening room that is in desperate need of its own M-scaler and so at least my Blu2 will continue to have great...

I think this depends on how transparent your analog preamp is. If your preamp adds a lot of its own flavor (which is not necessarily a bad thing if you like what this flavor is), you may not notice as much of a gap, possibly not one big enough to care. If your preamp is very transparent (i.e...

I had the Kii 3s in my home for a short time and really wanted to love what they do, however, I found the DACs they use to be a significant step below any of Rob's DACs and with my Hugo2 connected to the Kii 3s analog inputs, I noticed a significant loss of detail and depth compared with my...

I'm in London this weekend attending CanJam and I'm dealing with a bit of jet lag at the moment and am finding it difficult to sleep. With idle time on my hands as I wait for my sleeping pill to kick in, I thought I'd post some impressions about Hugo M-Scaler (HMS). At some point soon, I'm...

Regarding your 1st question, as you use a Chord DAVE, this modified Oppo connected to your DAVE via your Mapleshades optical cable (which is what I use) will probably represent a significant upgrade over your mR and IR. I say "probably" because I can't account for personal preferences but...

Thanks, Rajiv. Yes, for someone like you who owns hundreds of DSD tracks, a Toslink connection presents its challenges but Toslink completely fixes a problem that can otherwise cost thousands of dollars to address and that is RF noise. You look at the lengths that server companies go to in...

You're correct, Frankie. If all you want to use is the digital section, the less expensive BDP-203 should fit the bill and save you some money. Paired with the JVB SPDIF board, it may be even better, however, the JVB board uses its own clock and the quality of this clock is uncertain...

Like you, I would go with what sounds better even if it turns out what I am preferring is distortion but somehow, I'm not convinced that what I'm hearing is distortion and so the jury is out but I'm at least more aware of this possible bias. There is a way to level the playing field between...

I've owned numerous Oppo Blu-Ray players dating back to the BDP-83SE and I have always been pleased with their performance for price in my home theater. I thought they hit a home run with their BDP-105 and I considered it the best value entertainment hub I was aware of that included the...

Yes, we discussed this briefly when he was by. Personally, I believe it's the future.

I completely agree. Even with my Oppo modified, while the improvement to the DAC section is obvious, it still can't compare to my Hugo2. While the Oppo has a SPDIF input and could potentially be connected to M-scaler, unfortunately, this input can only accept a 24/96 signal and so hardly worth...

Hi Fred, I have not heard the CX but for owners of Rob's DACs, the DX still looks like the better fit as the CX was designed for those who wish to upsample to DSD or employ DSP. Regardless, if you like the CX better and the price is right, go for it. If you're the type of person to stick with...

Thanks for the kind sentiment. I enjoy hearing new things and when the opportunity to hear something new and novel presents itself, it will be hard to say no but typical of many BluDAVE owners, I have been enjoying my setup for some time now and feel it's time to just be grateful for have what...

I will need to give the XLR input a try, thanks. I tried the XLR output and didn't notice any difference compared to BNC. One thing to note with signal grounding (and not chassis grounding) is that you have to be connected to the signal and when headphones are inserted into DAVE's headphone...

I have grounded both my Blu2 and DAVE and there are differences to be gained although in my setup, I found less differences than Jay at Audiobacon did. In fact, at RMAF, I asked Rob how best to ground the DAVE and he said consider grounding it via DAVE's BNC connector given the large mass of...

Should you decide to buy a DAVE and not a Blu2 and instead invest in a server like the Antipodes DX3, I would have you reconsider your decision. Depending on how you configure the DX3, it can end up costing the same as a Blu2 and to my ears, the difference that Blu2 makes is greater than what a...

I bought the MC-3+USB and directly compared it against the tX-USBultra with my BluDAVE. Without the REF10, for my tastes, the tX-USBultra is easily better than the MC-3+USB. With the REF10, both endpoints improve but the MC-3+USB improves to a much greater degree although even with the REF10...

I just finished saying this twice but I guess you repeating it a third time is good because it can't be overstated: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-blu-mk-2-the-official-thread.831343/page-196#post-14103672...

To put things in proper perspective, I do believe my DAVE and my Hugo2 are much more immune to upstream sources and cables then any DAC I have previously owned and so I don't want to give the impression from my post that owners of Rob's DACs have to go to extraordinary measures for good SQ...

Thanks, Jawed. I've fixed the problem. Well articulated and very helpful. Thanks again.

That is what is so difficult about all of this. According to Rob, there is no meter and so his claims are based on his experience. For all the reasons I was drawn to DAVE, I am now being told many of these same qualities that I value represent RF noise when it comes to other components.