An exploration of Chord DAVE, MScaler, Qutest, and Holo May, HQPlayer

[TDinCali]

Haha. I have the May KTE and plan to get the Dave this week. I already have the m-scaler.

 

[DJJEZ]

Are you not completely happy with the Chord Dave + M Scaler?

I am. Everyday is heaven listening to the DAVE + M-Scaler. The problem is people keep saying the holo may is superior and others say the dave + Mscaler is superior so I have to know for myself as the holo may is 1/3 the price lmao

Haha. I have the May KTE and plan to get the Dave this week. I already have the m-scaler.

Finally. Looking forward to your thoughts PM me after you have some time with the dave.

 

[Tubewin]

I am. Everyday is heaven listening to the DAVE + M-Scaler. The problem is people keep saying the holo may is superior and others say the dave + Mscaler is superior so I have to know for myself as the holo may is 1/3 the price lmao

In your opinion, is the Dave/MScaler cold, lifeless, and analytical? That would definitely prevent me from purchasing a Dave.

 

[DJJEZ]

In your opinion, is the Dave/MScaler cold, lifeless, and analytical? That would definitely prevent me from purchasing a Dave.

Its no way cold or lifeless. I would describe my topping A90/D90 as kinda analytical and and a little lifeless. For me the DAVE/MScaler is musical, dead neutral and smooth with crazy resolution, at least with my gear it is (I have the wave cables as well. The M-Scaler and wave cables smoothes out the dave)

From what I have read the holo may is warmer and very very smooth which makes me eager to hear one.

I would say. If your intested in a dave get one for home demo or go to store to hear one cause this entire hobby is completely subjective lol

 

[lucasratmundo]

I'm still working through some issues with my HQPlayer setup when upsampling to 768Khz. I'm constantly getting "clicking" sounds with many of the filters (sinc-M, sinc-L, poly-sinc-ext2) and shapers (LNS15). Any tips would be welcome here.

This is now fixed by adding a 10ms buffer time in HQPlayer's configuration. Thanks @GoldenOne for the tip!

 

[Tubewin]

Its no way cold or lifeless. I would describe my topping A90/D90 as kinda analytical and and a little lifeless. For me the DAVE is musical, dead neutral and smooth with crazy resolution, at least with my gear it is.

From what I have read the holo may is warmer and very very smoot which makes me eager to hear one.

I would say. If your intested in a dave get one for home demo or go to store to hear one cause this entire hobby is completely subjective lol

I was just asking for your subjective opinion. I appreciate it.

 

[Tubewin]

So I just spoke with someone from Wildism Audio, and they informed me that they can't ship to the United States... damn.

 

[timeslip]

Will be interesting to hear how you get on. I sold my L2 May after 3 weeks.

Anyone want to buy my black Dave? I’m sold on the May as well.

 

[Tubewin]

Is the KTE (Kitsune edition) as good as the Wildism lvl 3 Holo May?

 

[DJJEZ]

Is the KTE (Kitsune edition) as good as the Wildism lvl 3 Holo May?

They are the same thing

 

[Tubewin]

They are the same thing

Thought wildism used better capacitors than kitsune. Good to know, thank you.

 

[Tubewin]

Took the plunge.

 

[Currawong]

I am. Everyday is heaven listening to the DAVE + M-Scaler. The problem is people keep saying the holo may is superior and others say the dave + Mscaler is superior so I have to know for myself as the holo may is 1/3 the price lmao

Some people prefer one or the other. R2R DACs have a certain musicality to the sound which just makes you want to listen more. I have the R01 R2R module for the Cayin N6ii DAP here, and it is very much like that, with an addictive sound that makes music glorious to listen to, even if it isn't as resolving by some miles compared to the TT2/MS or DAVE/MS set-ups.

The MScaler pushes the TT2 or DAVE into that R2R territory of smoothness, without losing resolution.

In your opinion, is the Dave/MScaler cold, lifeless, and analytical? That would definitely prevent me from purchasing a Dave.

I second the reply you got to this question. The DAVE/MS combo brings out the musicality of the music itself. It transcends the usual descriptions of gear, which are the perceptions of compromises in designs. If I put R2R DACs at one end of a line, and high-end SD DACs on the other, the DAVE/MS is on another line altogether, rising from the middle.

Now, you can cheat slightly, and put the DAVE into DSD mode then feed it DSD256 from HQPlayer. The way the DAVE corrects for issues with DSD transients results in a bit of pleasant sweetness some people may like.

 

[Tubewin]

Some people prefer one or the other. R2R DACs have a certain musicality to the sound which just makes you want to listen more. I have the R01 R2R module for the Cayin N6ii DAP here, and it is very much like that, with an addictive sound that makes music glorious to listen to, even if it isn't as resolving by some miles compared to the TT2/MS or DAVE/MS set-ups.

The MScaler pushes the TT2 or DAVE into that R2R territory of smoothness, without losing resolution.

I second the reply you got to this question. The DAVE/MS combo brings out the musicality of the music itself. It transcends the usual descriptions of gear, which are the perceptions of compromises in designs. If I put R2R DACs at one end of a line, and high-end SD DACs on the other, the DAVE/MS is on another line altogether, rising from the middle.

Now, you can cheat slightly, and put the DAVE into DSD mode then feed it DSD256 from HQPlayer. The way the DAVE corrects for issues with DSD transients results in a bit of pleasant sweetness some people may like.

Thank you Currawong, I find your reviews on all things audio to be exceptional. But alas, I just went with the Holo May KTE. If I feel that something is missing or off, I'll probably sell it and put the funds towards a Dave. Are you planning on doing a KTE review anytime soon?

Best,
Tubewin

 

[sajunky]

There is a better solution than MScaller + Dave combo. Do resampling on the PC, HQPlayer does it with a vast amount of PC processing power, result less artefacts, then hook it to Dave through a quality DDC $1K with regenerative power supply. I think a GoldenOne is looking for such solution, I am looking forward for a report.

Some people are trying to resample their own library with a studio quality resampling software like PGGB. It does much better resampling job than MScaller, but do not deal with ground loops, while Mscaller does. It is why adding DDC to a chain is important (and cheaper).