[marcmccalmont]

Any more feedback on the Clearer Audio cables @Beolab arranged a discount on? I’ve had mine for just ten days (two 1m lengths), so they already have close to 200 hours on tnem. I have yet to try them with ferrites but they are already sounding better/smoother than the heavily ferrite’d stock cables.

Wait until you hear them with 16 Fair Rite 61’s on each coax you’ll have a smile as wide as your system images!!!!!

 

[marcmccalmont]

https://www.cleareraudio.com/pages/faqs
they call it super suppressor but don't really have specs on the page.

The super suppressors are lower frequency ferrites good for general purpose rf suppression but do not target the 2GHz Blu2 noise.

 

[Malcyg]

Here’s a suggestion for a system upgrade which may be slightly controversial, not because it involves cryogenically treated platinum plated mega bucks cables, in fact it cost me nothing at all. But it does tend to imply that our old friend Dave isn’t absolutely perfect, which I’m sure some might possibly take offence at.

I have, on occasion, seen people criticise Dave for its switching power supply and I always believed that it was just a case of ignorance and sour grapes, especially since most of the criticism came from people who didn’t own a Dave themselves. I’m a firm believer in RW’s DAC technology and I like Chord more generally, so I was pretty sure that their power supply in Dave would be nothing short of excellent. On Monday this week, I stripped my rack down and reset it neatly with all the cabling properly dressed but, out of curiosity, I decided to swap things around so that the power supply to Dave was isolated from the rest of my system. I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised at the improvement - wherever the noise floor is in my system now, it is beyond my hearing range and this has been a nice nugget to find just as I was thinking my system was done. Maybe I could gain a bit more by isolating Blu II as well but a) I don’t have the capability to do so and b) I doubt my ears could hear any benefit that may arise.

The difference is not hard to hear and, as happy - no, delighted - as I am with my BluDave setup right now, I do feel that I have had to wrestle against Dave a bit to get there what with matching BNC cables and ferrites as well as this latest discovery. I own a Hugo II and Blu II and I’d hope that we may see a Dave II emerge at some point which addresses these two aspects - the BluDave interface and power supply - in order that others can achieve their own perfect sound a bit more easily in future.

That said, as someone who gave up completely on having a stereo system throughout the 90’s and early 00’s because I found CD’s to sound harsh, fatiguing and, at times, downright painful, I am pinching myself now at what a well sorted BluDave setup can deliver. They said ‘Perfect sound, forever’ in 1982. Who knew it would take another 36 years to get there?

 

[marcmccalmont]

Here’s a suggestion for a system upgrade which may be slightly controversial, not because it involves cryogenically treated platinum plated mega bucks cables, in fact it cost me nothing at all. But it does tend to imply that our old friend Dave isn’t absolutely perfect, which I’m sure some might possibly take offence at.

I have, on occasion, seen people criticise Dave for its switching power supply and I always believed that it was just a case of ignorance and sour grapes, especially since most of the criticism came from people who didn’t own a Dave themselves. I’m a firm believer in RW’s DAC technology and I like Chord more generally, so I was pretty sure that their power supply in Dave would be nothing short of excellent. On Monday this week, I stripped my rack down and reset it neatly with all the cabling properly dressed but, out of curiosity, I decided to swap things around so that the power supply to Dave was isolated from the rest of my system. I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised at the improvement - wherever the noise floor is in my system now, it is beyond my hearing range and this has been a nice nugget to find just as I was thinking my system was done. Maybe I could gain a bit more by isolating Blu II as well but a) I don’t have the capability to do so and b) I doubt my ears could hear any benefit that may arise.

The difference is not hard to hear and, as happy - no, delighted - as I am with my BluDave setup right now, I do feel that I have had to wrestle against Dave a bit to get there what with matching BNC cables and ferrites as well as this latest discovery. I own a Hugo II and Blu II and I’d hope that we may see a Dave II emerge at some point which addresses these two aspects - the BluDave interface and power supply - in order that others can achieve their own perfect sound a bit more easily in future.

That said, as someone who gave up completely on having a stereo system throughout the 90’s and early 00’s because I found CD’s to sound harsh, fatiguing and, at times, downright painful, I am pinching myself now at what a well sorted BluDave setup can deliver. They said ‘Perfect sound, forever’ in 1982. Who knew it would take another 36 years to get there?

I’m guessing that’s why I hear an improvement with all my source equipment plugged into a ps audio powerplant which isolates all the power supplies

Not controversial at all I’m finding pyramids on my DAC to be very beneficial

 

[Triode User]

Here’s a suggestion for a system upgrade which may be slightly controversial, not because it involves cryogenically treated platinum plated mega bucks cables, in fact it cost me nothing at all. But it does tend to imply that our old friend Dave isn’t absolutely perfect, which I’m sure some might possibly take offence at.

I have, on occasion, seen people criticise Dave for its switching power supply and I always believed that it was just a case of ignorance and sour grapes, especially since most of the criticism came from people who didn’t own a Dave themselves. I’m a firm believer in RW’s DAC technology and I like Chord more generally, so I was pretty sure that their power supply in Dave would be nothing short of excellent. On Monday this week, I stripped my rack down and reset it neatly with all the cabling properly dressed but, out of curiosity, I decided to swap things around so that the power supply to Dave was isolated from the rest of my system. I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised at the improvement - wherever the noise floor is in my system now, it is beyond my hearing range and this has been a nice nugget to find just as I was thinking my system was done. Maybe I could gain a bit more by isolating Blu II as well but a) I don’t have the capability to do so and b) I doubt my ears could hear any benefit that may arise.

The difference is not hard to hear and, as happy - no, delighted - as I am with my BluDave setup right now, I do feel that I have had to wrestle against Dave a bit to get there what with matching BNC cables and ferrites as well as this latest discovery. I own a Hugo II and Blu II and I’d hope that we may see a Dave II emerge at some point which addresses these two aspects - the BluDave interface and power supply - in order that others can achieve their own perfect sound a bit more easily in future.

That said, as someone who gave up completely on having a stereo system throughout the 90’s and early 00’s because I found CD’s to sound harsh, fatiguing and, at times, downright painful, I am pinching myself now at what a well sorted BluDave setup can deliver. They said ‘Perfect sound, forever’ in 1982. Who knew it would take another 36 years to get there?

Malc, how have you isolated the Dave power supply?

Nick

 

[Malcyg]

Malc, how have you isolated the Dave power supply?

Nick

Haha, it would make me chuckle if the guys in the CA bulk buy all come back with glowing feedback. You’d be torn between your curiosity and your reluctance! Which one would win I wonder?

I have a balanced power supply which provides two independent, isolated outlets - one is meant for the power amp in order to keep it separate from the rest of the system, which should be run off the other outlet. I found my power amp sounds better straight into the wall, so I run my system off of a distribution block plugged into the balanced outlet intended for the power amp and I’ve plugged Dave directly into the other outlet.

Edit - I thought you’d commented on the CA BNC cables but the text seems to have disappeared!?

 

[marcmccalmont]

Haha, it would make me chuckle if the guys in the CA bulk buy all come back with glowing feedback. You’d be torn between your curiosity and your reluctance! Which one would win I wonder?

I have a balanced power supply which provides two independent outlets - one is meant for the power amp in order to keep it separate from the rest of the system, which should be run off the other outlet. I found my power amp sounds better straight into the wall, so I run my system off of a distribution block plugged into the balanced outlet intended for the power amp and I’ve plugged Dave directly into the other outlet.

Edit - I thought you’d commented on the CA BNC cables but the text seems to have disappeared!?

We have ended up with similar configurations. My powerplant is not capable of the dynamic current that the spectral power amps require so they are plugged directly into the wall and the rest of my kit each into an individually isolated outlet on the powerplant. And I still got improvements with 18 ferrites on Dave’s AC 14 se II power cord

 

[Jawed]

Wait until you hear them with 16 Fair Rite 61’s on each coax you’ll have a smile as wide as your system images!!!!!

This, of course, proves that the cables are actually worthless and should cost as such (i.e. $20 or less).

Now playing: Fionn Regan - The Meetings of the Waters

 

[minibox]

Here’s a suggestion for a system upgrade which may be slightly controversial, not because it involves cryogenically treated platinum plated mega bucks cables, in fact it cost me nothing at all. But it does tend to imply that our old friend Dave isn’t absolutely perfect, which I’m sure some might possibly take offence at.

I have, on occasion, seen people criticise Dave for its switching power supply and I always believed that it was just a case of ignorance and sour grapes, especially since most of the criticism came from people who didn’t own a Dave themselves. I’m a firm believer in RW’s DAC technology and I like Chord more generally, so I was pretty sure that their power supply in Dave would be nothing short of excellent. On Monday this week, I stripped my rack down and reset it neatly with all the cabling properly dressed but, out of curiosity, I decided to swap things around so that the power supply to Dave was isolated from the rest of my system. I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised at the improvement - wherever the noise floor is in my system now, it is beyond my hearing range and this has been a nice nugget to find just as I was thinking my system was done. Maybe I could gain a bit more by isolating Blu II as well but a) I don’t have the capability to do so and b) I doubt my ears could hear any benefit that may arise.

The difference is not hard to hear and, as happy - no, delighted - as I am with my BluDave setup right now, I do feel that I have had to wrestle against Dave a bit to get there what with matching BNC cables and ferrites as well as this latest discovery. I own a Hugo II and Blu II and I’d hope that we may see a Dave II emerge at some point which addresses these two aspects - the BluDave interface and power supply - in order that others can achieve their own perfect sound a bit more easily in future.

That said, as someone who gave up completely on having a stereo system throughout the 90’s and early 00’s because I found CD’s to sound harsh, fatiguing and, at times, downright painful, I am pinching myself now at what a well sorted BluDave setup can deliver. They said ‘Perfect sound, forever’ in 1982. Who knew it would take another 36 years to get there?

Great post. Digital was so harsh then. I still walk into jewelry stores and can’t stand the high

Here’s a suggestion for a system upgrade which may be slightly controversial, not because it involves cryogenically treated platinum plated mega bucks cables, in fact it cost me nothing at all. But it does tend to imply that our old friend Dave isn’t absolutely perfect, which I’m sure some might possibly take offence at.

I have, on occasion, seen people criticise Dave for its switching power supply and I always believed that it was just a case of ignorance and sour grapes, especially since most of the criticism came from people who didn’t own a Dave themselves. I’m a firm believer in RW’s DAC technology and I like Chord more generally, so I was pretty sure that their power supply in Dave would be nothing short of excellent. On Monday this week, I stripped my rack down and reset it neatly with all the cabling properly dressed but, out of curiosity, I decided to swap things around so that the power supply to Dave was isolated from the rest of my system. I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised at the improvement - wherever the noise floor is in my system now, it is beyond my hearing range and this has been a nice nugget to find just as I was thinking my system was done. Maybe I could gain a bit more by isolating Blu II as well but a) I don’t have the capability to do so and b) I doubt my ears could hear any benefit that may arise.

The difference is not hard to hear and, as happy - no, delighted - as I am with my BluDave setup right now, I do feel that I have had to wrestle against Dave a bit to get there what with matching BNC cables and ferrites as well as this latest discovery. I own a Hugo II and Blu II and I’d hope that we may see a Dave II emerge at some point which addresses these two aspects - the BluDave interface and power supply - in order that others can achieve their own perfect sound a bit more easily in future.

That said, as someone who gave up completely on having a stereo system throughout the 90’s and early 00’s because I found CD’s to sound harsh, fatiguing and, at times, downright painful, I am pinching myself now at what a well sorted BluDave setup can deliver. They said ‘Perfect sound, forever’ in 1982. Who knew it would take another 36 years to get there?

Great post. Digital back then was harsh and brittle. So thankful for innovators like Rob Watts who experienced analogue vs. digital and wanted to accurately reproduce the former. I posted this on the Dave thread earlier. Unfortunately, there seem to be those who lack proper analogue amplification and playback. Most of the time I’m lazy and prefer a long queue via my iPad and the blu/Dave combo is getting close to a good vinyl press.
Great post. Digital was harsh and cold. It’s warmed up and been more musical in recent years. I feel the chord blu/Dave combo is the best of what’s out there in digital playback and the forerunner of many great innovations to come. I posted the following today in the Dave thread. Unfortunately, there seems to be those who’ve not heard a quality vinyl sourced system, although it’s clear that this is what the blu/Dave combo aspires to. Just an update on my blu/dave combo. One of the stock bnc cords was faulty and the dual bnc connection dropped repeatedly. I tried 2 ferrites on each end of the bad cable but to no avail. In fact, the connection actually became worse. I ordered two of these guys from Amazon and they worked with no problem. 3 Foot HD-SDI 3G/6G RG6 BNC to BNC Video Coaxial Cable (75 Ohm) Purple 4.5Ghz Made in the USA by Custom Cable Connection https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074RK2RDD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Y8J2AbDFXPHVS
After listening with them in place for about a week I swapped out some power cords to see if I could achieve a different synergy. I was already very pleased with the sound but wanted to do some experimenting. Previously, I had both the dave and blu2 powered with Shunyata sidewinder vtx into a shunyata Denali pc. I thought I’d experiment with a much cheaper cable and hooked up 2 of the Pangea ac-14se’s. I was extremely surprised and pleased with the results. For the $, the new Pangea’s are phenomenal. Images became even more focused, while increasing in depth and width. It still doesn’t do what great vinyl can do but I am shocked by the layers of detail and realism. I never thought digital could sound this good. My current digital source is an aurender n100 but at some point I might strongly consider the sotm trifecta. Research leads me to believe it might clean up the signal a bit, but I think at this point the margins for improvement are minuscule. The blu/dave is one of (if not the most) significant upgrades I’ve ever made.

 

[Hifi Boy]

They said ‘Perfect sound, forever’ in 1982. Who knew it would take another 36 years to get there?

When you think about it, what they said was actually true. The perfect sound was there all along, we just didn't have the technology to get it out of that small disk at that time. Now we do, thanks to Rob.

 

[Triode User]

When you think about it, what they said was actually true. The perfect sound was there all along, we just didn't have the technology to get it out of that small disk at that time. Now we do, thanks to Rob.

But if we now have perfect sound there would be no point in Davina.

 

[Hifi Boy]

But if we now have perfect sound there would be no point in Davina.

Well, as close to perfect as the recording gear allowes you to record. The point is, CD seems to perfectly, or at least good enough for the limits of human hearing, be able to encode sound in digital format. So, whatever you were given by the recording equipment, you will be able to preserve on the CD.

Now if we also add Davina and perfect the recording process, even better. And it's going to be thanks to Rob again!

 

[marcmccalmont]

This, of course, proves that the cables are actually worthless and should cost as such (i.e. $20 or less).

Now playing: Fionn Regan - The Meetings of the Waters

Of course the high frequency ferrites only fix Blu2's ground plane noise issue that travels to Dave via any coaxes outer shield, so all coax is affected cheap, expensive, poor quality, high quality they all need ferrites between Blu2 and Dave. Once that issue is solved ultimate sound quality is affected by the coax's configuration and materials (this is where the expense comes in) and the resolution of the listeners system and ears. BTW have you popped for a BLU2 yet or still waiting for a standalone Mscaler?

 

[STR-1]

This, of course, proves that the cables are actually worthless and should cost as such (i.e. $20 or less).

That the CA cables might be further improved by the addition of ferrites proves no such thing (I say might because I haven’t yet tried them with ferrites). But for me, if I am to keep them, they will have to clearly beat my heavily ferrite’d stock cables without the help of ferrites. If they do, then I would look forward to further improvement by adding ferrites, but would expect only subtle improvements, perhaps more subtle than I experienced by adding ferrites to the stock cables. If I hear more than that, then great.

 

[marcmccalmont]

That the CA cables might be further improved by the addition of ferrites proves no such thing (I say might because I haven’t yet tried them with ferrites). But for me, if I am to keep them, they will have to clearly beat my heavily ferrite’d stock cables without the help of ferrites. If they do, then I would look forward to further improvement by adding ferrites, but would expect only subtle improvements, perhaps more subtle than I experienced by adding ferrites to the stock cables. If I hear more than that, then great.

I found more than just a subtle improvement but these tweaks are all relative, the difference between the original Sony CD player (yes I was one of the first to own one) and Blu2/Dave is not subtle, Even the difference between my last DAC and Dave is not subtle! But the Ferrites on the 2 coax between Blu2 and Dave I found to jump out at me as quite an improvement not just in background noise floor but in the attack of plucked instruments.

On all ferrite applications I have found one or two to be inaudible but 16 plus very audible