CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[AndrewOld]

I see,that's good to hear, people make it sound like night and day difference.Since my Isotek Sirius had a dramatic effect on my last dac , i hope it will do the same on the Dave and M-scaler. From what i understand though , the M-scaler itself is the source of the RF , which is why the ferrites on the cables.Still hoping it's all overblown.
Listening to the Dave alone with the Hi-fi filter on vs off made a pretty big difference to me.And since it's recommended to use the M-scaler with Hi-fi filter off...adding even more RF noise would make the sound even brighter i assume

If the M Scaler with the stock cables doesn’t blow you away, if you don’t think immediately that you have never heard anything like it before, if you don’t instantly hear and feel an order or magnitude more power, more coherence, more reality, more tangibility, more solidity, more reality in your music then forget about it. The whole RF thing is preposterously overblown, in some cases by people with vested commercial interests, in other cases by people with no technical knowledge.

 

[adrianm]

If the M Scaler with the stock cables doesn’t blow you away, if you don’t think immediately that you have never heard anything like it before, if you don’t instantly hear and feel an order or magnitude more power, more coherence, more reality, more tangibility, more solidity, more reality in your music then forget about it. The whole RF thing is preposterously overblown, in some cases by people with vested commercial interests, in other cases by people with no technical knowledge.

Well i'm not sure what to expect since i've heard the TT2 with and without the M-scaler, for a few minutes it was an upgrade,sure , but to me it still paled compared to DAVE without the M-scaler. I was so convinced and excited that i forgot to test DAVE with HMS , i just kept listening to it until it was time to leave .
I noticed you were looking for a solution to neatly stack Dave and Hms, did you end up finding one? I'm also in the "no way im paying Choral ensemble money " camp.

 

[iamoneagain]

So I still use HF filter on even with the mscaler. It’s all part of the darker sound that brings out more weight and texture. I think this all depends on what headphones or speakers you’re using.

And also think the RFI issue is overblown. There’s a difference but it’s still the final percent. Much bigger difference when using mscaler and switching to 1 million taps and passthru. Also think switching HF on and off affects sound more.

Even though Rob said he uses Wave cables at home he still said when he used to travel he didn’t bother to bring them. Just used stock. Think he called improvement like the icing on the cake. I believe to mean that it’s the final tweak to the sound but already almost all the of the way there without it.

To me using the battery makes sound just a touch more analog sounding on an already amazing sound. I’m using Focal Utopia’s with Danacable, so very easily to hear any changes in the sound. But could easily go back to stock power supply and be happy. You brain hears difference when switching but quickly adjusted to sound after a minute and I didn’t find stock sound harsh or edgy.

 

[mbj666]

I see,that's good to hear, people make it sound like night and day difference.Since my Isotek Sirius had a dramatic effect on my last dac , i hope it will do the same on the Dave and M-scaler. From what i understand though , the M-scaler itself is the source of the RF , which is why the ferrites on the cables.Still hoping it's all overblown.
Listening to the Dave alone with the Hi-fi filter on vs off made a pretty big difference to me.And since it's recommended to use the M-scaler with Hi-fi filter off...adding even more RF noise would make the sound even brighter i assume

let me know how you get on when you connect your DAVE to your sirius block please my DAVE still several weeks off yet ....cannot wait missing it out my system following the demo

 

[adrianm]

let me know how you get on when you connect your DAVE to your sirius block please my DAVE still several weeks off yet ....cannot wait missing it out my system following the demo

Will do, unfortunately my DAVE is also a few weeks away Can barely wait.In the same boat after the last Demo i had.

 

[ubs28]

If the M Scaler with the stock cables doesn’t blow you away, if you don’t think immediately that you have never heard anything like it before, if you don’t instantly hear and feel an order or magnitude more power, more coherence, more reality, more tangibility, more solidity, more reality in your music then forget about it. The whole RF thing is preposterously overblown, in some cases by people with vested commercial interests, in other cases by people with no technical knowledge.

It is not overblown. I also picked this up last year when i had a Mscaler for the weekend. I did hear differences between the Chord Dave standalone and Dave + Mscaler, but I disliked the brighter sound which I blamed on some kind of noise entering the signal which was not there in the first place.

So I did not buy it in the end as I considered it as a design flaw. (maybe it can be fixed with doing alot of tweaks, but I am not interested in that. I rather keep my setup as simple as possible)

If Chord fixes this, I might reconsider buying the Mscaler.

 

[AndrewOld]

Well i'm not sure what to expect since i've heard the TT2 with and without the M-scaler, for a few minutes it was an upgrade,sure , but to me it still paled compared to DAVE without the M-scaler. I was so convinced and excited that i forgot to test DAVE with HMS , i just kept listening to it until it was time to leave .
I noticed you were looking for a solution to neatly stack Dave and Hms, did you end up finding one? I'm also in the "no way im paying Choral ensemble money " camp.

Ha! The Choral stand is simply hideous. No I didnt end up buying a stand, I just used the furniture I had. My DAVE is on a small card table with my music netbook next to it, and my M Scaler is on a little bookshelf/table nearby. I got a Poweradd battery to see what all the nonsense about RF was about and that is near the M Scaler so I can easily switch to battery power when I can be bothered. In hindsight, looking to stack the M Scaler and DAVE probably isn’t a good idea because the cables constrain you, unless you buy short cables which may have other issues. But the cables Chord supply can have flakey connections. These from Farnell are more reliable.
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg00541/bnc-plug-to-plug-1m/dp/AV14130#
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg00542/bnc-to-bnc-plug-gold-2m/dp/AV14131

 

[naynay]

Just can’t believe that four cables are as expensive to make as one M Scaler

They aren't I have made them for £200 a cable.

 

[adrianm]

They aren't I have made them for £200 a cable.

Yeah i saw your post, i would assume you need a certain type of ferrites to match the frequency of the RF noise ,which is in theory what justifies the cost of the Wave cables. Have you tried experimenting with different types of ferrites?

 

[adrianm]

Ha! The Choral stand is simply hideous. No I didnt end up buying a stand, I just used the furniture I had. My DAVE is on a small card table with my music netbook next to it, and my M Scaler is on a little bookshelf/table nearby. I got a Poweradd battery to see what all the nonsense about RF was about and that is near the M Scaler so I can easily switch to battery power when I can be bothered. In hindsight, looking to stack the M Scaler and DAVE probably isn’t a good idea because the cables constrain you, unless you buy short cables which may have other issues. But the cables Chord supply can have flakey connections. These from Farnell are more reliable.
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg00541/bnc-plug-to-plug-1m/dp/AV14130#
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg00542/bnc-to-bnc-plug-gold-2m/dp/AV14131

I can put them both on my desk , but all this M-scaler stuff makes "The ultimate Chord Experience " a bit like buying a Ferrari from Ikea

 

[ubs28]

Let’s not forget the additional Chord 2Go and Chord 2U (or whatever name it is) to have a modern 2020 setup

I think for the Chord Dave 2, they should integrate most of these modules into 1 unit rather than having so many modules.

 

[adrianm]

Let’s not forget the additional Chord 2Go and Chord 2U (or whatever name it is) to have a modern 2020 setup

I think for the Chord Dave 2, they should integrate most of these modules into 1 unit rather than having so many modules.

Nah i'm fine with my gaming pc streaming Tidal to Dave

 

[ubs28]

Nah i'm fine with my gaming pc streaming Tidal to Dave

But I doubt it is the best sound quality wise.

 

[iamoneagain]

It is not overblown. I also picked this up last year when i had a Mscaler for the weekend. I did hear differences between the Chord Dave standalone and Dave + Mscaler, but I disliked the brighter sound which I blamed on some kind of noise entering the signal which was not there in the first place.

So I did not buy it in the end as I considered it as a design flaw. (maybe it can be fixed with doing alot of tweaks, but I am not interested in that. I rather keep my setup as simple as possible)

If Chord fixes this, I might reconsider buying the Mscaler.

I guess it depends on the listener. Seemed most people were amazed by the mscaler when it first came out and only a few complaints about brightness. But that’s not to say it’s not a problem but most aren’t bothered.

Not sure if design flaw or type of power supply that comes with it. My understanding that’s what’s causing the RFI and the mscaler doesn’t have anything to block it from passing thru. The fancy cables or optical converter will remove it or a cheap battery in place of the power supply.

Since original sound didn’t bother me, I certainly wouldn’t pay over $1000 to fix it. That money was better spent on headphone cable.

But in the end I get it. The RFI noise shouldn’t be there and it does effect the sound enough for some not to even use it.

 

[naynay]

Yeah i saw your post, i would assume you need a certain type of ferrites to match the frequency of the RF noise ,which is in theory what justifies the cost of the Wave cables. Have you tried experimenting with different types of ferrites?

There are only two cylindrical ferrite cores available at 28.5 mm Length, 8 mm ID, 16 mm OD which are the size used so just look at the frequency range.