You have a very nice setup. Since you are using electrostatic headphones, then it will be a fair fight between the CAD and DAVE.
Please do share what differences, if any, you are hearing between the W20 on USB compared to your CD transport via Toslink and whether you have a preference.
i don't think yggy is anywhere in the fight. even some people found mojo to be in the league of msb analog. i doubt yggy can even beat mojo purely for sound quality. (small size and and small price tag of mojo does not mean that it should not even be think of comparing with yggy ). in one post i suggested one owner of yggy and ragnarok to feed the ragnarok with yggy and then with mojo fixed at 2.5 or 3 volt and tell the impression but there was no reply. i think no dac right now in the range of $2k to 3K is even close to mojo except hugo/tt , purely for sound quality and used as dac in full setup.
i don't think yggy is anywhere in the fight. even some people found mojo to be in the league of msb analog. i doubt yggy can even beat mojo purely for sound quality. (small size and and small price tag of mojo does not mean that it should not even be think of comparing with yggy ). in one post i suggested one owner of yggy and ragnarok to feed the ragnarok with yggy and then with mojo fixed at 2.5 or 3 volt and tell the impression but there was no reply. i think no dac right now in the range of $2k to 3K is even close to mojo except hugo/tt , purely for sound quality and used as dac in full setup.
i don't think yggy is anywhere in the fight. even some people found mojo to be in the league of msb analog. i doubt yggy can even beat mojo purely for sound quality. (small size and and small price tag of mojo does not mean that it should not even be think of comparing with yggy ). in one post i suggested one owner of yggy and ragnarok to feed the ragnarok with yggy and then with mojo fixed at 2.5 or 3 volt and tell the impression but there was no reply. i think no dac right now in the range of $2k to 3K is even close to mojo except hugo/tt , purely for sound quality and used as dac in full setup.
Yes, Yggy sounds better than Hugo for me. And I had never used Hugo in portable setup, it had never left my home during the time I owned it. For me, Yggy sounds more nature/analog and weighty which is what I like. Hugo bettered Yggy in area like soundstage depth. The differences between the two are not night and day, actually their sound signature are quite different. And both need careful pairing to reach their full potential.
I, too, am eager to hear your impressions as I regard CAD highly but the only area where I believe the CAD 1543 DAC could compete with the DAVE would be on speakers and not on headphones. The CAD 1543 in its current form is incapable of driving headphones directly. You would need to pair it with a headphone amp which would significantly handicap it against the DAVE.
Very true, not an accurate test at all, I have been asked by a friend to look around for a SS SOTA headphone amp that will be the next best thing, its not an easy task. The CAD 1543 DAC MK2 is a good DAC, need to take care of the feet placement to get the best out of them. I find 3 feet 2 on one end at the corners with a third in the centre of the corners on the parallel side generally works best.
My first look and listen of the Dave is coming up tomorrow afternoon, when I'll compare it to the similarly priced CAD DAC, which hasn't received as much hype (to put it mildly), but it and matching CAT server quietly gets well reviewed by individuals.
Then I'll take Dave home for the weekend (!) to compare against my Yggy, to see if the considerable price difference is worth it.
Very curious as to how this will pan out.
DAVE has entered the building! Well, at least for a weekend loan.
But first, let's go back to earlier in the day with the dealer's demo system for Round 1. This was yesterday, but weekend life has got in the way of me posting. Anyway, I had a couple of hours with the following:
Aurender W20 -> Chord Sarum (posh £1k USB cable, no relation) -> CAD DAC mk2 or DAVE -> Stax SRM 006T-> Stax SR 407 (I think).
All powered via Power Plant 10 and various audiophile power chords and interconnects. CAD to Stax was via SE RCA, and DAVE via balanced XLR. I resolutely didn't swap around different connections - I get easily confused with too many parameters.
One crucial parameter was that I had expected the brand new DAVE to have arrived at least 1 week earlier, but it didn't, so it only had 2-3 days of burn-in, which I feel wasn't nearly enough, but we are where we are. So, with a room all to myself, comfy sofa, cup of coffee and a box full of expensive toys, life can get hard, but someone's got to do it!
I started with the CAD to get a benchmark for sound signature of the whole system, as the Stax pairing was several notches lower compared to back home. In short, it sounded pretty good. Clear, detailed presentation albeit in a thinner, less full bodied, less expansive way than I'm used to.
Then, after an hour or so casually swapping between CAD and DAVE, the conclusion I had at the end was much the same as in the first few minutes. There can only be one winner in any shoot out - or can there? Let's find out...
[size=11.0pt]Yep, you've guessed it , it was a draw. More or less. Give or take. The CAD was a touch warmer, the DAVE a bit more precise, detailed and dynamic, but with a touch of unwelcome brightness. These were incremental differences, nothing was night and day. In overall presentation, it was a bit like analogue vs digital, tube vs solid state, there's no right or wrong.[/size]
[size=11.0pt] [/size]
[size=11.0pt]All else being equal, if pushed I'd probably go for the CAD, if only for it's more seductive presentation, e.g. of female vocals. But all else isn't equal because, for much the same price, the CAD is a one-trick pony, minimalist USB-only DAC, whereas DAVE is an all singing and dancing , multi-purpose music system in a small, self contained box. And further burn-in may (or may not) remove that touch of brightness.[/size]
[size=11.0pt] [/size]
[size=11.0pt]As a reminder to never take any single listening session as conclusive proof of anything, my perception of Dave's sound signature changed considerably when I tried it at home, just a few hours later. Getting interesting now. But that's another post for later this weekend because life's getting in the way again.[/size]
[size=11.0pt] [/size]
[size=11.0pt] [/size]
It i just sad the CAD is just so ugly and low finish like an old Satellite SetTopBox Decoder ;(
It is sadly not welcome in my home nevertheless how good it may sound
I think the best looking HiFi Streamers / DAC with the highest finished products is Devialet, Chord, MSB and a side contender but not a DAC is D'Augostino.
DAVE has entered the building! Well, at least for a weekend loan.
But first, let's go back to earlier in the day with the dealer's demo system for Round 1. This was yesterday, but weekend life has got in the way of me posting. Anyway, I had a couple of hours with the following:
Aurender W20 -> Chord Sarum (posh £1k USB cable, no relation) -> CAD DAC mk2 or DAVE -> Stax SRM 006T-> Stax SR 407 (I think).
All powered via Power Plant 10 and various audiophile power chords and interconnects. CAD to Stax was via SE RCA, and DAVE via balanced XLR. I resolutely didn't swap around different connections - I get easily confused with too many parameters.
One crucial parameter was that I had expected the brand new DAVE to have arrived at least 1 week earlier, but it didn't, so it only had 2-3 days of burn-in, which I feel wasn't nearly enough, but we are where we are. So, with a room all to myself, comfy sofa, cup of coffee and a box full of expensive toys, life can get hard, but someone's got to do it!
I started with the CAD to get a benchmark for sound signature of the whole system, as the Stax pairing was several notches lower compared to back home. In short, it sounded pretty good. Clear, detailed presentation albeit in a thinner, less full bodied, less expansive way than I'm used to.
Then, after an hour or so casually swapping between CAD and DAVE, the conclusion I had at the end was much the same as in the first few minutes. There can only be one winner in any shoot out - or can there? Let's find out...
[size=11pt]Yep, you've guessed it , it was a draw. More or less. Give or take. The CAD was a touch warmer, the DAVE a bit more precise, detailed and dynamic, but with a touch of unwelcome brightness. These were incremental differences, nothing was night and day. In overall presentation, it was a bit like analogue vs digital, tube vs solid state, there's no right or wrong.[/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt]All else being equal, if pushed I'd probably go for the CAD, if only for it's more seductive presentation, e.g. of female vocals. But all else isn't equal because, for much the same price, the CAD is a one-trick pony, minimalist USB-only DAC, whereas DAVE is an all singing and dancing , multi-purpose music system in a small, self contained box. And further burn-in may (or may not) remove that touch of brightness.[/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt]As a reminder to never take any single listening session as conclusive proof of anything, my perception of Dave's sound signature changed considerably when I tried it at home, just a few hours later. Getting interesting now. But that's another post for later this weekend because life's getting in the way again.[/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
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