[JTbbb]

I am enjoying my Grado GS3000e's connected to my recently purchased Chord DAVE with DAVE connected to also my recently purchased Chord M Scaler which is a big sonic jump up from directly connecting my GS3000e's to my Hugo 2 (which was great before I heard the difference with the DAVE).

I am just wondering if another headphone would give me even better sonic performance than the GS3000e's !

Based on numerous online reviews, I am thinking of the Focal Utopia and Audeze LCD-4z (although the weight of the 4z may be an issue for me as per my experinece back in 2012 with the original LCD2 !).

Anybody have some experiences with the Focal Utopia and Audeze LCD-4z with the Chord DAVE (ideally linked to the M Scaler) or any other headphone that matches well with the DAVE.

I listen to all genres of music, however most of my listening time is on main stream contemporary rock, pop and R&B with a bit of light jazz and classical.

It’s probably seen as getting a bit old in the tooth these days, but I think the HD800S still takes some beating.

 

[musickid]

new limited gold edition out on the sennheiser website.

 

[Triode User]

new limited gold edition out on the sennheiser website.

Well that’s a blow for Chord when Sennheiser beat them to getting out a Gold Limited Edition Dave!

 

[ubs28]

Well that’s a blow for Chord when Sennheiser beat them to getting out a Gold Limited Edition Dave!

Would have been wonderful with the new HD 800. The Silver Chord Dave is too bright with these headphones.

 

[Peti]

I'm wondering if the Dave has multi voltage input i.e. 120v and 220v so I can use the same unit both in the EU and the USA?

 

[edwardsean]

I'm wondering if the Dave has multi voltage input i.e. 120v and 220v so I can use the same unit both in the EU and the USA?

As far as I know, it does.

 

[Peti]

That is certainly good news. I'm getting closer pulling the trigger on one.

 

[Triode User]

I'm wondering if the Dave has multi voltage input i.e. 120v and 220v so I can use the same unit both in the EU and the USA?

Yes it definitely does. No adjustment needed. Just plug in wherever you are in the world.

 

[doraymon]

Yes it definitely does. No adjustment needed. Just plug in wherever you are in the world.

+1. The Dave has a switch mode power supply, I guess all SPS can accept any input voltage available in the world (110 to 230V) without any adjustment needed.

 

[doraymon]

I'm reporting back after a few days of using the Lumin U1 Mini with the Dave.

The setup was simply U1 Mini > [USB] Chord Dave > Focal Utopia, more details at the bottom for the gear-heads like me.
I compared this to the sound using my PC to stream music to the Dave via Optical (my favorite so far with Dave). To be honest I didn’t have big expectations considering the claimed “immunity” of Dave to jitter and, to some extent, to RF noise.

So I started the listening session with some electronic music (Rone's "Mirapolis") and at first I thought “mmmh, ok, no difference really”, but wait… that bass with the U1 is so much fuller and defined. Ok, good, let’s try something with more instruments in it.
With classic rock (The Rolling Stones "Blue & Lonesome" and Rory Gallagher's "Top Priority remastered 2017") the hints of a more realistic sound continued: snappier bass, increased soundstage depth, definitely more realistic instrument reproduction.
But it’s with live music, especially with piano and guitar, that the U1 Mini really blew the PC out of the water.
In Band of Horses’ “Acoustic at the Ryman”, with the Lumin each piano note felt richer, you could really tell there was “more music” in them, if that makes sense to you. I guess it might have something to do with a better transient reproduction or a lower noise floor? Experts please be merciful if I am not using the right words.

The U1 Mini also improved the feeling of space, I guess I can call it it a better soundstage depth, as opposed to a flatter presentation of the PC.
Final result? More realism, no doubt. I found myself tapping with my hands on the desk more often, and this is a good sign!

I am really enjoying this change to my setup. Is it worth almost 2k$? That is very subjective but now that I heard it, obviously I can't live without it, so...

The only issue I am having is that for some reasons the Lumin U1 Mini won't work with Dave at 192MHz through optical, while my gaming PC does that without any issues and with a simple Ugreen optical cable.
I purchased a Lifatec 3ft glass toslink cable just to see if that was the problem but it didn't make any difference. There you have it, another 150$ out of the window...

Other gear details:
Roon Core: NUC 10 i7 running as ROCK, with two SSDs (1 for OS, 1 for music storage)
The U1 Mini gets the Ethernet signal from a Netgear GS108 switch, powered by an iFi iPower 12V.
Cables: stock power cable for Dave, Audioquest NRG X3 3ft for the U1 Mini, Norne Audio Draug Silver 5ft for the headphones, QED Reference USB 1m.
All the power chords are connected to 3 x Opera Audio Consonance PW-1 Mains Filters, with the Dave and Lumin feeding from unfiltered plugs.

 

[ubs28]

I use an USB cleaner for the Chord Dave. I hear a difference and that is all that matters.

 

[alxw0w]

Ok so here are a few of my words on switching from MTT2 to the Dave.

Prologue
Lets start that I was using Chord dacs for some time. Started like ~2 years ago with Mojo - which was bought with no expectations whatsoever.
I just needed small dac/amp to use it at work.
Mojo had been on my radar for some time but to be honest it was the stage when I underestimated it because of it's size and price which back then was seen by me as way too high for such "TOY" (sorry Chord, I'm pretty sure we all were that at some point of our audiophile "career" - good audio gear need to be heavy big, hot...)
Anyway I decided to try Mojo, and was surprised by its performance, Mojo was sounding different, then I couldn't put any word what the difference was. It was competing with the other big desktop gear that I had at that time.
Immediately I started to thinking how good Hugo 2 can be. Hugo TT and Dave were beyond my imagination as the price seemed to be just not for me (yeah right)

So after couple of months thinking about Hugo 2 I thought ok let's give it a try. Just compare it to my Audio-gd combo and if it's better I'll sell the audio gd to cover some cost of the hugo 2 - if not it will go back to the dealer (still the price was a bit repulsive).

My impressions of that can be found here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-hugo-2-the-official-thread.831345/post-14847081
From time perspective I'll add that Hugo 2 just walked over Audio GD combo.
And from Hugo 2 I was sucked. I was amazed how such small transportable thing could sound so amazing so different. I wanted more of that Chord sound. Nothing different just more, just gimme their top dacs.

M Scaler + TT2 or Dave - what to choose ?
Yup as I said I was sucked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5CL4oaIpY8). After Hugo 2 and wanting more of that Chord sound I had some romance with TT1 (yes the first one). After that thank to @Ragnar-BY I switched to TT2 + M Scaler (damn you ragnar, you are part of this crazy journey )
And it was bliss. I couldn't be happier. The combo had everything it was perfect. I wasn't even thinking about Dave even if the price was similar why I should change it. My thinking was TT2 vs Dave is probably very close as the TT2 is a newer iteration of Chord (Dave is 5yo at that point) so adding M Scaler to the TT2 will just outclass solo Dave, wouldn't it ?
I was living for couple of months with my MTT2 combo and was happy. The only thing that was bothering me was BOXES and CABLES. I have tight space on my desk, and this space was going to shrink even more because of adding second monitor to allow me to work in better environment.

So naturally there were thoughts of maybe I should sell MTT2 and just go with the Dave - as it will simplify my setup under the desk and whats more important on the desk dramatically (simple power cable + toslink, no power bricks etc.)
It was very hard decision as on the internet there is very little comparisons if any of MTT2 vs Dave. I was afraid to lose everything that m scaler and tt2 combo was giving to me. On top of that I was using MTT2 combo for only like 4 months, so another change in such short period ? (dancing with the devil) Call me crazy I went full in, switched to solo Dave.
And oh boy I can't be happier.
Dave is just on another level. I'm not missing anything from the old combo (almost anything but more on that later). Dave has it all, crazy decay, crazy separation, transparency, clarity extension on both ends like nothing else.

Here are some main points of my feeling about Dave:

1. Dave sounds cooler than MTT2, but not harsh or anything just cooler/brighter.​

2. Bass is better controlled. At the beginning it sounded thinner but with time you start to realize how much different instrument timber sound because of that, it also connects to the first point of Dave being cooler. It's amazingly controlled, not bloated wall of sound just fast punchy and reaching very deep. I had similar feeling when switching from TT1 to TT2. And here with TT2-Dave is another step.​

3. Highs are extremely extended detailed and shiny, yet not harsh they won't cut your ears they are smooth at the same time.​

Small side note here: I remember reading some high end gear reviews when reviewers were talking about that dac (not Dave, just general dacs) is bright and detailed on top. I couldn't understand how you can like bright dacs. It will always hurt your ears (especially on headphones). Now with the Dave I can fully understand how you can be addicted to extremely good treble. A lot of my previous lesser dacs had this harsh forced treble and I just thought that my ears don't like high frequencies although they sound in general was rather dark/muddied. I couldn't have been more wrong. I was just listening to wrong dacs. When treble is done properly it becomes addictive like low bass notes.​

4. Clarity on Dave is.... I'm speechless. For me that's the strongest point of Dave. It amazed me I was overwhelmed how much clearer everything sounded. Every instrument every note is now separated from each other like never before. It's like MTT2 was already amazing but Dave is just different. Layers of music are so much separated. It's extremely well "visible" in complex music passages. Notes never sound congested/squashed into one waveform, everything exists on it's own layer. It must be heard. ​

5. Quiet notes/instruments are much easier to spot. I'm sure it has something to noise shapers that Rob was talking about. Now quiet notes are more "visible" at the beginning it's like sound feels "compressed" (like louder instruments sound quieter and quiet instruments are louder). Really strange/bizzare experience. What is more strange that this quieter instruments are not only like quiet but also their image is smaller. Like you hear the 3D shape of the note in the space is smaller not only quieter, but at the same time its easier to spot details. Hard to explain, but I'm sure Dave users know what I'm talking about.​

6. Spookiness. All above points connects to spooky experience. I remember reading about it in review of the Dave @ audiobacon.net site. I couldn't understand it. With good dac music sounds good, but with the Dave sometimes it sounds like you are there. I know it sounds like total cliche. But that's my feeling (and I'm not sure I'm not the only one). Instruments/notes on different tracks sometimes sound so spooky real. It's not even funny. I haven't experience this on MTT2 combo, not even once. Dave just sounds more convincing.​

​

The only two things that I'm missing from MTT2 combo are: power and smoothness. With power it's only on some tracks. I feel like TT2 was driving controlling better my headphones especially on high volume levels. But it's not always, only some tracks/albums. And the smoothness that flow that m scaler was giving is something I'm missing a bit. But still all above points make experience so good that I don't regret the change. It was definitely worth it.

Epilogue
So that pretty much sums all my feelings about the Dave. I know some of the things that I mention may sound like cliche to some people or like I'm exaggerating. Maybe I am but Dave is really different. All the philosophy that Rob is saying about his approach on dacs are connecting into one piece in the Dave - it really make full sense now. Currently I'm working from home so music is on my headphones for at least 8 hours per day. And I can't get enough. I'm not tired don't have any fatigue, just want to listen more and more.
If I knew that the Dave is such amazing kit I would buy it much earlier.
Cheers

ps. sorry for such long post and for any mistakes. Damn I should add some photos do a bit of rewriting some of the points and post it on review section on head fi

 

[Triode User]

Ok so here are a few of my words on switching from MTT2 to the Dave.

Prologue
Lets start that I was using Chord dacs for some time. Started like ~2 years ago with Mojo - which was bought with no expectations whatsoever.
I just needed small dac/amp to use it at work.
Mojo had been on my radar for some time but to be honest it was the stage when I underestimated it because of it's size and price which back than was seen by me as way too high for such "TOY" (sorry Chord, I'm pretty sure we all were that at some point of our audiophile "career" - good audio gear need to be heavy big, hot...)
Anyway I decided to try Mojo, and was surprised by its performance, Mojo was sounding different then I couldn't put any word what the difference was. It was competing with the other big desktop gear that I had at that time.
Immediately I started to thinking how good Hugo 2 can be. Hugo TT and Dave were beyond my imagination as the price seemed to be just not for me (yeah right)

So after couple of months thinking about Hugo 2 I thought ok let's give it a try. Just compare it to my Audio-gd combo and if it's better I'll sell the audio gd to cover some cost of the hugo 2 - if not it will go back to the dealer (still the price was a bit repulsive).

My impressions of that can be found here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-hugo-2-the-official-thread.831345/post-14847081
From time perspective I'll add that Hugo 2 just walked over Audio GD combo.
And from Hugo 2 I was sucked. I was amazed how such small transportable thing could sound so amazing so different. I wanted more of that Chord sound. Nothing different just more, just gimme their top dacs.

M Scaler + TT2 or Dave - what to choose ?
Yup as I said I was sucked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5CL4oaIpY8). After Hugo 2 and wanting more of that Chord sound I had some romance with TT1 (yes the first one). After that thank to @Ragnar-BY I switched to TT2 + M Scaler (damn you ragnar, you are part of this crazy journey )
And it was bliss. I couldn't be happier. The combo had everything it was perfect. I wasn't even thinking about Dave even if the price was similar why I should change it. My thinking was TT2 vs Dave is probably very close as the TT2 is a newer iteration of Chord (Dave is 5yo at that point) so adding M Scaler to the TT2 will just outclass solo Dave, wouldn't it ?
I was living for couple of months with my MTT2 combo and was happy. The only thing that was bothering me was BOXES and CABLES. I have tight space on my desk, and this space was going to shrink even more because of adding second monitor to allow me to work in better environment.

So naturally there were thoughts of maybe I should sell MTT2 and just go with the Dave - as it will simplify my setup under the desk and whats more important on the desk dramatically (simple power cable + toslink, no power bricks etc.)
It was very hard decision as on the internet there is very little comparisons if any of MTT2 vs Dave. I was afraid to lose everything that m scaler and tt2 combo was giving to me. On top of that I was using MTT2 combo for only like 4 months, so another change in such short period ? (dancing with the devil) Call me crazy I went full in, switched to solo Dave.
And oh boy I can't be happier.
Dave is just on another level. I'm not missing anything from the old combo (almost anything but more on that later). Dave has it all, crazy decay, crazy separation, transparency, clarity extension on both ends that nothing else.

Here are some main points of my feeling about Dave:

1. Dave sounds cooler than MTT2, but not harsh or anything just cooler/brighter.​

2. Bass is better controlled. At the beginning it sounded thinner but with time you start to realize how much different instrument timber sound because of that, it also connects to the first point of Dave being cooler. It's amazingly controlled, not bloated wall of sound just fast punchy and reaching very deep. I had similar feeling when switching from TT1 to TT2. And here with TT2-Dave is another step.​

3. Highs are extremely extended detailed and shiny, yet not harsh they won't cut your ears they are smooth at the same time.​

Small side note here: I remember reading some high end gear reviews when reviewers were talking about that dac (not Dave, just general dacs) is bright and detailed on top. I couldn't understand how you can like bright dacs. It will always hurt your ears (especially on headphones). Now with the Dave I can fully understand how you can be addicted to extremely good treble. A lot of my previous lesser dacs had this harsh forced treble and I just thought that my ears don't like high frequencies although they sound in general was rather dark/muddied. I couldn't have been more wrong. I was just listening to wrong dacs. When treble is done properly it becomes addictive like low bass notes.​

4. Clarity on Dave is.... I'm speechless. For me that's the strongest point of Dave. It amazed me I was overwhelmed how much clearer everything sounded. Every instrument every note is now separated from each other like never before. It's like MTT2 was already amazing but Dave is just different. Layers of music are so much separated. It's extremely well "visible" in complex music passages. Notes never sound congested/squashed into one waveform, everything exists on it's own layer. It must be heard. ​

5. Quiet notes/instruments are much easier to spot. I'm sure it has something to noise shapers that Rob was talking about. Now quiet notes are more "visible" at the beginning it's like sound feels "compressed" (like louder instruments sound quieter and quiet instruments are louder). Really strange/bizzare experience. What is more strange that this quieter instruments are not only like quiet but also their image is smaller. Like you hear the 3D shape of the note in the space is smaller not only quieter, but at the same time its easier to spot details. Hard to explain, but I'm sure Dave users know what I'm talking about.​

6. Spookiness. All above points connects to spooky experience. I remember reading about it in review of the Dave @ audiobacon.net site. I couldn't understand it. With good dac music sounds good, but with the Dave sometimes it sounds like you are there. I know it sounds like total cliche. But that's my feeling (and I'm not sure I'm not the only one). Instruments/notes on different tracks sometimes sound so spooky real. It wasn't even funny. I haven't experience this on MTT2 combo, not even once. Dave just sounds more convincing.​

​

The only two things that I'm missing from MTT2 combo are: power and smoothness. With power it's only on some tracks. I feel like TT2 was driving controlling better my headphones especially on high volume levels. But it's not always, only some tracks/albums. And the smoothness that flow that m scaler was giving is something I'm missing a bit. But still all above points make experience so good that I don't regret the change. It was definitely worth it.

Epilogue
So that pretty much sums all my feelings about the Dave. I know some of the things that I mention may sound like cliche to some people or like I'm exaggerating. Maybe I am but Dave is really different. All the philosophy that Rob is saying about his approach on dacs are connecting into one piece in the Dave - it really make full sense now. Currently I'm working from home so music is on my headphones for at least 8 hours per day. And I can't get enough. I'm not tired don't have any fatigue, just want to listen more and more.
If I knew that the Dave is such amazing kit I would buy it much earlier.
Cheers

ps. sorry for such long post and for any mistakes. Damn I should add some photos do a bit of rewriting some of the points and post it on review section on head fi

Nice!!!

and you will give reassurance to @musickid who is waiting for his solo Dave having handed in his TT2 / Mscaler.

Now you need to start saving to buy back an Mscaler .

 

[adrianm]

Nice!!!

and you will give reassurance to @musickid who is waiting for his solo Dave having handed in his TT2 / Mscaler.

Now you need to start saving to buy back an Mscaler .

Just to think 2 months ago i was giving it to him The last part is for both of us though.

 

[alxw0w]

Nice!!!

and you will give reassurance to @musickid who is waiting for his solo Dave having handed in his TT2 / Mscaler.

Now you need to start saving to buy back an Mscaler .

It's more a matter of space than money now, I know I'm going to add m scaler in the future... I have already listened Dave with MScaler with Ragnar at his place. With Wave cables and all farads and ps audio power plant power supply chain. Two words sum it perfectly smooth listening