[sm60]

At some level, I understand your struggles. When I first got my Blu2 in 2017, my dealer and I struggled to get a good working unit for a few months and had to send the units back to Chord until one works perfectly. And it’s been working perfectly fine since then. But that was from their initial production run and we suspect the shipping from UK to Canada was sometimes rough but we weren’t sure. I never publicly posted this because I really haven’t seen a lot of people complain about this problem on the forums here. Possibly one person per year max, probably less. I have personally contacted them via PM’s and eventually their problems got resolved. So I don’t think there is a massive failure rate for Blu2.

And Blu2 is definitely a little more sensitive to RF noise so I have found it can be finicky if you’re using the S/PDIF or USB inputs of Blu2 depending on your USB or S/PDIF source.

And I have to admit, because even with multiple USB source upgrades, I can’t completely get rid of the RF source noise (unless I run the system off my iPad which I didn’t want to), I ended up switching to an M-Scaler and eventually to feeding the M-Scaler Toslink.

Unfortunately, this is where my sympathy ends. You’ve said in your previous posts, you bought the Blu2 used, instead of M-Scaler as recommended by your dealer. Mostly you did it for aesthetic reasons (Iike I did as I kept my Blu2 till 2020 for the same reasons when I finally decided to switch to M-Scaler even though I never use the CD transport).

To me, it’s not even clear that Blu2 or DAVE is not working properly. It sounds like you’ve said if you use your sources directly with DAVE or if you feed a non-USB source to Blu2 via S/PDIF and play through DAVE, it works fine. I can’t figure out from your posts how the CD transport is broken. Usually BNC1/2 or BNC3/4 would work consistently, you just need to find which one and use that (I use my BNC3/4 because BNC1/2 is not as reliable). I guess you can call it a “defective” product. But if it runs 100% of the time BNC3/4, I’m fine with it.

To me, if you have nothing plugged into Blu2 and you just use the Blu2 as a CD transport into DAVE with a functioning BNC1/2 or BNC3/4 using the stock BNC cables and if it consistently runs normally, your Blu2 is not broken. Maybe there is something wrong with your USB source. It’s not a software issue. It’s your USB source RF noise issue.

On the other hand, if you plug your battery-powered iPad into the USB source and once in a while, there is distortion to the audio, or if you play CDs and once in a while, the CD skips because of the transport or the CD seems to play fine but the DAVE has audio distortions, then yes, your Blu2 is 100% broken. But Chord has 5-year warranty that’s transferable from original owner to new owner as long as you have the original owner’s receipt. So to me, you can just get the warranty. Unless you didn’t ask the original owner to provide you with his original receipt. But that’s not really a Chord problem. That’s a “I bought a used product” problem. Heck, maybe the person who sold you the Blu2 knew it was broken. Maybe the person who sold you the Blu2 broke the Blu2. You seem pretty confident it’s Chord and its “software” problem.

I totally understand that your bad experience has soured you on Chord products. I was equally frustrated the first few months in 2017 with the Blu2. But eventually Chord sorted the product out. So far, I have never heard you say what happened when you actually try to get the Blu2 into warranty repair in the UK. I’m just hearing that you want Chord to open a West Coast repair shop which we all know is not going to happen. I’m sorry that you have a bad experience with a used product. I think it’s reasonable to vent and see if somebody in this forum can help you out. But taking out all your frustrations in this thread with repeated posts doesn’t actually fix your product problems.

Anyway, best wishes with the warranty repair.

It sounds like you’ve had a similar experience to mine with the Blu2 and Dave, and with the flaky BNC interface. I’m not surprised. When a product has some intrinsic design flaws, it generally shows up in a lot of cases. You’ve just had a lot more patience than I do in sorting these out. Perhaps it’s because I’m a grizzled old veteran in high end audio, but buying overpriced digital audio that exhibits obvious design defects is not a pleasant experience.

In any case, boutique companies like Chord have limited lifetimes. If you look at how much money Apple makes from just selling their in ear headphones, you see high end boutique audio is not a profitable business. Apple probably makes more money in a day selling their headphones than Chord makes in a year. Apple’s headphone business is valued in the multiple tens of billions of dollars, more I suspect than the entire high end audio industry. High end audio boutique designers are always in it as a labor of love and passion, and in the end, it’s hard to expect the same level of reliability from a small firm with limited resources, especially if they are going with some unconventional designs.

 

[griff500]

If you look at how much money Apple makes from just selling their in ear headphones, you see high end boutique audio is not a profitable business.

I don't see the logic - one sells at high volume and the other sells at lower volume with a far higher price. I'm sure Chord make a profit...

 

[mammal]

I don't see the logic - one sells at high volume and the other sells at lower volume with a far higher price. I'm sure Chord make a profit...

Yeah, if they were not profitable, I don't think they would be around for more than 2 years or so. I don't think high end manufacturers are funded by VCs indefinitely. Usually, high volume has low margins, and vice versa.

 

[audio_1]

It sounds like you’ve had a similar experience to mine with the Blu2 and Dave, and with the flaky BNC interface. I’m not surprised. When a product has some intrinsic design flaws, it generally shows up in a lot of cases. You’ve just had a lot more patience than I do in sorting these out. Perhaps it’s because I’m a grizzled old veteran in high end audio, but buying overpriced digital audio that exhibits obvious design defects is not a pleasant experience.

In any case, boutique companies like Chord have limited lifetimes. If you look at how much money Apple makes from just selling their in ear headphones, you see high end boutique audio is not a profitable business. Apple probably makes more money in a day selling their headphones than Chord makes in a year. Apple’s headphone business is valued in the multiple tens of billions of dollars, more I suspect than the entire high end audio industry. High end audio boutique designers are always in it as a labor of love and passion, and in the end, it’s hard to expect the same level of reliability from a small firm with limited resources, especially if they are going with some unconventional designs.

Dual BNC drop out problems are generally due to poor quality BNC cables. What make of BNC cables are you using? I would take up the issue of distortion with Chord directly. As the units are second hand, unfortunately there is no way of knowing how the units were treaty by the previous owner. There is no point airing your grievances in public as it only devalues the resale value of what is unquestionably the best DAC (with mScaler) available. My Dave and Blu2 work flawlessly and have no intrinsic design flaws. I never experience drop outs. The sample rate change "glitch" noise you experience can easily be eliminated by;
1. Stopping playback, before playing a track with a different sample rate.
2. Roon. In the device setup for the Blu2. Set the Resync delay to 2000 ms
3. Switch off Dave, before switching off the Blu2.

 

[Sampajanna]

Much rather support small boutique companies any day of the week!

 

[Articnoise]

@romaz
"If you own a DAVE with it's stock PSU, it's hard to accurately convey just how big a step change the ARC6 brings. It really is transformational and all credit goes to @Nenon and Sean Jacobs. At the very least, imo, you owe it to yourself to get a DC3 because swapping out DAVE's PSU is among the highest value things you can do to your DAVE and it's easy to do. I'm sure when Paul Hynes' SR7 for DAVE finally comes out, it will transform your DAVE if you are in line for one. But with regards to the ARC6, coming from a baseline of a DC3 and then DC4, which are both excellent in their own rights, it's amazing how the ARC6 is just ridiculously better."

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...eaming/page/720/?tab=comments#comment-1149407

 

[tunes]

See below/

Anyone selling their beloved DAVE with Mscaler to get Holo May??

Resolution was a close call at this point, and it was a bit tough to judge given how much more "convincing" the may sounded, leading me to lean towards picking it, but it really is close in raw resolution, and the differences in presentation elsewhere are going to be a much more important factor.

With the mscaler on both at 192khz though....it really wasn't all that much of a competition anymore.

Both of these are absolutely world-class dacs, there is no doubt about that, and either of them are going to be able to do a true summit-fi system absolute justice. But the may really is something quite incredible. And given as it costs half of what the DAVE does, its hard to find a reason not to go for it instead other than space (May is THICC)

 

[Ragnar-BY]

I'm sure when Paul Hynes' SR7 for DAVE finally comes out, it will transform your DAVE

Last time I’ve checked his website Paul Hynes Design Ltd. was closed and "An Insolvency Practitioner has been appointed to realise the company assets for creditor distribution." I guess there will be no PSUs from Paul anymore.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

Anyone selling their beloved DAVE with Mscaler to get Holo May??

It is not the first time in this thread that some new better DAC is discussed. A year later another new DAC appears, but DAVE is still the benchmark for comparison. I’ll wait for DAVE 2

 

[Triode User]

@romaz
"If you own a DAVE with it's stock PSU, it's hard to accurately convey just how big a step change the ARC6 brings. It really is transformational and all credit goes to @Nenon and Sean Jacobs. At the very least, imo, you owe it to yourself to get a DC3 because swapping out DAVE's PSU is among the highest value things you can do to your DAVE and it's easy to do. I'm sure when Paul Hynes' SR7 for DAVE finally comes out, it will transform your DAVE if you are in line for one. But with regards to the ARC6, coming from a baseline of a DC3 and then DC4, which are both excellent in their own rights, it's amazing how the ARC6 is just ridiculously better."

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...eaming/page/720/?tab=comments#comment-1149407

I am very lucky to have been asked by Sean Jacobs to listen to a prototype of the new ARC6 version of the DC4. It is a very compelling upgrade above the original DC4 which in itself was (and still is) a class act. Hide your wallets before it is too late to save them!

 

[Articnoise]

Last time I’ve checked his website Paul Hynes Design Ltd. was closed and "An Insolvency Practitioner has been appointed to realise the company assets for creditor distribution." I guess there will be no PSUs from Paul anymore.

Yes this is probably and unfortunately the truth for all/most of those that have paid a lot to get Paul Hynes most legendary PSUs. Good thing that we have other splendid PSU manufacturers.

 

[DJJEZ]

See below/

Anyone selling their beloved DAVE with Mscaler to get Holo May??

Resolution was a close call at this point, and it was a bit tough to judge given how much more "convincing" the may sounded, leading me to lean towards picking it, but it really is close in raw resolution, and the differences in presentation elsewhere are going to be a much more important factor.

With the mscaler on both at 192khz though....it really wasn't all that much of a competition anymore.

Both of these are absolutely world-class dacs, there is no doubt about that, and either of them are going to be able to do a true summit-fi system absolute justice. But the may really is something quite incredible. And given as it costs half of what the DAVE does, its hard to find a reason not to go for it instead other than space (May is THICC)

I'm getting a may KTE soon to compare against my dave/mscaler

 

[tunes]

Please send us your impressions after you compare them. What HP will you be using for the evaluations?

 

[DJJEZ]

Please send us your impressions after you compare them. What HP will you be using for the evaluations?

1266TC

 

[Triode User]

I'm getting a may KTE soon to compare against my dave/mscaler

I bought a May L2 a couple of weeks ago and have just sold it. It is not in the same league as a Dave / Mscaler but at the discounted price I paid (less than the cost of the Mscaler alone) it is good value.