The stock power supply.
CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE
- Thread starter magiccabbage
- Start date
I find the new silent fanless M1 macbook air with its internal ssd drive makes for an excellent roon bridge connected to my dave or could easily be used with an mscaler too. A high quality generic usb c to usb b cable does the trick here. The main advantage is battery powered operation (with the screen dimmed right down) eliminating ground loops. I use a small anker powerbank for added power if needed which is specifically designed for laptops and looks quite elegant next to the M1 air. Roon core is on a 4k 21.5 inch imac for user interface in my simple desktop set up.
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Actually, the latest Apple MacBooks seem to have noisy USB-4 outputs and I suspect the problems may be worsened by macOS Monterey-- there are far, far, better sources. Apple has been sorting issues related to the M1 MacBook's Thunderbolt/USB 4 performance and its well documented on technical Apple forums and it seems to come at the expense of audio performance. For what its worth, the eighth developer beta running Roon 1.8 is no better and the ninth is due tomorrow.
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At present my setup sounds excellent if there is an issue i'm not hearing it. I hope the next macOS doesn't change anything.
Progisus
Headphoneus Supremus
How does it compare to the Touch you were using? I’ve been using a Touch/Mojo with Roon to give me a mobile platform capable of playing 16fs 24b PGGB remastered files.
With the touch roon only sees the ios device and not beyond it so optimal settings are very limited. With the M1 air connected to dave as roon bridge dave shows up as an individual zone in audio settings. Now we can set dave as exclusive mode, integer mode etc etc. After careful comparison with the touch i gave the M1 air the thumbs up. In this set up with the anker laptop battery orchestral, acoustic music really shines through. With the wave stream cables which elevate the mscaler to battery powered performance and a battery powered source for the mscaler with the M1 air you've basically nailed the ground loop problem from both ends. With a similar set up using the touch when i had mtt2 vocals on Cuban Omara Portuondo Pelaez's Flor de Amor album really blew me away.
After saving my pennies the question remains to go mscaler or to go long deserved holiday. That's a tough one. It's important to note that although there are better sources not everyone can afford them and some creativity goes a long way. Till now the M1 air has been silent with no issues using it as a digital audio streamer. Everytime a new apple product appears the forums are full of complaints a trend going back many years. Then very soon forgotten.
After saving my pennies the question remains to go mscaler or to go long deserved holiday. That's a tough one. It's important to note that although there are better sources not everyone can afford them and some creativity goes a long way. Till now the M1 air has been silent with no issues using it as a digital audio streamer. Everytime a new apple product appears the forums are full of complaints a trend going back many years. Then very soon forgotten.
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ZappaMan
Headphoneus Supremus
Have you put your ferengi ear right down close to the Mac though ?
Maybe it’s just me but I reckon the finishing on the Chord Dave is exquisite. Below is a crappy picture I took from my iPad (sorry!) of the Chord Dave next to Woo WA33, and the silver finishing on the Dave is way better with more texture showing then the WA33. It really is a piece of art that I enjoy aurally and visually! 
ObjectiveSubjectivist
Previously known as alxw0w
Hmm your Dave has "magnifying glass" on the screen ?Maybe it’s just me but I reckon the finishing on the Chord Dave is exquisite. Below is a crappy picture I took from my iPad (sorry!) of the Chord Dave next to Woo WA33, and the silver finishing on the Dave is way better with more texture showing then the WA33. It really is a piece of art that I enjoy aurally and visually!
I know there was update made on Dave production and now this screen is just a flat window, not a magnifying one
That's sad I would highly prefer to order the old version (just of the screen) somewhere.
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Yes mine’s the older version with the magnifying one. I think I do prefer the flat screen just for better visibility but doesn’t bother me much.Hmm your Dave has "magnifying glass" on the screen ?
I know there was update made on Dave production and now this screen is just a flat window, not a magnifying one
That's sad I would highly prefer to order the old version (just of the screen) somewhere.
Hmm your Dave has "magnifying glass" on the screen ?
I know there was update made on Dave production and now this screen is just a flat window, not a magnifying one
That's sad I would highly prefer to order the old version (just of the screen) somewhere.
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ObjectiveSubjectivist
Previously known as alxw0w
Ha that's what I thought. But he is from Australia, so too much hassle for so little
The problem would be if silver finish is slightly different so the new porthole wouldn't fit.
Christer
Headphoneus Supremus
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Hmm, did you buy a Dave mainly for its looks and metal finish?Maybe it’s just me but I reckon the finishing on the Chord Dave is exquisite. Below is a crappy picture I took from my iPad (sorry!) of the Chord Dave next to Woo WA33, and the silver finishing on the Dave is way better with more texture showing then the WA33. It really is a piece of art that I enjoy aurally and visually!
Cheers CC
Not MAINLY, but it definitely helps
not a fan of the silver, but i do love the black one though. The brushed metal looks just like the Omega Speedmaster "Dark side of the Moon"https://hodinkee.imgix.net/uploads/block/gallery_entry/content_image/1835/OmegaSpeedmasterDarkSideoftheMoon_3.jpg?ixlib=rails-1.1.0&fm=jpg&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=crop&ch=Width,DPR,Save-Data&alt=
It costs about the same and has some extra functionality
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