[MvRBE10]

Music is always in the eyes of the beholder and personal but what you describe is i think spot on. But what i ask my self does the wa33 has the same improvement gain as the dave has relatively due to the dc4 lps. Or is the stock lps sound not in your memory any more. Also for me hard to go back. Probably should go full stock again to get sound memory back.

 

[saudio7]

This is also very good recording:

 

[Ciggavelli]

Music is always in the eyes of the beholder and personal but what you describe is i think spot on. But what i ask my self does the wa33 has the same improvement gain as the dave has relatively due to the dc4 lps. Or is the stock lps sound not in your memory any more. Also for me hard to go back. Probably should go full stock again to get sound memory back.

It's hard to say if the standard WA33 (which is priced similarly as the DC4) is better than the DC4 or vise versa, as I don't have that edition anymore (I have the Elite now).

Going from a TT2 to the WA33 was a big jump is sound performance. Then I got the standard DAVE, and it was a nice improvement. Following that, I got the WA33 Elite JPS version, and it was another big sound increase. Then I got the DC4s for my DAVE and M-scaler, so I never had the DC4 and the standard Edition at the same time.

I think the WA33 Elite JPS is probably a bigger jump than adding a DC4 to your DAVE, but the WA33 Elite JPS is also double the cost of the DC4.

 

[jlbrach]

It’s an enthusiast summit-fi forum though. It’s not odd to mod equipment. Also, the initial talk of a DAVE and Susvaras has shifted to power supplies. I think that’s fair game

I think the discussion of mod's is certainly fine and I agree that lots of people are into mods BUT the discussion from my understanding started off as to whether one who owns a dave can expect to be able to drive the susvara satisfactorily....I think we all agree that the answer is no...now as to whether or not a mod with power supply etc can approach adding a TOTL amp is interesting but not really the point IMHO...yes, if you spend an additional 8k or whatever for an amp or power supply you can enhance the dave in terms of driving the susvara...doesnt change the original discussion..my only concern is misleading somebody who spends a lot of money on a dave and susvara

 

[801evan]

Lol. What a conclusion. @Ciggavelli hasn't even gotten a topping d10s or src dx. And you conveniently dismissed my chain of an unmodded Dave being able to drive the Susvara.

What's more realistic?
Making the conclusion that the Dave can't drive the Susvara when you don't give it a good source and good mains?

Or giving it a good source and good filtered mains?

The latter actually shows how transparent the Dave is. How realistic is it to expect a 7 yr old USB board keep up with what's being available today? Hence the spdif route. Even compared to the Holo spring 3/May + ahb2 + susvara reviewer impressions on YT, I don't get the sibilance on the tracks that the reviewer said is there. I don't get phase issues on the track that the reviewer claims is there giving this z axis depth which doesn't exist. More importantly and tell tale, I don't get the hyper localization hearing that the Holo Dac seems to provide. Because that means their rig still lacks reproducing the harmonics of the instruments. If you like that sound, go ahead but that's not the more transparent playback. It should be blended. I don't get this 'tangible aspect' of the music because those are hard congested micro details coming in and out as the music plays. They claim the Holo Dac is so transparent where you can hear the vocal move left or right from the mic. Sorry that's AC main noise because the vocalist are doing close micing on a MONO mic. I've been there and got hyped with that sound but as I upgraded my chain, all that are just perceptual anomalies of the chain.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Lol. What a conclusion. @Ciggavelli hasn't even gotten a topping d10s or src dx. And you conveniently dismissed my chain of an unmodded Dave being able to drive the Susvara.

What's more realistic?
Making the conclusion that the Dave can't drive the Susvara when you don't give it a good source and good mains?

Or giving it a good source and good filtered mains?

The latter actually shows how transparent the Dave is. How realistic is it to expect a 7 yr old USB board keep up with what's being available today? Hence the spdif route. Even compared to the Holo spring 3/May + ahb2 + susvara reviewer impressions on YT, I don't get the sibilance on the tracks that the reviewer said is there. I don't get phase issues on the track that the reviewer claims is there giving this z axis depth which doesn't exist. More importantly and tell tale, I don't get the hyper localization hearing that the Holo Dac seems to provide. Because that means their rig still lacks reproducing the harmonics of the instruments. If you like that sound, go ahead but that's not the more transparent playback. It should be blended. I don't get this 'tangible aspect' of the music because those are hard congested micro details coming in and out as the music plays. They claim the Holo Dac is so transparent where you can hear the vocal move left or right. Sorry that's AC main noise because the vocalist are doing close micing on a MONO mic. I've been there and got hyped with that sound but as I upgraded my chain, all that are just perceptual anomalies of the chain.

What bnc cables are you using with the SRC-DX? I'm running SOtM BNCs from my M-scaler to DAVE, and I really like them. They make good digital cables. I also use their Ethernet cable. I didn't get their USB cable, because I thought it might be too much filtering.

 

[801evan]

What bnc cables are you using with the SRC-DX? I'm running SOtM BNCs from my M-scaler to DAVE, and I really like them. They make good digital cables. I also use their Ethernet cable. I didn't get their USB cable, because I thought it might be too much filtering.

I made my own silver bnc digital cables. Doesn't have the upper haze compared the best digital coax I've tried. Better off with toslink honestly but src dx doesn't give that option

You may want to skip the USB in of the mscaler too when getting to this level.

 

[genefruit]

You may want to skip the USB in of the mscaler too when getting to this level.

Yeah, I was skeptical until I tried it and now I can't see going back to the USB input of my HMS

 

[MvRBE10]

I also tried several usb cables between my aurender and hms but each time the optical wins by length and mostly the highs sounds much less fatiqing on optical. It has a clearer signature.

 

[801evan]

I also tried several usb cables between my aurender and hms but each time the optical wins by length and mostly the highs sounds much less fatiqing on optical. It has a clearer signature.

Correct. It can afford more highs but less congested and fatiguing. A more stable presentation and better imaging that's more natural without hyper sharpness on the outline.

 

[801evan]

More bass bloom, smoother sound, fuller mids

Honestly only the DCA Stealth can produce proper midbass quantity without assist. Audeze LCD4 can but gets overpowered by the lower bass so there's bit of an imbalance/fighting there. So to maintain the transparency of the Dave via HP out and do away with the additive color of an external amp to compensate for the lack of mid bass, which is the natural response of most other HPs, the Stealth is the path to transparency and juicy midbass quantity.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Honestly only the DCA Stealth can produce proper midbass quantity without assist. Audeze LCD4 can but gets overpowered by the lower bass so there's bit of an imbalance/fighting there. So to maintain the transparency of the Dave via HP out and do away with the additive color of an external amp to compensate for the lack of mid bass, which is the natural response of most other HPs, the Stealth is the path to transparency and juicy midbass quantity.

I'm curious, what genres of music do you listen to? I listen to mostly metal and hip-hop, but I do throw in some indie/alternative from time to time

 

[801evan]

I'm curious, what genres of music do you listen to? I listen to mostly metal and hip-hop, but I do throw in some indie/alternative from time to time

Preference is dreampop, shoegaze, scandi indiepop, bossanova if I'm not benching. My benchmarking reference tracks are hideous and I won't mention em, but it is what I've dominantly been listening more vs my preference until recently, finally. Dreampop, shoegaze should have healthy mid bass quantity like Slowdive, Beach House. But the most surprising thing is that lo-fi is actually the new hi-fi for me. What felt like lo-fi recordings for over a decade started sounding more hi-fi than the usual audiophile picks in a hifi show. Bands like Trembling Blue Star, Camera Obscura started to sound like audiophile level. Turns out these albums has so much DR and didn't exploit loudness. So their music, for their own aesthetics, has the poor noise floor working for them for that chill lazy rain music vibe. But for uber hi-fi chains, that noise floor is so low it brought out all the detail goodness that even pre-80s recording will be challenged.

 

[genefruit]

Preference is dreampop, shoegaze, scandi indiepop, bossanova if I'm not benching. My benchmarking reference tracks are hideous and I won't mention em, but it is what I've dominantly been listening more vs my preference until recently, finally. Dreampop, shoegaze should have healthy mid bass quantity like Slowdive, Beach House. But the most surprising thing is that lo-fi is actually the new hi-fi for me. What felt like lo-fi recordings for over a decade started sounding more hi-fi than the usual audiophile picks in a hifi show. Bands like Trembling Blue Star, Camera Obscura started to sound like audiophile level. Turns out these albums has so much DR and didn't exploit loudness. So their music, for their own aesthetics, has the poor noise floor working for them for that chill lazy rain music vibe. But for uber hi-fi chains, that noise floor is so low it brought out all the detail goodness that even pre-80s recording will be challenged.

This Mortal Coil albums are recorded pretty well.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Preference is dreampop, shoegaze, scandi indiepop, bossanova if I'm not benching. My benchmarking reference tracks are hideous and I won't mention em, but it is what I've dominantly been listening more vs my preference until recently, finally. Dreampop, shoegaze should have healthy mid bass quantity like Slowdive, Beach House. But the most surprising thing is that lo-fi is actually the new hi-fi for me. What felt like lo-fi recordings for over a decade started sounding more hi-fi than the usual audiophile picks in a hifi show. Bands like Trembling Blue Star, Camera Obscura started to sound like audiophile level. Turns out these albums has so much DR and didn't exploit loudness. So their music, for their own aesthetics, has the poor noise floor working for them for that chill lazy rain music vibe. But for uber hi-fi chains, that noise floor is so low it brought out all the detail goodness that even pre-80s recording will be challenged.

I listen to a lot of lo-fi metal (some bands intentionally make their albums lo-fi, like a lot of underground black metal). The Susvaras are great with lo-fi. It’s one of the reasons I like those headphones so much