[esimms86]

Two questions. I'm sure the 1st one has been answered somewhere in this thread but 141 pages is a lot to sift through. OK, so what is the recommended burn in time for Dave to be in full bloom? Second, has anyone sprung for a Chord Ensemble stand? I know that it works functionally and aesthetically with other Chord products and, per the HiFi News review, is described as "inert." A 4 pack of Stillpoints for 1000 USD coupled to a 15 USD bamboo cutting board from Ikea, however, may work just as well for vibration control.

Esau

 

[longbowbbs]

Hard to beat Stillpoints.....Awesome 

 

[rkt31]

@romaz, you are right. that's what I wanted to say. there will only be few cases where Dave or yggy can be in comparable situations like the headphones which will require external amps anyway. otherwise both are different products. Dave is much more versatile and inherently more transparent because of the design. the concept of direct to dac connection with the use of digital volume control is not new and available in other DACs too but what makes Dave special is the ultra low output impedance and accuracy of preamp function which allows Dave to be used in so many real world situations.

 

[paul79]

Symposium Platform would be the best IMO.. So long as you are able to couple the metal chassis of the DAC directly to the metal platform. No soft bumpers in between, and you do not want to obstruct any of the vent holes of the DAC. So maybe a set of rollerblocks as footers.
 
These things are some kind of magic, take my word for it.

 

[TheAttorney]

  I think a good DAC should be able to stand tall against anything..........
 
While this "direct to DAC" connection adds to the reason why the DAVE is so transparent, in The Attorney's case, it is a moot point given that he uses an electrostatic headphone which requires an outboard amp.  I, for one, am eager to hear his listening experience with a well-broken in DAVE paired with his BHSE/SR-009 as no one else has provided their input with this specific combination but whether he ends up preferring the Yggy or the DAVE is of no consequence to me although it would perhaps behoove those with with a BHSE/SR-009 to make their own comparisons.

This whole post was well though out and balanced, as usual from romaz!
 
Regarding Round 2 of my DAVE/Yggy comparisons to BHSE/009, unfortunately life got in the way again, so I'll reserve judgement to another weekend, but in the meantime, here's where I'm currently at:
 

1. A few weeks down the track, this demo DAVE is definitely sounding better than it did on the first occasion. I don't know how much of that time was spent being burned in.
2. It has a very natural sound - a good thing for me. Any fears I had, that ultra transparency means ultra analytical, have vanished
3. It's better than Yggy, but by how much I've yet to determine
4. On both Yggy and DAVE, the Phase setting seems to matter quite a bit at this level. Subtle-but-significant. Nothing conclusive at this stage, more of a feeling. I wish this wasn't the case, as it's another check to add to The Ritual. On the plus side, it takes me just seconds to decide which phase is best per CD, which out of a small sample is usually is the negative setting.

 
More interesting maybe is that I couldn't resist a quick Round 3, comparing HD800S into DAVE vs BHSE/009 fed by DAVE. Much too soon to be conclusive, but the HD800 gave an really good account of itself. Not necessarily better, but at least entering the same ballpark, albeit with a different sound signature. Which means that a complete change of direction and downsizing still deserves further exploration. I'm not averse to a bit of Ritual for my hifi (coming from a vinyl background), but looking at the tiny DAVE (driven by maybe a handheld portable player) against a complete stack of big boxes - well it makes you think....
 
One thing that surprised me though was that the HD800's sound stage was noticeably smaller than that on the 009's, especially on width. From many reports, I thought that the HD800 was meant to be the king of big sound stage?

 

[paulchiu]

  This whole post was well though out and balanced, as usual from romaz!
 
Regarding Round 2 of my DAVE/Yggy comparisons to BHSE/009, unfortunately life got in the way again, so I'll reserve judgement to another weekend, but in the meantime, here's where I'm currently at:
 

1. A few weeks down the track, this demo DAVE is definitely sounding better than it did on the first occasion. I don't know how much of that time was spent being burned in.
2. It has a very natural sound - a good thing for me. Any fears I had, that ultra transparency means ultra analytical, have vanished
3. It's better than Yggy, but by how much I've yet to determine
4. On both Yggy and DAVE, the Phase setting seems to matter quite a bit at this level. Subtle-but-significant. Nothing conclusive at this stage, more of a feeling. I wish this wasn't the case, as it's another check to add to The Ritual. On the plus side, it takes me just seconds to decide which phase is best per CD, which out of a small sample is usually is the negative setting.

 
More interesting maybe is that I couldn't resist a quick Round 3, comparing HD800S into DAVE vs BHSE/009 fed by DAVE. Much too soon to be conclusive, but the HD800 gave an really good account of itself. Not necessarily better, but at least entering the same ballpark, albeit with a different sound signature. Which means that a complete change of direction and downsizing still deserves further exploration. I'm not averse to a bit of Ritual for my hifi (coming from a vinyl background), but looking at the tiny DAVE (driven by maybe a handheld portable player) against a complete stack of big boxes - well it makes you think....
 
One thing that surprised me though was that the HD800's sound stage was noticeably smaller than that on the 009's, especially on width. From many reports, I thought that the HD800 was meant to be the king of big sound stage?

 
On the last point, I do get a bigger sound stage when I use the HD800 with a 300B headamp, feeding with a good DAC.  Not so much with a good solid state amp.  Come o think of it, I can't remember ever feeding the SR009 with a solid state amp, so comparison in SS realm is difficult.  I am curious how Dave into my 300B amps will sound with the HD800 and others.  In the imaging part.

 

[rkt31]

i think many a times chord dacs have been said to have constricted soundstage. even i feel it when i switch t other dap, but in reality the impressions is due to the accuracy of soundstage. yesterday night i was listening to some bollywood hindi songs and some audiophile stuff like xrcd of  Luke and the Locomotives - Robert Lucas. what i found in mojo ,the ability to place the instruments correctly in the stage, vocals are at dead center and highly focused ( if recorded so) and this was with   beyer dt880, 600ohm. i think the impression of less soundstage width comes due to the depth and layers by chord dacs. while listening with mojo you just enjoy the music without caring about the soundstage width etc, that's is what chord dacs are about. 

 

[paulchiu]

Taking quick survery
 
Silver or black Dave?
Stand?
 
Thanks

 

[esimms86]

Silver, but then I also have a silver original Blue Hawaii (plus my dealer had the silver model in stock).

 

[lovethatsound]

Taking quick survery

Silver or black Dave?
Stand?

Thanks

black

 

[ecwl]

Black, to match my black PVR, black Oppo BDP-103, black amplifier, black plasma TV, black Sennheiser HD650 and my batmobile...
No stand because my shelf is too short to have the DAVE standing on the shelf.

 

[JaZZ]

Black (next to a Stax SRM-727 II with silver front), with a silver FiiO X5 II wrapped into a black silicon sleeve on top of it.

 

[rgs9200m]

Only half in jest, I think Chord's problem in selling the DAVE is that the Hugo TT is just too darn good. My TT is something I just can't turn away from, a real music drug I use too far past the time I should go to sleep at night. 
So while I'm sure the Dave would be better if I ever get around to hearing it, I'm just too emotionally attached to my TT to move on from it.

 

[paulchiu]

  Black, to match my black PVR, black Oppo BDP-103, black amplifier, black plasma TV, black Sennheiser HD650 and my batmobile...
No stand because my shelf is too short to have the DAVE standing on the shelf.

 
love to see the batmobile.

 

[romaz]

More on the DAVE from the man himself:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhfxDo3JoBc&feature=youtu.be&t=811