[Somatic]

Just curious if the SRC-DX, OPTO-DX, DC Block out of motherboard USB is comparable to toslink? The USB input on the Dave sounds dull and distant compared to the clearer optical input.

 

[Somatic]

Not sure what I did but finally got 24/192 working on the Dave of my PC sound card.

 

[Reactcore]

Just curious if the SRC-DX, OPTO-DX, DC Block out of motherboard USB is comparable to toslink? The USB input on the Dave sounds dull and distant compared to the clearer optical input.

Isolation wise its the same effect, taken you feed DX perfect clean power. Toslink limits to 24/192 by design.

So if one tries and upscales with HQPlayer doesn’t this bypass Rob’s WTA filters? Isn’t this the whole point of buying the Chord gear for its signature sound?

For what i understood:

Rob's Dacs have 2 digital filter stages, WTA1 which does the timing reconstruction (upsampling)

And WTA2 doing the noise shaping and steering the pulse array DAC.

WTA1 samples internally up to 704/768k.
When inputting higher sampled sources, WTA1 will only sample up from what it gets delivered.

So if you feed it a 704/768k signal From Mscaler or HQP with DX It will just pass the data on to the WTA2 stage.

 

[801evan]

Just curious if the SRC-DX, OPTO-DX, DC Block out of motherboard USB is comparable to toslink?

They are mostly 'converters' though u will get a better output if the audio wise line get fed with good external power. However, GIGO. If the transport is a PC, it's really hard to get those deep blacks. Zen stream to usb out to whatever audio wise or ifi chain will help get u deeper blacks.

 

[Rob Watts]

Isolation wise its the same effect, taken you feed DX perfect clean power. Toslink limits to 24/192 by design.


For what i understood:

Rob's Dacs have 2 digital filter stages, WTA1 which does the timing reconstruction (upsampling)

And WTA2 doing the noise shaping and steering the pulse array DAC.

WTA1 samples internally up to 704/768k.
When inputting higher sampled sources, WTA1 will only sample up from what it gets delivered.

So if you feed it a 704/768k signal From Mscaler or HQP with DX It will just pass the data on to the WTA2 stage.

Just to clarify - WTA1 is the "prime" WTA filter, and takes everything to 16Fs (705 or 768 kHz). WTA2 is the same as WTA1 but works from 16Fs to 256Fs (11.2896 or 12.288) MHz . Then there is a final three stage IIR type filter that takes you from 256Fs to 104.25MHz. Once the signal is filtered at 104MHz it then goes to the noise shapers to create the 20e pulse array elements to create the analogue outputs.

Note that all of the filters are about transient reconstruction - but each filter has very different requirements from the sound quality POV. What is required to get you to 16Fs is very different to what is required at 104MHz. It's very much more complex than people imagine.

 

[Reactcore]

Theyre here



Its time to build some 'TT2 amp' current reserve into my Dave.

Now there 3v/cell Supercaps available i can do with 2 double ones to buffer the final regulators 12v rails. Having even better ESR

I will create a separate 'how to' thread

 

[ecwl]

So @Rob Watts has said in the past that for most amps that are connected to the DAVE, it is likely that RCA would sound better than XLR. Well, I have had my XLR cables between DAVE and Etude for a very long time. And I hate switching cables behind my cabinet or just switching cables for switching sake (especially if it’s just to get a slightly different sound but not a genuine improvement). And I actually don’t enjoy A/B’ing cables or tweaks in general as time is precious so it’s always better to listen to more music. Hence, it was something I never bothered to explore until today…

And as expected, the product designer knows how to optimize the performance of his products. I’m getting better transparency and soundstage depth with the RCA over the XLR so voices and instruments take on slightly more 3D holographic volume. The sonic improvement is just big enough I think I’ll have to switch the cables permanently.

 

[adrianm]

So @Rob Watts has said in the past that for most amps that are connected to the DAVE, it is likely that RCA would sound better than XLR. Well, I have had my XLR cables between DAVE and Etude for a very long time. And I hate switching cables behind my cabinet or just switching cables for switching sake (especially if it’s just to get a slightly different sound but not a genuine improvement). And I actually don’t enjoy A/B’ing cables or tweaks in general as time is precious so it’s always better to listen to more music. Hence, it was something I never bothered to explore until today…

And as expected, the product designer knows how to optimize the performance of his products. I’m getting better transparency and soundstage depth with the RCA over the XLR so voices and instruments take on slightly more 3D holographic volume. The sonic improvement is just big enough I think I’ll have to switch the cables permanently.

Being a Chord product, I assume the Etude is not a balanced amplifier. I don't think things are as black and white with a fully balanced amp.

 

[ecwl]

Being a Chord product, I assume the Etude is not a balanced amplifier. I don't think things are as black and white with a fully balanced amp.

The specs say Chord Etude uses fully balanced circuitry. Which is another reason why I stuck with XLR interconnect for so long. But I don’t know for sure. To me, it’s just something for people to try since I have seen very few people say that they compared RCA vs XLR interconnect to their amp and they preferred RCA and why. I think most of us just use whatever cables we already own to connect DAVE to amp.

 

[Triode User]

Being a Chord product, I assume the Etude is not a balanced amplifier. I don't think things are as black and white with a fully balanced amp.

My power amps are fully balanced and I get the best sound using the XLR output from Dave. The slight loss of quality with that output is more than offset by allowing my power amps to work as designed.

 

[adrianm]

The specs say Chord Etude uses fully balanced circuitry. Which is another reason why I stuck with XLR interconnect for so long. But I don’t know for sure. To me, it’s just something for people to try since I have seen very few people say that they compared RCA vs XLR interconnect to their amp and they preferred RCA and why. I think most of us just use whatever cables we already own to connect DAVE to amp.

I actually have an Oor coming and have to decide what cables to buy. Will have to audition both, but i assumed it would be XLR.

My power amps are fully balanced and I get the best sound using the XLR output from Dave. The slight loss of quality with that output is more than offset by allowing my power amps to work as designed.

Whether "as intended" or just 4x more power , the Oor sounded considerably better using the balanced output rather than the single ended. I expect this would be the case with balanced inputs as well.

 

[audio_1]

I believe the best solution with chord DACs is to use single ended power amps. That is one of the reasons I chose the Audionet Heisenberg power amps. Single ended is better anyway as there are only half the components in the signal path. Long analogue interconnect are generally not necessary in domestic Hi-Fi systems either.

 

[Triode User]

I believe the best solution with chord DACs is to use single ended power amps. That is one of the reasons I chose the Audionet Heisenberg power amps. Single ended is better anyway as there are only half the components in the signal path. Long analogue interconnect are generally not necessary in domestic Hi-Fi systems either.

As has been mentioned it really depends on many factors and there is no simple answer. I prefer the sound of my Pass Labs amps to any other power amp I have heard and they happen to be a fully balanced design so they sound best when their balanced input is used. I have the power amps next to each speaker and so the speaker cables are about 80cm length.

Anyway I expect your Audionet Heisenberg power amps are something rather special and you are rather lucky to have them.

 

[Clive101]

Dave Balanced vs RCA into Bryston 28b3
Balanced is better.

Dave Balanced vs RCA into WA33 EE JPS
Very odd I could not tell the difference. I was able to connect Dave with both RCA and Balanced at the same time and switch between two via the selector on the WA33 even the volume was the same...!

All cables Chord Sarum T

PS I do not do small detail.

 

[Reactcore]

Its time to build some 'TT2 amp' current reserve into my Dave.

Ok this project stays on hold for a bit.

I did some measuring with a lab supply.. those caps take 30sec to charge on limited 1A.

I can't just place them directly over the power rails without controlled charging first. It would otherwise overload the regulators.

I must design a charge stage first.
Like its done in TT2 actually.

To be continued