[musicinmymind]

Hi all, I'm about 3 years into my audophile journey, and I have the Focal Utopia (2020/2022), LCD-5, Stellias. I love these headphones, and I feed them using my Chord Hugo 2 and Astell Kern SP2000. These are the best and favorite sources for me so far. I know that Dave and Dave w/ Mscaler is very highly regarded. So...I went to audition them. The Dave I know is the mega DAC that beats Hugo 2 in all respects, but sadly I couldn't hear it. I prefer the sound of Hugo 2. It's brighter and has more sparkle and clarity to me. I know the Dave and Mscaler are supposed to be the best of the best. So what am I missing? Am I not listening for the right things? Using top tier cables for all the connections, etc... Appreciate any advice. I would hate to miss out on the Dave just because I'm a newbie. When I first started my audio journey...I prefer Chord Mojo and Focal Arche. As time passed...I fell in love with Hugo 2 and Astell Kern Sp2000 that have more detail. thank you everyone! Welcome all advice and commentary

Both of your soruces or portable, it sometime plays big role. if that is your preference then you are already good with what you have.

 

[crazyhank]

Yes feeding from iPhone and blusound streamer over coax.

I guess it would help how you guys differentiate the Hugo 2. To the Dave

Thank yoi!

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks I know but Dave is unanimously loved and respected. What am I missing? Could you share you perspective how to compares to Hugo 2?

The Dave isn't unanimously loved; people are spending thousands to optimise it as per this thread - also the headphone matching will be different with Dave to the H2.

I suggest you try other DACs e.g. TT2 with/without MScaler, or an R2R DAC with a headphone capability / amp.

I also preferred my Hugo2 over my Dave for headphone use, and have sold the Dave to go TT2 (and Auralic Aries G2.1 upscaling) in my main system. The filters in TT2 and H2 are similar in purpose, and TT2 is a great headphone amp. I already had owned the TT2 before Dave and I always kept the H2 for desk use with iMac source & Audirvana.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Thanks I know but Dave is unanimously loved and respected. What am I missing? Could you share you perspective how to compares to Hugo 2?

Nothing is wrong with personal taste. I also like TT2 more than Dave, but for the opposite reason of yours. TT2 is warmer and smoother than Dave in character.

How about just add amp to your Hugo 2?

 

[AndrewOld]

The Dave isn't unanimously loved; people are spending thousands to optimise it as per this thread - also the headphone matching will be different with Dave to the H2.

Absolutely. Much of the “love” for the DAVE comes from people spending thousands on replacing its power supply and replacing its upsampling with PGGB or other solutions. Check this thread out for many such examples. You have to ask what is actually left of the the DAVE. I still love mine, and my M Scaler, but I have lost a lot of faith in the brand, and more than a little trust.

 

[crazyhank]

Nothing is wrong with personal taste. I also like TT2 more than Dave, but for the opposite reason of yours. TT2 is warmer and smoother than Dave in character.

How about just add amp to your Hugo 2?

I was thinking the same, thank you! But I want more detail and what I don’t get is why I feel Hugo 2 has more than Dave and tt2. Makes me think I’m missing something…

 

[Frankie D]

Where did you audition Dave? At a dealer? Was it broken in? Single ended output? Power chord with ferrites? Dave is quirky for it to sound great it needs to be optimized, dealers don’t do this.

If the Dave cannot sound better than the Hugo 2 without optimization move on. Given its price difference one should not have to do anything to hear it sound better than the Hugo 2. Consider it saved $.

 

[jlbrach]

I have both the hugo 2 for travel and the dave for home...the dave is better in absolutely every way...not even close and I love my hugo 2

 

[auricgoldfinger]

@crazyhank Your source is probably a limiting factor in your chain which is preventing you from hearing the full capabilities of the Dave.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Hi all, I'm about 3 years into my audophile journey, and I have the Focal Utopia (2020/2022), LCD-5, Stellias. I love these headphones, and I feed them using my Chord Hugo 2 and Astell Kern SP2000. These are the best and favorite sources for me so far. I know that Dave and Dave w/ Mscaler is very highly regarded. So...I went to audition them. The Dave I know is the mega DAC that beats Hugo 2 in all respects, but sadly I couldn't hear it. I prefer the sound of Hugo 2. It's brighter and has more sparkle and clarity to me. I know the Dave and Mscaler are supposed to be the best of the best. So what am I missing? Am I not listening for the right things? Using top tier cables for all the connections, etc... Appreciate any advice. I would hate to miss out on the Dave just because I'm a newbie. When I first started my audio journey...I prefer Chord Mojo and Focal Arche. As time passed...I fell in love with Hugo 2 and Astell Kern Sp2000 that have more detail. thank you everyone! Welcome all advice and commentary

If still really curious, I would just try to get a home audition if you can from the dealer. If not, I would probably move on. It sounds like either you need more time for a proper assessment, or you simply prefer the brighter signature of the Hugo 2. The Dave is a bit more neutral, but still both really detail oriented. I use them both daily, but in different applications. There is a pretty large leap between the two right out of the box with no special settings or optimization, but the Hugo 2 is still really good (better if paired with warmer gear imo). I wouldn't buy one in hopes of spending thousands more to optimize it, it is great enough out of the box and if isn't then don't buy it.. that would be my advice.

Absolutely. Much of the “love” for the DAVE comes from people spending thousands on replacing its power supply and replacing its upsampling with PGGB or other solutions. Check this thread out for many such examples. You have to ask what is actually left of the the DAVE. I still love mine, and my M Scaler, but I have lost a lot of faith in the brand, and more than a little trust.

I get having this perspective, but there are plenty people that enjoy the Dave that haven't done any tinkering (there just isn't much to post about in this thread if you don't). I think it's pretty clear that the Dave could have a better power supply, as can some other DACs. But I can't knock the Chord brand because head-fiers are never content lol. That's just a part of the hobby. A lot of people simply like tinkering and chasing endless upgrades/nirvana.. I can't hold that against the brand and more than anything I can attest that really high quality sound is achieved simply with a stock level Dave.

As much equipment as I've bought I simply haven't at all be tempted to replace the mDave stock. There are a few other DACs I could see myself really enjoying, and perhaps a few even more than Dave. With all of that said, if I wanted to upgrade today, I'd look to find another DAC more optimized out of the box and with slightly better timbre/tonality rather than the countless upgrades/side-grades mentioned in this thread (this is excluding the reasonably priced Farad LPS for me). But from what I've seen, the people that have moved from Dave looking for similar qualities have had to spend quite a bit more to get there. Almost makes it a moot point, but again I rather not go the endless tinkering route..

 

[Somatic]

Seeing if anyone has the Dave paired with a PrimaLuna Evo 400 Preamp + solid state amp such as AHB2? If so, wondering how the synergy is? I assume it would be a great combo but thought I would ask. Thanks.

 

[Reactcore]

I was thinking the same, thank you! But I want more detail and what I don’t get is why I feel Hugo 2 has more than Dave and tt2. Makes me think I’m missing something…

You could also add a Mscaler to H2 and have H2's brighter signature with better transient detail response. H2's 3.5mm jack accepts dual data.

You have the benefit of no groundloop using headphones.

 

[JamieMcC]

Absolutely. Much of the “love” for the DAVE comes from people spending thousands on replacing its power supply and replacing its upsampling with PGGB or other solutions. Check this thread out for many such examples. You have to ask what is actually left of the the DAVE. I still love mine, and my M Scaler, but I have lost a lot of faith in the brand, and more than a little trust.

Those spending thousands on upgrading their Dave's are probably representative of something like less than 0.5% of Dave owners.

 

[jcn3]

Seeing if anyone has the Dave paired with a PrimaLuna Evo 400 Preamp + solid state amp such as AHB2? If so, wondering how the synergy is? I assume it would be a great combo but thought I would ask. Thanks.

i'm always been tempted by the evo 400 pre -- it's getting pretty expensive though! i'd certainly try the dave directly into the ahb2 first. i'm loving the dave directly into my jc-5.

 

[SteveHulk]

Those spending thousands on upgrading their Dave's are probably representative of something like less than 0.5% of Dave owners.

We mustn't lose sight of the fact that the DAVE was brought out at a price point of £7.5k or so with the attendant design constraints imposed by that choice.

The tweakers, myself included, are exploring what the DAVE might have been like if that price point had been £20k or whatever.

I'm glad that the DAVE wasn't brought out at that price point. Finding £20k+ in one go is a lot harder than £8k and I might never have had a chance of owning one at all.

In terms of losing faith in the brand just take a breath and remember that the DAVE is still in Stereophile's list of top DACs even after all this time.

Think of all the other devices that have been brought out since the DAVE that are now not even footnotes to history.