[sm60]

Comparisons of DACs is like comparing wines — I live in wine country in the San Francisco Bay Area! You’ll never get two people to agree on their best choice of wines in Northern California. With thousands of wineries to choose from, there’s choice to spare. In my own little town, we have at least 50 wineries.

DACs are the same. You can spend as little as $200 on a Topping DAC or as much as $150,000 for a Wadax DAC (which by the way needs its own $75,000 transport). FYI, for those who think the Dave is expensive.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/wadax-atlantis-reference-music-server/

FWIW, I like my Blu2/Dave on their nice choral stand. Very chic. I particularly like the sound of M-scaled redbook CDs. It’s getting harder to find good transports. I have > 5000 CDs, which played back through the Blu2/Dave sound every bit as good to my ears as any streamed high res via Roon/Qobuz.

 

[Reactcore]

I am concerned about MQA getting into the studios and pushing that nonsensical filter of theirs, plus compressing the files. Not a fan.

Seeing it got adopted everywhere.. im sceptical we ever get rid of it..

 

[Powersquat]

Ooh, sounds like an argument I'd make for vinyl!

Recently I had the great privilege to listen to a very high end system, costing over £1m, Wadax provided the digital element of the system, Dartzeel amplifiers and Wilson loudspeakers, Acoustic Signature turntable and a top end R to R tape machine who's name escapes me.

The owner very kindly played a selection of music alternating through each format and very much to my surprise I favoured the sound of the digital system, whatever Wadax are doing in my view is getting very close to the sound of real instruments, of course at. a price of £225,K you'd expect it to be good, and it is.

I don't have the disposable income to invest in a system of this cost and I'm not dissatisfied with my DAVE/MScaler based set up, but it does make me wonder whether Chord's proposed new products can compete with the likes of Wadaax and Lampizator, both of which I've heard and appreciated in recent months, I think it's safe to assume that Rob Watts is not alone in his pursuit of digital to analogue conversion excellence.
At the end of the day I suspect as with all things HiFi personal preference and budgetary constraints will dictate one's choice, I still believe at it's price point DAVE, and more particularly Dave and MScaler are still unbeatable, but if you have the financial means, then there are some truly exceptional Dac's out there.
f

 

[Reactcore]

whatever Wadax are doing in my view is getting very close to the sound of real instruments

I wonder if theyre also using a form of upscaling.. (i should find out reading more ofc) It is the path to walk i imo

 

[GuiltyRocker]

That's just your preference, and that's fine. I think Dave is pretty poor sounding among the $10k+ offerings from the other UK hifi houses.

Of course it is, oh and my friend that came with me to hear this stuff also said the same thing, so I guess it's his preference too

 

[ZappaMan]

Well done @Reactcore for bringing these ideas to the fore. About when/when not, maybe/maybe not mscaler or straight Dave is better.

I just don’t have time to investigate, but thanks.

 

[Reactcore]

Well done @Reactcore for bringing these ideas to the fore. About when/when not, maybe/maybe not mscaler or straight Dave is better.

I just don’t have time to investigate, but thanks.

They were not ideas.. but (shocking) experiences first at someone else's house.
I merely tried to understand what is the cause.

But bottom line is i still love my Mscaler and holding on to it.. (yes today MDave got me emotional again)

 

[GryphonGuy]

When one is used to owning and listening to low-fi headphone systems and in my opinion, the shrill in Ayre Acoustics RFI induced equipment, as opposed to hearing the excellence of DAVE alone and the fact that it is as true-to-life in timbre as you can get, in my opinion and experience, would indeed induce a discomfort of reality as opposed to the distortions one is used to in one's 2 channel system and low-fi headphone systems.

 

[jaredjcrandall8]

I no longer spend relatively a lot on audio equipment and would be as cheap as possible i.e., I would rather not hear a difference and save money, but the Dave was obviously superior and an experience that maybe one day I can own again.

 

[Ards]

I no longer spend relatively a lot on audio equipment and would be as cheap as possible i.e., I would rather not hear a difference and save money, but the Dave was obviously superior and an experience that maybe one day I can own again.

A bit of a false dilemma that, as you can get some great sounding equipment relatively cheaply these days, so it doesn't have to be cheap and therefore bad, it can still be cheap and good.

 

[Slim1970]

Anyone using a 2go/2yu as their streamer connected to the Dave? I'm looking at adding streaming capabilities to my setup and want to keep things simple.

 

[pichler]

Anyone using a 2go/2yu as their streamer connected to the Dave? I'm looking at adding streaming capabilities to my setup and want to keep things simple.

Yes, me. Is a simple way if you know well how work the 2go, in the beginning was not super easy to understand how works with apps.
Now I use with Rigelian app and optical cable, not so bad. Airplay and bluetooth is a plus, but Pc with Audirvana is another story.....

 

[Slim1970]

Yes, me. Is a simple way if you know well how work the 2go, in the beginning was not super easy to understand how works with apps.
Now I use with Rigelian app and optical cable, not so bad. Airplay and bluetooth is a plus, but Pc with Audirvana is another story.....

I have a Poly with my Mojo 2. I'm guessing the 2go has to be similar in functionality to it. Setup can be a bit cumbersome at first. Once it is setup, it works flawlessly and sounds great.

I see you have the Innuos Zenith in your signature. Is it that much better sounding than the 2go/2yu feeding the HMS/Dave?

 

[pichler]

I have a Poly with my Mojo 2. I'm guessing the 2go has to be similar in functionality to it. Setup can be a bit cumbersome at first. Once it is setup, it works flawlessly and sounds great.

I see you have the Innuos Zenith in your signature. Is it that much better sounding than the 2go/2yu feeding the HMS/Dave?

The Zenith has a very good soundstage that the 2go/2yu does not. Everything is tighter. The timbre is good. I'd say the biggest difference is in the soundstage, following the noise.
The great benefit of the 2go is its extreme compactness, but you know that.

I sold the Zenith 2 weeks ago because I realized that I almost didn't use it anymore, I find the sound of the PC with Audirvana more "funny". I hope I get the chance to try an Antipodes at home, they are raved about.

Obviously these are personal impressions,
hope i was helpful.

 

[Slim1970]

The Zenith has a very good soundstage that the 2go/2yu does not. Everything is tighter. The timbre is good. I'd say the biggest difference is in the soundstage, following the noise.
The great benefit of the 2go is its extreme compactness, but you know that.

I sold the Zenith 2 weeks ago because I realized that I almost didn't use it anymore, I find the sound of the PC with Audirvana more "funny". I hope I get the chance to try an Antipodes at home, they are raved about.

Obviously these are personal impressions,
hope i was helpful.

Very helpful, thank you. I'm just exploring streaming options at the moment to put in front of my Dave.