[ecwl]

I drive my LCD-4 straight out of DAVE mostly around -17 db without feeling the lack of power for most songs I listen to

I think it's sometimes difficult for people to fathom how different our listening volume is at.

I brought my DAVE a few times to our local Winnipeg Head-Fi meets and the organizer has an LCD-4 which he loves. Like @jacc , I was listening at about -17dB for a few songs and the organizer tried it and told me the DAVE doesn't have enough power and I can see that he's listening at +2dB to +7dB and I had to tell him that DAVE clips at +4dB. He's about 5-10 years younger than me and I'm surprised he doesn't have hearing loss because he listens to music much more often than I do.

I think I have mentioned at this forum before that I know people who listen at -5dB lower volume than me but I also know people who listen at +20dB to +25dB than me. I would say overall, most people would listen at 10dB to 15dB louder than me. This is based on my local head-fi meet experiences and my local stereo store experiences as I sometimes help out with my local dealer's computer audio setups and I see how loud his customers listen at.

 

[alxw0w]

Music volume differs vastly.
With jazz recording on Dave and Stealth i was at about -20 to -15 db and it was enough for me.
With compressed loud recording the volume was between -30 and -24.

But on quiet classical recordings from time to time I was hitting 0db or even +3db and it wasn't too loud.

So talking about volume settings on Dave without context or just measurement of spl coming from the headphones means very little.

and I had to tell him that DAVE clips at +4dB.

Well, yes and no.
Dave clips at +4db only with 0dbfs signal.
Some recordings (actually a lot of good ones) never reaches 0dbfs hence you can go past +3db.

 

[Reactcore]

and I see how loud his customers listen at.

When i was auditioning in a headphone store i was shocked at how loud another person was listening to his gear.. i literally could hear his HP's clipping and distorting.. i thought the coils would rip off their cones.. i had to wait for him to stop or go. I did made a comment to him to care for his ears though.

I have to say since my cap mod on Dave gave more body, (sub)bass on sound and grip at my HP's drivers i listen at lower volumes and still hear the whole dynamic range. Its just better for my ears

 

[ecwl]

Music volume differs vastly.

So talking about volume settings on Dave without context or just measurement of spl coming from the headphones means very little.

Totally agree. But I am definitely referring to differences in listening volumes amongst audiophiles when we are listening to the same songs via headphones or speakers.

 

[Mr X]

Elite with the new angeled alcantara pads which do the DAVEs level of detail and imaging justice.

Just ordered the new angled pads this week but already very happy with the Elite out of Dave

Weirdly I don’t really like my Focal Stellis with the Dave and have also just order Naim Uniti Atom HE so will be interesting to see how the Naim/Focal combo works compared to MDave/Elite

 

[GuiltyRocker]

When i was auditioning in a headphone store i was shocked at how loud another person was listening to his gear.. i literally could hear his HP's clipping and distorting.. i thought the coils would rip off their cones.. i had to wait for him to stop or go. I did made a comment to him to care for his ears though.

I have to say since my cap mod on Dave gave more body, (sub)bass on sound and grip at my HP's drivers i listen at lower volumes and still hear the whole dynamic range. Its just better for my ears

I know a guy that listens to his speakers at 120-130db, he's insane. He recently melted one of his drivers, I have warned him several times to care for his ears, It falls of deaf ears pun intended.

 

[jlbrach]

The 2022 Utopia is probably the best candidate I can think of, especially with its bit of warmth over the original. Anything easier to power that isn't inherently bright pairs well. I.e. original Utopia could get a bit hot with it, but that was due to inherent issues with the OG Utopia highs.

I personally would stay away from any of the high impedance headphones that are notoriously hard to drive, unless you get a good deal or want to use them when you get the amp back. The Dave can power them volume wise but they'll be limited. I would probably go Utopia, Caldera, or something along those lines.

LCD-4z works very well straight out of the dave IMHO

 

[jlbrach]

I know a guy that listens to his speakers at 120-130db, he's insane. He recently melted one of his drivers, I have warned him several times to care for his ears, It falls of deaf ears pun intended.

120-130 seems impossible...a rock concert will be 100-110 when it is loud...where does he live lol?

 

[GuiltyRocker]

120-130 seems impossible...a rock concert will be 100-110 when it is loud...where does he live lol?

He lives in Canada, he's insane he's shown me the SPL meter, I'll see if I can find one of the pics he sent me of it. Totally nuts.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

120-130 seems impossible...a rock concert will be 100-110 when it is loud...where does he live lol?

There you go, I've got others he's crazy.

 

[Somafunk]

I know a guy that listens to his speakers at 120-130db, he's insane.

I think he’s telling porkies, Unless he owns a Funktion One Array then the chances of 136db at his listening position is zero.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

I think he’s telling porkies, Unless he owns a Funktion One Array then the chances of 136db at his listening position is zero.

 

[jlbrach]

There you go, I've got others he's crazy.

quite honestly, he better have a house with no neighbors lol...that seems impossible

 

[GuiltyRocker]

quite honestly, he better have a house with no neighbors lol...that seems impossible

He's definitely a nut.

 

[jacc]

I drive my LCD-4 straight out of DAVE mostly around -17 db without feeling the lack of power for most songs I listen to

Yes it all depends. LCD-4 is open headphone so the volume setting all depends on how noisy the environment is.