CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[number1sixerfan]

Yep i thought that, then i go out with my gear to hear and compare them to other totl phones and get disappointed of how small a step up they are, even lacking in some areas.

My Dave in current state lifts my (also modded) HD800 outa space. The grip and control on its drivers is so firm. Only hearing is believing.

I can attest that the modded HD800 was really a surprise to me. I have owned and sold the HD800/S like four times lol. As I mentioned to you previously, for me I've always had a love/hate relationship with it. Love it's detail, hyper speed and awesome soundstaging.. but also stock it can have some brightness issues, along with a metallic tone and at times the staging feels a bit too grandesque.

The modded version was so much smoother and easier to listen to, although I don't know how much of that is also attributed to the modded Dave. But you should share the mods somewhere if you haven't. But I do think some TOTLs outclass the HD800 (Immanis, x9k, etc.) but it's certainly still competitive with most of the TOTLs out there, albeit it's presentation and tone simply won't be for everyone. You're still talking close to 009 level resolution, which is also only outclassed by the Immanis, x9k, etc. imo.

 

[Reactcore]

The modded version was so much smoother and easier to listen to, although I don't know how much of that is also attributed to the modded Dave.

Lets say the 800 was far ahead of its time when released in 2009 but its drivers are hold back. Its speed could become harsch and piercing due to 'digital' and source/mains induced brightness. One needed a warm source like some tube types can be to tame it.

But if you feed it a true noise glare free signal with firm drive control and have its darn woolyness giving filter sheets removed, its brightness translates to uber clarity. I now use a silver cable with them which i wouldnt do with my previous (non Chord) SS DAC's, even a stock Dave, it would become way too bright then.

Now the 800's massive stage gets combined with modded Dave's depth reproducing an mostly unmatched convincing reality of the scene playing.

They actually complement each other. I can get skull and stomach shaking ultra sub bass when called for that dont touch or bleed into the mids or its far extending highs. It has a huge dynamic range if driven right.

Ive heard the Immanis on my cap modded optic MDave (i had no Choral battery yet) sadly only briefly like 10 minutes and yes this had even more estat like speed and refinement. But on the stage side it played on about equal level. Immanis's bass is very forceful and full sounding but maybe because it uses a transformer it didnt reached as low as my 800's can, the ribbon rolled off at the deepest end.

Stefan at headphone auditions called my 800's an old carriage vs the modern sportscars of today.. and didnt even wanted to try them on my gear.. boy he has it wrong being pre biased by stock 800(S) not having it heard driven really properly by a muscled Dave.

So is my 800 the last word for me? No, it can be bettered but for what price.. and by how much? Its my companion for a long time that i used as a fixed constant driver to test and improve the mods on my Dave and scaler as i know them inside out. It will never leave my possesion even if i eventually get another complementing headphone.

 

[Reactcore]

Today i packed up my gear including the battery and headed to Rick's shop Ears Unlimited in Delft once again.

I wanted to test other headphones with my set in current state. I found he had switched rooms in the same building and doubled the size of his playground

I picked a corner, set up my gear and switched on my own brought power source.
So lets go to the phones

Final
I grabbed both the D7000 and D8000(non pro) i was curious how this new one sounds. The 7000 is quite a bit lighter in weight than its older siblings. Soundwise i found it doesnt play at the same level as the 8000 which showed me why i still remember almost having bought it a year ago, the bass of the 7000 dont reach as deep and it misses some air on top unlike the 8000 which is so smooth and fullbodied with a pronounced deep end.
Soon the 8000 pro DC will arrive at Rick's so i will go hear that one too.

Hifiman
Ofc these cant be skipped. I havent heard the He1000 unveiled yet so plugged it in.
Nice!! So open and clear. Making me hear all the refinement of my stack. No metallic shimmer at all that i remember from its predecessors. Staging is about in the same level as with my 800 but with a bit more air around. Listening to some maraca shakers in a play i could clearly hear the sand scrubbing the wooden surface with body to it. (Sub)bass is fully controlled but not as deep reaching as i experienced with my 800's. Overall it could be my new driver.

So how does Sus unveiled compare.. i have heard it on my external mains psu version Dave once. And as expected now i clearly hear better low end control but vs He1000 uv i found it not that much better, specially considering the price difference.. i little more organic and refined, abit more distanced from the play which can be favoured but with some tracks i tend to like the 1000 more. The 1000 also needs about 10dB less to play as loud. So say, from my AK120 on vacation its better matched.
I should give this latest sus uv more time perhaps.

Now lets see how that hard to drive Sus original is handled now.

I remember playing it from my previous setup with external PSU and cap mods. I found it to play equaly powered as to from, among others, an Enleum 23. Now they shaked my eardrums with massive control and smooth midrange with sparkling top.

Rick's colleague who was also in the shop knows the Sus og quite well and heard it from many amps. He also found it driven perfectly as not having heard before due to Daves transparency. This was a nice confirmation to hear from someone with experience.

Viva
Then we wanted to see how my Dave's direct out compares to some totl tubes connected to Dave. So the Egoista got connected and allowed to heat up for half an hour.

Lets see what the hype is about.
Hmm warmth.. organics.. this resonates beautifully with the Hifimans. Sparkling airy top and solid lows. I hear the tube harmonics giving hi-hats and brass instruments a lovely realistic after 'ring' and decay. So how does my Dave's hp out compares.. A-Bing them showed us a tiny loss of speed and transient accuracy with the amp where instruments direct from Dave are laser sharp outlined but miss abit of glow. Direct out i felt the ultra sub bass to be better controlled vs with the Viva but i didnt miss the extra control playing with the amp. These juicy tubes just suck you into the music.. very nice indeed. With EDM i found the tubes not adding what i like and here the tight control suits that genre better imo.

Dan Clark
So a year ago the Stealth and Expanse didnt move me much, found them closed in vs my 800's. Lets see how they and the new E3 closed fare now with the battery and totally free of noise.. i disconnected the Viva from Dave's line outs first.

1st thing that struck me was thinness in the midrange vs my 800's and Final 8000. But after my brain adjusted i noticed uber speed and texture to all sounds.. i havent heard the Dan's like this before.. violins and snares are rendered beautifully with high frequency energy totally free of glare and sharpness. I really hear how people like these instruments when not piercing or dulled. The wood material resonates nicely with the snares vibration.

Vs the Stealth the new E3 sounds a bit thinner in the mids but you get more and impressive bass and extended highs, Stealth sounds more straight over the frequency spectrum and i percieved it as being warmer. The expanse really sounded similar to the Stealth but wider. If i would choose i took the Stealth due to its isolation to my environment. Overall the Clarks improved quite a bit with battery feed vs my external PSU setup.

Hedd 2
Another headphone i never heard..

Its not heavy and big as i thought i might be. For its sound it has a very good tonality but i found it too polite and closed in.. vs the others i really miss the space and decay of the room a music is played in. This didnt synergize well with my gear. Its not for me.

Auralic Vega
While sitting there i connected it to my gear.

Sadly i only had a Toslink cable as i wanted to try Spdif coax. I didnt had much listening time as i did most of the playing with my known AK120 with my own collection but this little streamer didnt disappoint me. The app was smooth and well thought out. But im just too used to my self made player pc at home with Foobar and several control apps which work very stable.

Alto Amp and Stax set

Sadly the time flashed away so fast i didnt have time to try these out.
But Alto looks alot smaller in person vs on pictures and Rick found it splendidly driving any phones but estats or ribbons. So when i return i should connect it.

Oof thats alot of writing again.. so im signing off.. im still a happy 800's user but the time to upgrade is nearing lol. But im holding any purchases back waiting for Quartet.. hopfully its not far away now from release.

Cheers!!

 

[chesebert]

Today i packed up my gear including the battery and headed to Rick's shop Ears Unlimited in Delft once again.

I wanted to test other headphones with my set in current state. I found he had switched rooms in the same building and doubled the size of his playground




I picked a corner, set up my gear and switched on my own brought power source.
So lets go to the phones

Final
I grabbed both the D7000 and D8000(non pro) i was curious how this new one sounds. The 7000 is quite a bit lighter in weight than its older siblings. Soundwise i found it doesnt play at the same level as the 8000 which showed me why i still remember almost having bought it a year ago, the bass of the 7000 dont reach as deep and it misses some air on top unlike the 8000 which is so smooth and fullbodied with a pronounced deep end.
Soon the 8000 pro DC will arrive at Rick's so i will go hear that one too.

Hifiman
Ofc these cant be skipped. I havent heard the He1000 unveiled yet so plugged it in.
Nice!! So open and clear. Making me hear all the refinement of my stack. No metallic shimmer at all that i remember from its predecessors. Staging is about in the same level as with my 800 but with a bit more air around. Listening to some maraca shakers in a play i could clearly hear the sand scrubbing the wooden surface with body to it. (Sub)bass is fully controlled but not as deep reaching as i experienced with my 800's. Overall it could be my new driver.


So how does Sus unveiled compare.. i have heard it on my external mains psu version Dave once. And as expected now i clearly hear better low end control but vs He1000 uv i found it not that much better, specially considering the price difference.. i little more organic and refined, abit more distanced from the play which can be favoured but with some tracks i tend to like the 1000 more. The 1000 also needs about 10dB less to play as loud. So say, from my AK120 on vacation its better matched.
I should give this latest sus uv more time perhaps.

Now lets see how that hard to drive Sus original is handled now.


I remember playing it from my previous setup with external PSU and cap mods. I found it to play equaly powered as to from, among others, an Enleum 23. Now they shaked my eardrums with massive control and smooth midrange with sparkling top.

Rick's colleague who was also in the shop knows the Sus og quite well and heard it from many amps. He also found it driven perfectly as not having heard before due to Daves transparency. This was a nice confirmation to hear from someone with experience.

Viva
Then we wanted to see how my Dave's direct out compares to some totl tubes connected to Dave. So the Egoista got connected and allowed to heat up for half an hour.



Lets see what the hype is about.
Hmm warmth.. organics.. this resonates beautifully with the Hifimans. Sparkling airy top and solid lows. I hear the tube harmonics giving hi-hats and brass instruments a lovely realistic after 'ring' and decay. So how does my Dave's hp out compares.. A-Bing them showed us a tiny loss of speed and transient accuracy where instruments direct from Dave are laser sharp outlined but miss abit of glow. Direct out i felt the ultra sub bass to be better controlled vs with the Viva but i didnt miss the extra control playing with the amp. These juicy tubes just suck you into the music.. very nice indeed. With EDM i found the tubes not adding what i like and here the tight control suits that genre better imo.

Dan Clark
So a year ago the Stealth and Expanse didnt move me much, found them closed in vs my 800's. Lets see how they and the new E3 closed fare now with the battery and totally free of noise.. i disconnected the Viva from Dave's line outs first.



1st thing that struck me was thinness in the midrange vs my 800's and Final 8000. But after my brain adjusted i noticed uber speed and texture to all sounds.. i havent heard the Dan's like this before.. violins and snares are rendered beautifully with high frequency energy totally free of glare and sharpness. I really hear how people like these instruments when not piercing or dulled. The wood material resonates nicely with the snares vibration.

Vs the Stealth the new E3 sounds a bit thinner in the mids but you get more and impressive bass and extended highs, Stealth sounds more straight over the frequency spectrum and i percieved it as being warmer. The expanse really sounded similar to the Stealth but wider. If i would choose i took the Stealth due to its isolation to my environment. Overall the Clarks improved quite a bit with battery feed vs my external PSU setup.

Hedd 2
Another headphone i never heard..


Its not heavy and big as i thought i might be. For its sound it has a very good tonality but i found it too polite and closed in.. vs the others i really miss the space and decay of the room a music is played in. This didnt synergize well with my gear. Its not for me.

Auralic Vega
While sitting there i connected it to my gear.


Sadly i only had a Toslink cable as i wanted to try Spdif coax. I didnt had much listening time as i did most of the playing with my known AK120 with my own collection but this little streamer didnt disappoint me. The app was smooth and well thought out. But im just too used to my self made player pc at home with Foobar and several control apps which work very stable.

Alto Amp and Stax set


Sadly the time flashed away so fast i didnt have time to try these out.
But Alto looks alot smaller in person vs on pictures and Rick found it splendidly driving any phones but estats or ribbons. So when i return i should connect it.

Oof thats alot of writing again.. so im signing off.. im still a happy 800's user but the time to upgrade is nearing lol. But im holding any purchases back waiting for Quartet.. hopfully its not far away now from release.

Cheers!!

Your Dave stack is probably what Dave should have been in the first place. Would have been even better if you could have separated digital input, LCD/control and DAC/analog output sections, in addition to your PSU/battery mod. Then we would have none of this toslink is the best and 1000 magnets/ferrites nonsense.

Having heard HE1k uv as well I totally agree with your view. I think in the $2k range it’s better sounding than JOAL and maybe better than HP100SE if comfort means anything. I am willing to suffer for good sound so I got HP100SE instead - TOTL sound quality but I can’t wear it for more than an hour.

 

[Reactcore]

Would have been even better if you could have separated digital input, LCD/control and DAC/analog output sections, in addition to your PSU/battery mod.

Lol thats exactly what ive been talking about to Rick today.. if only i could cut Dave's PCB splitting digital from analog.

But Dave's shared ground covers the whole PCB in multiple layers and i would need to pass 20 FPGA output gate signals perhaps optically perfectly timed to the pulse array flipflops to separate the grounds. Something impossible to do without Dave's board design.

So routing the ground currents as i did is best possible and probably even improve a stock Dave as a single upgrade. This sounds so darn good and free of glare that im not pushed to try further.

 

[Jawed]

This sounds so darn good and free of glare that im not pushed to try further.

Does TT2 sound like it has glare compared with your most-recent DAVE?

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Does TT2 sound like it has glare compared with your most-recent DAVE?

Zero glare on the TT-2, it is a very smooth DAC with a touch of warmth and aggressive when needs to be, very musical. When it is equipped with an M Scaler it is another level, the TT-2 with M Scaler to me is better than the DAVE. I've had all the Chord DACs here in my rig, unlike trolls that keep talking nonsense about DACs they never owned.

 

[Digital Enigma]

Zero glare on the TT-2, it is a very smooth DAC with a touch of warmth and aggressive when needs to be, very musical. When it is equipped with an M Scaler it is another level, the TT-2 with M Scaler to me is better than the DAVE. I've had all the Chord DACs here in my rig, unlike trolls that keep talking nonsense about DACs they never owned.

I thought chord dacs arent supposed to be warm and very smooth? accurate to the source you said before?

 

[Reactcore]

Does TT2 sound like it has glare compared with your most-recent DAVE?

Its been a time since i heard a TT2, so i cant tell until doing another A-B comparison.

When i had TT2 here for a longer period it was obvious that it sounded alot fuller vs stock Dave.. even fuller than my first modded Dave with only the TDK input caps applied.

TT2's midrange has body which flows better into the trebble in which i also could find some glare if i focussed on it with my (overly bright) 800's. The mids just draw ones attention more making a nicer balance. I can really understand why some traded a Dave for TT2. It was the TT2 that showed me i wasnt done with my mods at the time and acted as an example to where i needed to go.

With just my 1st mod, listening to a lush sax playing, my Dave still lacked warmish smooth body while TT2 rendered it more realisticly tonewise. It was after changing also the output caps from dual parallel to single (2nd mod) and played with damping resistors in the power feed (3rd mod) that Dave gained the same body as TT2 has but with its superior transparency and transient response intact. So in the end i could happily let TT2 go.

After this my Dave improved further with external PSU (4th mod) and added aggressive mains filter (5th mod) and ofc now the battery with bypassing Dave's LC filter and re-routing its ground. So im really happy with what i have achieved and not looking elsewhere.

It must be a treat when i finally connect Quartet to it.

 

[Triode User]

Zero glare on the TT-2, it is a very smooth DAC with a touch of warmth and aggressive when needs to be, very musical. When it is equipped with an M Scaler it is another level, the TT-2 with M Scaler to me is better than the DAVE. I've had all the Chord DACs here in my rig, unlike trolls that keep talking nonsense about DACs they never owned.

I owned TT2 for about 6 months and so was able to play it regularly in my system (with and without Mscaler) and to compare it back and forth with a standard Dave and also with my Sean Jacobs modified power supply Dave. My firm conclusion from all that was TT2 even with Mscaler cannot match the transparency of either version of Dave. To my ears the Dave has a very fine texture top end unmatched by the TT2. Also the Dave lower mids and bass are firmer and the bass is deeper.

If one knows what to look out for then it is easy to find glare in the top end of the TT2 Mscaler combination but that is easily treated.

 

[CharetteHugh]

Curious about that too

 

[Jawed]

It must be a treat when i finally connect Quartet to it.

I hope Ultima DAC isn't far behind QMS...

 

[number1sixerfan]

I thought chord dacs arent supposed to be warm and very smooth? accurate to the source you said before?

The TT2 is known to deviate from this and is known for having warmth. For whatever reason I have never come across one and directly upgraded from the Hugo 2 to the Dave, and both of those products are focused on transparency with pretty much no warmth/smoothness.

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

Today i packed up my gear including the battery and headed to Rick's shop Ears Unlimited in Delft once again.

I wanted to test other headphones with my set in current state. I found he had switched rooms in the same building and doubled the size of his playground




I picked a corner, set up my gear and switched on my own brought power source.
So lets go to the phones

Final
I grabbed both the D7000 and D8000(non pro) i was curious how this new one sounds. The 7000 is quite a bit lighter in weight than its older siblings. Soundwise i found it doesnt play at the same level as the 8000 which showed me why i still remember almost having bought it a year ago, the bass of the 7000 dont reach as deep and it misses some air on top unlike the 8000 which is so smooth and fullbodied with a pronounced deep end.
Soon the 8000 pro DC will arrive at Rick's so i will go hear that one too.

Hifiman
Ofc these cant be skipped. I havent heard the He1000 unveiled yet so plugged it in.
Nice!! So open and clear. Making me hear all the refinement of my stack. No metallic shimmer at all that i remember from its predecessors. Staging is about in the same level as with my 800 but with a bit more air around. Listening to some maraca shakers in a play i could clearly hear the sand scrubbing the wooden surface with body to it. (Sub)bass is fully controlled but not as deep reaching as i experienced with my 800's. Overall it could be my new driver.


So how does Sus unveiled compare.. i have heard it on my external mains psu version Dave once. And as expected now i clearly hear better low end control but vs He1000 uv i found it not that much better, specially considering the price difference.. i little more organic and refined, abit more distanced from the play which can be favoured but with some tracks i tend to like the 1000 more. The 1000 also needs about 10dB less to play as loud. So say, from my AK120 on vacation its better matched.
I should give this latest sus uv more time perhaps.

Now lets see how that hard to drive Sus original is handled now.


I remember playing it from my previous setup with external PSU and cap mods. I found it to play equaly powered as to from, among others, an Enleum 23. Now they shaked my eardrums with massive control and smooth midrange with sparkling top.

Rick's colleague who was also in the shop knows the Sus og quite well and heard it from many amps. He also found it driven perfectly as not having heard before due to Daves transparency. This was a nice confirmation to hear from someone with experience.

Viva
Then we wanted to see how my Dave's direct out compares to some totl tubes connected to Dave. So the Egoista got connected and allowed to heat up for half an hour.



Lets see what the hype is about.
Hmm warmth.. organics.. this resonates beautifully with the Hifimans. Sparkling airy top and solid lows. I hear the tube harmonics giving hi-hats and brass instruments a lovely realistic after 'ring' and decay. So how does my Dave's hp out compares.. A-Bing them showed us a tiny loss of speed and transient accuracy with the amp where instruments direct from Dave are laser sharp outlined but miss abit of glow. Direct out i felt the ultra sub bass to be better controlled vs with the Viva but i didnt miss the extra control playing with the amp. These juicy tubes just suck you into the music.. very nice indeed. With EDM i found the tubes not adding what i like and here the tight control suits that genre better imo.

Dan Clark
So a year ago the Stealth and Expanse didnt move me much, found them closed in vs my 800's. Lets see how they and the new E3 closed fare now with the battery and totally free of noise.. i disconnected the Viva from Dave's line outs first.



1st thing that struck me was thinness in the midrange vs my 800's and Final 8000. But after my brain adjusted i noticed uber speed and texture to all sounds.. i havent heard the Dan's like this before.. violins and snares are rendered beautifully with high frequency energy totally free of glare and sharpness. I really hear how people like these instruments when not piercing or dulled. The wood material resonates nicely with the snares vibration.

Vs the Stealth the new E3 sounds a bit thinner in the mids but you get more and impressive bass and extended highs, Stealth sounds more straight over the frequency spectrum and i percieved it as being warmer. The expanse really sounded similar to the Stealth but wider. If i would choose i took the Stealth due to its isolation to my environment. Overall the Clarks improved quite a bit with battery feed vs my external PSU setup.

Hedd 2
Another headphone i never heard..


Its not heavy and big as i thought i might be. For its sound it has a very good tonality but i found it too polite and closed in.. vs the others i really miss the space and decay of the room a music is played in. This didnt synergize well with my gear. Its not for me.

Auralic Vega
While sitting there i connected it to my gear.


Sadly i only had a Toslink cable as i wanted to try Spdif coax. I didnt had much listening time as i did most of the playing with my known AK120 with my own collection but this little streamer didnt disappoint me. The app was smooth and well thought out. But im just too used to my self made player pc at home with Foobar and several control apps which work very stable.

Alto Amp and Stax set


Sadly the time flashed away so fast i didnt have time to try these out.
But Alto looks alot smaller in person vs on pictures and Rick found it splendidly driving any phones but estats or ribbons. So when i return i should connect it.

Oof thats alot of writing again.. so im signing off.. im still a happy 800's user but the time to upgrade is nearing lol. But im holding any purchases back waiting for Quartet.. hopfully its not far away now from release.

Cheers!!

so many different cool things

 

[GuiltyRocker]

I thought chord dacs arent supposed to be warm and very smooth? accurate to the source you said before?

Compared to the DAVE it is, however, being a Chord DAC it is aggressive and smooth at the same time, not overly liquidy like the R2Rs, but compared to DAVE a bit laid back. I had them both in the system for a while.