You will want to communicate with
@paulchiu. He has both the Nagra HD and the DAVE and he listens to a lot of PCM and DSD.
You can make an argument for many great DACs for 2-channel speaker setups and headphones but it's tougher to find one that is equally great for both without some major compromise and for me, this is the greatest attribute of the DAVE. Some DACs are chosen because they have established pedigrees in million dollar systems; some DACs are chosen because they have million dollar price tags and so surely, it must be good; some are chosen because it is what the local dealer was selling and then there are DACs that are chosen based on actual merit where the purchaser did their due diligence to find the best DAC they could possibly find. I won't make any definitive statements because there's no accounting for personal tastes, budget and system synergy but I will say that in my opinion, the DAVE deserves to be in any conversation where "best DAC in the world" is being discussed and should be on anyone's short list who is looking for the best possible DAC for the best possible value, whether it be for an HD-800 or a $600,000 pair of Magico Ultimates.
My value statements are based on the following: Having attempted to do my due diligence, I have traveled far and wide to hear and experience many things. To the chagrin of my wallet, I have also bought many DACs only to sell them after I found something better. I am not so naive or arrogant to say one DAC is great and everything else is rubbish or the DAC that I have now will be the best DAC forever. I think there are many great DACs and many more great DACs are being developed every year which is a wonderful thing for the consumer. if I was forced to a certain price point, I would have no problem finding a DAC I could be happy with at that price point, whether it be $1,000 or $100,000 although obviously, there are different degrees of happiness that different price points will buy. What I will say is this, once the budget goes beyond $10,000, there will only be one DAC in my sights and that will be the DAVE. As someone who treasures live performances, it speaks to these sensibilities better than anything else I have experienced, regardless of price. If someone prefers the colored sweet harmonics that comes with a tube DAC, there's nothing wrong with that but the DAVE is not it. For those that believe that sound tuning belongs more with the pre-amp, amp, transducers or even cables and that the main job of the DAC is to provide as hauntingly realistic and natural interpretation of the digital file as possible, whether it be lowly 16/44, DXD or DSD, then the DAVE deserves an audition.
SQ is not the only place where the DAVE separates itself, however. Let's take DAC brand X, which happens to sell for a base price of $100,000 and is comprised of a multi-stack of components because, of course, for this DAC to sound its best, the company is expecting that you will spend another $20k for the triple power bases and $15k for the upgraded atto-clock. It wouldn't be proper if you didn't spend another $20k for their upgraded music server with a cryo-treated external clock and then another $20k for the super deluxe preamp but this should go without saying because you've already come so far, why stop now? If you listen to headphones, surely, you'll want to also spring for the new $50k matching headphone amp and it would be heresy if you don't spend at least another $60,000 on mains cables and interconnects and another $30k for a suitable rack to house everything. When it's time to listen to music, make sure you budget for enough time beforehand so you can turn on every single component and allow each one to properly warm up.
Then comes the DAVE, a single component that can fit comfortably on a desk or end table. Sure, it benefits from isolation devices but go ahead and use it as is. Plug it into the wall with whatever mains cable you can find, even if it's the one that powers your fax machine. While you're at it, go ahead and grab the generic USB cable that you're using for your printer and then use it to connect the $500 Windows laptop that your brother-in-law handed down to you because he outgrew it. You say you want to listen to CDs? Go ahead and dust off that $100 Emerson CD player that your son bought at a garage sale and connect it to the DAVE using the "Made in China" optical cable that came with it. Now, flip on your speaker amp and listen to what comes out. Once the family goes to sleep, go ahead and plug your HE-1000 directly into the headphone port of the DAVE and listen to what comes out. I would be willing to bet that the DAVE won't embarrass itself. If you give the DAVE the same attention that you gave your $100,000 DAC, I would be willing to bet that you will wonder why you spent all that money and put up with all the inconvenience.
