[gnomen]

Am I doing something wrong ?
Or are there only 15 titles to choose from?
From  eClassical  I downloaded three  excellently played and realistically recorded Sibelius symphonies, all in all 80 minutes of glorious music, for 12 dollars and 38 cents,and it is one of my favourite go to sites for well recorded classical music.
The 3rd, 6th and 7th symphonies  by Sibelius as recorded by BIS in both 24/96 stereo.

Sound Liaison are a small boutique who only sell recordings they have made themselves. Their recordings are highly regarded for audiophile quality.

The BIS Sibelius you mention are wonderful performances. Enjoy!

 

[miketlse]

  By the way is there anybody here who knows when the Brits are formally leaving the EU?
British pricing and 20% vat return on the price paid, might be just the thing that could tip it for me.

 
The Prime Minister says that the government will not attempt to launch Article 50 before the end of the year. This launch of Article 50 then needs to be passed by Parliament, and only then will the two years of negotiations start.
 
So I reckon that you will be able to complain for another two and a half years, at least. 

 

[JaZZ]

  For me DAVE is still a very  overpriced product.

 
Can you list a few DACs in the same price category that sound better (to your ears) or some that sound equally good for much less?

 

[Jawed]

I wonder if there has been much argument over the Sound Liaison album:

"Tony Overwater and Bert van den Brink's 'Impromptu' was recorded simultaneously to two different recorders in PCM and DSD."

 

[gnomen]

May be the best album they have produced - artistically. I purchased the PCM version. Both my DACs convert DSD to PCM, so not much point me trying a comparison of formats.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

Can I connect Esoteric P-01 CD transport to the Dave?

 

[iDesign]

  MQA is still under evaluation.
 
But since Dave is an FPGA DAC, and it has a spare expansion connector to the FPGA, we could choose to support any future developments - if I was convinced that it offered a credible improvement in sound quality. If a future development also offered an improvement in musicality then I would move "heaven and earth" to get it incorporated into my designs.
 
Rob

Is this also true with the Hugo TT and Mojo? 

 

[Light - Man]

  Can I connect Esoteric P-01 CD transport to the Dave?

 
Louis, only if you have a Dave to begin with.

.......

 
Would you consider the 2Qute? - I am tempted to buy one.
 
Has anyone had the 2Qute before the Dave, if so, any comparisons would be great?
 
P.S. I know the 2Qute has no amp section - I am talking mainly about using it in a main speaker system.

 

[Christer]

   
Can you list a few DACs in the same price category that sound better (to your ears) or some that sound equally good for much less?

Quick answer to your  question. Frankly no. But I have only auditioned  DAVE for a few hours and only via headphones so far.
But I do own two  comparably priced DACs,the  Chord Hugo and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC and after  more than two years with both I can say that imho, both  have their slightly different  strengths and weaknesses. Hugo when working as intended without RF /Jitter or whatever it is that keeps interfering and makes it the most  unreliable and uneven HIFI product I have used in my system,has very good resolution,arguably more resolving of low level detail and acoustic cues, than the Benchmark. But  alas at the cost of sounding  thinner and more clinical  and  more digital and less full and less timbrally and tonally correct and realistic and enjoyable with some recordings. It really comes down to the recording in question which I prefer  of the two  DACs.
All the above provided I first tape the rca cables firmly in place with duct tape, to make Hugo work at all via speakers instead of producing only loud hum.
As far as DAVE  is concerned my complaints about pricing is more an observation of Highend HI FI  pricing in general.
Chord is not the worst offender by far!
There are many  other companies that prey upon vain customers much more greedily than Chord imho.
HIGHEND HIFI is together with sportscars the male equivalent of fashion for women.
It feeds upon vanity.
And there is often little relation between price and actual performance.

 

[bmichels]

   
Can you list a few DACs in the same price category that sound better (to your ears) or some that sound equally good for much less?
 

Originally Posted by Christer /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Quick answer to your  question. Frankly no. But I have only auditioned  DAVE for a few hours and only via headphones so far.
But I do own two  comparably priced DACs,the  Chord Hugo and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC and after  more than two years with both I can say that imho, both  have their slightly different  strengths and weaknesses. Hugo when working as intended without RF /Jitter or whatever it is that keeps interfering and makes it the most  unreliable and uneven HIFI product I have used in my system,has very good resolution,arguably more resolving of low level detail and acoustic cues, than the Benchmark. But  alas at the cost of sounding  thinner and more clinical  and  more digital and less full and less timbrally and tonally correct and realistic and enjoyable with some recordings. It really comes down to the recording in question which I prefer  of the two  DACs.
All the above provided I first tape the rca cables firmly in place with duct tape, to make Hugo work at all via speakers instead of producing only loud hum.
As far as DAVE  is concerned my complaints about pricing is more an observation of Highend HI FI  pricing in general.
Chord is not the worst offender by far!
There are many  other companies that prey upon vain customers much more greedily than Chord imho.
HIGHEND HIFI is together with sportscars the male equivalent of fashion for women.
It feeds upon vanity.
And there is often little relation between price and actual performance.

at $ 8500,  the AYRE QX-5 twenty may be a strong competitor to the DAVE  ?  time will tell...
 

 

[miketlse]

   
Louis, only if you have a Dave to begin with.

.......

 
Would you consider the 2Qute? - I am tempted to buy one.
 
Has anyone had the 2Qute before the Dave, if so, any comparisons would be great?
 
P.S. I know the 2Qute has no amp section - I am talking mainly about using it in a main speaker system.

 
I have a Mojo, which I use for 3 use cases:
 

• commuting, phone > Mojo > headphones
• desktop computer > Mojo > headphones
• desktop computer > Mojo > HiFi amplifier and speakers

 
I am considering a 2Qute for no. 3 (and then maybe upgrade the hifi amp), but am wondering if it is better (but more expensive) to choose a Hugo TT plus TToby combination. Unfortunately there is no TToby feedback yet.

 

[Christer]

   
The Prime Minister says that the government will not attempt to launch Article 50 before the end of the year. This launch of Article 50 then needs to be passed by Parliament, and only then will the two years of negotiations start.
 
So I reckon that you will be able to complain for another two and a half years, at least. 

Oops, I had not realized it would be such a long process.
 
But I also suspect that in two ,to two and a half  years, however good DAVE happens to be right now, there is bound to be some serious competition for it at lower prices than currently.
According to some people  I know the interpolation/heavylifting done with  pre-programmed FPGAs in Dave could be even better and more  importantly,more cheaply done within a capable computer than in  a DAC  itself.
Two years is a long,long time in digital audio.
And even if that doesn´t happen I am sure that many of those who needed the latest instead of the most accurate DAC around, will have put their DAVEs on the secondhand market at more reasonable price for what it actually costs to produce  and research costs long since recovered.
I have both ears to hear with and patience enough to wait for the really  sweet apples at decent costs when the vanity guys  have grown  tired of their new toys.
My current amp combo cost  around 11000 dollars when released and I paid  3000 dollars for it.
My speakers cost roughly the same when released.
And I paid 2000 dollars second hand.
Both still sound excellent.
And to really put SQ in a really long  time perspective,my Linn Sondek LP12 with its Supex Mc cartridge that I bought in London in the early 70s still rivals any digital I have heard when it comes to accurately reproducing acoustic instruments in space and timbrally correct.
A direct cut LP can still rival  any digital in those important aspects.
The string sound in particular from the famous Sheffield Labs Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suite and the Wagner album are still after allt these years my references.
I suspect that it was not by coincidence HIFI NEWS reviewed DAVE and a turntable in the same issue.

 

[Light - Man]

   
I have a Mojo, which I use for 3 use cases:
 

• commuting, phone > Mojo > headphones
• desktop computer > Mojo > headphones
• desktop computer > Mojo > HiFi amplifier and speakers

 
I am considering a 2Qute for no. 3 (and then maybe upgrade the hifi amp), but am wondering if it is better (but more expensive) to choose a Hugo TT plus TToby combination. Unfortunately there is no TToby feedback yet.

 
I remember a guy (or two) on the Mojo thread saying be thought the 2Qute was noticeably better than the Mojo and even the Hugo.
 
I know that Torq was not too enthused by the 2Qute but we all know on HF that opinions often differ - heck some of us can't even agree on the time of day!

 

[JaZZ]

One important disadvantage of the 2Cute is the lack of a preamp function (→ volume control). So unless your power amp has adjustable input sensitivity (ideally via remote control) you'd have to use a separate preamp, which would take away some of the direct-path induced purity possible with the Hugo or Hugo TT – or an integrated amp with the same (if not more severe) loss of signal accuracy.

 

[JaZZ]

 

  Can you list a few DACs in the same price category that sound better (to your ears) or some that sound equally good for much less?

Quick answer to your  question. Frankly no. But I have only auditioned  DAVE for a few hours and only via headphones so far.
But I do own two  comparably priced DACs,the  Chord Hugo and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC and after  more than two years with both I can say that imho, both  have their slightly different  strengths and weaknesses. Hugo when working as intended without RF /Jitter or whatever it is that keeps interfering and makes it the most  unreliable and uneven HIFI product I have used in my system,has very good resolution,arguably more resolving of low level detail and acoustic cues, than the Benchmark. But  alas at the cost of sounding  thinner and more clinical  and  more digital and less full and less timbrally and tonally correct and realistic and enjoyable with some recordings. It really comes down to the recording in question which I prefer  of the two  DACs.
All the above provided I first tape the rca cables firmly in place with duct tape, to make Hugo work at all via speakers instead of producing only loud hum.
As far as DAVE  is concerned my complaints about pricing is more an observation of Highend HI FI  pricing in general.
Chord is not the worst offender by far!
There are many  other companies that prey upon vain customers much more greedily than Chord imho.
HIGHEND HIFI is together with sportscars the male equivalent of fashion for women.
It feeds upon vanity.
And there is often little relation between price and actual performance.

 
I halfways suspected that it was more of a generalization addressed to high-end gear prices than a specific criticism on DAVE. I wish you were more careful with your wording to avoid corresponding confusion. Not a big deal anyway!