[Rob Watts]

Yes I love the Nighthawks, and they do indeed have the tonal balance and lack of distortion that one gets from loudspeakers.
 
I am in Tokyo at the international audio show, and popped into the Focal room. They were using a Dave driving Utopia, and I managed to listen for 5 minutes using Nora Jones. They sounded very good, and I can appreciate all the fuss about them. Like the Nighthawks, they are speaker like. Definitely I need to try these at home as shows can only give you a superficial impression.
 
Rob

 

[lojay]

I purchased one for my home and another for the office. This was overkill. I should use the money for my DAVE at the office for other things, like maybe some Focal Utopia cans, or other pieces of audio gear.

Have no fear. My DAVE at home is safe with me.

I see I was just curious!!

 

[Light - Man]

I see I was just curious!!

A bit like this? 

 

 
 
Or more like this? - gif too big to embed: https://media.giphy.com/media/i0RbfAMQ0Bji/giphy.gif

 

[JaZZ]

Still trying to decide if the Dave pairing with the HIFIMAN HE 1000 is adequate to appreciate the full dynamic range of these headphones. This has to be my last purchase unless the Focal Utopias are really as good as some say and more speaker like sounding. Has anyone had extensive listening experience using the Dave with these 2 headphones without a dedicated headphone amp?

 
I still have to audition the Utopia (announced to be available soon in my town), but the DAVE/HE1000 pairing is close to my sonic ideal – and I definitely don't miss dynamics or some more power reserve. You certainly know that there's a (supposedly improved) HE1000 V2 now.

 

[pkcpga]

Still trying to decide if the Dave pairing with the HIFIMAN HE 1000 is adequate to appreciate the full dynamic range of these headphones. This has to be my last purchase unless the Focal Utopias are really as good as some say and more speaker like sounding. Has anyone had extensive listening experience using the Dave with these 2 headphones without a dedicated headphone amp?

I use the Dave to directly power the Utopias and have found I really love the combo. The Dave has no problem powering the utopia, it requires very little power to be properly powered just needs very clean power since it's a very revealing headphone. My mojo can even successfully power the utopia but doesn't allow for its full potential, much more speaker like (full spectrum sound) and larger sound stage with the Dave over the mojo but it still sounds good for traveling. The utopia to me has a similar speaker sound as the he1000 but the utopia is more revealing and detailed. Small details like better depth in piano keys hitting, more of a plucking sound on strings for acoustic music. Hard to describe but I'd definitely audition both before deciding.

 

[x RELIC x]

Yes I love the Nighthawks, and they do indeed have the tonal balance and lack of distortion that one gets from loudspeakers.

I am in Tokyo at the international audio show, and popped into the Focal room. They were using a Dave driving Utopia, and I managed to listen for 5 minutes using Nora Jones. They sounded very good, and I can appreciate all the fuss about them. Like the Nighthawks, they are speaker like. Definitely I need to try these at home as shows can only give you a superficial impression.

Rob

Now I really have to try the Nighthawks. :wink_face:

 

[watermad]

Is anyone listening to vinyl through the Chord DAVE in pre-amp mode, e.g. connected a phono preamp to a ADC to pass-through the DAVEs digital input?
 
I have a large collection of vinyl so still need to connect my analogue phono output to the DAVE, so recommendations a a reasonably priced but quality ADC would be appreciated.

 

[x RELIC x]

Is anyone listening to vinyl through the Chord DAVE in pre-amp mode, e.g. connected a phono preamp to a ADC to pass-through the DAVEs digital input?

I have a large collection of vinyl so still need to connect my analogue phono output to the DAVE, so recommendations a a reasonably priced but quality ADC would be appreciated.

I'm curious why you'd want to. As far as I know the ADC would be the weakest link in the chain. The whole reason for the DAVE is to correct for the sampled information (digital) from an ADC and you already have a continuous signal (analogue) to send to your amp. If you are still going through the ritual of listening to vinyl then I would imagine you would want to keep the integrity of the signal rather than destroy it and then rebuild it.

 

[watermad]

You've missed the point of me running DAVE in pre-amp mode straight to my amplifier, thus I have to route my vinyl through DAVE.
 
As for ritual, it's about the music, I'm a computer scientist by training so have a relatively good grasp of the technicalities of ADC/DAC, and DAVE is the closest to analogue sound I have heard. However I still have a large collection of music not available on CD or digital file, my tastes aren't mainstream, so want to enjoy ALL my music.

 

[x RELIC x]

You've missed the point of me running DAVE in pre-amp mode straight to my amplifier, thus I have to route my vinyl through DAVE.

As for ritual, it's about the music, I'm a computer scientist by training so have a relatively good grasp of the technicalities of ADC/DAC, and DAVE is the closest to analogue sound I have heard. However I still have a large collection of music not available on CD or digital file, my tastes aren't mainstream, so want to enjoy ALL my music.

I got your point. I don't understand it is all. The pre-amp in the DAVE is really nothing more than digital volume control. Yes, the DAVE is closest to analogue sound I've heard as well and as an owner I've paid dearly to get there for the convenience of using digital files. I just don't grasp why you'd want to convert the already analogue out of your vinyl to digital just to rebuild the signal again.

Please, don't think I'm criticizing anything you are doing, just having a knuckle dragging moment trying to comprehend why you want to go through the steps when you've already got an analogue signal. It can't be improved on by converting to digital and then back to analogue in the name of source transparency. Surely for tonality you can find a pre-amp and an amp to suite your sonic preference that would be less cost.

 

[watermad]

No criticism taken .
 
Some context will make my question clearer, as on a previous post I asked about the sound quality of the DAVE in DAC mode with a pre-amplifier and the DAVE in pre-amplifier mode, the consensus being DAVE in pre-amplifier mode direct to my power amplifiers is the simplest, best path for sound quality of digital files. However with the DAVE in pre-amplifier mode I have no way of listening to my cherished analog vinyl . 
 
Thus my question of connecting vinyl to the DAVE, I appreciate the ADC/DAC is reconstructing a signal I already have and can only degrade it, however keeping a not inexpensive, semi redundant pre-amplifier which has to be reconnected to listen to vinyl is a pain and money I could re-purpose.

 

[x RELIC x]

No criticism taken .

Some context will make my question clearer, as on a previous post I asked about the sound quality of the DAVE in DAC mode with a pre-amplifier and the DAVE in pre-amplifier mode, the consensus being DAVE in pre-amplifier mode direct to my power amplifiers is the simplest, best path for sound quality of digital files. However with the DAVE in pre-amplifier mode I have no way of listening to my cherished analog vinyl . 

Thus my question of connecting vinyl to the DAVE, I appreciate the ADC/DAC is reconstructing a signal I already have and can only degrade it, however keeping a not inexpensive, semi redundant pre-amplifier which has to be reconnected to listen to vinyl is a pain and money I could re-purpose.

In that case I'd stick around and wait for the Davina, Rob's upcoming ADC. Release date unknown but hopefully not too far off.

 

[miketlse]

In that case I'd stick around and wait for the Davina, Rob's upcoming ADC. Release date unknown but hopefully not too far off.

I was thinking that as well.
 
If you are still desperate in the short term to listen to your vinyl, then use a cheaper ADC like a Behringer UCA202, and store the file on your hard drive.
It won't be as good as the Davina, but could be ok for the short term.

 

[Beolab]

.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

A few weeks back I suggested that with the new era of dac detail and transient speed ushered in by the likes of the new Dave Dac, I thought it likely that many speaker manufacturers will need to up their game in order to keep up. A decent pair of headphones and you can hear pretty quickly all of what DAVE brings to the party ('everything' seems incredibly musical and engaging emotionally to a level not previously experienced with digital performance) but the same is less likely to be experienced if listened to via loudspeaker systems. Dave is always musical of course but not to the same level with must speaker designs. Most speakers use dome tweeters these days, either silk or metal but unless that dome tweeter is made of something pretty special you will only experience something like 80% of the resolution and transient speed that Dave is capable of, in my view and it can be felt in the musicality, drama, emotion of the performance. I have now tested that theory for my own purposes and I am in no doubt that as we move on to greater Resolution/speed of transient detail, speaker manufacturers will need to move over to either specialist dome tweeters like berillium or electrostatic or ribbon designs. I think there needs to be a huge investment in R&D from many top speaker brands or they could flounder despite the unhealthy influence held on the industry by a few key distributors. They are behind the curve imo.