CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[drbobbybones]

  The Jake visit was definitely one of the highlights of the show. And because the idea was to compare the sound of the ukulele recorded a couple of weeks ago against the sound of the system, we dropped a Dave into the system. Stereophile were going around the show, and trying to see which system sounded closest to the original which is a cool idea; but the flaw is that the microphone and ADC is also part of the chain.
 
I have some personal interest, as my son had just started to play the ukulele, so I know the sound of his instrument quite well.
 
Because I am interested in how it was miked, (hopefully having to do my own test recordings soon) I asked about the mic - it was a classic Neumann valve (tube) mic; I think the U47. I asked about placement, and it was 3 inches from the strings - so I was expecting a very bright incisive sound.
 
Firstly Jake played - and frankly his playing was exquisite; I have never ever heard a ukulele played with such expression - or with such speed and finesse - if you like the sound of the ukulele, check out Jake Shimabukuro, he has his own website - the album is the Nashville sessions. Next came the recorded version. For all those that have postulated that Dave's cavernous sound-stage is something I have added, I can confirm that the sound was completely and utterly flat, hovering immediately above the Dave in centre line from the speakers - exactly as one would expect from a close miked sound with no added reverb. But the live was clearly brighter with more transient impact - recorded being a bit softer and warmer - I guess the U47 is playing its part here, as it is chosen because it sounds warm.
 
So it proved very interesting, and gave me a tiny glimpse into the fun I should be having later this year in recording my own son's ukulele. 
 
Rob 

+1 on Jake Shimabukuro.  His albums are incredible, and the DAVE truly allows the dynamic range of his performance and each brush of the strings to not only be heard, but to be felt.

 

[Rob Watts]

@Rob Watts

Indeed the Ukelele is becoming a fave as my daughter has also taken this up. I use an AKG 426B which is a single point stereo mic with adjustable polar patterns, including M/S. I would think that a good mic pre will also have a major role to play and wonder if there is a full mic pre as part of Davina or not. This is certainly a something to look forward to.

Absolutely - I wanted to take control of much of the signal chain as possible, so Davina has an adjustable gain (via relays) mic input with switchable phantom power too.
 
Rob

 

[Kamil21]

Absolutely - I wanted to take control of much of the signal chain as possible, so Davina has an adjustable gain (via relays) mic input with switchable phantom power too.

Rob

!

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

I took my Dave over to a friends place this week to see what it could do for his system. He uses Quad front end, Roksan amp and Avalon speakers. So an average cost system and quite a pleasant musical sound, though We both suspected the performance was perhaps marred by bad electrics. I was expecting the Dave to blow it away but the lack of any real game change is a lesson for us all. It doesn't matter how good your kit, if you don't a) Sort out your electrics and b) sufficiently isolate the chain from start to finish then there is only so much a DAC or any other component can deliver.

This got me looking at speaker isolation and I came across this video from Townshend Engineering. It's a real eye opener as I had never heard of it or thought about the issues raised in the Video. I understand a number of the leading HIFI reviewers (Stereophile and HIFI+ included) use this product.
http://www.townshendaudio.com/hi-fi-home-cinema-equipment-vibration-isolation/hi-fi-home-cinema-vibration-isolation-speaker-podiums/

If any of you guys have tried it out I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Sorry O/T

PS: The video also made me wonder how much a problem some people must have if they live anywhere near a major road. The continuous rumble caused by lorries in particular must be a problem and may contribute to the reason everything in your system seems to sound better late at night? Food for thought at least.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

I ran into this tonight, great compliments at a CES listening session in the Chord room. John Atkinson in the same room as Rob Watts listening to the Dave, two legends in their own right.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/jake-shimabukuro-bluebird-music-suite-venetian#dHKAmspvrGAmbTAJ.97

I wonder if John Atkinson had a chance to listen to the Blu2 with Dave.

 

[esimms86]

Ya. Oddly enough, the photos in the article show DAVE, but the equipment list at the end of the article only mention Red.

Kamil21, you're absolutely correct. It also was apparent that Dave was being fed from a laptop, perhaps Rob's laptop running Jriver.It would have been nice if the Blu mk2 was also in the system though, even without it, Jake felt the playback fidelity relative to his live performance was best in show(at least up to that point). An interesting experiment, however, it was also a referendum on the fidelity produced by the choices made when making the recording.

On an unrelated note, Stereophile should hire Jake to write a column from a musician's perspective. He definitely has the ears.

 

[Crgreen]

It would be nice if Sterophile would get round to reviewing the DAVE, which is advertised in its pages. Similarly, with TAS. So far as I can tell, it's been reviewed in all the leading European hi-fi mags, and won several annual awards, but seems to only have an underground existence in the US press. Odd.

 

[SunWarrior]

It would be nice if Sterophile would get round to reviewing the DAVE, which is advertised in its pages. Similarly, with TAS. So far as I can tell, it's been reviewed in all the leading European hi-fi mags, and won several annual awards, but seems to only have an underground existence in the US press. Odd.

Yes, odd. I've wondered too about the absence of DAVE reviews in those two publications and on the Computer Audiophile site.

When I chose to keep the DAVE over the Berkeley Reference DAC (more detail, deeper soundstage, more musical), several people questioned my decision - likely because they had read glowing reviews about the Berkeley and nothing much about the DAVE.

Dave, who spent a good amount of time in 2016 comparing both those two DACs along with the Bricasti M1 and the Schiit Yggy

 

[chordguy]

Dave   ......   I have a set of this, size 4, for my large Proac speakers.
You need to speak to Townshend to get the right size of podium and then springs for each podium because the speaker weight, (load), for the springs has to be correct for them to work correctly.
Can be difficult to set up correctly when working with large speakers but once done and happy with the sound they are really very good.
Levelling the stands with the speakers on them I found to be difficult and with 4 controls on each stand, at each corner, getting it souding good can be tricky. Best to start with the controls at their lowest point and increase the height of each speaker at each corner gradually. Again with 4 controls for each speaker this can be a tricky process.
If still not working to your satisfaction then reset to lowest value and try again until it sounds right.
They replaced in my system Stillpoint Ultra 5's that I was then able to move to some of my equipment on my rack therefore also generating improvements.
I found them very similar to the Stillpoint 5's in performance terms giving me a similar sound.
They work by allowing the speaker to move in all three directions, back, front and up and down.
Max Townshend has several videos on YouTube showing the benefits of these and I believe they have been well received by Hi Fi Plus.

 

[Silvertone4]

It's odd, Rob might be able to provide feedback as to why those reviews have not taken place.

In the past Stereophile has reviewed Chord products including the Mojo.

ST

 

[maxh22]

It would be nice if Sterophile would get round to reviewing the DAVE, which is advertised in its pages. Similarly, with TAS. So far as I can tell, it's been reviewed in all the leading European hi-fi mags, and won several annual awards, but seems to only have an underground existence in the US press. Odd.

It's odd, Rob might be able to provide feedback as to why those reviews have not taken place.

In the past Stereophile has reviewed Chord products including the Mojo.

ST

A few days ago I recieved the latest issue from Stereophile and found out that they just reviewed Yggdrasil. The reviewer was listening to it for over a year. So he took his time doing the review. I reckon the same thing is going on with Dave. They probably have it in Queue and or are working on the review right now.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

Dave   ......   I have a set of this, size 4, for my large Proac speakers.
You need to speak to Townshend to get the right size of podium and then springs for each podium because the speaker weight, (load), for the springs has to be correct for them to work correctly.
Can be difficult to set up correctly when working with large speakers but once done and happy with the sound they are really very good.
Levelling the stands with the speakers on them I found to be difficult and with 4 controls on each stand, at each corner, getting it souding good can be tricky. Best to start with the controls at their lowest point and increase the height of each speaker at each corner gradually. Again with 4 controls for each speaker this can be a tricky process.
If still not working to your satisfaction then reset to lowest value and try again until it sounds right.
They replaced in my system Stillpoint Ultra 5's that I was then able to move to some of my equipment on my rack therefore also generating improvements.
I found them very similar to the Stillpoint 5's in performance terms giving me a similar sound.
They work by allowing the speaker to move in all three directions, back, front and up and down.
Max Townshend has several videos on YouTube showing the benefits of these and I believe they have been well received by Hi Fi Plus.

Chordguy
Thanks for taking the time to respond with your thoughts. Is there much allowance for leveling with those corner pieces? On one side of my room up to 1/4" (6mm) would be handy.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

It's odd, Rob might be able to provide feedback as to why those reviews have not taken place.

In the past Stereophile has reviewed Chord products including the Mojo.

ST

Yes I think the Hugo TT also. They have on balance been very positive about Chord products in the past.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

Well Stereophile must be aware of the Blu2 at least. Not sure if that's Chords photo or someone at Stereophile took a pic whilst at the show
http://www.stereophile.com/content/chord-blu-mkii-cd-transport#b3z89hLckXh1xvAq.97

 

[ismewor]

I took my Dave over to a friends place this week to see what it could do for his system. He uses Quad front end, Roksan amp and Avalon speakers. So an average cost system and quite a pleasant musical sound, though We both suspected the performance was perhaps marred by bad electrics. I was expecting the Dave to blow it away but the lack of any real game change is a lesson for us all. It doesn't matter how good your kit, if you don't a) Sort out your electrics and b) sufficiently isolate the chain from start to finish then there is only so much a DAC or any other component can deliver.

This got me looking at speaker isolation and I came across this video from Townshend Engineering. It's a real eye opener as I had never heard of it or thought about the issues raised in the Video. I understand a number of the leading HIFI reviewers (Stereophile and HIFI+ included) use this product.
http://www.townshendaudio.com/hi-fi-home-cinema-equipment-vibration-isolation/hi-fi-home-cinema-vibration-isolation-speaker-podiums/

If any of you guys have tried it out I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Sorry O/T

PS: The video also made me wonder how much a problem some people must have if they live anywhere near a major road. The continuous rumble caused by lorries in particular must be a problem and may contribute to the reason everything in your system seems to sound better late at night? Food for thought at least.

Totally agree, everything on the chain is need to be correct. DAC is not everything. Digital transport start all off the its path. I'm still don't know why people using a laptop and everyday computer .