[x RELIC x]

I can't wait to receive my Dave in a few weeks time. I also have come from the HA-1 albeit the Audiocom SE upgraded version. To me that sounded great so I'm literally bursting at the seems to hear what this bad boy will do

Don't get me wrong about the HA-1... For the price and using 'off the shelf' chips it's a good unit. I found the DAVE's capabilities revealed themselves more and more the longer I listened and with a wide variety of tracks. The immediate tonal differences from the HA-1 were more bottom end from the DAVE yet still more controlled bass and a much larger sense of space. The DAVE is much more organic and natural sounding while at the same time more detailed vs the HA-1.

 

[Jawed]

I'm new to the thread so apologies if this has been covered off before. I'm planning on hooking up my unit via USB connection to my computer. Is this the best way to go to get the best out of the Dave or have any of you switched from this type of set up to an alternative set up that producers superior SQ?

http://www.head-fi.org/t/766517/chord-electronics-dave/7455#post_13236293

DAVE's USB input is about as good as it gets on DACs, meaning that it's pretty hard to make it sound bad - but there is room for refinement.

Each of us has our own limit on the tweaking and experimentation and cost. I'm sticking with the two Jitterbugs and just listening to music.

Now playing: Throwing Muses - Lizzie Sage

 

[EVOLVIST]

I'm new to the thread so apologies if this has been covered off before. I'm planning on hooking up my unit via USB connection to my computer. Is this the best way to go to get the best out of the Dave or have any of you switched from this type of set up to an alternative set up that producers superior SQ?

DAVE is pretty much immune to the source, but not totally. You'll get good sound from your computer, guaranteed, more so than with any other DAC and any other computer. However, many of us have felt the need to go incrementally up in SQ via the mRendu or the sMS-200, which both take all of the extra junk from a computer and only leaves those components that allows the audio to flow more freely. And yes, these can be big jumps in SQ. When you hear it, you know it.

Others here use different streamers, media servers and transports; it all depends on who you ask. It also depends on how much money you want to spend, because there are different functions with each device.

Something like the mRendu is pretty inexpensive.

The DAVE, of course, is the first step, and Chord have really done a good job making sure that the source won't get in the way too much.

 

[rkt31]

@EVOLVIST, I don't have Dave yet. I use hugo . since hugo has only RCA out so I have to use RCA to XLR custom interconnect.

 

[EVOLVIST]

@EVOLVIST, I don't have Dave yet. I use hugo . since hugo has only RCA out so I have to use RCA to XLR custom interconnect.

Ah, well, I have RCA to XLR cables around here somewhere, with an adapter. Good cables. I used to use them with an iFi rig I had.

So, yeah, I'm really trying to get an impression on that amp. I mean, gut feeling, what goes in is what comes out, to your ears? -135db is nothing to sneeze at, but usually when folks advertise low distortion products like that the sound comes out etched. I know the Benchmark DACs sound etched to my ears - artificial - but things I've read really claim this amp is a little miracle without the switching problems of a Class D.

 

[rkt31]

@EVOLVIST, benchmark ahb2 amp was released in 2013 or so. It did not get that much attention because of many factors like small size, relatively inexpensive for the specs, plain looks etc etc. not many people know that this was stereophile finalist along with chord mojo . incidentally I have both and hugo.this amp besides being extremely transparent, the best part of it I think is the variable gain. 100 RMS is reached at 2v input in high gain mode( approx 23db gain in high gain mode as against the norm of 31db fixed gain in most of the amps) . that means if the preamp is not capable of feeding upto 2v , the amp may not reach to it's rated 100 w output and people may claim it to be underpowered. so the amp is clearly meant for source having high output of 2v and above, like chord dacs with digital pre amp functionality and benchmark's own dac2 and dac3. adding a separate preamp in between the source and the power amp will only defeat the purpose of transparency.

 

[EVOLVIST]

@EVOLVIST, benchmark ahb2 amp was released in 2013 or so. It did not get that much attention because of many factors like small size, relatively inexpensive for the specs, plain looks etc etc. not many people know that this was stereophile finalist along with chord mojo . incidentally I have both and hugo.this amp besides being extremely transparent, the best part of it I think is the variable gain. 100 RMS is reached at 2v input in high gain mode( approx 23db gain in high gain mode as against the norm of 31db fixed gain in most of the amps) . that means if the preamp is not capable of feeding upto 2v , the amp may not reach to it's rated 100 w output and people may claim it to be underpowered. so the amp is clearly meant for source having high output of 2v and above, like chord dacs with digital pre amp functionality and benchmark's own dac2 and dac3. adding a separate preamp in between the source and the power amp will only defeat the purpose of transparency.

 
Yeah, if I decide to audition one of these, I would only have the DAVE in as the pre-amp. It sucks that they only have XLR inputs. What were they thinking? Ugghh!

 

[Sunya]

You can try the Benchmark AHB2 with their 30 days return policy; DAVE directly into AHB2 in low gain mode (9.2 dB with 9.8V needed from the source for full power) would be one of the most transparent combos possible.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/reviews/ahb2-review-aleksander-radisavljevic-raal-advanced-loudspeakers


[VIDEO]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jv21io69Cvc[/VIDEO]

 

[bigfatpaulie]

Hi All,
 
I am hoping to get a little clarity here...  From what I can tell there are three major products - DAVE, Blu2 and Davina (I think...)  DAVE is a DAC, Blu2 is essentially a 'upgrade' for the DAVE (and I guess other DAC's), so additional taps, with a CD transport and the Davina is an amp also with additional taps.  
 
I'm I correct or am I out to lunch?  
 
If so is DAVE + Davina going to be similar to DAVE + Blu2, if you were using both via USB and for headphones or...
 
I guess I've missed much.

 

[x RELIC x]

Hi All,

I am hoping to get a little clarity here...  From what I can tell there are three major products - DAVE, Blu2 and Davina (I think...)  DAVE is a DAC, Blu2 is essentially a 'upgrade' for the DAVE (and I guess other DAC's), so additional taps, with a CD transport and the Davina is an amp also with additional taps.  

I'm I correct or am I out to lunch?  

If so is DAVE + Davina going to be similar to DAVE + Blu2, if you were using both via USB and for headphones or...

I guess I've missed much.

Davina is an ADC, front of the chain, not an amp. The Davina project is Rob's way of finding out what issues are actually created from sampling the incoming analogue signal vs what issues are elsewhere. The Davina will include the same Mscalar tech in the Blu mk2 I believe. Rob and Chord are working on a new digital amp (not classD - entirely new topology AFAIK).

 

[Imusicman]

Davina is an ADC, front of the chain, not an amp. The Davina project is Rob's way of finding out what issues are actually created from sampling the incoming analogue signal vs what issues are elsewhere. The Davina will include the same Mscalar tech in the Blu mk2 I believe. Rob and Chord are working on a new digital amp (not classD - entirely new topology AFAIK).

Davins is a adc. What' is a adc please? How will link up with the Dave and how would this be better than a stand alone Dave? Thanks

 

[icebear]

a = analog
d = digital
c = converter
 

 

[miketlse]

Davins is a adc. What' is a adc please? How will link up with the Dave and how would this be better than a stand alone Dave? Thanks

ADC is Analogue to Digital Converter so it is the opposite of a DAC (eg DAVE, Hugo, Mojo etc).
 
When recording acoustic music, the signal from the mike, is fed to an ADC, to generate the digital stream which is captured as the music file.
 
So RW has been performing the R&D on the Davina project, which was planned to include a ADC plus the M Scalar module (which upscales the initial digital file).
 
The Blu 2 is the original Blu CD transport, with the addition of a USB input, plus the M Scalar module.
 
The combination of the Blu 2, feeding the M Scalar output to the DAVE, achieves the 1 Million taps, which RW has predicted is the required number of taps needed, so that the brain cannot distinguish between the original music, and the music output from the DAVE.

 

[Imusicman]

a = analog
d = digital
c = converter

Thanks that's what I would of had an educated guess at. Any thoughts on the rest of my question. Cheers

 

[x RELIC x]

Davins is a adc. What' is a adc please? How will link up with the Dave and how would this be better than a stand alone Dave? Thanks

ADC=Analogue to Digital Converter... the opposite of DAC=Digital to Analogue Converter. It's used to digitize the recordings at various sampling rates. Remember, digital simply means sampled data and analogue simply means continuous data. If we didn't digitize the audio we would not have enough storage and processing power to manipulate and store the analogue data.

You would use the Davina to record music to a digital format, and hook it up to the DAVE to use the built-in Mscalar to to acheive 1 million TAPs while the DAVE will use the Pulse Array elements to convert back to an analogue signal. At least that's the basics as I understand it, I'm sure it's more complex than that between the two. You could also use the Blu mk2 for the Mscalar to achieve 1 million TAPs with the DAVE but the Blu mk2 obviously does not record to digital.

Edit: Yeah, as the others have said.