[Triode User]

I've had my DAVE for about a year now, and I continue to be surprised about the quality of audio information revealed and how coherently it's presented, with recordings old and new, including some going back to the 1930s. With some it's like having a layer of yellowing varnish removed.

First time owner of DAVE. Took some time to get the funds together and today first time i understood what people mean when they say, i am finding new stuff on songs i used to listen. Some of the songs i felt just totally are changed.
BTW i am coming from Yggdrasil which was fed by Rednet3 with Mutech usb -3. Dave is just connected directly through my laptop and to my ears there is no comparison. Again YMMV

I have really bad news for you guys.

The Blu2 with MScaler adds the same amount of sound improvement to the Dave as the Dave does itself.

Start saving again!!

And in the meantime enjoy the Dave.

 

[Crgreen]

I've just ordered and paid for a Blu II, so I hope you're right. Good news, not bad.

 

[Triode User]

I've just ordered and paid for a Blu II, so I hope you're right. Good news, not bad.

Don't worry you will be very very pleased,

Out of interest, which country are you in and what delivery timescale were you quoted?

 

[Crgreen]

U.K., like you. Delivery expected in three to four weeks. I've also ordered the BNC cables you're using on the footing that I know they'll work.

 

[thisisvv]

curios how people connect to dave, i am using an old laptop. People have NUC , fanless or what config you use.

Also did anyone find any benefits to use hqplyaer and pass each file as dsd512, did some one find any improvements.

 

[x RELIC x]

curios how people connect to dave, i am using an old laptop. People have NUC , fanless or what config you use.

Also did anyone find any benefits to use hqplyaer and pass each file as dsd512, did some one find any improvements.

Do not convert PCM to DSD and it's not recommended to upsample PCM before sending the data to the DAVE. Just send the data bit-perfect, as it is, and let the DAVE do its job without the inferior upsampling or conversion by other software.

 

[thisisvv]

So any special pc recomenddd , I need rooon and tidal to be played ataleast

 

[Sunya]

Rob, could you say what is the cause of the high frequency noise that JA measured on top of the signal in the Stereophile review? Puzzling that it didn't dissapear even with the HF filter turned on.

 

[Crgreen]

Interesting review of the DAVE in Stereophile, though I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. It would seem that JA listened to it in digital preamp mode throughout.

 

[rkt31]

any link of Dave's review by stereophile ?

 

[ecwl]

Hmmmm... I'm guessing Sunya is referring to ringing which is a consequence of a long tap length filter fed an "illegal" signal. Not sure.

anyway, I was wondering why John Atkinson wasn't raving about DAVE's superior timing/transients. And then re-reading the review, I realized he paired it with the MBL C15 class D amplifier, which probably switches at 500kHz or less, negating some of DAVE advantages. At least JA loves DAVE and thought it measures phenomenally well.

 

[Rob Watts]

Rob, could you say what is the cause of the high frequency noise that JA measured on top of the signal in the Stereophile review? Puzzling that it didn't dissapear even with the HF filter turned on.

Yes that had JA and myself very puzzled. Just to make 100% sure it was not the unit, I got the unit back, and using the APx555 I got exactly this measurement:

Which of course is the usual perfect response.
JA put forward the view that it might be EMC within his lab being aliased down with the AP that he is using. He said that he had had some EMC issues in the past. Certainly the noise you can see is not HF, it is within the audio bandwidth. My thinking is that it is aliasing on the ADC's used within his AP; older AP's were very sensitive to this. You have no chance of measuring Dave's performance unless you use an APx555; even then, you are partially limited by the ADC's employed within the APx555.

One of the benefits of the Davina project is that we will be able to resolve these measuring issues, as my ADC topology has zero noise floor modulation, and around 15 dB lower noise than conventional high performance ADC's.

Rob

 

[Jawed]

Does Stereophile publish a manufacturer's comments on a review in the printed magazine? Or do this feedback only appear on the website?

Now playing: Sex Mob - Sign 'o' the Times

 

[Deftone]

Yes that had JA and myself very puzzled. Just to make 100% sure it was not the unit, I got the unit back, and using the APx555 I got exactly this measurement:


Which of course is the usual perfect response.
JA put forward the view that it might be EMC within his lab being aliased down with the AP that he is using. He said that he had had some EMC issues in the past. Certainly the noise you can see is not HF, it is within the audio bandwidth. My thinking is that it is aliasing on the ADC's used within his AP; older AP's were very sensitive to this. You have no chance of measuring Dave's performance unless you use an APx555; even then, you are partially limited by the ADC's employed within the APx555.

One of the benefits of the Davina project is that we will be able to resolve these measuring issues, as my ADC topology has zero noise floor modulation, and around 15 dB lower noise than conventional high performance ADC's.

Rob

Rob are your custom fpga dac designs advancing faster than the ADC techology in the AP machines and does this mean although you may make much better dacs in the future you may not be able to measure the perfomance?

Hope this makes sense, im not smart engineer type guy like some others on the thread im just a music lover.

 

[Rob Watts]

An ADC actually contains a DAC. Indeed, a delta sigma noise shaper can be set up as a DAC (digital integrators) or an ADC (analogue integrators) but they both have an identical DAC section. It's the poor quality of the DAC within the ADC that principally limits ADC performance.

Sure more accurate measurements will help future DAC designs, and I will have more certainty - which is always a good thing.