[GryphonGuy]

Hi all

New Dave owner here, in black (that's the Dave, not me - I have no reason to mourn its arrival!). I'm about 20 hours in on it, I was just wondering whether Rob/Chord have specified a specific number of burn-in hours for the Dave?

Also, if anyone is running the Dave with unbalanced cables into valve monos then I would appreciate any cable recommendations. I've just acquired a second hand pair of Quad II 80's and there is no balanced input, and the only good quality RCA's I own are Audioquest Victorias, which are like conjoined twins and thus not so useful with separate monobloc amps! I currently don't have the opportunity to demo cables, which is why I am asking. Thanks in advance.

As a side note, I am getting excellent results from an iPhone Tidal wifi stream into a Neet Airstream device, connected to the Dave by toslink. At 24 quid, this device is I imagine among the cheaper front ends that get used with a Dave!

Cheers
penguin140369

Others have mentioned hearing changes up to 300 hours. For my own break-in log I heard major changes up to 50 hours over several days then it was little changes up to about 150 hours. I chose to listen instead of these 24x7 type set and forget break-in sessions people do. My reasoning is that, like children, I want to experience the growing up phase with all the great moments, fun and disappointments along the way and see them develop into great adults. I am not the parent who only wants to meet my kids when they are adults.

Regards
GG

 

[rayl]

The ferrite core stuff is perplexing. This article sums up why I say that:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/myths-and-snake-oil

Not to be skeptical of the article, but ferrites only act as a low pass filter for common mode signals... So the claim that it can roll off high audio frequencies (under the subheading Ferrites on Interconnects) is very very suspect.... (i.e. reduces my trust in the rest of the article greatly if not completely)

In any case, as folks have corrected my misconception, the noise comes from within the Blu2 itself (though not conducted onto the actual wires), so no amount of shielding can help and in fact, a longer more lossy cable might actually help. I missed that detail the first time around....

 

[jonstatt]

I received my DAVE on Thursday and blown away by how much difference there is vs Hugo 2 even with easier to drive headphones like the Z1R. More impressions to follow.

One thing I am a little surprised about is that there is no dust protection internally for the screen. Already two rather large dust particles have gone into the ventilation holes and managed to settle on the screen.

 

[penguin69]

Not to be skeptical of the article, but ferrites only act as a low pass filter for common mode signals... So the claim that it can roll off high audio frequencies (under the subheading Ferrites on Interconnects) is very very suspect.... (i.e. reduces my trust in the rest of the article greatly if not completely)

In any case, as folks have corrected my misconception, the noise comes from within the Blu2 itself (though not conducted onto the actual wires), so no amount of shielding can help and in fact, a longer more lossy cable might actually help. I missed that detail the first time around....

Thanks, I'm taking the same approach - just running the Dave when listening.

I seemed to hear more depth last night, though I had just removed my power regenerators (2 x Power Inspired AG1500 units) from powering the monoblocks.

My hearing ability seems to vary a little day to day so it's always difficult for me to tell what is a 'real' change or what is me just having better ears on a particular day. If that makes sense.

 

[Triode User]

Others have mentioned hearing changes up to 300 hours. For my own break-in log I heard major changes up to 50 hours over several days then it was little changes up to about 150 hours. I chose to listen instead of these 24x7 type set and forget break-in sessions people do. My reasoning is that, like children, I want to experience the growing up phase with all the great moments, fun and disappointments along the way and see them develop into great adults. I am not the parent who only wants to meet my kids when they are adults.

Regards
GG

Everyone has their own view about break in or burn in. I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind but it is my opinion that any burn in is more likely to be the human brain resetting its own calibration rather than any change to the Dave.

But like I say, I am not expecting to change anyone’s mind on this. Likewise do not expect to change my mind!

 

[marcmccalmont]

Everyone has their own view about break in or burn in. I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind but it is my opinion that any burn in is more likely to be the human brain resetting its own calibration rather than any change to the Dave.

But like I say, I am not expecting to change anyone’s mind on this. Likewise do not expect to change my mind!

Probably a bit of both, a friend once said “shoes don’t break in your feet do” The truth is both do the leather loosens up the sole becomes more flexible your feet form new calluses
I’m sure break in of electronics is the same the equipment burning in and your mind acclimating to the new equipment

 

[Triode User]

Probably a bit of both, a friend once said “shoes don’t break in your feet do” The truth is both do the leather loosens up the sole becomes more flexible your feet form new calluses
I’m sure break in of electronics is the same the equipment burning in and your mind acclimating to the new equipment

. . . and if Dave was made from leather I would be with you on that.

 

[jlbrach]

Thanks, I'm taking the same approach - just running the Dave when listening.

I seemed to hear more depth last night, though I had just removed my power regenerators (2 x Power Inspired AG1500 units) from powering the monoblocks.

My hearing ability seems to vary a little day to day so it's always difficult for me to tell what is a 'real' change or what is me just having better ears on a particular day. If that makes sense.

I actually agree with this 100%...there are times when i am just more receptive to hearing and listening than others...at night i just seem to hear nuance better...fewer distractions and more silence seem to aid the process...there are times i turn on my music and find myself turning it off because i can just tell I am not receptive....people seem not to realize this as i had a debate with somebody who claimed to dispute this..I know it is true,at least for me and i suspect many others

 

[GryphonGuy]

Thanks, I'm taking the same approach - just running the Dave when listening.

I seemed to hear more depth last night, though I had just removed my power regenerators (2 x Power Inspired AG1500 units) from powering the monoblocks.

My hearing ability seems to vary a little day to day so it's always difficult for me to tell what is a 'real' change or what is me just having better ears on a particular day. If that makes sense.

Agreed. Your mood, or emotional state, contributes greatly to how you perceive the world around you. Audio is part of that world.

FWIW, I use music to reflect my mood whilst others can use music to change their mood. Sometimes I stop listening because the system doesn't sound great or have its usual wow-factor. And I am convinced it is nearly always me.

Regards
GG

 

[dmance]

The ferrite core stuff is perplexing. This article sums up why I say that:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/myths-and-snake-oil

with Dave and blu2, the recommendations were to use ferrites on digital (usb and spdif coax) cables. in this case, there is no degradation of the digital signal - that is, the data stream is preserved. the article you referred commented on analog cables. i would not put ferrites on analog signals - any attenuation directly affects what you hear.

 

[rgs9200m]

I highly recommend Stealth Indra (or even Sakra) unbalanced cables. They sound amazing on the Dave at all frequencies. The bass is really tight and transparent and the highs have a natural liquidity and fullness to them that removes any brittleness at all that you don't notice until it's gone. These are remarkable cables in my book. If the price is too high, the next best thing is Kubala-Sosna cables, also sweet and controlled.

Check out other sites for used ones.

 

[EndGameSearch]

After a bit of a delay due to the holidays, I finally (cross) posted my Blu2 review:

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/chord-blu-mk-ii-digital-cd-transport.22848/reviews

Thanks to everyone that shared their experiences and gave guidance as I was coming up to speed on this piece of kit!

This really was a great review. Thank you and well done.

Although not the intent of the review, this is the final push I needed to list my three month old Dave for sale on head fi. It is absolutely amazing and truly stunning on it's own as a combo dac/amp for headphones. However, in my rig (dedicated mac running Roon core bridged to ultrRendu > Dave > WA22 > LCD-4 or i4) I have a hard time justifying the cost over the Hugo 2 I already own. The DAVE is clearly the hands down winner over the Hugo 2 on it's own, but through the NOS tubes I'm running in the WA22 the H2 is really not that far off. It's not that the tubes take away from Dave's amazingly transparent signature, because I think it's a winning combination, but they do smooth out the digital glare you can get from the H2 while providing loads of power for the LCD-4's. To say it in a different way, my tubes add value to the equation for both the Dave and H2, but they add more to the H2 which levels the playing field. From a cost equation standpoint with my rig, I think I'll get more from Blu mk 2 (or a future m-scaler).

Feel free to PM me if anyone has questions. I priced it to move and it's completely mint at only 3 months old.

 

[penguin69]

I highly recommend Stealth Indra (or even Sakra) unbalanced cables. They sound amazing on the Dave at all frequencies. The bass is really tight and transparent and the highs have a natural liquidity and fullness to them that removes any brittleness at all that you don't notice until it's gone. These are remarkable cables in my book. If the price is too high, the next best thing is Kubala-Sosna cables, also sweet and controlled.

Check out other sites for used ones.

Thanks for the tip, I shall investigate.

 

[Jozurr]

I highly recommend Stealth Indra (or even Sakra) unbalanced cables. They sound amazing on the Dave at all frequencies. The bass is really tight and transparent and the highs have a natural liquidity and fullness to them that removes any brittleness at all that you don't notice until it's gone. These are remarkable cables in my book. If the price is too high, the next best thing is Kubala-Sosna cables, also sweet and controlled.

Check out other sites for used ones.

Stealth Indra? Are you suggesting a cable pair that costs $7000 for a meter for the Dave? or am I looking at something completely different?

http://www.stealthaudiocables.com/products/indra/indra.html

 

[miketlse]

Stealth Indra? Are you suggesting a cable pair that costs $7000 for a meter for the Dave? or am I looking at something completely different?

http://www.stealthaudiocables.com/products/indra/indra.html

First thing I spotted was 'grain-less conductor', which would suggest that they are claiming that the strands of wire are single crystals.
Rolls Royce patented single crystal technology for the rotor blades in jet engines, and those blades are mega expensive to manufacture.
I get the bad feeling that Stealth are possibly using some 'innappropriate' wording, so I won't bother reading further.