CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[Mython]

Only Chord know for sure, but @Mython is usually well informed https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cho...official-thread.831345/page-668#post-13964611

The digital amps will be a new high-end product line, so I would expect their release to be announced at a high-end focused show.
If (and it is a very speculative if) the digital amps are targeted for 2018 release:

• The Bristol Show next weekend seems much too soon, and the visitor focus will probably be on Poly and 2Go instead
• Munich High End Show in May would be a candidate
• Indulgance Show in September would be another candidate

If there is no news by October, then it is probably too late for 2018.

Before anyone runs too far with my earlier statement in the other thread, I wasn't implying any particular product, but more that we all know Rob and the Chord team are relentlessly busy, rather than resting on their laurels, and the natural outcome is that there are fruits to those labours. It is no secret that Poly has been a challenging product, and it wouldn't surprise me if that may have slightly slowed the progress of 2Go, but we all know that 2Go is, by JF's own admission, in the pipeline for release (hopefully for 2018), and Rob has been chatting about Davina and digital amplification for well over a year, so, eventually, we will hopefully see something appear (although Davina is currently a long way off, as Rob has recently mentioned).

On the plus-side (for those able to afford it), 1milion taps happened sooner than many of us had anticipated (at one point, it was looking like it'd be lucky if we saw it this decade).

 

[Hifi Boy]

I see, thanks for the info guys. Let's keep hoping for the best!

 

[miketlse]

Before anyone runs too far with my earlier statement in the other thread, I wasn't implying any particular product, but more that we all know Rob and the Chord team are relentlessly busy, rather than resting on their laurels, and the natural outcome is that there are fruits to those labours. It is no secret that Poly has been a challenging product, and it wouldn't surprise me if that may have slightly slowed the progress of 2Go, but we all know that 2Go is, by JF's own admission, in the pipeline for release (hopefully for 2018), and Rob has been chatting about Davina and digital amplification for well over a year, so, eventually, we will hopefully see something appear (although Davina is currently a long way off, as Rob has recently mentioned).

On the plus-side (for those able to afford it), 1milion taps happened sooner than many of us had anticipated (at one point, it was looking like it'd be lucky if we saw it this decade).

Don't worry I wasn't trying to claim that you had special info about the digital amps.
Chord have already publically announced the poly, plus a low-key set of pictures of 2Go. JF has posted that 2Go is paused whilst the Poly issues are understood and sorted out, so us head-fiers hope there will be an announcement later this year. Presumably there will also be announcements about the Android app for Poly (and presumably for 2Go apps).
So there are already several plausible announcements to wait for in 2018 - but Chord do have a several product families (eg analogue amps, plus some members of CD players/transports, streamers) that rarely get mentioned on Head-Fi, but are prime candidates for announcements at High End audio shows.
There are only a limited number of High End shows each year, and their dates are known well in advance.
I was merely trying to point out, that if there are going to be any high end equipment announcements, the dates of those shows are the most likely to be interesting.

 

[miketlse]

I see, thanks for the info guys. Let's keep hoping for the best!

I am optimistic that the best will happen, It is just a matter of when.

 

[Deftone]

Quite hard to believe that one day (if rob wants to) there could be the combined sound quality of blu2 and Dave in something the size of mojo.

 

[miketlse]

Quite hard to believe that one day (if rob wants to) there could be the combined sound quality of blu2 and Dave in something the size of mojo.

Oh ye of little faith.
Blu2 is essentially Blu1 + MScaler, in the same sized case.
Minituarization continues relentlessly, even if at a slower rate than before.

 

[GryphonGuy]

Ray dude, can you provide any source for this information? Is that stated in the manual? I wonder how you figured that out, as the setting disappears when headphones are disconnected...

It is true! The source is any DAVE owner who has simply unplugged the headphones and played the crossfeed signal through the back outputs. The soundstage produced by your speakers is not "right" or even a little confused if you leave the crossfeed on. It is a bug, for sure or an undocumented "feature" at best.

Regards
GG

 

[Deftone]

Oh ye of little faith.
Blu2 is essentially Blu1 + MScaler, in the same sized case.
Minituarization continues relentlessly, even if at a slower rate than before.

Yes I know but I’m always amazed by tech and that means I’ll always appreciate it just that bit more.

 

[Natronious]

It is true! The source is any DAVE owner who has simply unplugged the headphones and played the crossfeed signal through the back outputs. The soundstage produced by your speakers is not "right" or even a little confused if you leave the crossfeed on. It is a bug, for sure or an undocumented "feature" at best.

Regards
GG

I think that the main thing, is that with the cross feed setting being implemented the way that it is, it is best to make it very clear. Another user commented that they were experiencing that their '2 channel soundstage had diminished or seemed a bit congested', and that they didn't know why. So thanks to RayDude for highlighting this issue again, as it is best to spell this out clearly.

The best situation would be to have the ability to make adjustments to the cross feed when headphones are not plugged in, as has been covered. Additionally, it is a good point that in some situations, such as using the rca outputs for a separate headphone amp, the crossfeed function is useful beyond the headphone out. Rob himself even commented that some speaker setups benefited from the application of the cross feed function...

 

[musickid]

an all inclusive one box solution minimises future upgradability from a modular perspective which would seriously affect profit margins if implemented. what would a customer need after such an acquisition unless the system upgrades themselves cost dollar$$. i foresee a continuation in different boxes for different functions and the slow integration of such high end devices. its the only model which makes good business for the medium to long term. unless............??

 

[Hifi Boy]

an all inclusive one box solution minimises future upgradability from a modular perspective which would seriously affect profit margins if implemented. what would a customer need after such an acquisition unless the system upgrades themselves cost dollar$$. i foresee a continuation in different boxes for different functions and the slow integration of such high end devices. its the only model which makes good business for the medium to long term. unless............??

it's really not that hard to do a modular design. Look at MSB, their products are modular and you can pick and choose components you want.

This one-box solution would simply consist of an interface box. Much like a PC tower with a motherboard. Then you simply plug in the components you want when they become available, or when you feel like upgrading. The design could look something like this.

http://www.theluxechronicles.com/the_luxe_chronicles/2008/01/steinway-lyngdo.html

Now, just remove the speakers, and take that control thing in the middle. It's big enough to store all the future upgrades you could want. DAC, MScaler, Davina, streamer and possibly some kind of hypothetical digital preamp. Now, I'm not saying anything like that will ever get built, but it's fun to imagine.

This could actually be a solution for both headphone users and speaker users since the thing would be large enough to store the digital amp Rob's working on. Also, a lot of people use speaker taps with their HE-1000 for example. So it's a win-win situation.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

it's really not that hard to do a modular design. Look at MSB, their products are modular and you can pick and choose components you want.

I think you just disproved your own point. Yes, let's look at MSB. The Analog DAC, with the power base and volume control was about the same price as DAVE but leagues behind on sound. The current base model from MSB is the Reference DAC which is $39,500 for the BASE model. For similar sound from MSB, you have to spend a great deal more than on DAVE. A modular unit is far, far more costly to build and produce than an integrated system like DAVE.

 

[Hifi Boy]

I think you just disproved your own point. Yes, let's look at MSB. The Analog DAC, with the power base and volume control was about the same price as DAVE but leagues behind on sound. The current base model from MSB is the Reference DAC which is $39,500 for the BASE model. For similar sound from MSB, you have to spend a great deal more than on DAVE. A modular unit is far, far more costly to build and produce than an integrated system like DAVE.

No, not necessarily. The pricing has little to nothing to do with cost of production. The final price depends on the profit margins. Think of HE-1000 and Susvara. That's the difference between $3000 vs $6000 for what exactly? Is Susvara modular in nature? No, they just decided they wanted a higher profit margin, that's all.

Same goes for PC vs Macs. Take an iMac which is not modular and you'll pay quote a bit more for it than the same speced PC, which is modular and you can upgrade along the way. So, the moral of the story is, profit margins outweigh production costs almost all the time, especially in niches like HiFi audio.

Anyway, weren't you supposed to be dead?

 

[bigfatpaulie]

So give an an example of a modular DAC that sounds as good as a non-modular option that is the same price. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Being modular is a selling feature and if, according to you, it is the same cost to design and produce, AND it is a market advantage, what is it so rare? Surely everyone would do it. If I had a DAC company, as a capitalist, I know I would. It seems like a easy future income: an endless release of necessary modules. An up-scaling module. An input buffer module. A power filtering module. An MQA module. $$$ Cha-ching $$$! I can see my beach house now!

Sure, profit margin has nothing to do with with production cost: if it did, we would have more modular designed products.

Dead? Yeah, but sometimes I rise from the grave to give other members a hard time

 

[jscmd2000]

I know one very stinky company that does exactly that. Make a killing? Not sure but likely not a lot.