[jlbrach]

i think he means an external amp rather than the dave itself

 

[saudio7]

What, they run off candles?

No they don’t need external amp and if you try to use one, then you lose details/transparency.

 

[koven]

No they don’t need external amp and if you try to use one, then you lose details/transparency.

How do you like the Meze compared to other flagships? They seem interesting but reviews are pretty scarce I think..

 

[saudio7]

How do you like the Meze compared to other flagships? They seem interesting but reviews are pretty scarce I think..

I compered them to D8000 from Final and HE1000. To my ears they are on the same level as D8000, but with differen presentation. HE1000 sounds thin and distant in comparison, very unnatural, so I sold them. They need some time to sound best, but I think they also need matching source/amp, when I heard them from Cayin HA300 it was not the same headphones.

 

[Drewligarchy]

there is something to be said for the transparency out of the dave without an external amp....I think the susvara or abyss phi is better than say the utopia but when you take into consideration the fact that the utopia is easily driven by the dave it makes the comparison more difficult....it is preferable to be able to go straight from the dave but there are a handful of HP's in need of an external amp...i myself use the 281

I agree with the desire to go direct out of DAVE for ultimate transparency, but if you have a really good neutral amp - I think the loss in transparency is overstated. If you want to color the sound a bit, that's a different story.

My point is - while it may be ideal to go DAVE direct - if Susvara or a Stax for instance can't be run direct, I wouldn't discount those phones with the DAVE.

I don't have experience with the Susvara, but I do know my Stax 009 has never sounded so good as with the Dave as a source. I am using a KGSSHV Carbon - so as typical with KG/Birgir designs - it's very much a wire with gain.

The high-end of the 009 is all there, but it's utterly fatigue free - it's amazing.

My point is that it's an excellent DAC, and most DAC's don't have good headphone outs - and those would be judged only when connected to an amp. I agree that if you do have the opportunity to use it you should. But I think direct connection from headphones to DAC is only a part of how great it is, and that some especially resolving phones that can't be played directly from the headphone out benefit immensely from the DAVE.

 

[Chester Rockwell]

Quick question for all you DAVE owners. When crossfeed is enabled, is this applied to all outputs including XLR? I ask as I may look to purchase some electrostatic headphones and amp next year, and I like what cross feed does on the chord DACs.

 

[ecwl]

Quick question for all you DAVE owners. When crossfeed is enabled, is this applied to all outputs including XLR? I ask as I may look to purchase some electrostatic headphones and amp next year, and I like what cross feed does on the chord DACs.

Yes. Crossfeed is applied to RCA & XLR outputs on DAVE when enabled in headphone mode.

 

[ray-dude]

Yes. Crossfeed is applied to RCA & XLR outputs on DAVE when enabled in headphone mode.

which makes this a good time for the annual reminder to all DAVE owners with a traditional 2 channel setup to plug in headphones and check that your crossfeed is off (alas, you can only see and change the crossfeed setting when headphones are plugged in)

 

[jscmd2000]

Aren't RCA and XLR outputs disabled when a headphone is plugged in? Not sure how crossfeed can be applied when disabled... unless crossfeed stays on after headphones are disconnected.

 

[ray-dude]

Aren't RCA and XLR outputs disabled when a headphone is plugged in? Not sure how crossfeed can be applied when disabled... unless crossfeed stays on after headphones are disconnected.

Yes, crossfeed stays on after headphones are disconnected, but the setting is no longer shown (nor changeable) on the display.

Crossfeed is awesome/required for headphone (at least the ones I've tried), but it really impacts imaging on a 2 channel setup. Alas, when I first got my DAVE, I ran this way for several months before seeing a post here pointing out the same thing

 

[jscmd2000]

I would have never found that out on my own, thanks!!

 

[Drewligarchy]

Happy almost new year!

Quick question around DSD with my Dave. I am using it with an Auralic Aries and, when playing DSD, very occasionally I'll get a pop or a click.

Interestingly with the Dave I had on demo months ago, it wouldn't pop or click but would have much more frequent drop outs.

I think there was running changes with Dave to address this - which is why I get no dropouts now but occasional pops or clicks - but that's another conversation.

My question is, can anyone recommend a Roon ready streamer, with USB output, that works flawlessly with Dave/DSD? Currently works perfectly via my Mac Mini (running windows), but I want to use a streamer.

I like that the Aries works over wifi - but I do have an ethernet connection - so that would be fine. That said, would like the flexibility of running a streamer via wifi moving forward.

But first things first - what streamers work flawlessly with DSD, have USB outputs, and are Roon ready? Ultra/Micro rendu? Anything like that with wifi? Can I hook up a wireless bridge to Ultra/Micro rendu without sonic degradation?

Thanks!

 

[jlbrach]

i am using the roon nucleus and love it

 

[ecwl]

Quick question around DSD with my Dave. I am using it with an Auralic Aries and, when playing DSD, very occasionally I'll get a pop or a click.

From my end, before rushing out to replace your Aries, it’s probably good to verify what the problem is first. I see 3 possibilities. There’s something wrong with the Aries WiFi. There’s something wrong with your WiFi (due to neighbor’s interference which is why the dropout patterns have changed). Or Aries is not compatible with DAVE which is unlikely.
Going online, AURALiC has mentioned that some Aries have problematic Intel WiFi module that they’re willing to replace through your dealer. They tried to fix it via firmware updates but found that it required a hardware fix.
I most commonly see dropouts because people are using their 2.4GHz wifi so the signal drops due to their neigbors’ WiFi interference. If your wifi strength is good, using 5GHz wifi band under a different network name usually solves that problem. Best way to verify this is to run an Ethernet wire to the AURALiC and see if the same dsd dropout occurs. If not, the problem is with your wifi.
As for AURALiC and Chord incompatibility, If you have the Simaudio DAC, you can plug it in and if the issue is the wifi, the simaudio DAC would also pop and dropout. Obviously making sure AURALiC is on the latest firmware should help.
The main point is that if the problem is with your wifi, especially due to neighbors interference, changing wifi streamer is not going to fix the problem.

 

[Drewligarchy]

From my end, before rushing out to replace your Aries, it’s probably good to verify what the problem is first. I see 3 possibilities. There’s something wrong with the Aries WiFi. There’s something wrong with your WiFi (due to neighbor’s interference which is why the dropout patterns have changed). Or Aries is not compatible with DAVE which is unlikely.
Going online, AURALiC has mentioned that some Aries have problematic Intel WiFi module that they’re willing to replace through your dealer. They tried to fix it via firmware updates but found that it required a hardware fix.
I most commonly see dropouts because people are using their 2.4GHz wifi so the signal drops due to their neigbors’ WiFi interference. If your wifi strength is good, using 5GHz wifi band under a different network name usually solves that problem. Best way to verify this is to run an Ethernet wire to the AURALiC and see if the same dsd dropout occurs. If not, the problem is with your wifi.
As for AURALiC and Chord incompatibility, If you have the Simaudio DAC, you can plug it in and if the issue is the wifi, the simaudio DAC would also pop and dropout. Obviously making sure AURALiC is on the latest firmware should help.
The main point is that if the problem is with your wifi, especially due to neighbors interference, changing wifi streamer is not going to fix the problem.

I am not using the Wifi module on the Aries; it's connected via ethernet. I've used the Aries extensively with other DACs, and never a problem with DSD. Further there is no issues with DXD with Dave, so don't know that it's a bandwidth issue

I think it's a compatibility issue with Aries - Dave - Roon. I should try with lightning DS as it buffers differently.

It's a small thing - not in a rush to switch streamers yet. Just want to understand if it's a problem particular to my Aries. While it could be the Dave, I doubt it, as it's brand new and has no issues with windows PCs.