CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE
Jul 28, 2019 at 1:07 PM Post #13,381 of 25,720
Hello all.
I currently have the TT2 & HMS driving my T8000/Stax 009s
My dealer has an upgrade opportunity. Trade in my TT2 and get a Dave.
Has anyone done this? Big improvement?

Here is my 5c after Dave upgrade and what I hear...
Get Dave, feed with a good source and you will reexplore all your music collection as you never heard before.
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 2:26 PM Post #13,382 of 25,720
As ever it is down to the individual doing the listening and the sound that they prefer but for me that Dave transparency is in a different class compared to TT2 and that applies all the way through the frequency spectrum. I was also surprised that for me at least the Dave bass was tighter and with greater clarity of notes. So if one has the money willing and able to be spent on HiFi then the Dave is a no brainer provided that one doesn’t need or want the extra output power from the TT2. This is not to take anything away from TT2 which is a class act in itself but rather that the Dave is even better and by some margin. All IMHO and YMMV but I am pretty sure of what I hear.

Very nice; glad you're happy! :relaxed:
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 7:24 PM Post #13,385 of 25,720
So when is this Chord Dave 2 happening?

As far as I'm aware, not for *atleast* a couple of years. I think Rob has been focusing on other projects at the moment ?, but, the word is, Dave is supposedly selling better now, than it ever has.

Why upgrade when it's still king ?

However, and I'm only telling you this since this is a PM, so please don't post it on the forums.

My TT2 beats it, as Rob on the QT upgraded mine just after xmas, it cost £1750 and 3 tickets to the chinese grand prix back in april.

The pcb was redesigned and now uses a different more powerful xilinx cpu, and it has more taps, but my TT2 window no longer lights up, as the new chip has a big heatsink on it and it's directly under the window, it's now similar to the mscalers window but without the engraving.

Please keep this between you and I, thanks
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 7:36 PM Post #13,386 of 25,720
As far as I'm aware, not for *atleast* a couple of years. I think Rob has been focusing on other projects at the moment ?, but, the word is, Dave is supposedly selling better now, than it ever has.

Why upgrade when it's still king ?

However, and I'm only telling you this since this is a PM, so please don't post it on the forums.

My TT2 beats it, as Rob on the QT upgraded mine just after xmas, it cost £1750 and 3 tickets to the chinese grand prix back in april.

The pcb was redesigned and now uses a different more powerful xilinx cpu, and it has more taps, but my TT2 window no longer lights up, as the new chip has a big heatsink on it and it's directly under the window, it's now similar to the mscalers window but without the engraving.

Please keep this between you and I, thanks


Nice! A TT2 that sounds better than a DAVE? Amazeballs!
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 7:45 PM Post #13,387 of 25,720
Nice! A TT2 that sounds better than a DAVE? Amazeballs!

Oops, did I post this in public and in the Dave thread, damn, it was meant to be a private PM, my mistake fella's, please keep this PM and it's info to yourselves, and please don't let anyone else know.

As Rob might get into trouble from John for doing it, possibly even sacked/fired/made unemployed, so lets just keep it between us 3.

Cool.
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 7:48 PM Post #13,388 of 25,720
Oops. Sounds like a PM became a public post.
Regardless, I’ve been thinking about this a bit.
DAVE has better power supply than TT2
DAVE has better noise shaper than TT2
DAVE has 20 elements whereas as TT2 has 10 for the pulse array DAC.
TT2 does have more power to drive headphones (or speakers)
While DAVE has more taps than TT2, if you use M-Scaler, it doesn’t matter
DAVE should in most cases sound better.
However, if you upgrade the FPGA, you could in theory improve the noise shaper and increase tap length for TT2.
But fundamentally, I am not sure if it’ll sound better than DAVE because of the power supply and more elements in the pulse array DAC.
However, I’ve been slightly worried about a DAVE 1.5.
This is because all of Chord DACs are now on Artix7 FPGA chips except DAVE is on Spartan6.
While I doubt Rob Watts has time to significantly upgrade DAVE’s power supply or pulse array DAC (except to give it more power), upgrading the FPGA to consume less power, increase tap length and improve noise shaper may be quicker than 2 years. And if Xilinx discontinues Spartan6, Chord would need a DAVE replacement at some point.

I have never spoken to Rob Watts about these issues but I suspect a few forum members had. Ignorance is bliss. Just like I suspect in some circumstances and setup, HMS sounds better than my Blu2. I’ll upgrade when I’m ready. Technology marches on. C’est la vie. I’m still deeply moved by the music I’m hearing right now as I type this.
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 7:55 PM Post #13,389 of 25,720
Oops. Sounds like a PM became a public post.
Regardless, I’ve been thinking about this a bit.
DAVE has better power supply than TT2
DAVE has better noise shaper than TT2
DAVE has 20 elements whereas as TT2 has 10 for the pulse array DAC.
TT2 does have more power to drive headphones (or speakers)
While DAVE has more taps than TT2, if you use M-Scaler, it doesn’t matter
DAVE should in most cases sound better.
However, if you upgrade the FPGA, you could in theory improve the noise shaper and increase tap length for TT2.
But fundamentally, I am not sure if it’ll sound better than DAVE because of the power supply and more elements in the pulse array DAC.
However, I’ve been slightly worried about a DAVE 1.5.
This is because all of Chord DACs are now on Artix7 FPGA chips except DAVE is on Spartan6.
While I doubt Rob Watts has time to significantly upgrade DAVE’s power supply or pulse array DAC (except to give it more power), upgrading the FPGA to consume less power, increase tap length and improve noise shaper may be quicker than 2 years. And if Xilinx discontinues Spartan6, Chord would need a DAVE replacement at some point.

I have never spoken to Rob Watts about these issues but I suspect a few forum members had. Ignorance is bliss. Just like I suspect in some circumstances and setup, HMS sounds better than my Blu2. I’ll upgrade when I’m ready. Technology marches on. C’est la vie. I’m still deeply moved by the music I’m hearing right now as I type this.

I forgot, my upgraded TT2 is powered solely by internal batteries, all 6 of them, and it can also be used with the supplied linear psu which uses a thunderbolt bolt port to charge the batteries, or to run it in desktop mode. Similar to Hugo 2.
 
Jul 28, 2019 at 9:52 PM Post #13,390 of 25,720
Why upgrade when it's still king ?
In all seriousness the DAVE is king and a rare example of near perfect workmanship. It is the kind of product that will become a timeless classic no matter what comes after it (e.g. McLaren F1). There are few products like the DAVE that completely changed the game and set new standards in the high-end Hi/Head-Fi arena. Consider for a moment the DAVE was released 1,537 days ago and how far ahead of other DACs it still is. Rob Watts may as well have released the DAVE and taken a several year vacation but he instead continued working hard to develop new products with lower costs to democratize the DAVE's technology. Impressive.
 
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Jul 29, 2019 at 1:21 PM Post #13,391 of 25,720
In all seriousness the DAVE is king and a rare example of near perfect workmanship. It is the kind of product that will become a timeless classic no matter what comes after it (e.g. McLaren F1). There are few products like the DAVE that completely changed the game and set new standards in the high-end Hi/Head-Fi arena. Consider for a moment the DAVE was released 1,537 days ago and how far ahead of other DACs it still is. Rob Watts may as well have released the DAVE and taken a several year vacation but he instead continued working hard to develop new products with lower costs to democratize the DAVE's technology. Impressive.

It is great when someone posts an appreciation for the technology and the genius of Rob Watts that has gone into the design of his DACs, especially the Dave and Mscaler / Blu 2. It annoys me when people post about other high end DACs that they assume to be better as they are more expensive but don't really compare in terms of sound quality or technology. Some aspects of the designs and real build quality of these DACs where it matters are questionable imho.
 
Jul 29, 2019 at 3:28 PM Post #13,393 of 25,720
Rob was very clear in answering questions at the CanJam London seminar he gave on Saturday that there was no chance of DAVE 2 over the next two years. But he is working on other projects for Chord, which he says keep putting back progress on Davina. He does expect some progress with Davina soon.
Interesting feedback.
I have sometimes floated the question as to how one could improve the DAVE.
I could only envisage minor tweaks such as increase the power output to match TT2, and enhance the RFI filtering so that it is not a problem with newer equipment such as MScaler.
Otherwise, DAVE is doing a good job by most posts, so why try and change something that is already working.
 
Jul 29, 2019 at 3:39 PM Post #13,394 of 25,720
This week my Dave is two years old and as usual I needed to by Dave a birthday present...….
Last year it was a Mscaler, and Dave was very excited when he opened the second package which were the Wave Cables as an accessory.
This year I wondered what Dave may like it was a very high bar to match...…. so a recent visit to CamJam London 2019 produced this...…
Sorry @Rob Watts I have compromised your transparency and wonderful DAC but I could not resist sorry.
Dave needed a birthday present perhaps not quite a match to equal a Mscaler with the Wave Cables but ……
DSCF2278.jpg
 
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Jul 29, 2019 at 4:05 PM Post #13,395 of 25,720
Rob was very clear in answering questions at the CanJam London seminar he gave on Saturday that there was no chance of DAVE 2 over the next two years. But he is working on other projects for Chord, which he says keep putting back progress on Davina. He does expect some progress with Davina soon.

That is exactly what Rob has been saying in here to anyone who would listen and I am not at all surprised. Dave is so far ahead of the game that there is no need to even think about a need for Dave2. I personally would rather RW looks at his other digital projects so he can confound us once more and find other ways to lighten our wallets!

I suspect a few Dave owners traded in to get TT2 and Mscaler and I wouldn't be surprised if they traded once more to get a Dave again to go with their Mscalers . . . . . . . . .
 

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