[F208Frank]

After camping out here on the Dave thread and on the TT2 thread for the last year. As of today I've finally joined the Dave owners club. While I'm up and running navigation of the settings is going to take some working out to find out what best combination suits.

Any pointers to filter or phase combinations to try out to would be welcome.

Cheers
Jamie

With M Scaler: Filter Off
Without M Scaler: Filter On
Phase: Positive

I asked the same question a while ago and got different answers based on different preferences.

These settings were recommended by someone very reputable and I stuck to it. His name starts with the letter R and I like the M in MnMs.

 

[JamieMcC]

With M Scaler: Filter Off
Without M Scaler: Filter On
Phase: Positive

I asked the same question a while ago and got different answers based on different preferences.

These settings were recommended by someone very reputable and I stuck to it. His name starts with the letter R and I like the M in MnMs.

Super thanks I have now changed to your suggestion.

 

[ecwl]

Super thanks I have now changed to your suggestion.

Actually, from @F208Frank source, the optimal DAVE setting with M-Scaler is:
For 44.1/48kHz music source (which is most music) Dave HF Filter Off
For music source >48kHz so 88/96/176/192kHz/DSD, Dave HF Filter On because M-scaler passes through the HF noise that’s inherent in these recordings.
The recommended settings are different if you’re feeding M-Scaler into TT2 or Hugo2 or Qutest

 

[iamoneagain]

With M Scaler: Filter Off
Without M Scaler: Filter On
Phase: Positive

I asked the same question a while ago and got different answers based on different preferences.

These settings were recommended by someone very reputable and I stuck to it. His name starts with the letter R and I like the M in MnMs.

I’ve heard this recommendation too and gave it a try for two weeks but in the end definitely still prefer HF On with mscaler using Focal Utopia’s. Music has more weigh and bass texture with it on. With it off, get slightly more forward sound but lose some warmth. It was enough for me to end up buying Danacable for my Utopia to help when just turning the filter back on would solve the problem. And now even with new cable still prefer it on.

So just because Rob recommends something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t test for yourself. He may have technical reasons for it but everyone’s equipment and ears are different. He also says he listens to headphones with cross feed at 3 and I can’t stand it on at all. Good thing we have options.

 

[iamoneagain]

I’ve heard this recommendation too and gave it a try for two weeks but in the end definitely still prefer HF On with mscaler using Focal Utopia’s. Music has more weigh and bass texture with it on. With it off, get slightly more forward sound but lose some warmth. It was enough for me to end up buying Danacable for my Utopia to help when just turning the filter back on would solve the problem. And now even with new cable still prefer it on.

So just because Rob recommends something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t test for yourself. He may have technical reasons for it but everyone’s equipment and ears are different. He also says he listens to headphones with cross feed at 3 and I can’t stand it on at all. Good thing we have options.

So funny thing. I just tested this and HF sounds better with it off when listening to Crossfeed at 3. Think crossfeed adds a bit of warmth. With HF on soundstage placement doesn’t seem right. So need to see if I now like this setting more.

 

[edwardsean]

To the OP, as is usually the case, you really have to just try it out for yourself and see which you prefer.

Luckily this isn''t a situation where you're trying to discern between several filters (MP, LP, Short, Long, Brick wall, apodising, etc.

It's just a toggle on/off.

 

[F208Frank]

To the OP, as is usually the case, you really have to just try it out for yourself and see which you prefer.

Luckily this isn''t a situation where you're trying to discern between several filters (MP, LP, Short, Long, Brick wall, apodising, etc.

It's just a toggle on/off.

Very interesting, for the crossfeed to 3 though, I always assumed it was a feature meant for speakers only so this is new to me.

And of course trial and error and decide is always best.

Having guidelines is always a good start though.

 

[JamieMcC]

Thanks for the pointers all.

 

[iamoneagain]

Very interesting, for the crossfeed to 3 though, I always assumed it was a feature meant for speakers only so this is new to me.

And of course trial and error and decide is always best.

Having guidelines is always a good start though.

Crossfeed won’t even show when headphones are unplugged. It’s use to make headphones sound more like speakers by slightly blending the left and right channels. Latest Chord dacs all have the 3 levels plus off. 3 being more speaker-like.

Strange how much better is sounds with HF off when using it. I guess that’s why I never liked it before.

 

[F208Frank]

Crossfeed won’t even show when headphones are unplugged. It’s use to make headphones sound more like speakers by slightly blending the left and right channels. Latest Chord dacs all have the 3 levels plus off. 3 being more speaker-like.

Strange how much better is sounds with HF off when using it. I guess that’s why I never liked it before.

I changed the filter off with crossfeed 3 and I like it.

Is it safe to assume if I plug in headphones to external amp after unplugging headphones from Dave with crossfeed 3 setting on, that external amp will engage crossfeed 3 as well.

Thanks learned something today unexpectedly. Always left my crossfeed to 0.

 

[iamoneagain]

I changed the filter off with crossfeed 3 and I like it.

Is it safe to assume if I plug in headphones to external amp after unplugging headphones from Dave with crossfeed 3 setting on, that external amp will engage crossfeed 3 as well.

Thanks learned something today unexpectedly. Always left my crossfeed to 0.

Hmm, someone else will have let you know but think it only works directly out of the Dave headphone jack. Also external headphone amp not recommended with Dave except most demanding headphones. Takes away the transparency.

 

[F208Frank]

Hmm, someone else will have let you know but think it only works directly out of the Dave headphone jack. Also external headphone amp not recommended with Dave except most demanding headphones. Takes away the transparency.

Yes unfortunately and fortunately have the Abyss.

 

[JaZZ]

Crossfeed settings are only accessible with a headphone plugged in, but still active through the line outs. So take care to disable crossfeed beforehand when you're going to listen through speakers!

One more thing to note: The higher the crossfeed level, the higher the bass emphasis. That's A Rob Watts specialty and one of the few things on which I don't agree with him. Also a reason why I would never go higher than stage 1 – although crossfeed is actually essential for me.

 

[Malcyg]

On a related point, has anyone found a crossfeed setting in Roon that sounds good? I have found myself using cross feed lately on Dave, but the scenario with using speakers can get quite confusing given that you are unable to see whether crossfeed is engaged or not in that mode of operation. I thought therefore that I would go back to leaving crossfeed off on Dave and try and get a good setting via Roon. This would have an added benefit of being quick and easy to change. The standard crossfeed options in Roon are far less subtle than the Dave settings. You can set your own parameters so I’ll have a go at that - just wondered if anyone has already achieved a good result this way?

 

[iamoneagain]

Crossfeed settings are only accessible with a headphone plugged in, but still active through the line outs. So take care to disable crossfeed beforehand when you're going to listen through speakers!

One more thing to note: The higher the crossfeed level, the higher the bass emphasis. That's A Rob

On a related point, has anyone found a crossfeed setting in Roon that sounds good? I have found myself using cross feed lately on Dave, but the scenario with using speakers can get quite confusing given that you are unable to see whether crossfeed is engaged or not in that mode of operation. I thought therefore that I would go back to leaving crossfeed off on Dave and try and get a good setting via Roon. This would have an added benefit of being quick and easy to change. The standard crossfeed options in Roon are far less subtle than the Dave settings. You can set your own parameters so I’ll have a go at that - just wondered if anyone has already achieved a good result this way?

I just tested the 3 default crossfeed settings in roon and they all sound muffled compared to using Dave crossfeed 3. Could be that Chord upsampling works best with unaltered original source. Chord crossfeed is applied at the end after upsampling.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just remove headphone adapter from the Dave to disengage crossfeed when using speakers? If you have it set to 3 but no headphones plugged in or an adapter in the socket, crossfeed won’t be engaged in line out.