CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[Jawed]

Bob Stuart is very critical on the subject of ringing (pre- and post-transient), especially pre-ringing and has set out with MQA to eliminate it. As far as I can tell Chord's current DACs have symmetrical ringing and it would seem have the most ringing of any DAC out there. Yet there's a concensus that Chord DACs have the best transients.

I detect some kind of contradiction...

 

[Sonic77]

  Consider connecting a device like this from your Oppo to your DAVE if you have a large SACD collection.  You will need to connect one of your Oppo's HDMI outputs to this device and then use your Toslink cable from this device to the DAVE.  What it does is it allows you to play your SACDs through your DAVE at high resolution.  
 

 
You can buy it on Ebay for about $20.  
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311307384782?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

OOOOOOOH! Ok, I'll try that, thanks!
I just ordered one.

 

[romaz]

Bob Stuart is very critical on the subject of ringing (pre- and post-transient), especially pre-ringing and has set out with MQA to eliminate it. As far as I can tell Chord's current DACs have symmetrical ringing and it would seem have the most ringing of any DAC out there. Yet there's a concensus that Chord DACs have the best transients.

I detect some kind of contradiction...

Interesting.  It's still hard to decipher whether MQA and DAVE are a good fit.

 

[Mython]

 

  I'm going to experiment by hooking up my Oppo 105 Blu Ray player thru toslink cable and watch a few music videos and snippits of movie videos thru the Dave Dac, I'll report back later what I heard.

Consider connecting a device like this from your Oppo to your DAVE if you have a large SACD collection.  You will need to connect one of your Oppo's HDMI outputs to this device and then use your Toslink cable from this device to the DAVE.  What it does is it allows you to play your SACDs through your DAVE at high resolution.  
 

 
You can buy it on Ebay for about $20.  
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311307384782?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 
 
Does that output bit-perfect audio data, with no conversions occurring behind the scenes..?

 

[romaz]

 
OOOOOOOH! Ok, I'll try that, thanks!
I just ordered one.

You'll notice on the photo that it requires 9V power and the device will come with the necessary wall wart but the Oppo's HDMI output seems to power it by itself so when you get yours, don't bother plugging it into the wall.  Really quite novel.

 

[romaz]

   
 
Does that output bit-perfect audio data, with no conversions occurring behind the scenes..?

Yes, give it a try.  What this does is it allows you to bypass encryption.  As you know, through any other output except HDMI, you won't be able to pass an SACD signal at full resolution because of encryption.  If you have a hybrid SACD, for example, all that will pass through will be 16/44.  
 
Now another neat trick, using this little device and the Tascam DA-3000, you can now record your SACDs onto an SD card at full resolution and transfer them to your music server.  A novel way of ripping your SACDs.  This Tascam unit only makes sense if you have a large SACD collection because it runs about $1,000.

 

[Sonic77]

  Just placed an order on a silver DAVE, feel nervous, the most expensive piece of audio equipment I have ever bought.

Same here, don't sweat it, it will sound soo good, you'll see.

 

[izzard1982]

 
Same here, don't sweat it, it will sound soo good, you'll see.

Thanks, I'm sure it will sound great, it will be interesting to see how it compares to Yggy which I'm currently using.

 

[Sonic77]

Thanks, I'm sure it will sound great, it will be interesting to see how it compares to Yggy which I'm currently using.

I've heard both and in my opinion Yggy loses badly.

 

[izzard1982]

I've heard both and in my opinion Yggy loses badly.

I have been using Yggy since last September and trying all kinds of things to let it perform at its best, it's only recently I have felt that I have reached its potential and it sounds pretty great for a 2k DAC. Overall, I think it sounds a lot better than Hugo which I owned before. Will see how DAVE compares to it as lack of sound stage depth on headphone is one thing I feel lacking right now.

 

[Sonic77]

I have been using Yggy since last September and trying all kinds of things to let it perform at its best, it's only recently I have felt that I have reached its potential and it sounds pretty great for a 2k DAC. Overall, I think it sounds a lot better than Hugo which I owned before. Will see how DAVE compares to it as lack of sound stage depth on headphone is one thing I feel lacking right now.

Why did it take so long? Dave is great right out da box.

 

[Kamil21]

Bob Stuart is very critical on the subject of ringing (pre- and post-transient), especially pre-ringing and has set out with MQA to eliminate it. As far as I can tell Chord's current DACs have symmetrical ringing and it would seem have the most ringing of any DAC out there. Yet there's a concensus that Chord DACs have the best transients.

I detect some kind of contradiction...

I believe both are after the same thing.

Ringing is the effect caused by the filter. No filter, as in NOS dacs mean no ringing.. But not having a filter created other problems. It's just that both approach the solution differently.... And then there are many other more techniques which both Bobs use beyond just that. Maybe Mr. Watts can explain.

In the end, I believe both are after the same thing.. 'The closest possible approximation to the original sound'. And for now, in my books Chord Dave will work for my entire music collection without the need for encoding.

 

[izzard1982]

Why did it take so long? Dave is great right out da box.

That's part of the reason I got DAVE which seems not requiring those partnering components to sound its best.
 
About Yggy, I tried one component at a time and a lot of different combinations so it took so long to finally find the best, but at this point I'm tired of doing all these and thinking a lot of these things are actually not necessary and should be handled very well by a well designed DAC, and DAVE seems the first high end DAC that can do this.  

 

[Mavwong]

I am not surprise that Shiit stuff need lots of tweaks to sound better I am sure with Dave, you will be much happier man.
 
Quote:

  That's part of the reason I got DAVE which seems not requiring those partnering components to sound its best.
 
About Yggy, I tried one component at a time and a lot of different combinations so it took so long to finally find the best, but at this point I'm tired of doing all these and thinking a lot of these things are actually not necessary and should be handled very well by a well designed DAC, and DAVE seems the first high end DAC that can do this.  

 

[rkt31]

a transparent, accurate and neutral device should not need any tweaking by other components. if yggy needs any specific kind of gear ( warm or cold sounding) it means it is not accurate and is colored !