CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[romaz]

 
Interesting info JaZZ !
 
Thanks for the link.
 
I will most likely place an order on a HF RCA / XLR cable or the HF box, what is your recommendation on the most bang @romaz ?

Yes, those two things especially have very high bang even though they are expensive.  If you have to choose only one thing to try so you can get an introduction to this magnetic conduction technology, either would be a good choice but because you have both the DAVE and the Wells Headtrip, in your situation, I would say try the best interconnect (RCA or XLR) that you can afford.  Here in the U.S., we're able to try before we buy through an authorized dealer like thecableco.com so there's no risk except to your wallet.  Interestingly, I was able to find used HF speaker cables from an audio dealer in Poland for a very good price and the whole transaction was very satisfactory.  Do you have an HF dealer in Sweden?  
 
If you are going for an HF box, make sure it's at least the Hemisphere because that one incorporates technology found in his top cables, more than just magnets.

 

[romaz]

If someone uses a power conditioner let say the MC-6 hemisphere at the wall outlet, wouldn't the whole system connected to it be magnetised? Why will it need any magnetised rca interconnect, digital, or speaker cable?

Yes, potentially, you could magnetize your whole system with even a single MC-0.5 plugged into the wall but the effect would be considerably smaller.  With the Hemisphere, anything you plug into it will get a healthy dose of this magnetic technology and if I had to gauge its standalone impact, it would be very close to the level of a CT-1 mains cable (this is the HF's entry level cable) applied to each of your components that are directly plugged in even if you connect the Hemisphere to the wall and your components to the Hemisphere with standard mains cables.  The impact is greatest, however, when an HF cable is connected directly to your component and so if you had a CT-1 mains cable connecting your DAVE (or any other electrical component) directly to the Hemisphere, the wow factor is considerably more significant.  If you go further and connect the Hemisphere to the wall with another HF mains cable, the benefit continues to grow but the impact here is slightly less than when you connect that same cable directly to your component.  It sounds like a con job by HF to try and sell as many of their cables as possible but there is definitely an additive impact and in my own experience, with the exception of the DAVE itself, so few things I have tried have made such a huge impact.

 

[shuttlepod]

In recent days, people are reporting some interesting findings on computeraudiophile.com. Specifically, these are people using the microRendu and comparing Roon RAAT mode with Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode. There are some contradictory findings, so it could be that differences in sonic quality are system dependent. But it seems to me that the majority are finding that the Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode sounds better than "straight" Roon, despite the apparent fact that both are sending bit perfect signals to the mR. Some people are concluding that this is not surprising because in both Roon/RAAT mode and Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode, the mR is simply passing the signal through, and the actual playback is controlled by either Roon or HQPlayer. So different playback software sounds different through the mR. That's the theory, anyway. 
 
I think what is most interesting to DAVE owners and owners of Chord dacs generally is that it may be possible to attain greater SQ by using HQPlayer as a pure playback engine without using its filters or any upsampling. Some users have reported that Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode sounds clearly superior to Roon/RAAT mode without using any of HQP's many special filters and DSD upsampling. One of those people is my friend Ken, who has compared the two modes with his Chord Mojo. See http://www.computeraudiophile.com/showpost.php?p=547561. He just emailed to tell me that he has never heard better DSD than right now through his Mojo using HQPlayer in NAA mode with the microRendu. 
 
Readers of this thread will know that Rob Watts has been adamant in taking the position that one should not perform any upsampling or filtering with his dacs because he believes that his own software/hardware will do these jobs better than any PC-based program.  (“Oh dear. Do NOT use your computer to up-sample or change the data when you use one of my DAC's.”) But if you are using HQPlayer simply to play recordings at their native sample rates, you are not running afoul of Rob's admonition. 
 
Interestingly, my friend tells me that when he tried upsampling with HQPlayer to DSD256 on the Mojo (using HQPlayer's default setting), he preferred playback at the native sample rate. This would tend to confirm Rob's point above. But the caveat is that my friend hasn't really played around with different settings in HQP, so that conclusion is still premature.  
 
In NAA mode on the microRendu, you still get all the benefits of Roon while using HQPlayer as the playback engine. For $145 for HQP, this could be a worthwhile investment. 

 

[romaz]

  In recent days, people are reporting some interesting findings on computeraudiophile.com. Specifically, these are people using the microRendu and comparing Roon RAAT mode with Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode. There are some contradictory findings, so it could be that differences in sonic quality are system dependent. But it seems to me that the majority are finding that the Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode sounds better than "straight" Roon, despite the apparent fact that both are sending bit perfect signals to the mR. Some people are concluding that this is not surprising because in both Roon/RAAT mode and Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode, the mR is simply passing the signal through, and the actual playback is controlled by either Roon or HQPlayer. So different playback software sounds different through the mR. That's the theory, anyway. 
 
I think what is most interesting to DAVE owners and owners of Chord dacs generally is that it may be possible to attain greater SQ by using HQPlayer as a pure playback engine without using its filters or any upsampling. Some users have reported that Roon/HQPlayer/NAA mode sounds clearly superior to Roon/RAAT mode without using any of HQP's many special filters and DSD upsampling. One of those people is my friend Ken, who has compared the two modes with his Chord Mojo. See http://www.computeraudiophile.com/showpost.php?p=547561. He just emailed to tell me that he has never heard better DSD than right now through his Mojo using HQPlayer in NAA mode with the microRendu. 
 
Readers of this thread will know that Rob Watts has been adamant in taking the position that one should not perform any upsampling or filtering with his dacs because he believes that his own software/hardware will do these jobs better than any PC-based program.  (“Oh dear. Do NOT use your computer to up-sample or change the data when you use one of my DAC's.”) But if you are using HQPlayer simply to play recordings at their native sample rates, you are not running afoul of Rob's admonition. 
 
Interestingly, my friend tells me that when he tried upsampling with HQPlayer to DSD256 on the Mojo (using HQPlayer's default setting), he preferred playback at the native sample rate. This would tend to confirm Rob's point above. But the caveat is that my friend hasn't really played around with different settings in HQP, so that conclusion is still premature.  
 
In NAA mode on the microRendu, you still get all the benefits of Roon while using HQPlayer as the playback engine. For $145 for HQP, this could be a worthwhile investment. 

It's worth investigating, Jon.  Now, I'm curious as well.

 

[106099]

  It's worth investigating, Jon.  Now, I'm curious as well.

 
What is this?  Roon as a viaduct/channel to another software player, in this case HQPlayer, through MR to DAVE?
Is this right and what exactly is Roon doing here?
 
Paul

 

[bigfatpaulie]

It has arrived!!!  On on my birthday, too!
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
No impressions thus far, I literally just fired it up so I'll need some time with it.
 
-Paul

 

[lovethatsound]

What a great birthday present to yourself,Enjoy

 

[shuttlepod]

   
What is this?  Roon as a viaduct/channel to another software player, in this case HQPlayer, through MR to DAVE?
Is this right and what exactly is Roon doing here?
 
Paul

Paul, the oversimplified story is that Roon has partnered with HQPlayer in an effort to pair 1) the best user interface/user experience (Roon) with 2) a different sound engine that is highly respected by many, HQPlayer. The combo debuted about 5-6 months ago and I think they are still smoothing out some bugs, but I think it's pretty stable for most users. The microRendu offers different "modes" of playback, one of which takes advantage of this new partnership:  Roon/HQP/NAA. You can read some more about NAA here on HQP's website:  http://www.signalyst.com/consumer.html.
 
The theory advanced by some HQP fans is that it is able to provide better sound, through a microRendu, than Roon's own RAAT protocol, because the NAA architecture is better at isolating noise carried by the signal. The developer of HQP created the NAA to isolate the signal from all the heavy lifting that normally occurs when one uses HQP's upsampling and filtering options. 
 
Rob warns against using those functions, but it turns out you can use HQP as a sound engine only and "turn off" all this heavy lifting. When doing this, you are just using HQP to send the signal in its native sample rate to the microRendu. In that situation, some people are reporting that the Roon/HQP/NAA sonics are clearly better than the Roon/RAAT sonics. If so, Chord dac users might be able to enjoy the best of three worlds:  Roon's library management/user interface, HQP's (allegedly) superior sound engine, and Chord's (allegedly) superior implementation of upsampling/filtering.
 
Please note:  I do not have firsthand experience with the microRendu or its different modes. I'm just reporting what a few others are hearing. 
 

 

[106099]

  It has arrived!!!  On on my birthday, too!
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
No impressions thus far, I literally just fired it up so I'll need some time with it.
 
-Paul

 
 
Congrats Paul
 
Based on your pictures, you have one of the cleanest looking package/plastic cover I've seen.  Bluebird must treat Canadians better.  Enjoy your DAVE!
 
Paul

 

[106099]

 
Paul, the oversimplified story is that Roon has partnered with HQPlayer in an effort to pair 1) the best user interface/user experience (Roon) with 2) a different sound engine that is highly respected by many, HQPlayer. The combo debuted about 5-6 months ago and I think they are still smoothing out some bugs, but I think it's pretty stable for most users. The microRendu offers different "modes" of playback, one of which takes advantage of this new partnership:  Roon/HQP/NAA. You can read some more about NAA here on HQP's website:  http://www.signalyst.com/consumer.html.
 
The theory advanced by some HQP fans is that it is able to provide better sound, through a microRendu, than Roon's own RAAT protocol, because the NAA architecture is better at isolating noise carried by the signal. The developer of HQP created the NAA to isolate the signal from all the heavy lifting that normally occurs when one uses HQP's upsampling and filtering options. 
 
Rob warns against using those functions, but it turns out you can use HQP as a sound engine only and "turn off" all this heavy lifting. When doing this, you are just using HQP to send the signal in its native sample rate to the microRendu. In that situation, some people are reporting that the Roon/HQP/NAA sonics are clearly better than the Roon/RAAT sonics. If so, Chord dac users might be able to enjoy the best of three worlds:  Roon's library management/user interface, HQP's (allegedly) superior sound engine, and Chord's (allegedly) superior implementation of upsampling/filtering.
 
Please note:  I do not have firsthand experience with the microRendu or its different modes. I'm just reporting what a few others are hearing. 
 

 
I'm waiting for the MR as well.
So, this NAA is the MR in the Roon/HQP/NAA chain?
 
Paul

 

[shuttlepod]

   
I'm waiting for the MR as well.
So, this NAA is the MR in the Roon/HQP/NAA chain?
 
Paul

Yep

 

[bigfatpaulie]

I've only had my DAVE for a few hours but already, holy smokes!!  This thing is an absolute beast!  I'm letting run with my HD600's and already WOW.  This is clearly a massive step up from anything I've previously experienced.  

 

[shuttlepod]

Join the club, bigfatpaulie. It kind of turns the concept of burn-in on its head. Or at least the idea that you must pay some penance during that first 24 or 48 or 100 hours. 

 

[rkt31]

does Hq player allows asio driver to be used ? I think a simple player like foobar via dave asio driver can be better option as asio bypasses everything.

 

[iDesign]

When it comes to lossless 16/44 files played through Audirvana, is there any real benefit to using Roon/HQPlayer/microRendu with DAVE? I have a massive classical CD library and I am slowly transitioning to digital audio and I want to commit to the right platform/setup before I venture down any one path. The issue with Roon is that it does not support the AFP protocol whereas Audirvana does and I would have to make significant changes to my network to switch over to SMB to get Roon and a DAVE working. Is the sound quality of Roon/HQPlayer/microRendu etc. with DAVE worth the headache or should a say with AFP+Audirvana?