Yes, I did compare piano music, loads of it because I find this to be one of the most difficult instruments to get right, and found that they both do a very nice job of this. Excellent attack and sustain for both, with the DAVE giving a bit more energy, sounding more amplified. But.... I find the Twelve is better able to reproduce the wood of the piano for example, has better clarity, and better image focus, with better tonal shadings, perhaps due to its greater transparency. IMO, YMMV, maybe euphonics, what have you...
There is no doubt the DAVE is great. I would like to compare the DAVE to the D1 Six as I have not heard this Totaldac. I have however, had the Totaldac Monobloc and the DAVE reminds me allot of this DAC in allot of ways relating to presentation and energy. The Monobloc and the DAVE are more lively sounding than the Twelve for sure! I will also say that the DAVE is clearly better than the Monobloc was in overall refinement. I am going off aural memory with regards to the Monobloc, as I have not had it for quite some time, but the DAVE made me think of it for certain reasons. There is also no question, the DAVE has a much better USB input than any Totaldac, meaning the Totaldac are very digital source dependent. So the value the DAVE provides given you don't need reclockers, super expensive Servers, etc. in front of it for it to shine is really there!
Vincent did mention that the single chassis D1 Six is better than the Monobloc DAC was, and it also has an output stage that has been much upgraded vs. what was in the Monobloc DAC, so I really think the Six would be very close in performance to the DAVE on a DAC only basis. Again, given the Totaldac has a really good source in front of it. If not, forget about it. The DAVE will decimate because it has a much superior USB input.
What I am getting at is, the Totaldac Monobloc had more energy and drive in comparison to the Twelve even, much like the DAVE does, although Monobloc is less refined sounding than DAVE. The DAVE is not allot better than the Monobloc was, but a bit better in every way, and in important musical ways. The Twelve is different... It sounds more transparent to me, better displaying the actual sound of the instruments, the inflections of voices, with better focus, and more dimension. It sounds less amplified and more intimate and personal. MUCH more emotional sounding. It also has the most realistic displays of depth I have ever heard. Not to be confused with laid back, because it absolutely is not. Instruments are present, as if they are in the room with you, even if they are 20-30-40 feet away, they still sound as if they are in your presence if that makes sense, meaning there is body and roundness to the artist with physicality and presence. If this is not accurate, then color me with euphonic euphoria and I frikin love it. It sounds more real to me in my system, YMMV.
I am aware that R2R DAC's have drawbacks, the main one being they roll off early in the higher frequencies as consequence, but DACS that use additional output stages also have transparency problems, and to me, in my system, to my ears, the DAVE is no exception to this, even though it has a very damn good output stage.
There are other companies that use a similar approach to the Twelve:
The Trinity DAC has no output stage, and is R2R
The MSB Select has no output stage, and is R2R