[halloweenman]

Hi Rob. My experience with Dave over the last five days is that vocals were lost a little in the large three dimensional mix. At times it sounded amazing, other times it just didn't sound quite right. I felt this from the first moment I heard Dave. I've never heard anything like it before. It just didn't work for me. I tried hard to like it!

 

[bigfatpaulie]

That's okay you know - not to like a product.  

 
Different strokes for different folks.  Everyone hears a little differently, has different preferences and so on.  The only bad part is that you search for a perfect DAC continues.  Best of luck in the hunt and it would interesting to hear what you end up with.

 

[halloweenman]

I'll be sticking to my Hugo TT.

 

[Jawed]

Perhaps try less toe-in or spread further apart. Though room matching becomes a victim of you moving the speakers.

Although it seems you don't have DAVE anymore, so it's too late.

 

[analogmusic]

When I auditioned Dave vs TT,  I much preferred the Dave, and loved Dave's ability to project a vocal right in the middle of the soundstage. 

 

[ubs28]

I don't hear how vocals are lost on the Chord Dave + HD 800 S?

 

[phonyx]

The 800S aren't fabulous, they're a pretty cheap can. The DAVE is a high end DAC, it would be better paired with the Focal Utopia or HE1K's before ruling it out? I can't afford a DAVE but love my TT you can't really go wrong with either one.

 

[Here2rock]

The 800S aren't fabulous, they're a pretty cheap can. The DAVE is a high end DAC, it would be better paired with the Focal Utopia or HE1K's before ruling it out? I can't afford a DAVE but love my TT you can't really go wrong with either one.

How much better than 800S? What does TT refer to?

 

[ubs28]

The 800S aren't fabulous, they're a pretty cheap can. The DAVE is a high end DAC, it would be better paired with the Focal Utopia or HE1K's before ruling it out? I can't afford a DAVE but love my TT you can't really go wrong with either one.

The HE-1000 is a headphone that is below the HD 800 and HD 800 S because it's technically flawed. Don't let the price of something fool you. Even if the HE-1000 was priced the same, I still wouldn't buy it according to my ears.

I haven't heard the Utopia yet so I can't comment on it.

Also last time the modified HD 800 won the big sound award at Innerfidelity beating headphones like the SR-009. So I wouldn't judge how good a headphone is purely on how much it costs.

 

[phonyx]

How much better than 800S? What does TT refer to?

I cannot stand the HD800 or 800S so I'd say a lot better, to me and many others. Depends on your taste, but many consider the 800's soundstage to be exaggerated, and their sound thin, hard and bright. TT is the Hugo TT.

The HE-1000 is a headphone that is below the HD 800 and HD 800 S because it's technically flawed. Don't let the price of something fool you. Even if the HE-1000 was priced the same, I still wouldn't buy it according to my ears.

I haven't heard the Utopia yet so I can't comment on it.

Also last time the modified HD 800 won the big sound award at Innerfidelity beating headphones like the SR-009. So I wouldn't judge how good a headphone is purely on how much it costs.

As above, many dislike the 800 and 800S as well. I can't stand either of them personally, they're thin, hard and bright with an exaggerated sound stage. To me the HE1000's timbre is far closer to reality than the 800's (I play and know many who do, I've heard a lot of real instruments). Each to their own but I'd not rank the 800/800S as the pinnacle of headphones.

 

[ubs28]

I cannot stand the HD800 or 800S so I'd say a lot better, to me and many others. Depends on your taste, but many consider the 800's soundstage to be exaggerated, and their sound thin, hard and bright. TT is the Hugo TT.
As above, many dislike the 800 and 800S as well. I can't stand either of them personally, they're thin, hard and bright with an exaggerated sound stage. To me the HE1000's timbre is far closer to reality than the 800's (I play and know many who do, I've heard a lot of real instruments). Each to their own but I'd not rank the 800/800S as the pinnacle of headphones.

You're hearing the limitations of the DAC then if you think it sounds harsh and bright. That is something that disappears when going from the Chord Hugo to the Chord Dave.

If you think the HE-1000 sounds more accuratety than that is fine be me. According to my ears if a headphone sounds so smooth / veiled while having a screechy treble, then there must be a big technical issue somewhere that is not due to frequency response.

Maybe the Focal Utopia is the first headphone that I consider better. But I will first need to hear it with my own ears.

 

[halloweenman]

I listened to Dave using ATC scm40a active speakers. They have a very revealing and transparent mid driver that is great for piano, acoustic guitar, and vocals. I never use headphones on my hifi, just does not compare to good speakers for me.

I have never found Hugo, Hugo TT, or Dave bright or harsh. Dave being the warmer of the three, TT slightly warmer than Hugo. There is a big difference between Dave and the other Chord DACs. I did get what Dave was all about its just that for some reason I preferred where the TT rendered and placed the vocal in the soundstage. The vocal for me is the most important part of the song and with Dave I got the feeling it was more withdrawn, not quite right, a little lost in the large three dimensional soundstage. Interestingly, I preferred Dave for Elgar's Cello Concerto. I don't think the problem was speaker positioning as both vocal presentations were centred correctly, simply a preference of the way one was rendered over the other. I much preferred the timbre and refinement of Dave. At times Dave sounded extraordinary but the overall picture Dave painted didn't look quite right to me, a little disjointed. I came to the same conclusion at the end of each day, I tried for 5 days at home.

 

[GeneralSensible]

 
Almost 3 weeks ago I posted a question about the influence of power-plug polarity on the DAVE.
Rob Watts answer was:
 
Quote:

  I suspect that there will be no difference in SQ by switching the Schuko over, as internally its transformer coupled, so there is no hot or cold as far as Dave is concerned. But give it a go, and the warmer sounding one would be the better as that would indicate lower overall RF noise levels. But my guess is it won't make a difference.
 
Rob

 
 
So the last couple of weeks I have done some binge listening and found myself time after time in audio Nirvana. Unbelievable what this little gem is capable of. Rob Watts must be some kind of genius to say the least. Now, 3 weeks later it’s time to do some cable and other stuff tweaking.
 
In my post a few weeks ago I promised to test the effects of polarity on my DAVE and last Monday I’d planned a power-cord (and interlink) listening sessions, so I also had the opportunity to listen carefully to the influence of polarity on SQ. I more or less repeated these sessions yesterday, just to be sure that the results didn’t got influenced by listening fatigue or other external factors.
 
I used following music to determine SQ:
Dire Straits – Fade to Black  (from “On every street 16/44.1)
Benjamin Clementine - Winston Churchill’s Boy (from “At Least for Now” 16/44.1)
Nils Lofgren – Keith don’t go (from “Acoustic live” 16/44.1)
Miles Davis – Blue in green (from “Kind of Blue” the 24/192 Mark Wilder remaster)
Deadmau5 – Seeya (from While(1<2) 16/44.1)
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You (from Led Zeppelin III (Remastered) 24/96)
 
I plugged DAVE directly into my Mirror Image mono amps on the RCA inputs, driving my Revel Ultima Salon speakers via Van den Hul The Third speaker cable. Since this is a headphone forum I also used a pair of Audeze LCD-3s.  
 
Just to be complete, I also tried connecting DAVE to my Mark Levinson pre-amp, both XLR and RCA connected, but running DAVE directly plugged-into the power amps does wonders for me.
 
Rob Watts expected for me not to hear any difference in SQ when changing polarity and I will be the last to doubt him, being the kind of genius his is. But respectfully I have to tell I was very surprised to find out that polarity indeed has it’s influence on DAVE’s SQ. Not in extremes, but rotating the power-plug indeed did something in warmth and also in placement of voices and instruments. It all sounds a bit “cleaner” and more precise.
 
Another thing that surprised me was that power-cable quality also has it’s influence on SQ when changing polarity. When I used the normal out-of-the box cable I could hear SQ improve a tiny little bit, but when using the cable I ended up buying (WireWorld Silver Electra 7) I could clearly hear a difference in SQ when changing polarity.
 
I don’t know if every DAVE is wired the same way powerplug-wise, but for my device I have to connect the “live-wire” to the top pin for best SQ.
 

 
So to sum things up, YES for me polarity has it’s influences on SQ, even with our beloved DAVE.
 
Peter.
 
p.s. I ended up buying the WireWorld Silver Electra 7 powercord. I also tested the Platinum version and this one is even better. For me the 4x higher pricetag kept me from buying it, but it took a lot of  self-control to keep me from buying the Platinum.
 

 

[TheAttorney]

I've given up being surprised by the difference between what should and what does have an affect on SQ. 
Happily for most of us. the best sound you heard coincides with the normal polarity of a standard iec power cord ) 

 

[izzard1982]

   
 
So the last couple of weeks I have done some binge listening and found myself time after time in audio Nirvana. Unbelievable what this little gem is capable of. Rob Watts must be some kind of genius to say the least. Now, 3 weeks later it’s time to do some cable and other stuff tweaking.
 
In my post a few weeks ago I promised to test the effects of polarity on my DAVE and last Monday I’d planned a power-cord (and interlink) listening sessions, so I also had the opportunity to listen carefully to the influence of polarity on SQ. I more or less repeated these sessions yesterday, just to be sure that the results didn’t got influenced by listening fatigue or other external factors.
 
I used following music to determine SQ:
Dire Straits – Fade to Black  (from “On every street 16/44.1)
Benjamin Clementine - Winston Churchill’s Boy (from “At Least for Now” 16/44.1)
Nils Lofgren – Keith don’t go (from “Acoustic live” 16/44.1)
Miles Davis – Blue in green (from “Kind of Blue” the 24/192 Mark Wilder remaster)
Deadmau5 – Seeya (from While(1<2) 16/44.1)
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You (from Led Zeppelin III (Remastered) 24/96)
 
I plugged DAVE directly into my Mirror Image mono amps on the RCA inputs, driving my Revel Ultima Salon speakers via Van den Hul The Third speaker cable. Since this is a headphone forum I also used a pair of Audeze LCD-3s.  
 
Just to be complete, I also tried connecting DAVE to my Mark Levinson pre-amp, both XLR and RCA connected, but running DAVE directly plugged-into the power amps does wonders for me.
 
Rob Watts expected for me not to hear any difference in SQ when changing polarity and I will be the last to doubt him, being the kind of genius his is. But respectfully I have to tell I was very surprised to find out that polarity indeed has it’s influence on DAVE’s SQ. Not in extremes, but rotating the power-plug indeed did something in warmth and also in placement of voices and instruments. It all sounds a bit “cleaner” and more precise.
 
Another thing that surprised me was that power-cable quality also has it’s influence on SQ when changing polarity. When I used the normal out-of-the box cable I could hear SQ improve a tiny little bit, but when using the cable I ended up buying (WireWorld Silver Electra 7) I could clearly hear a difference in SQ when changing polarity.
 
I don’t know if every DAVE is wired the same way powerplug-wise, but for my device I have to connect the “live-wire” to the top pin for best SQ.
 

 
So to sum things up, YES for me polarity has it’s influences on SQ, even with our beloved DAVE.
 
Peter.
 
p.s. I ended up buying the WireWorld Silver Electra 7 powercord. I also tested the Platinum version and this one is even better. For me the 4x higher pricetag kept me from buying it, but it took a lot of  self-control to keep me from buying the Platinum.
 

Can you provide details on how did you change polarity on DAVE?