The comparison videos of DAVE versus M Scaler + DAVE are fascinating.
First, it's worth pointing out that the peak level in the first video, DAVE only, is 0.4dB louder than in the second video. I don't know how that difference has arisen - could M Scaler be quieter? Or is this just a side effect of room resonances being set off differently by the two configurations - M Scaler has a purer sound, less resonant?
(When I compared TT versus DAVE, I found there's a sense that DAVE's sound is "less resonant" and relative amplitudes within a piece of music are more faithful to what's in the recording. TT sounds "random" especially as macro dynamics change - some of that is noise modulation I think, but sometimes the effect is disturbingly loud.)
Ignoring the 0.4dB difference, though, the piano sounds surprisingly different. It sounds a bit like it's a synthesiser in the DAVE video. For me, the difference in piano between the two videos is the hardest to ignore. DAVE alone is annoying in the way the piano sounds.
Just before she starts singing you can hear a creaking sound. I think it's the bass player's shoes. This is clearer in the DAVE video. It's really obvious in the "pure" version of this track that Light Man linked in post 8472.
Then as she sings the first line, "You don't bring me flowers" there's 3 clicking sounds. These sounds are in the "pure" video. These clicking sounds are heard again throughout the next few lines she sings, but start to get harder to hear.
On M Scaler these clicking sounds are really loud. On DAVE alone, they're much harder to hear. When I first heard this difference comparing the two videos, I thought it was someone in the room making sounds - e.g. tapping something. Then I heard them on the DAVE video as I listened more carefully. Then I checked the "pure" version, and there they are - it's not someone in the room making these sounds.
So, it's curious how the "bass player's shoes" are clearer on DAVE but the clicking sounds are clearer on M Scaler.
Overall there is definitely a sense of DAVE alone being clumsy and less real. It seems ridiculous, but M Scaler in this quick comparison reminds me of why DAVE is better than TT. It's exactly the same kind of improvement. It's oddly compelling. Or, put another way, DAVE alone sounds annoyingly broken compared with M Scaler. I've only had DAVE a few months but the deep satisfaction it brings in the way it plays music (compared with what I had living with TT) is exactly the kind of difference I'm feeling comparing these two videos.
It makes me contemplate this thing. But I did promise myself to wait until M Scaler + DAVE is integrated into a single box, a few years down the road (at a much lower price than these two boxes are right now). Hmm, maybe this video comparison is more dangerous than I was expecting...