[raypin]

That is (I am pretty sure) old news.

The beta version of the Aries firmware was released in April this year has full MQA support.

Mm..how is the pairing of your Aries with your DAVE? Much better than plain laptop? No issues? How is the SQ? As a standalone, how is the DAC/MQA output to your headphones? Sorry, I am not familiar with Auralic products.

 

[Triode User]

Ten years would indeed be too long. But remember that maybe next year or so Davina with integrated M-Scaler will hit the market, and it won't be long that there will be a stand-alone M-Scaler.

I would have thought that a Davina would have less mass appeal than Blu2. After all, apart from recording studios, who really wants an analogue to digital convertor? The purchase price for a Davina might therefore have to be aimed quite high to recoup the development costs.

But then that's just me guessing.

 

[theveterans]

I would have thought that a Davina would have less mass appeal than Blu2. After all, apart from recording studios, who really wants an analogue to digital convertor? The purchase price for a Davina might therefore have to be aimed quite high to recoup the development costs.

But then that's just me guessing.

One who wants a glorified home studio that will get distributed on YouTube of course

 

[ThatPhil]

I believe Rob said davina will have the same inputs as dave and I wouldn't buy one if I couldn't use all my stuff with it.
also the ADC can be used to rip vinyl to digital.

 

[7ryder]

Mm..what audio streamer are you guys using with your Dave? Preparng to dump my Surface Book and iPad Pro 12.9. Part of my prep work for the arrival of the one. Also in the process of upgrading my electrical equipment (power cables (nrg 10), line conditioner (monitor acoustics) , electrical outlet etc.). I'm good and ready with my interconnects (atlas asimi xlr and audioquest diamond usb). Been thinking of the Aurender A10 since it MQA ready, Tidal ready etc. Any suggestions? TIA.

I use the SOtM sMS-200 w/ the new tx-USBUltra between it and DAVE. the USBUltra made a big difference in lower end impact and improved clarity w/ my speaker system. Others have found the same...there is a thread about it over at CA.

As for the Aurender A10, that is a streamer w/ a built in DAC. If you have DAVE already, you don't need it.

 

[raypin]

Mm..except if it is an MQA-capable DAC (Dave is not), so I can use it as standalone mqa dac. Two-birds with one stone. Streamer to dave to HP or mqa dac streamer to HP. I need the flexibility.

 

[Triode User]

Mm..except if it is an MQA-capable DAC (Dave is not), so I can use it as standalone mqa dac. Two-birds with one stone. Streamer to dave to HP or mqa dac streamer to HP. I need the flexibility.

Not quite sure why you are so entranced with MQA but if you want it then use the Aries.

 

[Triode User]

Mm..how is the pairing of your Aries with your DAVE? Much better than plain laptop? No issues? How is the SQ? As a standalone, how is the DAC/MQA output to your headphones? Sorry, I am not familiar with Auralic products.

I dont have a laptop but I do have an imac which is within usb cable length of the Dave. However, I prefer to keep the steaming separate to the iMac. I have no issues at all with the Aries. I cant say it is much better but then I need a whole dose of convincing that there isnt a load of expectation bias when trying different streaming methods. I just find the Aries very very convenient.

 

[Triode User]

I believe Rob said davina will have the same inputs as dave and I wouldn't buy one if I couldn't use all my stuff with it.
also the ADC can be used to rip vinyl to digital.

I cant recollect a full description of what the Davina function will be. I know it will be an analogue to digital and will also have MScaler but will it need to output to a Dave or similar to complete the dac function?

Have you seen a full list of what Davina will do?

If Rob Watts says he has problems putting an M Scaler in the same box as Dave then presumably the same applies with Davina and therefore the Dave function has to be in a separate box?

 

[raypin]

Not quite sure why you are so entranced with MQA but if you want it then use the Aries.

mm..not exactly entranced but I love to cover all my bases. Measure twice, cut once. Have not really made up my mind. I was watching this lecture (on youtube) about the Blu II. I could conceivably go back to the CD - upscale it via Blu 2 - Dave - special HP or laptop - Blu 2 (does it upscale as well????) - Dave - special HP. I'm not too thrilled about going back to CD. It is a physical nuisance (search for the right CD, open CD case, put CD, play CD, play the whole damn CD, then repeat it a thousand times. Arrrghhh!). It is the reason why I never went vinyl (which is a thousand times worse).

 

[onsionsi]

mm..not exactly entranced but I love to cover all my bases. Measure twice, cut once. Have not really made up my mind. I was watching this lecture (on youtube) about the Blu II. I could conceivably go back to the CD - upscale it via Blu 2 - Dave - special HP or laptop - Blu 2 (does it upscale as well????) - Dave - special HP. I'm not too thrilled about going back to CD. It is a physical nuisance (search for the right CD, open CD case, put CD, play CD, play the whole damn CD, then repeat it a thousand times. Arrrghhh!). It is the reason why I never went vinyl (which is a thousand times worse).

Can you post the link for lecture of Blu2 in YouTube

 

[raypin]

mm...sure, no prob. It is a short lecture in Taiwan sponsored by Join Audio:

 

[Jawed]

Actually the M scaler is 0.234 dB louder - as the WTA filter insertion loss is -2.766 dB, and Dave is manually increased on the volume by +3 dB.

Hmm, interesting. I'm going to assume that it's just "resonances and randomness". A glance at the waveform in Audacity appeared to indicate that relative peaks in different parts of the two videos (for the same parts of the music) are different. Another variable I can think of is automatic gain control in the camera/phone that was used to make the videos ...

As to waiting till M scaler is integrated into a DAC - well there are serious problems I need to solve to be able to do this; the ground current from the FPGA on the M scaler is too signal dependent and large at 10 A; previous experience has taught me that signal related ground currents do degrade THD and noise and upsets depth perception; so this is a massive problem to solve. Maybe I can think up a power balancing architecture on the DSP's; maybe I can filter the ground currents and isolate the analogue ground and digital grounds (this did not work in the past); maybe I could run split domains within the DAC and have galvanic isolation. I don't know how to solve these problems and guarantee complete isolation except for putting the M scaler in a separate unit. Galvanic isolation is (relatively) easy with a 16 FS signal - I just have two data lines to isolate. And it works; the first prototype M scaler did not have isolation, just RF filtering and the second unit did and that made quite a difference to the sound quality. The third or production unit was better again, with improved RF filtering on the isolation power supply and this too was very audible.

How about a dual-FPGA configuration: M Scaler running on a huge, noisy FPGA galvanically isolated from 256FS WTA and 2048FS linear interpolation feeding 350dB-resolution noise shaper running on the FPGA from Hugo 2? Perhaps use two switched mode power supplies, one for the digital and one for the "analogue" side.

Hugo 2 is probably a lot better after a mere 3 years than I think many people could have expected in their wildest dreams. I say this without having heard it, but Hugo 2 is no mere incremental upgrade over Hugo judging by its constituent parts. I think Chord is about to drop another bomb on the hi-fi industry, like Hugo did originally. Bonkers value for money

Of course, as FPGA's get better, the power loss gets less. So maybe in ten years time we can have an M scaler with a tenth of the core current from today. Fingers crossed... But can you wait ten years? I can't...

Well, I bought DAVE because I decided not to wait for DAVE performance to come down to Mojo price. TT was wildly better than I thought it could be, it was where I started with Chord's modern DACs. I owned TT for just over a year and I bought it originally thinking it would be enough for a decade. But it was a new kind of musical world, which became more and more evident as I lived with it and so I decided DAVE was worth investigating.

Now playing: Supersilent - 1.2

 

[thisisvv]

First time owner of DAVE. Took some time to get the funds together and today first time i understood what people mean when they say, i am finding new stuff on songs i used to listen. Some of the songs i felt just totally are changed.

BTW i am coming from Yggdrasil which was fed by Rednet3 with Mutech usb -3. Dave is just connected directly through my laptop and to my ears there is no comparison. Again YMMV

 

[Crgreen]

I've had my DAVE for about a year now, and I continue to be surprised about the quality of audio information revealed and how coherently it's presented, with recordings old and new, including some going back to the 1930s. With some it's like having a layer of yellowing varnish removed.