Hey Guys,
I got a chance to hear a piece of gear I thought I would never get my ears on today. The Chord Electronics DAVE. I’ve had both good and bad experiences with Chord, but the DAVE always fascinated me with its out there looks and the reports of awesome sound quality. My Mojo experience was both positive and negative, I really liked its sound, but the battery died, and it took me forever to get it replaced.
I have always figured sort out the headphones first, then the amp, then the DAC. However, after having to sell all my gear recently, I have decided to go the opposite direction in terms of rebuilding a set up. I had a budget set, and had to work within it. I am in the UK currently, and figured I might as well try to find a dealer of the DAVE, so I could give it a listen. I found one an hour and a half away. I was completely honest with the shop that I wouldn’t be purchasing, I just wanted to listen. They were happy to let me listen, but tempted me with an offer of their demo model. They didn’t have a price set. I asked how much they wanted for it out of sheer curiosity, and got the reply “well how much are you willing to pay.” I threw out a nonsense number, less than units go for on the used market, and to my utter surprise, they said yes.
To cut a long story short, I went in with an open mind, and left with an empty wallet. It has eaten up far more of my budget than I thought would go to the DAC, but…damn. I
never thought I would spend this much on a DAC.
The DAVE has detail, clarity, and definition I haven’t heard before. It is actually
really impressive.
I don’t want to comment too much on sound as I haven’t spent a very long time with it yet, and don’t have my favourite headphones at the moment (Abyss Phi.)
So yeah, so far? DAVE gets two thumbs up