CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE
May 21, 2019 at 1:44 AM Post #13,141 of 25,747
I run a LDR Passive pre amp which is extremely transparent, so it will be a matter of testing which will be easy enough to do, counting down the days woo hoo

The ldr passive may not achieve the same success as I have experienced with a Transformer Volume Control or an active pre from Dave to tube power amps so it will be interesting to see how you get on. It is not the transparency of the pre which is the important thing here per se, I have concluded it is in the way the TVC and active pre can ‘drive’ the tube power amp in the same way that both of these types of pre are good for long runs of interconnect.

For instance I got a better quality of sound with say Dave at 0dB and the TVC at -35dB than I did with the Dave at -35dB and the TVC at 0dB.

Edit. Just to clarify, this is NOT a Chord DAC thing, I have noticed it with other DACs used going direct into tube power amps (but never into any solid state amps). Obviously the usual IMHO and YMMV apply.
 
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May 21, 2019 at 4:14 AM Post #13,142 of 25,747
The ldr passive may not achieve the same success as I have experienced with a Transformer Volume Control or an active pre from Dave to tube power amps so it will be interesting to see how you get on. It is not the transparency of the pre which is the important thing here per se, I have concluded it is in the way the TVC and active pre can ‘drive’ the tube power amp in the same way that both of these types of pre are good for long runs of interconnect.

For instance I got a better quality of sound with say Dave at 0dB and the TVC at -35dB than I did with the Dave at -35dB and the TVC at 0dB.

Edit. Just to clarify, this is NOT a Chord DAC thing, I have noticed it with other DACs used going direct into tube power amps (but never into any solid state amps). Obviously the usual IMHO and YMMV apply.
Good to know the testing will reveal all
 
May 21, 2019 at 1:52 PM Post #13,143 of 25,747
The Chord Dave works only via Optical with 4K smart TV’s?
 
May 21, 2019 at 3:08 PM Post #13,145 of 25,747
Unless you know any TV's that accept inputs other than Optical from a external source, then yes.

Ok cool. I will buy a nice optical cable this weekend then. I think I will make my Samsung 4K TV as the main point for everything as it handles streaming flawlessly. Will be a cool setup for not just movies, but also for music :)
 
May 21, 2019 at 10:54 PM Post #13,146 of 25,747
Will that be optical out from tv to dave?
 
May 22, 2019 at 2:29 AM Post #13,147 of 25,747
Will that be optical out from tv to dave?

Yes indeed. So I will be able to stream from any device to the TV and then over optical to the Chord Dave. I know it sounds like a strange setup, but I think setup will be perfect for me.
 
May 22, 2019 at 2:50 AM Post #13,148 of 25,747
Good luck there!! But will you know the sample rate/bit depth and quality of the signal out of the tv? You wouldn't want mp3 compressed i'm sure.
 
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May 22, 2019 at 11:07 PM Post #13,151 of 25,747
Dave vs Hugo tt2 plus mscalar. Which of these would be the more resolving, better dac?

Correct answer to your question will depend on the transducer at hand. If you have something that can scale up and discern the difference, the Dave has the edge on computing power and detail retrieval. Most will agree, however, that amplifiers in general have more profound effect on the ultimate sq than dacs do, so TT2+HMS seem to have the edge there. In other words, spend equal or more on your amp than your dac.

To answer this question, you need to either a/b test or listen to both for some time. Personality matters also, I think. If you know you have something not as good, obviously you will wonder about the better one... some people can settle and commit based on whatever reasoning, some people just gotta have the better one or can't get rid of the bug.

I remember this discussion a few months ago in this thread that you might be able to find.
 
May 22, 2019 at 11:48 PM Post #13,152 of 25,747
Dave vs Hugo tt2 plus mscalar. Which of these would be the more resolving, better dac?

You have asked the same question in the MScaler thread and I have answered there.
 

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