CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[ecwl]

Thanks for the reply. Yes I am already in Digital Pre (Feeding an Etude like yourself) and from my understanding of the manual that is Amp mode whereby you adjust volume with the remote or volume knob. But in the quick start manual Sect. 9, it talks about switching between a low/high gain mode in a very similar fashion to TT2. It’s a bit academic really as the volume is fine, but it states it is available and I can’t find it.

I just looked at the Quick Start menu. Yeah, I’m shocked they put it in Sect .9 that there is high and low gain mode in DAVE which is super confusing. Of course, what they meant was that if you set the volume to be -78dB to I don’t know -10dB, that’ll be low gain and -10dB to +18dB, it’ll be high gain... Of course, since there is no separate high or low gain mode, you’re essentially adjusting the volume = voltage. It won’t affect the wattage available (unlike TT2).
The other thing to note is that if your music material clips, then the highest volume you can set would be +4dB Before DAVE clips but if the music doesn’t clip, it’s possible you can crank the dB up to +18dB and DAVE would never clip.
The next thing I sort of worked out mathematically is that if the Etude clips at 150W and the gain is 28-30dB, Etude should clip when DAVE is around -13dB (if fed unbalanced) and around -19dB (if fed balanced). This is once again assuming your music material actually uses the entire dynamic range. If you notice you consistently need to listen to louder than that, it’s probably time to get dual mono Etude or an Ultima amp?
The last thing that always annoys me is that because I switch back and forth between headphones and speakers, I have to check to see if I left crossfeed on (setting 3 for me) or off (setting 0) Bbecause the crossfeed is active for the RCA/XLR output as well as headphones even though you can’t see the settings when you’re not listening to headphones. I believe DAVE always ships with crossfeed off (setting 0). However, if your unit is from a dealer who might have played with it or demo’d it, somebody might have changed the crossfeed settings. So I intermittently obsessively plug something into the headphone jack just to double check to make sure the crossfeed setting is correct.

 

[llamaluv]

Hi guys, I'm sure this must have been asked before. But it is just too much to dig in all the messages.

I right now am using Dave + M Scaler, right out of Dave's headphone jacket. I personally find this amazing, with incredible amount of details and the timbers are just right. But somehow will a good quality amp make it better? I generally enjoy classics and jazz. Thank you!

Hi, just wanted to use your question to assert an alternative opinion:

I'm not a big fan of DAVE's headphone-out. I've preferred almost every external amp I've ever hooked up to the DAVE over the DAVE's native headphone output, and rarely use the latter except when it's more convenient than turning on an extra external device.

IMO, it can be worth trying various external options and comparing it against the DAVE's headphone-out to see what speaks to you most.

 

[F208Frank]

For me I knew Abyss was power hungry and needed extra amp exterior of DAVE so simple decision. Otherwise I would not mind just using DAVE amp.

If I had the Utopia, I'd consider using Dave amp.

 

[jlbrach]

the dave HP out is better than adding an external amp in most every case other than the abyss TC, the susvara and perhaps the LCD-4...otherwise the transparency one experiences straight out of the dave is superior

 

[Sound Trooper]

Does anyone know the output impedance of the HP out of the Dave? I have been really enjoying my high impedance headphones (ZMF Auteur & HD 6XX) directly out of the Dave. The Auteur particularly has a nice sense of transparency as well as musicality when driven directly from the Dave.

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

congratulations.

I have been re-reading this thread while awaiting the arrival of my Dave. I saw one of your posts saying that some say "the H2 + MS is better than solo Dave." Here you are now with the TT2 + MS and the Dave is in your minds eye now. It's just a matter of time before you get the Dave. I started with the Mojo, then the Hugo 2, TT2, MS and now the Dave. That whole gateway drug might well be true. I picture you sweating and shaking while posting on the Dave thread. Peer pressure!

 

[MacedonianHero]

the dave HP out is better than adding an external amp in most every case other than the abyss TC, the susvara and perhaps the LCD-4...otherwise the transparency one experiences straight out of the dave is superior

^ What he said!

 

[xiaobao0707]

Hi, just wanted to use your question to assert an alternative opinion:

I'm not a big fan of DAVE's headphone-out. I've preferred almost every external amp I've ever hooked up to the DAVE over the DAVE's native headphone output, and rarely use the latter except when it's more convenient than turning on an extra external device.

IMO, it can be worth trying various external options and comparing it against the DAVE's headphone-out to see what speaks to you most.

Thank you. It will be a fun exercise once the virus is gone to try some gears!

 

[iDesign]

With most headphones the DAVE’s output is more than sufficient and @Rob Watts philosophy behind the way he designed it is one of the many things you should embrace. On another note, not a day goes by that I regret buying a DAVE and Blu Mk II for my home and office. I'll pick the DAVE any day of the week and twice on Sunday over everything else.

 

[MacedonianHero]

With most headphones the DAVE’s output is more than sufficient and @Rob Watts philosophy behind the way he designed it is one of the many things you should embrace. On another note, not a day goes by that I regret buying a DAVE and Blu Mk II for my home and office. I'll pick the DAVE any day of the week and twice on Sunday over everything else.

Exactly...the only headphones I wouldn't recommend without a more powerful amplifier are the Abyss Phi (TC), Susvara, HE-6SE and that's about it. The HEDDphones are power hungry, but the DAVE is plenty powerful for them. Literally everything else is well within the DAVE's wheelhouse.

 

[jlbrach]

I would add the lcd-4 which are kind of on the margin...

 

[MacedonianHero]

I would add the lcd-4 which are kind of on the margin...

Yes, correct...the LCD-4 (but not the 4z).

 

[Mediahound]

The LCD-4z has low impedance, but is not actually super efficient (that's a common misconception). The MX4 for example is more efficient at almost twice the loudness of the LCD-4z (103 dB/mW vs 98 dB/mW).

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

I just got my Dave and one of the first things I wanted to check was DSD with the DSD Plus setting. For some strange reason Roon has been converting DSD to PCM today. It was working fine on the TT2 yesterday. The last straw is the lawn care going on outside my window. I'm still happy though!

Anyone having this Roon issue? All DSP setting are off in Roon...

 

[jlbrach]

The LCD-4z has low impedance, but is not actually super efficient (that's a common misconception). The MX4 for example is more efficient at almost twice the loudness of the LCD-4z (103 dB/mW vs 98 dB/mW).

the 4z is not as efficient as some but far more efficient than the lcd-4 is and very easy to drive in most cases