[AndrewOld]

Who
That is too funny. Makes you wonder what else they got wrong if they can't manage to do something so simple... Would it have broken their budget to actually label the outputs on the unit?

What annoys me is a) that they didn’t label the back panel in the first place, b) they didn’t label the top panel controls which effectively makes the DAVE unusable by any other family family member like my wife, and c) when they did engrave the back panel they instantly devalued my DAVE. There are no excuses for omissions like this. Especially when they claim “design, engineering and build standards demanded of the finest pro equipment”. BS.

 

[Jawed]

soon to be new DAVE owner here after some set-up pointers/tips if possible please (bit overwhelming trying to dig through the 996 page thread to find stuff....)

will be using it in DAC mode fed via a Sarum T RCA-DIN into my naim pre/power amps into Kudos s20a speakers will be fed via USB from a Zenith Mk3 server , plan on getting the Mscaler in not too distant future as liked what it did in terms of uplift to Red book CD flacs and smoothing of hiRes stuff, also heard some positive stuff about the innuos phoenix usb reclocker too (which would demo down the line)

however in terms of pointers interested in some recommended power cables to feed it, whether Fuse upgrade worthwhile (i.e. the Orange), heard some use it in pre-amp mode into a pre-amp also, and BNC cables for Mscaler (i have 1x Sarum T BNC-BNC cable, but is a lot of £ to get another one...) apologies for barrage of queries but really would appreciate any pointers on getting the most out of the DAVE from the off

A lot of Naim pre-amps can't cope with how loud DAVE is in DAC mode. DAVE's pre-amp mode sounds identical in terms of quality. Find the sweet spot for the volume so that the Naim gear doesn't get upset.

You've probably discovered that radio frequency noise is an issue with DAVE. So I recommend you first try to understand how DAVE should sound, even if only temporarily using a crazy setup. So find a device that outputs optical. Make sure no other inputs on DAVE are connected. Or, if you have a phone, tablet or laptop running off battery power, USB from this device is a good substitute for optical (again, with no other input cables connected to DAVE). The key here is to determine the true potential of DAVE.

Use this setup as your reference for sound quality when trying to get your server to sound its best. If you find the server sounds worse, I suggest 30 or 40 clip on ferrites added to the DAVE end of the USB cable. You can spend thousands on USB cables and they cannot be as good because their RF noise filtering is too weak. The galvanic isolation on DAVE's USB input still lets through too much RF noise, sadly.

RF noise getting into DAVE is the sole reason for variations in its sound quality. DAVE isn't affected by jitter.

In my signature there's a link about power cables. It's a simple improvement and in the end the difference is fairly subtle. Your Naim gear will probably object to RF noise in the power cables more than DAVE will, and DAVE may be sending RF noise to your Naim gear. So it may turn out that treating the power cables for your Naim gear is more important than for DAVE itself.

See if your dealer can lend you a Chord Etude to put between DAVE and your speakers. I think this is the next thing you should try rather than M Scaler (it's about £500 more). If you're using NAC-A5 you'll probably want something else while trying Etude. Etude's design prefers XLR cables to RCA. DAVE + Etude is infectiously beautiful

Now playing: Miles Davis - Dig

 

[Malcyg]

My experience with SR Orange fuses is the biggest jump in dynamic improvement this side of changing your speakers.

Wow, really? That big from a fuse? Presumably in every item in the system?

 

[bluecar]

Who
That is too funny. Makes you wonder what else they got wrong if they can't manage to do something so simple... Would it have broken their budget to actually label the outputs on the unit?

"It's not a mistake, it's a feature" - welcome to chord ownership

 

[llamaluv]

What I resent most as a DAVE owner is the non-upgradable firmware.

Same goes for the M-Scaler.

 

[jlbrach]

the dave has held up pretty well as a top tier DAC in its price range and above

 

[llamaluv]

What I resent most as a DAVE owner is the non-upgradable firmware.

the dave has held up pretty well as a top tier DAC in its price range and above

Yea, agreed. Mind that these two comments are not mutually exclusive.

 

[adrianm]

My experience with SR Orange fuses is the biggest jump in dynamic improvement this side of changing your speakers. If someone values dynamics and 'even-frequency balance' (for truer instrument timbre) high on their list of important system virtues then I doubt they will find more bang for their buck in achieving that goal.

I also think the benefits of Grounding Blocks are underestimated by many audiophiles. Most of our houses and systems have bad electrics I would bet. Clean electrics are a revelation.

Finally Power chord 'bang for buck' best I have heard is probably Kimber Palladian PK10 at around £1700. I think you would have to pay an awful lot more to beat it.

So are you guys only using the cable with no mains filtration?

 

[mbj666]

A lot of Naim pre-amps can't cope with how loud DAVE is in DAC mode. DAVE's pre-amp mode sounds identical in terms of quality. Find the sweet spot for the volume so that the Naim gear doesn't get upset.

You've probably discovered that radio frequency noise is an issue with DAVE. So I recommend you first try to understand how DAVE should sound, even if only temporarily using a crazy setup. So find a device that outputs optical. Make sure no other inputs on DAVE are connected. Or, if you have a phone, tablet or laptop running off battery power, USB from this device is a good substitute for optical (again, with no other input cables connected to DAVE). The key here is to determine the true potential of DAVE.

Use this setup as your reference for sound quality when trying to get your server to sound its best. If you find the server sounds worse, I suggest 30 or 40 clip on ferrites added to the DAVE end of the USB cable. You can spend thousands on USB cables and they cannot be as good because their RF noise filtering is too weak. The galvanic isolation on DAVE's USB input still lets through too much RF noise, sadly.

RF noise getting into DAVE is the sole reason for variations in its sound quality. DAVE isn't affected by jitter.

In my signature there's a link about power cables. It's a simple improvement and in the end the difference is fairly subtle. Your Naim gear will probably object to RF noise in the power cables more than DAVE will, and DAVE may be sending RF noise to your Naim gear. So it may turn out that treating the power cables for your Naim gear is more important than for DAVE itself.

See if your dealer can lend you a Chord Etude to put between DAVE and your speakers. I think this is the next thing you should try rather than M Scaler (it's about £500 more). If you're using NAC-A5 you'll probably want something else while trying Etude. Etude's design prefers XLR cables to RCA. DAVE + Etude is infectiously beautiful

Now playing: Miles Davis - Dig

thx for that some useful stuff to try out there, my NAIM pre-amp been happy being fed via DAVE in DAC mode via RCA during demo will try it in pre-amp mode aswell though

also can try USB off the laptop in battery mode aswell to get a feel

interesting on the RFI front, can see now why some people buy the big custom hifi cable DC3 units to power their DAVE now /or the expensive Shunyata NR cables/ or the USB regens/converters before the DAVE

 

[Triode User]

can see now why some people buy the big custom hifi cable DC3 units to power their DAVE

. . . indeed and I use a Custom HiFi Cables DC4 to power my Dave and also a separate one to power my Mscaler.

 

[adrianm]

thx for that some useful stuff to try out there, my NAIM pre-amp been happy being fed via DAVE in DAC mode via RCA during demo will try it in pre-amp mode aswell though

also can try USB off the laptop in battery mode aswell to get a feel

interesting on the RFI front, can see now why some people buy the big custom hifi cable DC3 units to power their DAVE now /or the expensive Shunyata NR cables/ or the USB regens/converters before the DAVE

Or you can try a mains filter , which has Rfi reduction 3-8 times that of a 1k Shunyata cable starting at half the price.

 

[mbj666]

Or you can try a mains filter , which has Rfi reduction 3-8 times that of a 1k Shunyata cable starting at half the price.

any you would recommend as having naim gear RFI filters have not worked well in past, have used an AIRLINK balanced transformer which was a great cost effective upgrade so know benefits clean mains can bring to a system and would keep DAVE on separate socket away from the NAIM gear i think

 

[yellowblue]

My experience with SR Orange fuses is the biggest jump in dynamic improvement this side of changing your speakers.

Which SR Orange fuses did you choose for the DAVE and which should I get for the MScaler? And is there some kind of manual how to change the fuses?

 

[yellowblue]

There are some rumours btw on a forum at Audiophilestyle that there will be a new offer for Orange fuses (pay 2 and get 3) in august.

 

[adrianm]

any you would recommend as having naim gear RFI filters have not worked well in past, have used an AIRLINK balanced transformer which was a great cost effective upgrade so know benefits clean mains can bring to a system and would keep DAVE on separate socket away from the NAIM gear i think

I got the Isotek Sirius for my Sony TA-ZH1ES and it improved it drastically.They're made for hi-fi so can't really go wrong , i would stick to the Sirius line or higher though, Polaris is a cheaper alternative but less Rfi reducftion.
Since then i have returned the Sony and going to get Dave in a week or 2, going to test it with then.Even if the improvements aren't as drastic , there's the added surge protection.