Totally agree with this!
CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE
- Thread starter magiccabbage
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Totally agree with this!
Let's agree to disagree. While you think demos don't do the pairing justice - that's really the only way to know. I don't think anyone is being led astray by telling them to demo the Sus on Dave direct first - as the vast majority of people don't think that pairing does the Sus justice. While everyone's ears are different - I think for people who buy without being able to demo, a strong consensus can be the only thing that helps in making a decision. But again, nothing beats a demo.
801evan
Headphoneus Supremus
It's not a 'everyone's ears are different', it's everyone's chains and ac mains quality are different.
In-store demos are only inaccurate in-so-far as it has to deal with the mall's/ commercial zone ac mains quality, situation vs my home setup that happens to have a better chain. Ofc the situation is flipped if the store is decked out with a dedicated streamer and good signal chain vs a game PC + foobar at home. I mean, I was a happy camper hearing it in the store and it being underwhelming coz I don't have to fantasize about wanting one. But turns out the rest of the chain can make or break how one evaluates a device. With that said, people's sentiments on the Dave + Susvara combo has nothing to do with the Dave + susvara but has everything to do with the rest of the chain.
This is exactly why I've been saying the Dave + susvara combo was very underwhelming at the start, but one must work on it to make it stellar, and a beefy amp isn't the answer. GIGO.
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chesebert
18 Years An Extra-Hardcore Head-Fi'er
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DAC section is at best your average 1-5k chip-based dac.Nah.. i rather keep 60 grand in my pocket
I bet the DAC section in that marble block wont match Dave.. but i wonder if the integrated amps in HE1's cups could be only powered and used with a line signal
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In the update, with the headphones I've tried
Played more than 93%, you can consider using it directly
1. Audeze - LCD XC, LCD-4Z, LCD 5
2.MrSpeakers - Ether C Flow
3. Dan Clark Audio - Stealth
4. Meze - Liric, Elite, Empyrean
5.FOCAL-Utopia, clear mg pro
6. Audio-Technica - L3000, L5000
7. HIFIMAN - HE1000SE
8. Grado - SR325E, RS1
Played more than 90%, maybe need AMP to perform better
A.SONY - Z1R
B.Sennheiser-HD800S,HD800
c.Final audio - D8000pro
May play 87%+, usually requires AMP
a.HiFiMAN-Susvara
b.Abyss - AB-1266 Phi TC
c.Audio-Technica-ADX5000
"Attention! Depending on the system, the amount spent on the last amp may not increase as expected"
"I hope everyone can update and improve together"
Played more than 93%, you can consider using it directly
1. Audeze - LCD XC, LCD-4Z, LCD 5
2.MrSpeakers - Ether C Flow
3. Dan Clark Audio - Stealth
4. Meze - Liric, Elite, Empyrean
5.FOCAL-Utopia, clear mg pro
6. Audio-Technica - L3000, L5000
7. HIFIMAN - HE1000SE
8. Grado - SR325E, RS1
Played more than 90%, maybe need AMP to perform better
A.SONY - Z1R
B.Sennheiser-HD800S,HD800
c.Final audio - D8000pro
May play 87%+, usually requires AMP
a.HiFiMAN-Susvara
b.Abyss - AB-1266 Phi TC
c.Audio-Technica-ADX5000
"Attention! Depending on the system, the amount spent on the last amp may not increase as expected"
"I hope everyone can update and improve together"
ZappaMan
Headphoneus Supremus
Can the xlr output of the Dave power my sub - which has these parameters?
Input Sensitivity: 88dB at 8 ohms
If you can’t use the xlr, what other suggestions are there, get an amp?
Input Sensitivity: 88dB at 8 ohms
If you can’t use the xlr, what other suggestions are there, get an amp?
Reactcore
1000+ Head-Fier
Since i have no warranty on my Dave..
I opened it up and did some voltage measuring. As expected theres 5vdc for digital and + and - 15v for the amp which, on the analog side of the pcb, is downconverted to
+ and - 12v to feed the OP stage components.
This voltage is buffered by four 470uF caps..
2 for + and - for each channel.
On my Qutest i placed two 3300uF low Z caps over the voltage lines to the OP to give it more current reserve for my HP.
I guess just like TT2 has.. exchanging them in the Dave could give benefits too.
It wont give more voltage swing but better peak current delivery for better dynamics and speed.
I wonder on which voltage the OP in TT2 runs..
I opened it up and did some voltage measuring. As expected theres 5vdc for digital and + and - 15v for the amp which, on the analog side of the pcb, is downconverted to
+ and - 12v to feed the OP stage components.
This voltage is buffered by four 470uF caps..
2 for + and - for each channel.
On my Qutest i placed two 3300uF low Z caps over the voltage lines to the OP to give it more current reserve for my HP.
I guess just like TT2 has.. exchanging them in the Dave could give benefits too.
It wont give more voltage swing but better peak current delivery for better dynamics and speed.
I wonder on which voltage the OP in TT2 runs..
number1sixerfan
Headphoneus Supremus
Having owned over half of this list, I can say this seems pretty accurate imo.
I did not get an M Scaler, I haven't found one for a good deal yet so ill be comparing Dave on its own. Both are used connected direct to my amp though, ive yet to find a pre I thought was as good as the digital volume control in the Rockna, I assume the Dave's pre is just as good or better.Welcome to the club!
Are u using a HMS too?
Looking forward to your impressions.. i see wavedream also does upsampling inside
Reactcore
1000+ Head-Fier
Digital volume always gives better transparency. The basic rule applies.. the less components in the analog chain.. the less signal degradation can occur.
HMS auto source detect is a really welcome feature making a pre's switching function not needed.
Just one question: Does mconnect support a full MQA unfold? My Tidal USB source for M-Scaler-Dave is iFi Zen Stream as well, but I am using Tidal Connect. It is very convenient, as I can easily use any device at home (mobiles, iPads) to play Tidal via Dave. I am not sure about the level of Zen Stream MQA unfolding. Can the Zen stream send fully unfolded MQA to M-Scaler or Dave?
801evan
Headphoneus Supremus
Mconnect will let the zen stream do one unfold. My technique doesn't let me use tidal connect as well but I get better SQ. What I do is have the zen stream connect to my phone's hotspot then stream tidal using mconnect to Zen Stream @ exclusive mode 5. It's better quality then having my routers + switch on hypsos /LPS power. If you still decide to use Tidal connect, have the loudness normalization off to give better quality.
Nonetheless, this technique makes MQA sound better than it's Hi-Res counterpart, PGGB and HQplayer.
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Thanks! I use the Zen Stream exclusive mode 3 for Tidal Connect. Normalization off, of course. And I am not 100% sure, but I believe Zen Stream makes the first unfold in my configuration (I will have to verify this).
801evan
Headphoneus Supremus
Tidal connect used to force zen stream to do first unfold which bugged me. Because it always sounds better to let the dac do full mqa unfold. The latest zen stream update gives mqa passthrough options on the ifi app now.
I like how Dave sounds really good with one mqa unfold. So I can only imagine how it scales with HMS.
I like how Dave sounds really good with one mqa unfold. So I can only imagine how it scales with HMS.
Greatly
I do not listen without M-Scaler anymore. The SQ differences are not subtle; most things sound much better to my ears.I have actually bought two M-Scalers - one for my speaker (Dave) setup and the second for my TT2 (Susvara) setup.
I have compared some Tidal MQA / non-MQA versions in my speaker setup (ZenStream>MScaler>Dave) and often preferred the MQA.
