CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[adrianm]

If the two modes had been described as fixed volume (FVOL) and variable volume (VVOL) on the display I wonder if listeners would still have been convinced one sounded better than the other.

I was at a party with 3 people, using speakers, and we were all startled by the change, after listening to it for 40 minutes in Pre mode. No one was reading Dave's display. If the volume difference was the only thing that changed that added perceived clarity, fair enough, I can maybe believe that. But thinking everything is induced placebo is kind of ridiculous.
Not everyone reads or cares what forums say.

 

[miketlse]

I was wondering when the suggestion would come that you should wrap the m scalar in tinfoil connected separately to earth, and maybe the DAVE as well.

What's left of the tinfoil would make a nice hat.

I could make a comment about blocking heat transfer, but not RFI

 

[Icenine2]

I'm getting Audio-itch and thinking about a DAVE in place of my HugoTT2. I own DCS Stealth and not sure about headphone section being enough but maybe that is just audio grumbling. Thanks

 

[ra990]

I was at a party with 3 people, using speakers, and we were all startled by the change, after listening to it for 40 minutes in Pre mode. No one was reading Dave's display. If the volume difference was the only thing that changed that added perceived clarity, fair enough, I can maybe believe that. But thinking everything is induced placebo is kind of ridiculous.
Not everyone reads or cares what forums say.

If simply switching from variable to fixed volume gave you a startling change, then something else was up. That change should be so subtle that it would be near undetectable, and if you believe the designer, no change at all. Maybe you bumped up the volume by changing to DAC mode, that would explain a startling change that 3 people noticed.

 

[adrianm]

If simply switching from variable to fixed volume gave you a startling change, then something else was up. That change should be so subtle that it would be near undetectable, and if you believe the designer, no change at all. Maybe you bumped up the volume by changing to DAC mode, that would explain a startling change that 3 people noticed.

Could be, was the first time using Dave with speakers (not my setup), had no bias or expectation either way, just wanted to see if there is a difference. Still not really invested enough to investigate more. Dave + SRC-DX sounds so good I'm not really interested in experimenting anymore. I can still recommend the HPA4, whether it's the pre or the amp that makes a difference, but for the Elites it's just not worth the hassle.
Would you say there is a loss of transparency using the CMA Fifteen instead of the TT2? I expected it to be able to drive the Stealth easily.

 

[zen87192]

The Silent Angel items have arrived! Gosh they're teeny, tiny, incy wincy! There's a picture of my Fiio M17 DAP for scale next to the stack
Time to get them connected to the DAVE.....

 

[ra990]

Would you say there is a loss of transparency using the CMA Fifteen instead of the TT2? I expected it to be able to drive the Stealth easily.

I use one or the other, they're both really nice DAC/AMPs. I'm not putting the TT2 through another amp. I've tried a bunch, I prefer the direct out. But TT2 direct out is a different story than the DAVE. I would consider a headamp with the DAVE for sure.

 

[Triode User]

Daniel Weiss also claims his digital volume control does not affect sound quality, and people who have heard his dac tends to disagree, including reviewers.

Yeah, but to be fair that isn’t a Dave.

Also, after more than 5 years of using Dave every day in various systems i have never heard any difference between Dac mode and Pre amp mode with the Dave. The only pre amp i have ever heard approach Dave for transparency and sound quality is a Music First Baby Ref V2. That was very good but not as good as Dave and that is why i use the dave in pre amp mode to control the volume into my power amps.

By the way, i just sit my Dave directly on top of the Arc6 power supply. No special feet etc. The underside of the top of the Arc6 is very well damped anyway with layers of heavy adhesive sound deadening similar to the stuff used inside car body panels. My SRC.DX doesn’t sit on anything, it just hangs in free space between the cables attached to it.

 

[zen87192]

Silent Angel In situ.... connected to DAVE and now updating firmware... almost there....

 

[jlbrach]

I was at a party with 3 people, using speakers, and we were all startled by the change, after listening to it for 40 minutes in Pre mode. No one was reading Dave's display. If the volume difference was the only thing that changed that added perceived clarity, fair enough, I can maybe believe that. But thinking everything is induced placebo is kind of ridiculous.
Not everyone reads or cares what forums say.

I dont care if 100 people said the same thing there is no difference

 

[zen87192]

Ever since the DAVE has been manufactured have there been any updates to the internals/electronics/cables or the programming? Or has it all stayed the same since day one?

 

[Ciggavelli]

Ever since the DAVE has been manufactured have there been any updates to the internals/electronics/cables or the programming? Or has it all stayed the same since day one?

There was an unacknowledged “firmware” update. I had to send my old DAVE into repairs to get the “firmware” upgraded so it could work with my m-scaler. Prior to the firmware update, the m-scaler didn’t work with the DAVE. Chord probably won’t acknowledge it though, but it affected other people on this forum too

 

[Hiker816]

Ever since the DAVE has been manufactured have there been any updates to the internals/electronics/cables or the programming? Or has it all stayed the same since day one?

My dealer told me Chord updated the DAVE with some minor improvements/revisions to a few parts & wiring in 10/2020. I have no idea of that's actually true, though.

 

[sm60]

I think you might be responding to the sonic degradation caused by digital truncation of bits in the preamplifier mode that sounds pretty lousy to my ears. I’ve heard digital DACs with volume control for 30+ years. I haven’t yet heard one that sounds as good as the untruncated output run into an active (solid state or tube) or even passive preamplifier. If I run my Dave direct into my power amplifiers, I’m setting the volume control of the Dave around -35dB to -45dB depending on the recording level, the speaker sensitivity and the power amplifier sensitivity. -45dB digital truncation throws away a lot of bits. Now there’s digital skullduggery to make this less awful, like dithering and of course M-scaling etc., but as the old saying goes, you can put lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day, it’s still a pig.

 

[Rob Watts]

"-45dB digital truncation throws away a lot of bits."

But that's the whole point - my DACs never truncate, no bits are thrown away.