CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Conclusion is this:
Some people are still chasing the rabbit
Nothing more nothing less

 

[flyte3333]

Conclusion is this:
Some people are still chasing the rabbit
Nothing more nothing less

Agreed!

Ok enough off-topic from me I think.

Will leave the thread back to Dave.

 

[801evan]

The way you write that, it's as if there are no 2nd hand Daves and Hugo TTs and Hugos and Qutests up for sale all around the world right now.

Probably more than 3 units...

But to me that doesn't mean anything.

There's no conclusion to be drawn from any of that? Right?

Mixing discussions of measurements/blind testing and sales doesn't make any sense to me.

There was an air of objectivity was the point of their claims and at the expense of Chord products.

 

[burbster]

Yes, I've used 192k for many months with no issues at all, and SQ from my Grimm MU1 server is excellent with a good AES cable. And not a ferrite in sight
Initially I compared a number of AES cables at different price ranges and they all worked fine at 192k.
Rob has previously stated that the specified limit was just a general precaution, not a hard rule. YMMV with different servers.

Thanks for the reply! Funnily enough that was why I was asking as I’ve been contemplating changing out my mscaler for an mu1, or do I wait for the new Dave mscaler? I have noticed a few people have made this switch, including yourself I presume? But most were using the usb input into the mscaler, which in my opinion is not it’s best input, did you ever compare mscaler using a coaxial or fibre input compared to the mu1? Just wondering whether the improvements the mu1 bring are perhaps partly down to not having to use usb?

 

[jcn3]

Thanks for the reply! Funnily enough that was why I was asking as I’ve been contemplating changing out my mscaler for an mu1, or do I wait for the new Dave mscaler? I have noticed a few people have made this switch, including yourself I presume? But most were using the usb input into the mscaler, which in my opinion is not it’s best input, did you ever compare mscaler using a coaxial or fibre input compared to the mu1? Just wondering whether the improvements the mu1 bring are perhaps partly down to not having to use usb?

i'm using a simaudio moon mind 2 into my dave with aes cable. like mentioned, i get 192k all day and even DSD64.

 

[TheAttorney]

Thanks for the reply! Funnily enough that was why I was asking as I’ve been contemplating changing out my mscaler for an mu1, or do I wait for the new Dave mscaler? I have noticed a few people have made this switch, including yourself I presume? But most were using the usb input into the mscaler, which in my opinion is not it’s best input, did you ever compare mscaler using a coaxial or fibre input compared to the mu1? Just wondering whether the improvements the mu1 bring are perhaps partly down to not having to use usb?

My full journey is in the Grimm MU1 thread at AudiophileStyle.
Here I'll elaborate about USB vs other connections....

The MU1 has only AES and RCA S/PDIF outputs. HMS has only USB, Optical and BNC S/PDIF inputs.
Therefore I connected MU1 to HMS with a stock Grimm S/PDIF cable with a RCA->BNC converter.
This gave no SQ improvement (and maybe a degradation) compared to MU1 direct AES to DAVE. Which could have been due to cable differences. Or maybe it's not a good idea to cascade upsampling components?

My downsizing objective was to determine if a 2-box system (MU1 -> DAVE) could improve upon my previous multi-box, multi-cable system (including USB, see the AS thread). The answer was that yes it could.

There were too many variables to conclude exactly which component impacted what SQ. What I can say is that my previous system had top quality USB cables (Sablon 2020), top quality BNC cables (Vertere HB Pulse) and top quality Power Supply (PH SR7) powering the tweaked NUC, HMS and ISORegen. So it was a carefully optimised system. Could it have been further improved by, say, adding an optical bridge, or upgrading ISORegen to a Phoenix USB reclocker? Most likely, but my objective was to downsize.

The HMS is still agreat product that has served me well and it did significantly improve DAVE. I'm sure the new one will be better still. And continully trying to get the best out of such components is part of the fun of this hobby - it can also get rather expensive in time and money. I've found the journey interesting and rewarding, but having been there done that, I've now opted for a simpler life.

PS. Getting the MU1 doesn't necessarily stop audiophile tweaking (because everything still matters), but it does significantly reduce the scope of what's available to tweak

 

[adrianm]

I've found the journey interesting and rewarding, but having been there done that, I've now opted for a simpler life.

This is why i’m actually considering a Lina dac (not at retail price,that’s for sure) even though i know half the cost is brand image at this point

 

[ZappaMan]

The “realism” of vocals on Dave is amazing to me, I think it’s the “best” thing about Dave.

This album, the vocals were ways good but kind of harsh or even stereotypical or something, but now they sound like just a voice, rather than what would previously have sounded like which is .. processed.

 

[catac]

Hello,
Does anyone here had a chance to experiment with the new Farad 3 upgrade power source for Dave? I would really be curious about the improvements. Thank you.

 

[catac]

Nice, you will enjoy.

Did you had the chance to experiment with the new Farad 3 power? Can you describe a little bit the improvements? Thank you.

 

[MvRBE10]

Yes i did for a few month now its heaven. If you search a bit back you will find some impressions i wrote when listen to it the first few weeks. Or pm me i can send them. It gives the dave much more musicality, bass texture, stage and focus. And not a bit but alot. A few here already have them ordered and shipped so my guess is next week there impressions will also follow. I also have the farad super3 with silver dc cable on the mscaler and i use the storm wave bnc cables.

 

[catac]

Yes i did for a few month now its heaven. If you search a bit back you will find some impressions i wrote when listen to it the first few weeks. Or pm me i can send them. It gives the dave much more musicality, bass texture, stage and focus. And not a bit but alot. A few here already have them ordered and shipped so my guess is next week there impressions will also follow. I also have the farad super3 with silver dc cable on the mscaler and i use the storm wave bnc cables.

Thank you so much for your answer. Did you bought it directly from Farad? Did you modified yourself the Dave?

 

[MvRBE10]

All the hardware is directly from farad and it comes with a super easy install manual, look below. Around 10min job. I helped farad develope it and abused my dave for it .

 

[catac]

All the hardware is directly from farad and it comes with a super easy install manual, look below. Around 10min job. I helped farad develope it and abused my dave for it .

Thank you! Fantastic job, Sir

 

[TheAttorney]

All the hardware is directly from farad and it comes with a super easy install manual, look below. Around 10min job. I helped farad develope it and abused my dave for it .

Any recommendations for power cords and connectors, seeing as you need 3 of them.
I've previously determined that power cords, connectors and fuses all matter at this level.
Did you try connecting 3 power cords to a single wall plug?

I thought someone was going to compare the Farad vs DC4 power supplies. Ideally also vs DC3, so we could get an idea of the SQ gains at different price points.