[marcmccalmont]

I haven't come across anything other than the SRC.DX that conforms to the Chord dual bnc arrangement. I am unclear whether Rob's approach conforms to dual-wire AES, which is not widely supported but there are a few devices that cover that.

I am surprised you find improvement with the U18. I've tried that arrangement too and found that (with the best power supply for the SRC.DX that I have available) the SRC.DX (with a Matrix Element H USB card and no USB cable - so SRC.DX plugged directed into the USB port by a hard adapter) was exceptional.

The Gustard device is a good device and works well with the Gustard X26pro so I don't doubt good results.Just that every change of power supply to the SRC.DX and every change in connecting USB link made a big difference, in single or dual output mode.

I’m using the src dx stock using usb power how do you hack it for external power and what power supply do you use?

 

[Lgn3]

Hi Rez does not really contain any more meaningful content over and above red book files - which were specified to capture the widest audible frequency band. So our theoretical youth wouldn't glean much above 18khz. Whether musical instruments contain harmonics above 18khz (even 21khz) is meaningless to pretty much everyone unless you're an audiophile dog or bat. The frequencies that most people complain about in respect of harshness or overly bright are generally under 10kz and often result from distortion in the presence band.

I remember the same effect from having my ears syringed - a great, if short-lived upgrade.

Quite.This is why I am skeptical of claims of significant ( at least significant enough to be reliably identified ) audible differences between hi res and red book and particularly skeptical if the claim is made by a 60+ year old. This assumes same mastering.

 

[LucyWu]

I’m using the src dx stock using usb power how do you hack it for external power and what power supply do you use?

No hacking involved. The main (possibly only) advantage to using a "audiophile" USB card in the computer is that you can power them externally with a very good supply completely separate from the noisy computer supplies. The SRC.DX is then powered by the high quality supply powering the USB card directly from the USB port. I use the Matrix Element H, but the JCAT USB XE is probably a bit better overall.

Quite.This is why I am skeptical of claims of significant ( at least significant enough to be reliably identified ) audible differences between hi res and red book and particularly skeptical if the claim is made by a 60+ year old. This assumes same mastering.

I think advantages in hi rez mastering is in being able to use gentler filters which reduces aliasing effects around the filter cutoff point. Delta/Sigma schemes probably produce a cleaner output with less down/up sampling required to get from hi rez ds mastering stage to DAC output. Wider bit depth is possibly more advantageous sonically but is not relevant to a discussion of high frequency content.

 

[Lgn3]

I think advantages in hi rez mastering is in being able to use gentler filters which reduces aliasing effects around the filter cutoff point. Delta/Sigma schemes probably produce a cleaner output with less down/up sampling required to get from hi rez ds mastering stage to DAC output. Wider bit depth is possibly more advantageous sonically but is not relevant to a discussion of high frequency content.

I agree greater bit depth in mastering allows more headroom for engineers in the studio but whether the resulting master released as hi res or red book is audibly different I am not so sure. In any case I must be careful not to stray from Dave thread.

 

[SteveHulk]

I remember the same effect from having my ears syringed - a great, if short-lived upgrade.

This is actually an interesting case in point.

The wax buildup would be like ageing in fast-forward.

As the wax builds up the performance of the ear degrades more and more due to the increasing blockage. During this process the brain progressively compensates for the loss so that the listening experience in the conscious mind remains consistent with the learned expectation for those sounds.

When you got your ears syringed the performance of the ear was suddenly restored but the adjustment that the brain was then making remained as your "short-lived upgrade" and persisted until this enhancement was unwound and your hearing returned to normal.

I remember much the same effect when I spent some time in an anechoic chamber. I stepped out into a universe of tiny tiny sounds and I could actually have heard a pin drop. After a short while my brain readjusted and all those sounds just faded away.

While I was in the total silence of the chamber my brain had been effectively "turning up the gain" in an effort to maintain consistency with an expected soundscape which simply wasn't there.

When I came out the "gain" stayed high for a while and I experienced that preternaturally sharp hearing until the "gain" went back down to normal.

It just shows how much the brain processes sound between the initial detection by nerves in the ear and the final presentation to the conscious mind.

 

[LucyWu]

This is actually an interesting case in point.

The wax buildup would be like ageing in fast-forward.

As the wax builds up the performance of the ear degrades more and more due to the increasing blockage. During this process the brain progressively compensates for the loss so that the listening experience in the conscious mind remains consistent with the learned expectation for those sounds.

When you got your ears syringed the performance of the ear was suddenly restored but the adjustment that the brain was then making remained as your "short-lived upgrade" and persisted until this enhancement was unwound and your hearing returned to normal.

I remember much the same effect when I spent some time in an anechoic chamber. I stepped out into a universe of tiny tiny sounds and I could actually have heard a pin drop. After a short while my brain readjusted and all those sounds just faded away.

While I was in the total silence of the chamber my brain had been effectively "turning up the gain" in an effort to maintain consistency with an expected soundscape which simply wasn't there.

When I came out the "gain" stayed high for a while and I experienced that preternaturally sharp hearing until the "gain" went back down to normal.

It just shows how much the brain processes sound between the initial detection by nerves in the ear and the final presentation to the conscious mind.

Good points Steve - after my syringing I remember the rustle of my clothing walking back to the car - it was like the whole world was close-miked and directly injected into my ear canal for a couple of hours. Fun in an odd way!

I've spent some time in anechoic chambers too and I agree - the change when you come back out is very profound.

 

[Drewligarchy]

About 6 months ago I queried the board on the best way to use my Chord Dave / M-scaler with both my headphones and a potential two channel setup.

6 months and a little bit too much money later, the set up is complete:

My Lumin U1 is acting as transport for my Chord gear, complete with Opto DX and Wave Cables. As I have two headphone amps + an integrated (Pass Int 60) for the two channel, I got a decware splitter box to go to my Woo Wa33 Elite, and Enleum 23r. The balanced out of my Chord Dave is feeding a 15-20 foot run, under the carpet, to my Pass Integrated. Pass is driving a pair of Martin Logan Expression 13a

While I use the Lumin/Dave front end for music, I got and RME ADI-2 specifically for taking the optical out of the TV and feeding another pair of balanced cables to the Int 60s second input. While the interconnects, due to length, are Blue Jeans and Mogami, I got a full loom of Nordost speaker cables and power cords. Last piece was an upgrade to a 77 inch LG C2 OLED. Thanks for all your help! The Dave sounds flawless - even with that run. I think I'm finally at endgame; either way, I have a helluva office / man cave:

 

[Lgn3]

This is actually an interesting case in point.

The wax buildup would be like ageing in fast-forward.

As the wax builds up the performance of the ear degrades more and more due to the increasing blockage. During this process the brain progressively compensates for the loss so that the listening experience in the conscious mind remains consistent with the learned expectation for those sounds.

When you got your ears syringed the performance of the ear was suddenly restored but the adjustment that the brain was then making remained as your "short-lived upgrade" and persisted until this enhancement was unwound and your hearing returned to normal.

I remember much the same effect when I spent some time in an anechoic chamber. I stepped out into a universe of tiny tiny sounds and I could actually have heard a pin drop. After a short while my brain readjusted and all those sounds just faded away.

While I was in the total silence of the chamber my brain had been effectively "turning up the gain" in an effort to maintain consistency with an expected soundscape which simply wasn't there.

When I came out the "gain" stayed high for a while and I experienced that preternaturally sharp hearing until the "gain" went back down to normal.

It just shows how much the brain processes sound between the initial detection by nerves in the ear and the final presentation to the conscious mind.

Brain trying to compensate may have some downsides !

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.821537/full

 

[SteveHulk]

Brain trying to compensate may have some downsides !

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.821537/full

I read the article. Very interesting.

Discussions such as this one we are having here and this kind of research inform the decisions taken when designing a piece of kit such as the DAVE.

The research establishes a correlation between hearing loss and anxiety without establishing cause and effect.

I have, however, long held the suspicion that environmental noise and hearing loss are just two triggers of a common mechanism that is damaging to human psychological and physiological health.

My idea is rooted in the survival value of hearing for a wild animal.

Hearing enables a wild animal to monitor its surroundings continuously for the small sounds that might be the only warning of an imminent predator attack. The animal can relax (to some degree) while this monitoring is carried out continuously on its entire surroundings with no blind spots.

Hearing loss would increase stress in such an animal because then there would be a systematically heightened threat of undetected attack, requiring more constant visual monitoring and heightened alertness.

I think that the reason that noise in the modern environment is known to be so damaging to health is something similar: the noise blots out small sounds leaving you in a similar heightened state of stress.

This persistent elevated chronic stress results in health problems that flow from the elevated heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline levels etc that are a response to stress.

A high-quality sound system provides these small sound cues that enable relaxation and the ebbing away of stress. The music being realistic and therefore easy to listen to is one of the hallmarks of quality in a sound system.

I think this is an important reason why the attention to very small tiny sounds and strict control of the noise floor elevates the performance of DAVE to the high level it reaches.

 

[miketlse]

I'm reading 'The Selfish Gene - 40th anniversary edition', and earlier this week read the section explaining that genes that had negative effects later in life, after reproduction had been completed, might remain in the gene pool for a long period without being eliminated.

It is plausible that modern day environmental noise might be causing the effects you describe, but that it will take many more generations of humans before the gene pool has become modified enough (if it ever will?) to negate the impacts of the hearing loss.

I am certainly finding it thought provoking re-reading the book again 40+ years after the first time, and realising how much of the deep explanation that I failed to fully comprehend the first time.

 

[miketlse]

So basically messing around with switches and clocks is a waste of time and money.

Rob has already posted that conclusion for domestic users who just want to listen to two channel music, using Chord equipment.

Nevertheless there is an increasing number of enthusiasts on head-fi and other forums, happily posting about the potential benefits of removing the original clock chips in Chord dacs, with more expensive higher spec chips.
I prefer to trust Robs engineering knowledge, and suspect that any claimed 'improvements' are expectation bias.

Rob has also posted that for multi-channel users in recording studios, external clocks are best practice because of the need to keep all the multiple ADC, DAC etc in sync.
This will no doubt impact the ongoing development of the Chord ADC for professional users.
In theory enthusiasts could talk about upgrading those chips etc.
However that does represent a niche use of Chord gear, which will not be encountered by virtually all Chord owners.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Rob has already posted that conclusion for domestic users who just want to listen to two channel music, using Chord equipment.

Nevertheless there is an increasing number of enthusiasts on head-fi and other forums, happily posting about the potential benefits of removing the original clock chips in Chord dacs, with more expensive higher spec chips.
I prefer to trust Robs engineering knowledge, and suspect that any claimed 'improvements' are expectation bias.

Rob has also posted that for multi-channel users in recording studios, external clocks are best practice because of the need to keep all the multiple ADC, DAC etc in sync.
This will no doubt impact the ongoing development of the Chord ADC for professional users.
In theory enthusiasts could talk about upgrading those chips etc.
However that does represent a niche use of Chord gear, which will not be encountered by virtually all Chord owners.

I'll just follow Rob's recommendation and not bother with external clocks. Rob's DACs are incredibly resistant to jitter anyway.

 

[adrianm]

In case anyone is looking for a power upgrade to their Dave and doesn't want to mess around with the original design (power supply, filters for specific frequencies ,etc), since I am also selling Dave, my choice of upgrade is available here for a great price:
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/isotek-genesis-one-power-regenerator-with-warranty.35585/

 

[Somatic]

@adrianm you were right. The Dave HP out not in the same league as the Ferrum stack. I recently sold the Ferrum stack and bought a Feliks Envy. Waiting for the Envy still.

I noticed the HP out on the Dave has less note weight, bass quantity has diminished, less punch/slam and treble gets a but hot compared to the Ferrum stack.

 

[adrianm]

@adrianm you were right. The Dave HP out not in the same league as the Ferrum stack. I recently sold the Ferrum stack and bought a Feliks Envy. Waiting for the Envy still.

I noticed the HP out on the Dave has less note weight, bass quantity has diminished, less punch/slam and treble gets a but hot compared to the Ferrum stack.

Looks like Ferrum is the gateway drug You got it after me and sold it before . To be fair, I also placed the order for the HM1 about a month and a half after getting the Oor, but the wait's a PITA .
Yeah, I agree on all counts. Separation and stage are also a bit better, but the treble is one of the biggest areas of improvement.
Congrats on the Envy, super curious to hear your impressions.