CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[harris4crna]

I purchased the Dave and Mscaler for $9k. Perhaps I should have waited. It's definitely a buyers market. I cannot sell my items at all. They just sit.

 

[edwardsean]

All of this has been very interesting, as I’m thinking of letting go of my Dave and Sean Jacobs DC3/DC4 hybrid power supply. If anyone is interested, please send me a message.

 

[Mau10]

Hi guys,

I realize I’m joining the Dave club quite late. I’ve wanted a Dave for a couple of years, but I didn’t want to buy a DAC that might be updated soon, so I decided to keep my TT2/Mscaler. To my surprise, the Quartet is coming, and it seems that a Dave 2.0 is still more than a year away, at least. Additionally, prices are coming down, making this seem like a good moment to try it.

After a thorough search, I found a well-maintained 2020 Dave here in the classifieds for around $6k+. However, a dealer from whom I’ve purchased products before claims that units produced from 2021 sound significantly better, which doesn’t make much sense to me. While this could be due to a supply issue resulting in differences between certain components, I doubt it would be that significant. I’ve been trying to find out if Chord made a silent upgrade and how much it impacts sound quality, but I haven’t found anything solid. I remember reading one of @Reactcore 's posts about his projects, where he may have mentioned some differences between older models, but again, nothing pointing to a significant improvement. If it turns out there are indeed meaningful differences between production years, any specific serial numbers or additional information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vyyy]

I think Chord can update your dealer on that so that such claims wont spread further

P.s. Had 2019 Dave now 2022year, sound same good really!

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Hi guys,

I realize that I am joining the Dave club quite late. I’ve wanted a Dave for a couple of years, but I didn’t want to buy a DAC that might be updated soon, so I decided to keep my TT2/Mscaler. To my surprise, the Quartet is coming, and it seems that a Dave 2.0 is still more than a year away, at least. Additionally, prices are coming down, which seems like a good moment to try it.

I would not be concerned about a Dave 2.0, it is not even a twinkle in Rob's eye. the quartet scaler is probably almost a year away, then the Ultima dac(not a Dave 2), is after that, probably at least a few years after. Any Dave 2 would most likely be after that, and contingent on new FPGAs coming from Xilinx that allow him to improve performance, I would rest easy buying a Dave now if it was me, it's still an incredible dac.

 

[Mau10]

I think Chord can update your dealer on that so that such claims wont spread further

P.s. Had 2019 Dave now 2022year, sound same good really!

 

[Triode User]

Hi guys,

I realize I’m joining the Dave club quite late. I’ve wanted a Dave for a couple of years, but I didn’t want to buy a DAC that might be updated soon, so I decided to keep my TT2/Mscaler. To my surprise, the Quartet is coming, and it seems that a Dave 2.0 is still more than a year away, at least. Additionally, prices are coming down, making this seem like a good moment to try it.

After a thorough search, I found a well-maintained 2020 Dave here in the classifieds for around $6k+. However, a dealer from whom I’ve purchased products before claims that units produced from 2021 sound significantly better, which doesn’t make much sense to me. While this could be due to a supply issue resulting in differences between certain components, I doubt it would be that significant. I’ve been trying to find out if Chord made a silent upgrade and how much it impacts sound quality, but I haven’t found anything solid. I remember reading one of @Reactcore 's posts about his projects, where he may have mentioned some differences between older models, but again, nothing pointing to a significant improvement. If it turns out there are indeed meaningful differences between production years, any specific serial numbers or additional information would be greatly appreciated.

I have had three Daves from various vintages and they all sounded exactly the same. The Dave is a premium product and tends to be well looked after by owners so I personally would have no fears from buying a second user model. Indeed that is exactly what I did for a system where I had a Qutest + 3rd party power supply + pre amplifer and realised I could get get a second hand Dave for the same money. The second hand Dave I bought is pre 2021 and I can assure you it sounds exactly the same as another very recent Dave that I also have.

To my mind the Quartet Scaler will turn the Dave into the Dave 2, or at least it will negate the need for a Dave 2.

I have not particularly noticed any real drop in Dave prices so I would say that if you see a well priced one then grab it. You will not be disappointed and to my ears it is a significant step up from the TT2. I would keep the Mscaler though if you can afford to do that because the Dave sounds great with the Mscaler.

 

[Reactcore]

Hi all,
My next DIY thread about the Choral battery supply is up. I will put the link in my signature also.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/daves-choral-battery-supply.974510/
Happy reading

 

[Vyyy]

Hi all,
My next DIY thread about the Choral battery supply is up. I will put the link in my signature also.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/daves-choral-battery-supply.974510/
Happy reading

Can i order one?

 

[Reactcore]

Yeap after almost 10 years.. still one of the best..

 

[number1sixerfan]

Hi all,
My next DIY thread about the Choral battery supply is up. I will put the link in my signature also.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/daves-choral-battery-supply.974510/
Happy reading

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this, good luck and eagerly await to hear the listening impressions.

 

[yagislav]

Does anybody know if I want to get either 2V or 4V output from the XLR of DAVE what dB should be set? “DAC” mode -3dB coming out 6V via XLR is too hot for my integrated which has input sensitivity of 4V.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Triode User]

Does anybody know if I want to get either 2V or 4V output from the XLR of DAVE what dB should be set? “DAC” mode -3dB coming out 6V via XLR is too hot for my integrated which has input sensitivity of 4V.

Thanks in advance!

What I have always done is to ignore theoretical voltages and instead to adjust the Dave volume so that one has a workable volume range on the integrated amplifier volume control. If you are getting any distortion during loud passages back off the Dave volume a bit more.

 

[Ards]

Of if you have access to a PC oscilloscope, or similar, you can push a test signal, eg a 1kHz sine wave through the DAVE and your amp and adjust until it you see the output clips, then back off until the clipping is gone.

 

[Jawed]

Does anybody know if I want to get either 2V or 4V output from the XLR of DAVE what dB should be set? “DAC” mode -3dB coming out 6V via XLR is too hot for my integrated which has input sensitivity of 4V.

Thanks in advance!

-3dB is 3V RMS, so -10dB would be 1.34V RMS with 0dBFS on the digital input. 75% level from 3v is -5.5 so use -6 on the display - that will set the level to 2.1v max.

If the specification of your amplifier is for clipping, then -6dB is technically capable of clipping (because maximum is more than RMS). So reduce it a bit more, e.g.-9dB.

If you do not have any other inputs being used on your integrated amplifier, you might prefer to set the amplifier's volume control to maximum. Then use the DAVE's volume control for listening. e.g. you will be setting DAVE to -45 to -25dB for normal listening - your room size and speaker sensitivity obviously have a large effect here.