I can't wait!
I recognize that the unit is sturdy and aesthetically pleasing, but psychologically, I'm willing to bet that I am not the only nut-job who wants to 'take good care' of the Mojo, and who brings it everywhere he goes!
Now, if Mython or Relic would only explain what those wave charts mean, I could begin to buy winning lottery tickets to buy DAVE!
As I understand it, in simple terms:
Those graphs are waveforms of the output of each device. In a true analogue wave form you have infinite points along the curve and that's what is considered 100% representation of the original analogue performance, what we hear in the real world, live. This is Rob's goal, to reproduce the original analogue performance. His goal of moving toward an infinite Tap length filter is a big part of what gives his DACs an analogue like sound, something that many people just find more musical over 'traditional' digital to analogue reconstruction, even if they can't describe why. With the Dave it certainly seems like he's getting close.
It's a complex issue and many in the industry say that after a certain point with measurements the differences are inaudible. It seems with Rob's filter, and the general public reactions to his DAC designs, that the differences are indeed audible, and favourable, over other implementations. Like Rob has mentioned previously, I feel we grossly underestimate what the brain is capable of deciphering when listening to audio and our measurement devices really just scratch the surface of what we can process (
this however is a topic for Sound Science and will easily de-rail this thread)
Example of an analogue waveform on an oscilloscope:
What DACs do is try to reproduce the original analogue waveform based on the sampling rate of the digital file for time samples and the bit depth for voltage amplitude. Here is a rudimentary illustration of a digital sine wave compared to an analogue sine wave:
In simple terms what Rob is doing with his WTA filter is filling in the stair steps to closer match the original analogue performance. With the Mojo and Hugo it's much better than the PCM1795 (a top rate 'off the shelf' DAC) illustrated in the earlier post. With the Dave it is out of the ballpark and incredibly analogue like.
I mean, just look how analogue like that waveform is from the Dave:
Of course there are many other factors to consider besides the waveform. Issues like noise floor modulation and harmonic distortion come to mind when producing an analogue signal from digital, but Rob seems to have taken care of most of these issues with the Dave. Indeed the measurements for THD (0.000015% @2.5Vrms) and noise floor modulation (none measurable) are an indication of the incredible total performance. There are many other factors as well like taking care of RF noise and a host technical hurdles to creating a transparent output. The Mojo and Hugo are good, the Dave is outstanding (according to reports).
But it'll cost you in the ballpark of $13000 to get one, plus $2500 for the gorgeous stand.....
. Dave still outperforms though! Shhhhhh Dave. However, if you consider the price differences, then you will have a good $$$/quality. Unfortunately, these are only measurements. Using the actual two products can be a different story. The only to verify Yggdrasil's claims is to ask someone who used Yggdrasil and Dave on daily basis, stating their disadvantages before advantages, and comparing the two.
