[xiaobao0707]

hi fellow head-fiers,

I recently had a chance to audition a Chord Dave at a local dealer's place in HK, while waiting for my hugo2...

It literally blows me away. Last time I had this was in Salle Playel in Paris listening to Li Yundi. 6 years ago.

I know it might be stupid to ask, given the price difference. But Master 11 is getting great review on this site. For those who have experience with both, will you recommend Dave even it's 4x more expensive ?

Thanks for reading and help

 

[bballas]

Where is that dave in HK?Can you send the location?
I want compare with my dac(better than nos11).The dave
in China 6x expensive,more exactly 6x overpriced than gd stuff.

 

[KR...]

yes.

The Dave is meant to complete with DACs costing $20,000 to $30,000.

It is a true reference level DAC without the reference level price.

 

[xiaobao0707]

Where is that dave in HK?Can you send the location?
I want compare with my dac(better than nos11).The dave
in China 6x expensive,more exactly 6x overpriced than gd stuff.

Hi, DMA audio in wanchai has it.

 

[xiaobao0707]

yes.

The Dave is meant to complete with DACs costing $20,000 to $30,000.

It is a true reference level DAC without the reference level price.

Thanks for your reply. Recently read on blu 2 and Dave. Will give it an audition asap and make a decision!

 

[drbobbybones]

hi fellow head-fiers,

I recently had a chance to audition a Chord Dave at a local dealer's place in HK, while waiting for my hugo2...

It literally blows me away. Last time I had this was in Salle Playel in Paris listening to Li Yundi. 6 years ago.

I know it might be stupid to ask, given the price difference. But Master 11 is getting great review on this site. For those who have experience with both, will you recommend Dave even it's 4x more expensive ?

Thanks for reading and help

They're not even close. The DAVE has the most lifelike sound I have ever heard from any DAC. The Master 11 sounds very artificial to me. YMMV but to me its not a fair fight.

 

[bballas]

Thanks,but no Dave on website.Only cheaper model.

 

[xiaobao0707]

Thanks,but no Dave on website.Only cheaper model.

yes indeed. i found it out on the spot too.

 

[xiaobao0707]

They're not even close. The DAVE has the most lifelike sound I have ever heard from any DAC. The Master 11 sounds very artificial to me. YMMV but to me its not a fair fight.

thanks man. never auditioned m11. think will do dave. 2000 usd is not nothing anyway.

 

[bballas]

They're not even close. The DAVE has the most lifelike sound I have ever heard from any DAC. The Master 11 sounds very artificial to me. YMMV but to me its not a fair fight.

Same here.My r2r dam1 ultracap dac sound has the most lifelike sound I have ever heard from any DAC.The NOS7 sounds very artificial to me.
Would be real fight Dave 10000$ vs my r2r Dam1 500$

" Hi,

Yes, we have Chord Dave demonstrated in our showroom.

Please note the address is 4/F Cheong Ming Building, 80-86 Argyle Street, Mong Kok. Hong Kong

Opening hour from 12:30-19:30, Mon-Sat

Best regards
Fung Ning Audio "

I comin soon.......

 

[Quinto]

The Master 11 NOS V2 sounds very natural and detailed.. never heard anyone describe the Master 11 (default 8x os) as artificial before..

 

[Matez]

The Master 11 NOS V2 sounds very natural and detailed.. never heard anyone describe the Master 11 (default 8x os) as artificial before..

That's not a surprise, out of several dozens of sources loaded with vintage PCM1704, none sounded artificial and I'd be surprised if Master 11 would turn out any different in this regard. But Dave, well, it's a different animal. It sounds more even than sources with 1704 d/a on-board and is not as mood/mellowness focused, yet exceptionally tangible still.

 

[Chopin75]

How about comparing Chord Dave vs audio-gd R7 ??
note Audio-gd has many modes from NOS to OS x 8 so one needs to use multiple modes to compare/

 

[simorag]

hi fellow head-fiers,

I recently had a chance to audition a Chord Dave at a local dealer's place in HK, while waiting for my hugo2...

It literally blows me away. Last time I had this was in Salle Playel in Paris listening to Li Yundi. 6 years ago.

I know it might be stupid to ask, given the price difference. But Master 11 is getting great review on this site. For those who have experience with both, will you recommend Dave even it's 4x more expensive ?

Thanks for reading and help

I had Audio GD NOS 11 V2 for about a year before upgrading to the DAVE, and have listened to both side by side for the next few months before selling the NOS 11.

I liked the NOS 11 very much and for the price it is an outstanding machine, which allowed me to move along my headphone upgrade path (HD800S, Utopia, LCD4, AB-1266) very nicely and with a moderate initial investment thanks to its DAC + powerful amp package.

That said, once I heard the DAVE, from the very first note played back it was clear that I was entering an entirely new ballpark in terms of resolution, transparency, speed.
While I did not feel the NOS 11 "unnatural" in any way on its own, the added naturalness from the DAVE (better tone, timbre, transients attack and decay) was strikingly apparent.

To me the price difference is, within the context of the crazy prices of today's hifi and after accounting for the diminishing returns law, justified.

One thing I would add is that the DAVE is really capable to hold its own against 20+ kUSD today's DAC if you add the M Scaler to it (ouch!).
And, if you are going to invest the DAVE + M Scaler kind of money, several alternative options open up. It would be a lot of fun to go audition them before committing to this level of investment