[Bonesy Jonesy]

if I say black it seems you say white...it is kind of strange...so be it..I said if an amp is designed as a SE only that it isnt going to mean that it sounds worse than a balanced design...I also said that rob watts at chord has said clearly that the SE out of the dave is his preferred method even though it has XLR out as well..my only point was that an SE amp is not necessarily better or worse than a balanced amp

If you look at most of the top hifi manufacturers, their top of the line / reference products are normally analogue balanced topology outputs and normally with XLR input and output connections.

 

[sonics]

I think all Chord DACs - including Dave - are single ended by design and the XLR is there just for convenience.

 

[jlbrach]

From my own experiences and my ears with owning two fully loaded Chord Choral systems, I don't believe connecting the DAVE with single ended RCA's to either an external Pre-Amp or direct to a Power Amp is superior to the balanced XLR outputs.

The complete Chord Choral system i.e. DAC's (DAVE & QBD76 - Chord's Choral system DAC before the DAVE), Prima Pre-Amp & Mezzo / Etude / Ultima Power Amps are all designed based on analogue output balanced topology to get the best performance from them. I even spoke to Chord myself many years ago on this subject and they said use the balanced XLR outputs if you can to get the best performance.

The DAVE (& QBD76) will give 6V RMS from the XLR balanced connections as opposed to the 3V for single ended RCA's.

I have experimented with the DAVE and the QBD76 in numerous set-up options i.e. using it's built in digital pre-amp and only DAC mode both through my speaker systems and my Susvara's and the balanced XLR output's are far superior to the single ended RCA's. Note I was using the same very high quality cables for both XLR and RCA.

I was quoting rob watts thats all...my assumption is he knows the nuts and bolts of the prodict he designed....nothing more

 

[Articnoise]

There are no right and wrong when it comes to SE vs balanced, and even less if the two devices to be connected are based on different designs in that matter. Best to listen and see which sounds best in your system.

 

[ra990]

I thought it was pretty well known that Chord DACs are natively single ended. Rob Watts has mentioned that in many posts. I would use RCA with his DACs over XLR and the Bakoon would be a great match also being single ended.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

I thought it was pretty well known that Chord DACs are natively single ended. Rob Watts has mentioned that in many posts. I would use RCA with his DACs over XLR and the Bakoon would be a great match also being single ended.

Well I will stick with using the balanced XLR outputs from my DAVE to connect into my forthcoming Hifiman EF1000's balanced XLR inputs when I listen to music both through my speakers and my Susvara's !

 

[iFi audio]

The Bakoon just kinda fits wherever I need it to lol.

How hot is it with Susvara?

 

[jlbrach]

the bakoon gets quite warm to the touch if that is what you mean but because it is small the amount of heat is puts out is minimal

 

[Carm86]

How hot is it with Susvara?

Doesn't seem to really matter what I have hooked up to it, stays consistently at about 40-45C along the front of the unit once its saturated. Hotter towards the right near headphone jack.

 

[iFi audio]

the bakoon gets quite warm to the touch if that is what you mean but because it is small the amount of heat is puts out is minimal

Thanks! I suspected that it gets quite hot but was designed to handle this I imagine.

Doesn't seem to really matter what I have hooked up to it, stays consistently at about 40-45C along the front of the unit once its saturated. Hotter towards the right near headphone jack.

 

[onlychild]

DAVE, when single-ended, is limited to 0.5A of current output and while balanced, it is limited even more to 0.05A. Some amps require higher current than this to sound their best. When these amps don't get enough signal current, they will sound thin, shallow and slow. This is what I have been told by several amp manufacturers. Those who experience a thin and anemic sound with their DAVE driving their amp directly are probably dealing with this problem and so in these instances, make sure you're using DAVE's RCA outputs which put out 10x more current.

This is why I use the SE output of DAVE to power my Riviera power amp when using DAVE as the preamp

 

[iFi audio]

This is why I use the SE output of DAVE to power my Riviera power amp when using DAVE as the preamp

At times simple electric compliance (or its lack) is the important part, not a component itself.

 

[TheAttorney]

the bakoon gets quite warm to the touch if that is what you mean but because it is small the amount of heat is puts out is minimal

Does it have a standby option?
And does it run cooler when volume control at minimum? [1]
And finally, has anyone actually measured its AC power consumption? A better indicator than the temperature of a small enclosure
And finally, finally, how long from cold before it reaches peak SQ?

[1] My understanding is that the bakoon volume control works on the output end (rather than the more usual input end). This suggests the possibility of power consumption reducing with low settings of the volume control.

(As you can probably tell, I like my hifi to be energy-efficient ).

 

[donato]

Does it have a standby option?
And does it run cooler when volume control at minimum? [1]
And finally, has anyone actually measured its AC power consumption? A better indicator than the temperature of a small enclosure
And finally, finally, how long from cold before it reaches peak SQ?

[1] My understanding is that the bakoon volume control works on the output end (rather than the more usual input end). This suggests the possibility of power consumption reducing with low settings of the volume control.

(As you can probably tell, I like my hifi to be energy-efficient ).

Their web site lists this in the specs

Power Consumption

30 watts (Idle) / 200 watts (Max)

I guess no class A amps for you . My Viva draws 300w all the time and helps keep my room warm

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Their web site lists this in the specs

Power Consumption

30 watts (Idle) / 200 watts (Max)

I guess no class A amps for you . My Viva draws 300w all the time and helps keep my room warm

My incoming EF1000 is also a beast for power consumption, so guess I will be sweating in the summer months !

I read in a thread that a guy who has the monster Viva Egoista 845 only uses it in the winter months due to it's sheer heat output and uses a much smaller amp in the summer months !