[mammal]

__nevermind__

 

[Arnold Schwartz]

Upsampling had the effect of sounding more relaxed. By relaxed I mean there was slightly less impact (noticeable on the bass) and transient response felt a tad bit slower which makes it a bit easier to listen to and the soundstage felt a bit wider as the music was less forward - however the difference was marginal and in the end the hassle wasn’t worth it for me - I can thankfully still hear up to 15.5kHz and all listening tests were conducted in the evening when my environment was quiet.

I guess if that’s what you’re looking for then it might be worth it…but given the investment I would rather put money towards components that suit your music preference and have a simple turn-key solution unless you already have the infrastructure to store and stream upsampled content.

 

[Articnoise]

An amp improves nothing (with a TT2) unless either your headphones are not being properly driven (arguably susvara) or you simply prefer the coloration. The TT2 signal from the headphone output is direct from the DAC, adding an amp is not going to add more resolution and transparency, it might create the feeling of a larger soundstage through distortion which you might like.

At this price point, you’re talking about preferences which is fine but some people use the wrong language to describe things or they are coloured by their own bias and blindspots - best solution is to add those people to your ignore list so it’s easier to read these forums.

I wonder how many times I have read just this, only to see the same people use a good amplifier with their Chord DAC a couple of years later .

Which amplifiers have you tested together with TT2 BTW?

 

[Articnoise]

Most so called audiophile have bias towards what have they have been listening for years. They are afraid of anything which is closer to real life performances.

I'm pretty sure that most people who own a TT2 are audiophiles and are aiming for geting closer to real life performances.

 

[Tanalasta]

I'm pretty sure that most people who own a TT2 are audiophiles and are aiming for geting closer to real life performances.

Or … audiophiles who have yet to (or cannot afford) Dave or DCS so compromised and bought the TT2

 

[Articnoise]

Or … audiophiles who have yet to (or cannot afford) Dave or DCS so compromised and bought the TT2

Most audiophiles has to start somewhere , many with audio gear which are below TT2.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Or … audiophiles who have yet to (or cannot afford) Dave or DCS so compromised and bought the TT2

A 4000+ euro compromise. Isn't it like saying he couldn't afford (yet) a Ferrari so he compromised and got a Porsche? (and I am not saying that the TT2, like the Porsche, is in fact more functional... or is it?)

 

[Slim1970]

teOr … audiophiles who have yet to (or cannot afford) Dave or DCS so compromised and bought the TT2

My reasoning for wanting a Dave is a little different. The TT2 has more than enough processing power for headphone listening and enjoyment. Since I wasn‘t using the TT2 to its full potential and using it more as a DAC I decided to move up and get the best DAC Chord makes. Now that I have upgraded, there is no question that the Dave is a step up in every way except power output. Those seeking the best sonic experience should aspire to get the Dave. Those needing a all-in-one with more power should no doubt should get the TT2. I owned my TT2 for 2 years before making the jump to the Dave.

 

[Tanalasta]

My reasoning for wanting a Dave is a little different. The TT2 has more than enough processing power for headphone listening and enjoyment. Since I wasn‘t using the TT2 to its full potential and using it more as a DAC I decided to move up and get the best DAC Chord makes. Now that I have upgraded, there is no question that the Dave is a step up in every way except power output. Those seeking the best sonic experience should aspire to get the Dave. Those needing a all-in-one with more power should no doubt should get the TT2. I owned my TT2 for 2 years before making the jump to the Dave.

My comment was mostly having a spot of fun. The Chord lineup has a number of compromises at each step perhaps due to the several year product cycle and lack of updates in between. The TT2 is an amazing DAC and a significant step up from the Hugo 2. I don’t own a Dave and trust it’s a step up again. I ’m looking forward to the next iteration of Chord DACs. Interestingly several Dave owners contemplate or have chained Dave to an amp.

 

[Pashmeister]

My comment was mostly having a spot of fun. The Chord lineup has a number of compromises at each step perhaps due to the several year product cycle and lack of updates in between. The TT2 is an amazing DAC and a significant step up from the Hugo 2. I don’t own a Dave and trust it’s a step up again. I ’m looking forward to the next iteration of Chord DACs. Interestingly several Dave owners contemplate or have chained Dave to an amp.

The joke is expected to rub someone the wrong way.

The Holo Audio May seems to be a pretty good alternative to TT2 at the price, btw. If TT2 is being used primarily as a DAC only, for the same price the May KTE might be a good option too

 

[Slim1970]

My comment was mostly having a spot of fun. The Chord lineup has a number of compromises at each step perhaps due to the several year product cycle and lack of updates in between. The TT2 is an amazing DAC and a significant step up from the Hugo 2. I don’t own a Dave and trust it’s a step up again. I ’m looking forward to the next iteration of Chord DACs. Interestingly several Dave owners contemplate or have chained Dave to an amp.

No offense on my part and I actually agree with what you are saying. Chord is definitely slow to update their products. They also lack the feature set of some of the latest gear. One thing we can’t deny is their DAC technology is first class and hard to beat from a sound standpoint. Making them relevant even by today’s standards. Very few DAC’s offer the level of detail retrieval, transparency, resolution and insight of Chord‘s DAC’s. I just love their sound.

Yes, unfortunately the Dave’s lack of power forces you to use external amps with hard to drive headphones. That’s not the case with the TT2. It can drive anything and the sound quality from the XLR outputs can go toe to toe with the best amps if I’m being honest. I just never took advantage of that extra power and preferred the sound of the headphone amps I currently have on hand. Even if it means giving up some transparency.

I can say that the loss of transparency and resolve is even more noticeable when hooking up an external amp to the Dave than it was on the TT2. The TT2 also sounds a pinch warmer than the Dave. I would have loved to kept the TT2 to use in a second setup. I couldn’t justify keeping both unfortunately.

 

[rkt31]

The joke is expected to rub someone the wrong way.

The Holo Audio May seems to be a pretty good alternative to TT2 at the price, btw. If TT2 is being used primarily as a DAC only, for the same price the May KTE might be a good option too

This attached measurements from asr is difficult to master and holo may is no exception.

 

[Currawong]

This attached measurements from asr is difficult to master and holo may is no exception.

Rkt31: I understand that you love Chord products, but going around threads trashing any and every product that competes with Chord is not doing anyone any favours, and especially when it is not in a Chord thread (such posts like this you've made in other product threads where Chord was mentioned), it amounts to trolling. What is worse, is that you regularly state that Rob Watts said something, without any link, including supposed negative about competing products. That makes Rob Watts and Chord look bad.

If you have experience with all the competing products you keep trashing, then maybe you might have some valuable insight, but what you're doing is just trolling as far as I can see.

Think very carefully before replying to this, especially if my post has pissed you off. I hope that you consider contributing positively to threads with your experience of products and not measurbating trash from other sites and appeal to authority arguments just because you don't want people saying anything nice about other brands that compete with Chord products.

 

[silversurfer616]

…on a lighter note: what cats would choose.

 

[rkt31]

Rkt31: I understand that you love Chord products, but going around threads trashing any and every product that competes with Chord is not doing anyone any favours, and especially when it is not in a Chord thread (such posts like this you've made in other product threads where Chord was mentioned), it amounts to trolling. What is worse, is that you regularly state that Rob Watts said something, without any link, including supposed negative about competing products. That makes Rob Watts and Chord look bad.

If you have experience with all the competing products you keep trashing, then maybe you might have some valuable insight, but what you're doing is just trolling as far as I can see.

Think very carefully before replying to this, especially if my post has pissed you off. I hope that you consider contributing positively to threads with your experience of products and not measurbating trash from other sites and appeal to authority arguments just because you don't want people saying anything nice about other brands that compete with Chord products.

Exactly that's what I wanted to say. This is tt2 thread not holo may. Btw nothing personal but I remember you used to be a big yggy fan.