[DJJEZ]

Whatever the trick is, I've been had, haha. I've climbed the Chord ladder from bottom to the top. I started with the Mojo, then upgraded to the Hugo 2. Kept the Hugo 2 and added the TT2. After having the TT2 for a few months I add the M-Scaler. Own that combo for two years and this year I finally got a Dave. Each step has been profound step up in performance and sound quality.

The Dave is definitely worth the price of admission. The drawback is that it has made me rethink my setup. Having any external amp after it is detrimental to its sound. You can hear the drop off in sound quality instantly. Much more so than on the TT2. So I've sold a few of my harder to drive headphones for easier to drive ones and I'm in the process of selling my favorite amp, the Luxman P-750u in favor of a more neutral, more transparent amp the Headamp GS-X MK2. The GS-X MK2 does an excellent job at maintaining the Dave transparency levels and resolve. So keep that in mind if and when you upgrade to a Dave an own harder to drive headphones.

The TT2 has more power on tap and that is its secret weapon over the Dave. The XLR outputs on the TT2 outputs some serious watts and drive anything. The TT2 was a perfect DAC for the Luxman. I couldn't ask for a better combination of DAC and amp. The Dave just doesn't synergize well with the Luxamn for whatever reason. It's a crime too because the Luxamn is one of the best amps I ever heard. The TT2 on the other hand is the second best DAC I've owned. I'll give everyone a guess at what the best DAC is

Interesting to hear the luxman doesn't pair well with the DAVE. What exactly didn't you like?

 

[Slim1970]

Interesting to hear the luxman doesn't pair well with the DAVE. What exactly didn't you like?

The Luxman has a house sound. When I use it after listening to the Dave there's a lose of detail, clarity, and sound has a warm tilt to it that I find inferior to listening to the Dave on its own. The GS-X MK2 on the other hand does an amazing job at maintaining the Dave's resolve and the sound quality is also amazing. The GS-X is like an extension of the Dave's sound. It's more neutral, transparent and is more just pure amplication. The GS-X MK2 doesn't really have a sound of it's own, which is what you need with the Dave.

 

[Jvincent]

I'm not sure I'm looking for a single "right" headphone, but instead several that each do a couple things well. I'm really happy with vocals and instrumentals on the HD650, and I may get an HD800 for resolution and soundstage and LCD-2 (possibly closed) for thunderous bass and relaxed sound. I've demoed the Empyreans and liked them, but I'd have to put almost all my eggs in a basket to afford it, kind of like I did with the 1266. If you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

I think you like a lot of us have tried many cans only to keep finding something missing... that's what drives the hobby. It may be that you need several cans to have everything you're looking for. From what you have said though I think you should give LCD-4's a listen. I love mine and is seems we value the same things in sound (creamy mids, low end with a bit of thump, detail etc). good luck with your search!

 

[Malevolent]

One of the syndrome of staying put at home and too much watching / reading reviews, and constantly being piqued by curiosity..

I guess partly also we are sort of blessed to have fairly easy access to plenty of options around us (be it new or used gears) in 'little red dot - Singapore'. The process of trying and experimenting with new gears are fairly convenient and safe - in a way that you can almost get hold to the physical items, test and listen to it, before parting with the hard earned cash, rather than purely relying on the reviews, and sometimes going through the logistic nightmare - sorry I am off topic, and I am assuming you are from Singapore as well.

Till then, back to enjoying my current gears while it lasts!

Yes, that's the "problem" with Singapore - we're small, but we have access to a wide variety of gear. I've tested so much stuff, I can't even remember what I have auditioned in my life. Sadly, therein lies the quandary - we can get easily poisoned, too, thanks to the plethora of accessible devices and products at hand.

In any case, I hope that I didn't come across as a jerk pontificating on a bunch of anecdotal and personal opinions. I've just been down your path before, and when I wasn't careful, I was quick to drop the bucks on new and shiny thing(s) that caught my fancy.

Yep, enjoy your music.

 

[Amberlamps]

Arghhh, My roon and qobuz started to have “roon lost control of the audio device” error.

No matter what I did to try the fix the problem, it was close but cigar, so in the end I lost my entire catalogue of streaming tunes, one that should never of happened in the first instance as I had numerous backups for both roon and qobuz and not one of them worked properly

TL;DR

I lost my entire catalogue of streaming music.

 

[Pashmeister]

Hello, noob safety question incoming!

is it safe to use an XLR to balanced TRS cable to connect my TT2 XLR out to my subwoofer with TRS input? The RCA out is connected to my headphone set up and I plan to connect the XLR to powered sub+monitor set up. Thanks for the help!

 

[Sense]

So if I was going to use this just as a DAC…connected to a headphone amp…if I understand correctly…are some of the people here saying that I would lose sound quality? Does it drop it to Qutest level or Hugo 2 level?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

So if I was going to use this just as a DAC…connected to a headphone amp…if I understand correctly…are some of the people here saying that I would lose sound quality? Does it drop it to Qutest level or Hugo 2 level?

Not drop sound quality, but only transparency by a little bit (depend on the quality of your amplifier and interconnect cable).

 

[x RELIC x]

So if I was going to use this just as a DAC…connected to a headphone amp…if I understand correctly…are some of the people here saying that I would lose sound quality? Does it drop it to Qutest level or Hugo 2 level?

The design of the TT2, and all of Chord’s DACs, is such that you never bypass the analogue output from the DAC. There is no separate traditional amp section, and the design is such that Rob can get away without one because the Pulse Array DAC design has such low noise. The outputs that connect to headphone output and the RCA in the back are the same signal path with very minimal components, compared to conventional DAC/amp designs. Indeed it’s a single analogue stage compared to conventional amp stages with four components (1.Current to Voltage converter 2.filter 3.buffer 4.gain). The XLR output has more components to double the Current and Voltage so it’s also slightly less transparent (doubtful the average listener can notice). So, the idea that you use it "just as a DAC" doesn’t apply. Nothing is ever bypassed internally. The different modes are just presets for volume control.

With that in mind, every piece of electronics in the signal path loses transparency, in all audio equipment, and an external amplifier will do just that. You may not notice, or you may prefer the external amp’s sound signature. That’s fine, but the above is the reasoning for the comments of loss of transparency. The TT2 won’t drop to Qutest or Hugo2 quality.

 

[Amberlamps]

This is klass

This is what happens on a sunday morning when you have just lost your entire streaming catalogue, ah well not to worry, I’m sure it will be fun I hope.

 

[jarnopp]

Hello, noob safety question incoming!

is it safe to use an XLR to balanced TRS cable to connect my TT2 XLR out to my subwoofer with TRS input? The RCA out is connected to my headphone set up and I plan to connect the XLR to powered sub+monitor set up. Thanks for the help!

You can wire the XLR outs to be balanced or unbalanced (single ended). It should be safe either way. How will you wire the monitors? Also, note that the RCAs and the XLRs will both be receiving signal, regardless of which setup you want to listen to, so you will need to turn one on and off. I’ve preferred to use the front panel for headphones and the rear for speakers (XLR) and sub (RCA). If you prefer an external amp for your headphones, you can wire the front headphone out to RCA, which might make things more convenient.

 

[dawktah2]

Bad News, Bad News this is just terrible!

Synology announced they will be discontinuing USB support with their new DSM 7.0 update. This will render my TT2 with no way to get hi res files. I've already complained but they seem not that interested in a work around.

Short of buying a new source what are some work around options? They suggested using network and I lost it. I'm afraid there's a security patch in DSM 7.0 so I can't dilly dally on the upgrade. Using my A&K drains battery battery quickly. This is nuts.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Bad News, Bad News this is just terrible!

Synology announced they will be discontinuing USB support with their new DSM 7.0 update. This will render my TT2 with no way to get hi res files. I've already complained but they seem not that interested in a work around.

Short of buying a new source what are some work around options? They suggested using network and I lost it. I'm afraid there's a security patch in DSM 7.0 so I can't dilly dally on the upgrade. Using my A&K drains battery battery quickly. This is nuts.

This may be a blessing in disguise. When you solve the problem, you will probably learn that USB was a bottleneck in your system. What's wrong with going with a network solution?

 

[dawktah2]

This may be a blessing in disguise. When you solve the problem, you will probably learn that USB was a bottleneck in your system. What's wrong with going with a network solution?

Maybe this is a lack of knowledge on my part, inputs on back of unit are USB, Optical and BNC?

 

[Pashmeister]

You can wire the XLR outs to be balanced or unbalanced (single ended). It should be safe either way. How will you wire the monitors? Also, note that the RCAs and the XLRs will both be receiving signal, regardless of which setup you want to listen to, so you will need to turn one on and off. I’ve preferred to use the front panel for headphones and the rear for speakers (XLR) and sub (RCA). If you prefer an external amp for your headphones, you can wire the front headphone out to RCA, which might make things more convenient.

Thanks for the response. I use a Susvara/ Abyss TC via a separate and more powerful amp and I use the RCA out for that. For the XLR, I can connect it to the sub, and then the RCA from the sub into the monitors. But as you said, I guess I could also connect the sub via front headphones to RCA; it does seem like a convenient option as well. Thanks for the tip!