Revolution1
Head-Fier
I had a Hilo with an LT-TB slot, a TeddyPardo linear PSU and a Red Wave power cable.
This greatly improves the sound.
Rank the DACs you have tried
- Thread starter SilverEars
- Start date
This greatly improves the sound.
That’s interesting. What was the combined cost of those items? For comparison’s sake, I added a Nordost Frey 2 power cable and Nordost Tyr 2 rca cables. It’s a bit of an overkill for this sort of headphone amp but the results were definitely fun for about half a year until I heard Chord Dave and ended up buying it a month later.
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
1. Mojo Audio EVO Mystique (t/o/t/l)
2. Border Patrol SE (sp/dif only)
2. Border Patrol SE (sp/dif only)
1. Chord Hugo TT2
2. Chord Qutest
3. Chord 2Qute
4. ESI Dr. DAC prime
5. iFi iDAC2
6. Audio-gd NFB11.32
2. Chord Qutest
3. Chord 2Qute
4. ESI Dr. DAC prime
5. iFi iDAC2
6. Audio-gd NFB11.32
Chord Dave only has a single-ended headphone output on the front. Has anyone tried to connect your headphones to the 2x 3-pin balanced XLR outputs on the back of the chord dave? How does that sound if so?
“Only” and Chord Dave is such a strange pairing. Comparatively speaking, its single ended headphone output sounds a lot better than many balanced ones that I’ve tried over the years. Some were decidedly cheaper while others more expensive. A well implemented single ended output can be better than balanced.
Someone has suggested using either rca or xlr outputs on the back to drive headphones or speakers. So it seems that it can be done. The question is whether there is any real benefit from doing that. The front headphone jack has a tremendous amount of power.
Someone has suggested using either rca or xlr outputs on the back to drive headphones or speakers. So it seems that it can be done. The question is whether there is any real benefit from doing that. The front headphone jack has a tremendous amount of power.
Interesting to know! I am just curious though
I thought all Chord DACs are single ended by design and the XLR outputs in the DAVE and TT2 are only for convenience. Correct me if I'm wrong though.
That’s why I am wondering whether anyone has tried the balanced XLR outputs on the headphones to see whether there is any improvement on the sound quality...
Apparently there isn’t. Take a look at some of these posts.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-dave.766517/page-589
very useful info! Thanks a lot! Looks like chord dacs are designed to use single-ended
Glad to have helped. I was always of the opinion that balanced was best until I heard how good Chord made single ended sound.very useful info! Thanks a lot! Looks like chord dacs are designed to use single-ended
audiobomber
500+ Head-Fier
excellent article, well explained! Another audio myth we try to ignore...
Thanks for the article.
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