[thePhones]

The attacks started already? Well that didn't take long, can't say I'm surprised, the vitriol against Rob Watts and Chord is tangible. Especially by some religious nuts out there

No it was some interpersonal stuff between us members. Did not think it was that bad, but it was probably unnecessary

 

[thePhones]

Still looks like a missed opportunity to me. What’s the point of the fancy display, the controls, most of the inputs, and some of the upscaling on the DAVE once you have an MScaler or this new scaler? Why not put the DAC bit of DAVE in a simpler and cheaper box, junk the unecessary inputs and controls, and use an interface that doesn’t have the problems of dual BNC?

I understand this view. I also rather had a “perfect” solution. But I just enjoy Robs tech so much I stopped thinking about it and just listen to music.
At this point, as far as I care, he could use a 1980 printer cable as long as it sounds good

 

[GuiltyRocker]

No it was some interpersonal stuff between us members. Did not think it was that bad, but it was probably unnecessary

Ah, ok. I didn't see any of it.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

I understand this view. I also rather had a “perfect” solution. But I just enjoy Robs tech so much I stopped thinking about it and just listen to music.
At this point, as far as I care, he could use a 1980 printer cable as long as it sounds good

Hahahahahahahaha . Love it.

 

[Currawong]

DAVE II can't be far behind, despite the denials. And DAVE II will surely come with the separate power supply like with Quartet.

Last I saw Rob say anything, he wasn't working on an updated DAVE.

USB could be an option.

Considering that Davina is going to have to have a USB output, it seems weird to me that Quartet Scaler does not have the ability to output over USB.

Davina is a different issue, as it's a device that needs to connect to a computer in the manner any ADC does. Unless I've missed something, it isn't a computer, or a device that emulates one.

Actual USB host output is a whole other consideration vs. coax. It's not just another output, but requires a fully programmed interface that can emulate a computer. And why would Chord care about other brands of DACs anyway? The scalers are designed specifically to get the most out of Chord DACs.

Still looks like a missed opportunity to me. What’s the point of the fancy display, the controls, most of the inputs, and some of the upscaling on the DAVE once you have an MScaler or this new scaler? Why not put the DAC bit of DAVE in a simpler and cheaper box, junk the unecessary inputs and controls, and use an interface that doesn’t have the problems of dual BNC?

Why bother creating a whole other device that is useless unless you buy one of the scalers? It wouldn't make any sense. You can't separate "the DAC bit of the DAVE" anyway.

 

[blueninjasix]

AndrewOld makes a good point. If adding an MScaler to Dave makes part of Dave redundant, make it possible to get a Dave without those redundant parts. It's like adding a power amp to an integrated when what you really wanted was a pre/power combination.

 

[Jawed]

Davina is a different issue, as it's a device that needs to connect to a computer in the manner any ADC does. Unless I've missed something, it isn't a computer, or a device that emulates one.

Actual USB host output is a whole other consideration vs. coax. It's not just another output, but requires a fully programmed interface that can emulate a computer. And why would Chord care about other brands of DACs anyway? The scalers are designed specifically to get the most out of Chord DACs.

Music production studios don't solely have analogue sources.

 

[Currawong]

Music production studios don't solely have analogue sources.

I think you misunderstand. ADCs which have USB connect as a USB device, not a USB host. An ADC is no different to a DAC when connected via USB, except that it shows up as an audio input, rather than an audio output. For the Quartet scaler to send up-sampled data to a DAC via USB, it would have to be a USB host, in the manner of a computer. This is considerably more complex to program than what is required for a USB device. You either have to stick an actual computer inside, as Chord did for the 2go and Poly, or literally program an entire USB host system, as Schiit did for the Urd CD transport.

 

[AndrewOld]

AndrewOld makes a good point. If adding an MScaler to Dave makes part of Dave redundant, make it possible to get a Dave without those redundant parts. It's like adding a power amp to an integrated when what you really wanted was a pre/power combination.

Thank you! It used to be the case that to buy an MScaler you had to buy it with a Blu2 - for most people a completely redundant CD mechanism - in an over engineered and unnecessarily expensive box. After many people, including me, asked for a stand-alone MScaler one was released at much less cost than the Blu2. As it stands, the Quartet stack has a whole load of unnecessary inputs and controls on the DAVE, which is really inelegant and doesn’t speak to me of good design. Adding in that the UI on the DAVE is truly awful I would hope that someone would look at the whole package and improve the aesthetic and the UI and the value. I mean it is 2024, I have £15k worth of MScaler/DAVE and I need two remote controls! And nobody in my house has a clue what the controls on either product do!

 

[audionewbi]

I'm glad to see Chord paying more attention to PSU.

 

[Jawed]

Thank you! It used to be the case that to buy an MScaler you had to buy it with a Blu2 - for most people a completely redundant CD mechanism - in an over engineered and unnecessarily expensive box. After many people, including me, asked for a stand-alone MScaler one was released at much less cost than the Blu2. As it stands, the Quartet stack has a whole load of unnecessary inputs and controls on the DAVE, which is really inelegant and doesn’t speak to me of good design. Adding in that the UI on the DAVE is truly awful I would hope that someone would look at the whole package and improve the aesthetic and the UI and the value. I mean it is 2024, I have £15k worth of MScaler/DAVE and I need two remote controls! And nobody in my house has a clue what the controls on either product do!

Curious, why do you interact with HMS? What do you have to do regularly (or what would family members have to do)?

 

[thePhones]

AndrewOld makes a good point. If adding an MScaler to Dave makes part of Dave redundant, make it possible to get a Dave without those redundant parts. It's like adding a power amp to an integrated when what you really wanted was a pre/power combination.

I think making another separate „Ave“ instead of Dave would not make much economical sense as there are still a lot of people only wanting the Dac without Scaler. The demand could be even smaller and would make both more expensive.

 

[Jawed]

I think making another separate „Ave“ instead of Dave would not make much economical sense as there are still a lot of people only wanting the Dac without Scaler. The demand could be even smaller and would make both more expensive.

Ideally Ultima DAC is a single chassis that could fully integrate Quartet scaling and DAC.

An Ultima 5 power amp is about 5 times the internal volume of DAVE (Ultima Pre 2 is a bit smaller). So within a chassis of the same size, there's plenty of space including having shielding, for high current power supply, scaler and DAC.

And a premium user interface experience.

 

[AndrewOld]

Curious, why do you interact with HMS? What do you have to do regularly (or what would family members have to do)?

Take something simple like changing an input or the volume. How do you do that? It isn't at all obvious. Why aren't the controls on the DAVE labelled, using the same symbols that are just about universal for most audio/video devices? What do the coloured blobs mean on the MScaler ? Why are there two remotes? Why do almost all of the buttons on the original DAVE remote do nothing?

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Take something simple like changing an input or the volume. How do you do that? It isn't at all obvious. Why aren't the controls on the DAVE labelled, using the same symbols that are just about universal for most audio/video devices? What do the coloured blobs mean on the MScaler ? Why are there two remotes? Why do almost all of the buttons on the original DAVE remote do nothing?

I personally love the colored orbs on the M Scaler, after looking at the manual once I remember what the colors mean, including the resolution colors on the input side, it's unique to Chord and I like that, I do agree with you that the DAVE interface is clunky, I prefer the TT-2 one in every way.