[miketlse]

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

There is no need for a DAVE II, in the sense of an all-in-one, like DAVE.
The input stages and upscaler of DAVE, can now be replaced by MScaler or Quartet.
All that leaves is the DAC plus the power pulse array stages - which might be named/marketed as the digital amp instead.

 

[miketlse]

I like that John now pre- anounces coming products instead of keeping dead silent or mysterious until release..

Yes I think it is a sensible and welcome change of approach.

The old approach of Chord being very tight lipped, did have the unfortunate downside of allowing some owners to fill the 'expectation management gap', by visualising/predicting products/capabilities that were never released.
Some of those owners had done such a good job of convincing themselves that their predictions were the same as certainties, that when the products did not arrive, they triggered angry posts on social media.
Far better for a brand to pre-announce products, and eliminate the 'expectation management gap'.

 

[Jawed]

Someone already answered, but two, because the scaler has to be compatible with all Chord's DACs, it will still output 2x384k signals. I do wonder if there would be any benefit to a system that could output a higher resolution, but I think electrical issues would get in the way, as S/PDIF wasn't designed to handle higher frequencies. Chord would have to design their own, proprietary system. Or they'd have to use more connections. I have always had the impression from Rob that accuracy in reconstruction is more important.

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.

 

[Reactcore]

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.

I noticed that too.
USB out would mean any other DAC brand could then benefit from full upscaling.

 

[ecwl]

I noticed that too.
USB out would mean any other DAC brand could then benefit from full upscaling.

To me, having USB out in the new Quartet M-Scaler would just open a new can of worms.

If people try other DAC brands with the Quartet, and they say they don’t like it, it could be:
1) Their DACs could not adequately resolve the signal optimally (or can’t take full 768kHz output)
2) Their DAC USB input has a poor implementation
3) They just don’t like the WTA filter + noise shaper
But instead of attributing the problem to themselves or their DACs, they will naturally blame the Quartet because they are not going to blame the gear that they already own and love. And maybe the problem could be coming from Quartet but who knows.

I guess in theory, having USB out could potentially increase sales. But it could just increase the amount of online criticisms on the product that could have nothing to do with the product itself. And of course, adding a USB out would also delay other product development down the pipeline. So to me, adding a USB out has a lot of potential downsides and minimal upside.

 

[FunkyBassMan]

So Munich's over.

Wow, all this anticipation for all these months, the day comes and there are basically no opinions on it.

Not sure what that means.

 

[stemiki]

It means that everyone who went to Hi End doesn't frequent the Head Fi forum. Let's see if in the next few days anyone who stopped by and listened writes something.

 

[thePhones]

So Munich's over.

Wow, all this anticipation for all these months, the day comes and there are basically no opinions on it.

Not sure what that means.

I think it was only available the first two days (limited to dealers and press). That is at least what Rob was anticipating a few weeks ago.

 

[miketlse]

So Munich's over.

Wow, all this anticipation for all these months, the day comes and there are basically no opinions on it.

Not sure what that means.

I wouldn't read too much into it. There weren't many posts about Munich last year either.

Head-Fi naturally promote their own canjams, and the related impressions threads. They have a vested interest because canjams generate revenue for head-fi.
Those threads usually get many posts from the public.

Munich is very different in that it is firstly a trade show, and secondly open to the public, and probably not many of them are head-fiers.
I also suspect many head-fiers from US and the pacific rim are unaware that Munich was happening.
I have spotted the occasional thread on other forums about Munich, but the focus seemed to be on the impressions of expensive loudspeakers, with no mention of Chord.

Finally I don't know how many opinions you were expecting.
Most Chord enthusiasts will have already read on the Chord threads, that the Quartet was being launched this year, but until the detailed spec/description/pricing is revealed in the autumn there is little new info to express opinions about.

 

[Jawed]

And of course, adding a USB out would also delay other product development down the pipeline.

We're well past the point where that matters to anyone who could be interested, in my opinion. It was early last year that John Franks leaked Quartet, I believe. So around 2 years later it is currently expected to release. An additional 6 months or a year seems neither here nor there.

And USB might actually be better sounding than dual-BNC with a Chord DAC.

 

[seaice]

Also, it is possible to transfer more than 768 kHz via USB, but that would require a change in the USB reception of Chord DACs.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Yes I think it is a sensible and welcome change of approach.

The old approach of Chord being very tight lipped, did have the unfortunate downside of allowing some owners to fill the 'expectation management gap', by visualising/predicting products/capabilities that were never released.
Some of those owners had done such a good job of convincing themselves that their predictions were the same as certainties, that when the products did not arrive, they triggered angry posts on social media.
Far better for a brand to pre-announce products, and eliminate the 'expectation management gap'.

That is crazy . People just need to relax geez. Predicting stuff from a company is just crazy.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

To me, having USB out in the new Quartet M-Scaler would just open a new can of worms.

If people try other DAC brands with the Quartet, and they say they don’t like it, it could be:
1) Their DACs could not adequately resolve the signal optimally (or can’t take full 768kHz output)
2) Their DAC USB input has a poor implementation
3) They just don’t like the WTA filter + noise shaper
But instead of attributing the problem to themselves or their DACs, they will naturally blame the Quartet because they are not going to blame the gear that they already own and love. And maybe the problem could be coming from Quartet but who knows.

I guess in theory, having USB out could potentially increase sales. But it could just increase the amount of online criticisms on the product that could have nothing to do with the product itself. And of course, adding a USB out would also delay other product development down the pipeline. So to me, adding a USB out has a lot of potential downsides and minimal upside.

Very true, if I was Rob and Chord I'd just make a proprietary cable/input/output to eliminate the issue of using other DACs, especially DACs with poor clocks and terrible jitter performance, it's just not worth it.

 

[AndrewOld]

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?

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Mod note: Cool it with the insults, guys. I don't want to have to boot anyone from the thread.

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