[ChocolateChipTrip]

Just got my DAVE and I have to say that listening to it has become absolutely addicting. The first piece of audio equipment literally give me goosebumps. The realism is scary good.

 

[Kentajalli]

Sorry but what do you mean by all bets are off?

And would you say that it either works or it does not, or is there a gradient?

I believe he means they (audiophile cables) are mostly sub-standard, so god knows why one doesn't work.
Stick to standard cables.
I know this to be true, by experience .

 

[kennyb123]

I believe he means they (audiophile cables) are mostly sub-standard

I don’t think it’s fair to say “mostly”. Certainly there are some that don’t meet spec. But there are many fine companies out there that are producing very-well engineered cables with excellent materials and a precision assembly. “All bets are off” because the cables fall somewhere between the two extremes.

 

[Kentajalli]

I don’t think it’s fair to say “mostly”. Certainly there are some that don’t meet spec. But there are many fine companies out there that are producing very-well engineered cables with excellent materials and a precision assembly. “All bets are off” because the cables fall somewhere between the two extremes.

I stand corrected.
Perhaps some of my prejudice towards snakeoil came through.

 

[feddar]

I stand corrected.
Perhaps some of my prejudice towards snakeoil came through.

And what would you think a maximum length for the cable with me? And would failure mean no sound, or is it a gradient?

 

[Kentajalli]

And what would you think a maximum length for the cable with me? And would failure mean no sound, or is it a gradient?

I do not have an iPad nor the HMS, so I don't know.
I only have a Mojo.
In my experience the Mojo is a little sensitive to USB signal degradation, compared to other DAC's I have or have had.
If the USB cable is good, i.e. low capacitance and inductance + low impedance and not prone to noise, then it would be up to the iPad to limit the length of the cable. Mr. Watts mentions two meters, which sounds about right, perhaps you could push it to three, no more.
A little story:
I was making my own USB cable, a thin one using cable from some IEM. I also used a ferrite cylinder at DAC side (to combat possible RFI). since the cable was very thin, I managed to loop it through the ferrite one turn. To my surprise Mojo failed to lock on to the signal! eventhough otherwise the cable had no other issues (about 1.2 meter). When I un-looped the data wires (but keeping the 5V wires looped on) , Mojo had no issue to lock on.
One loop over a ferrite core on data wires was enough to disturb the system.
The ferrite core was limiting the bandwidth of the data wires (I believe).
I use that cable everyday, no issues - I only like it, because I can coil it up to fit inside a tiny space I have inside my Mojo case, along with my IEM.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

I don’t think it’s fair to say “mostly”. Certainly there are some that don’t meet spec.

I agree with @kennyb123. There are some "artisanal" manufacturers that are pushing the boundaries of geometry or materials, and in some cases, in some gear, they can exhibit issues. I have experienced this with USB especially.

Swap the cable, problem goes away.

In one case it was very interesting because Dave exhibited a very high frequency sound, barely audible, and you had to be dead level with a tweeter to hear it. It went away when the music began. I believe it was a shielding issue.

 

[The Jester]

As soon as cables, for whatever reason are “designed“ away from standard specs then there’s no idea what can happen, I grabbed a few assorted “quality” cables a while ago at a local stores “moving sale” and one was a digital cable with top quality silver RCA plugs so I tried it between CD transport and the DAC, sounded ok and left it at that until a week or so later when playing I switched on a nearby desk lamp and there’s was a split second dropout, maybe the switch in the lamp was getting old but changed back to the cable I was using and no issues…. So instead of binning it I desoldered the RCA plugs and fitted them to a length of good quality “standard” cable and no further issues, luckily the bargain price I got the cable for was way less than the retail price of the RCA plugs alone

 

[lsantista]

Just got my DAVE and I have to say that listening to it has become absolutely addicting. The first piece of audio equipment literally give me goosebumps. The realism is scary good.

that's a statement! what did you upgrade from? had the chance to try hugo / tt on your system also?

 

[Triode User]

In one case it was very interesting because Dave exhibited a very high frequency sound, barely audible, and you had to be dead level with a tweeter to hear it. It went away when the music began. I believe it was a shielding issue.

I had this and it turned out to be the player app on the streamer generating the high pitched noise on pause or if the music was stopped.

 

[genefruit]

Hello Rob @Rob Watts - Can you provide any details about ANNI?

https://www.heynowhifi.com.au/colle...ackages/products/chord-anni-desktop-amplifier

 

[Vyyy]

Its not official yet, doubt about any comments from chord until official out

 

[genefruit]

Its not official yet, doubt about any comments from chord until official out

I understand but perhaps even a comment about whether he participated in it's development would be informative. Perhaps this is the item he alluded to earlier this year.

 

[ecwl]

Hello Rob @Rob Watts - Can you provide any details about ANNI?

https://www.heynowhifi.com.au/colle...ackages/products/chord-anni-desktop-amplifier

Haha… Interesting how the website announced a product Chord itself hasn’t announced.
But if it’s using dual feed forward technology, it must be the one used in Chord Etude & Ultima amplifiers so that has nothing to do with Rob Watts.
But I like the sound of Chord Etude. It would be interesting to see if head-fi people like the sound of Chord Anni. Very hard to get genuinely transparent amplifiers to match Qutest/TT2/DAVE, if you need an amplifier.
The other challenge is that there is analog volume control in the Chord Anni so once again, will have to see how transparent the volume control is.

 

[miketlse]

I understand but perhaps even a comment about whether he participated in it's development would be informative. Perhaps this is the item he alluded to earlier this year.

Analogue Amps are the domain of @Mojo ideas and his normal response is that he cannot comment on the chord release strategy for possible future products.