[Reactcore]

Only Reactcore can make the decision, based on his detailed contextual knowledge of his needs/constraints.
My speculation is given in good faith, but there is always the risk that Rob is ROFL when he reads it.

Thanks M.
I guess 2nd hand would be the road to go..
For the WAF alone..
Just have HMS for 1 year.. comin up with a €10K replacement of that too makes me divorced at once no 2nd hands available.

Patiently waiting..

Ps: i purposely never heard Dave.. just to keep me from needing it too much

 

[miketlse]

Thanks M.
I guess 2nd hand would be the road to go..
For the WAF alone..
Just have HMS for 1 year.. comin up with a €10K replacement of that too makes me divorced at once no 2nd hands available.

Patiently waiting..

Ps: i purposely never heard Dave.. just to keep me from needing it too much

Yes I think that 2nd hand could prove a good choice for many users whilst they wait for the future Dave lifecycle to become clearer.
Certainly much cheaper than a new wife (and WAF) .

 

[zen87192]

Agree with Triode User… DAVE will continue for a while yet… to come though will be the matching MScaler. Then shortly after, the Digital Amps will be introduced. These will give more driving power to the DAVE both by way of Headphone Amp and external Speakers. Looking promising…

 

[alxw0w]

Some people want music to sound nice. I don't wants this !

I want to my music sound real, even if it's bad harsh etc.

Some people say that they like transparency, the thing is when they hear real transparency they are done....

Cheers

My 100$ aq dragonfly sounds nice....
But that's not the case

 

[PANURUS]

I think that the Digital amp will work with M-SCALER and without the need to have a Dave.

 

[jarnopp]

I think that the Digital amp will work with M-SCALER and without the need to have a Dave.

Maybe a future mScaler, but not the current one. There would be no volume control, filters, crossfeed. A new one would need those, otherwise you would lose the transparency benefits by needing a or amp or passive volume control.

 

[PANURUS]

Maybe a future mScaler, but not the current one. There would be no volume control, filters, crossfeed. A new one would need those, otherwise you would lose the transparency benefits by needing a or amp or passive volume control.

Why is there 2 balls on the right of the H2 M-scaler then? And S+ an S- on the remote control?

 

[jarnopp]

Why is there 2 balls on the right of the H2 M-scaler then? And S+ an S- on the remote control?

Yes, potentially these may control volume. Unknown I guess at this point.

 

[Rob Watts]

Hi @Rob Watts , I don't know why I didn't pay attention to Chord DACs till now, but I guess better late than never. Spent the last week or two reading this and the Dave thread, and I got to say, thank you for all the technical insight, you are very generous with your knowledge!

But like everyone else I have a question or two, though not about the Mojo2 which is the new hotness.

I believe you said in a post that the WTA1 filter in the Dave uses up like ~70% of the FPGA space. You also already have 2 configurations available, PCM+ and DSD+. Have you considered making a third, a MScaler+ mode as it were, since it bypasses the WTA1 filter completely, that would free up all of that space on the FPGA, to allow the use of WTA2 for a larger chunk of the filtering to 2048fs, or maybe even allow WTA1 for part of that filtering as well, potentially bypassing the IIR filter too?

Second question, I saw you say that you use a TT2 with your B&W speakers. Is this what you would recommend over using a Dave with a separate power amp? does the direct connection of the TT2 outweigh the other benefits the Dave would offer in that configuration with appropriate speakers, something in the 90+ db sensitivity range?

thank you for all the insight in this thread and others.

Yes I had thought of an M scaler mode for Dave/TT2. But at the time those designs were finalised I had no use for the extra FPGA space...

If the 7W of power is enough then for sure TT2 will give much more transparency than Dave plus a power amp - which is why I use TT2.

Curious..
When i had my mojo i found it sounding a bit 'rolled off' in the high frequency area and sounding less 'transparent' compared to my AK120 in that time.. ive read that that it had a fixed filter applied like the ones i can select in Qutest/H2.

The fact i couldnt switch that filter off actually made me going for the Qutest where i can use it without filter.

Now im confused that the warmer sound of M1 was caused by a capacitor..

Does the M2 still have this fixed filter.. or is it discarded and replaced by the EQ function?
So it can sound as 'open' as a Qutest on 'white'

Regards,
Rick

Mojo wasn't rolled off in the HF and certainly wasn't less transparent. Since all of my DACs have no measurable noise floor modulation (unlike all other DACs) the treble region sounds natural - warm and smooth in comparison to the noise floor modulation of other DACs which add artificial spice and a false impression of transparency - but this edginess gives you listening fatigue. In terms of filters, it's a bit like comparing apples and pears, as the filters after WTA 1 are very different. But if you want a more incisive sound that's easy to do with the EQ on Mojo 2.

Remember too that technical changes to the treble can change your perception of bass, and vice versa!

The last time the master mentioned Dave 2 it was not even on his ‘to do’ list. The next Choral range product is expected to be a second Mscaler to join Dave later in 2022. I am saving my pennies for that to plug into my Dave rather than thinking there will be a new Dave even in 2023.

There is only one man who does know but as you say his lips are sealed. If you are worried, buy a second hand Dave but I think there is plenty of life left in the Dave, especially when it is joined by a Dave equivalent Mscaler.

Actually I don't know either - all I know is I haven't started work on a replacement to Dave at all. That said, I might get a panicked phone call tomorrow from Chord saying they need the replacement ASAP due to component shortages. For manufacturing, we live in very uncertain times. Not only that, prototype builds take a huge time now, and each new design typically will have multiple prototypes.

 

[Rebel Chris]

Rob, can you tell us which headphones you use to test your dacs/prototypes?

Kind regards Chris

 

[EricDH]

That said, I might get a panicked phone call tomorrow from Chord saying they need the replacement ASAP due to component shortages. For manufacturing, we live in very uncertain times. Not only that, prototype builds take a huge time now, and each new design typically will have multiple prototypes.

Sounds exactly like what I hear on the Schiit Audio thread from Jason. Difficult times for manufacturing.

 

[rkt31]

@Rob Watts , just wanted to ask, how differently mojo 2 treats dsd than Hugo 2 or tt2 ?

 

[Reactcore]

Mojo wasn't rolled off in the HF and certainly wasn't less transparent. Since all of my DACs have no measurable noise floor modulation (unlike all other DACs) the treble region sounds natural - warm and smooth in comparison to the noise floor modulation of other DACs which add artificial spice and a false impression of transparency - but this edginess gives you listening fatigue. In terms of filters, it's a bit like comparing apples and pears, as the filters after WTA 1 are very different. But if you want a more incisive sound that's easy to do with the EQ on Mojo 2.

Yes it was a WTA1 filter that was mentioned for M1. Still i had more sence of air in listening to my AK120 compared to M1 (not more trebble).. it made me grab it over M1. I found timbre and instruments sounding much better on M1 though but i felt like listening to a orchestra with a thin blanket in between.
I remember reading you placed a WTA filter just for better iem matching, making it smoother.

Later with Qutest i felt it finally sounded free and airy and it has even better noisefloor.. suggesting it should sound worse to me.

I just dont understand then..

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

Yes it was a WTA1 filter that was mentioned for M1. Still i had more sence of air in listening to my AK120 compared to M1 (not more trebble).. it made me grab it over M1. I found timbre and instruments sounding much better on M1 though but i felt like listening to a orchestra with a thin blanket in between.
I remember reading you placed a WTA filter just for better iem matching, making it smoother.

Later with Qutest i felt it finally sounded free and airy and it has even better noisefloor.. suggesting it should sound worse to me.

I just dont understand then..

I remember hearing this in an interview with john and Rob stating they decided to tune mojo in a certain way that would fit the lower prices tier iems that are known to have a harder treble. So the output cap was intentional on Mojo1 for this effect of a thick warm blanket?

 

[Rob Watts]

Rob, can you tell us which headphones you use to test your dacs/prototypes?

Kind regards Chris

I generally use DCA Aeon 2 closed. I am looking forward to trying the Stealth at NYC CanJam.

@Rob Watts , just wanted to ask, how differently mojo 2 treats dsd than Hugo 2 or tt2 ?

I had hoped to use the same DSD filter as Hugo 2/TT2, but I ended up using 98% of the FPGA resources, so it would not fit - so am using the original Mojo DSD filter. That said, the HF filter built into Moto 2 helps a great deal.