Chord DAVE

[HiFiFan]

Just changed out my DAC to the Chord DAVE. Very pleased with it. I am not a fan of how it looks though I got it in black so it hides well. I think the reviews for it have done a good job capturing its strong points.

[Sloop John B]

Ah come on, you have to tell us more.....

What did it replace?

In what ways does it sound better?

What is feeding it and by which input?

.sjb

[HiFiFan]

Sorry, it is a little too soon to give a detailed update. It replaces by Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Series II and associated BADA USB. Sorry to use a cliché but I would say the most significant difference is that it sounded less veiled and slightly more musical. While there is improvement the difference between the DACs isn’t night and day but I couldn’t afford the budget to explore that leap. Maybe once I have more time with it I can post more detailed listening impressions. The DAVE does have a headphone output which is supposed to be quite good, which is a nice addition.

There were a of interesting sounding DACs I had planned to audition such as the Merging Technologies NADAC (Ethernet connected, no USB using Ravenna protocol) and Brinkmann Nyquist but decided not to put in the effort. Waiting weeks, travelling from place to place I just didn’t have it in me. Funny enough turns out the US West Coast distributor for the NADAC is from Cork originally. I expect to see many of the newer DACS and players like Aurender using RAVENNA in the future.

I still just use a mac mini with Roon & Tidal and Pure Music. Though I haven’t been a big believer I am now convinced by others that I need to improve this and am looking at adding a microRendu or SOtM sMS-200. The USB cable is a Wireworld Platinum 7 cable. In either case the DAC is connected via XLR to my power amps.

[HiFiFan]

Now that I have had a bit more time I can say a bit more. I did have some worries when I first got it home. While I was expecting some break in period I still expected it to perform well out of the box. I decided to feed it via my Berkeley Alpha USB and an AES connection to the DAVE (just like I had with the BADA II). While there were improvements (mainly in resolution) it was very unengaging and the vocals just seem lifeless. A few hours of that and I was getting seriously worried but then I took the Alpha USB out of the loop and went direct to the DAC via USB and it was night and day, I was back to what the Berkeley had provided but with improvements. I haven’t tried it with DSD yet nor have I tried the headphone connection. I didn’t get the stand but have Stillpoint Ultra minis ordered and I am also going to try a few different USB cables.

This is replacing a very good DAC so improvements are incremental but I am very happy with them. One thing that is immediately obvious is the higher frequencies, cymbals in particular just seem to linger forever and have such air around them. Separation is generally a little better and the sound stage and imaging is just a little better defined. Resolution is definitely better, pace and realism is spot on, I’m not sure that I am hearing much improvement on vocals (but it is still very early) but the tonality of instruments is excellent.

[Diapason]

That's great to hear, especially in the areas of air and tonality. Enjoy!

[HiFiFan]

A few more updates. It is possible that I am biased since I already ponied out for DAVE but here are some further listening thoughts. First the DAVE has noticeably improved as it has further broken in. I have spent the last few days comparing the DAVE to the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha Reference Series 2 (BADA RS 2) DAC. My conclusion is that they are very very close, mainly down to a matter of taste (and price).

IMG_4666.JPG (72.23 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

Interesting I had forgotten how much filter selection makes with the Berkeley. I had always used 1.24 and forgot to set it when I powered up the RS 2, so it defaulted to the 1.16 filter which is meant to be best for standard redbook. In my opinion the 1.16 filter is awful, the DAC is veiled and lifeless. Switching to 1.24 brought it up to what I was expecting. On another note the manual says “NOTE: Due to the very high thermal mass of the Alpha DAC Reference Series 2, please allow 12 hours after first powering on before performing critical listening.” Not sure I get why but I followed the instructions.

The DAVE is more resolving, layered and presents a slightly better soundstage. The BADA RS 2 is a bit more relaxed and presents a slightly better vocal (though not for harmonies as the DAVE separates these better). The vocal differences are slight but noticeable (though strangely enough not always consistent – some songs appear to be almost no different with the reference series 2 than they were with the original alpha series 2). It feels like the vocals are presented more forward in the soundstage making the BADA sound a little fuller and in general I think it has a slightly artificial warmness to it that general works for vocals, especially female ones.

Having a tiny bit of the extra warmness the BADA RS 2 brings would be nice but I would hate to lose the various benefits the DAVE brings. Maybe a future update to one of this DACs will get it just right.

[Sloop John B]

Thanks for the reviews.

It's refreshing that you don't hear night and day differences but I appreciate that at a certain level subtle differences can make a big difference to overall enjoyment.

.sjb

[HiFiFan]

Just bought a microRendu but need to order a better psu separately, it came with the IFI psu. Will be interesting to try that in the chain, not sure on the psu yet but will probably go with the UpTone Audio LPS-1 PSU

[mick]

Just bought a microRendu but need to order a better psu separately, it came with the IFI psu. Will be interesting to try that in the chain, not sure on the psu yet but will probably go with the UpTone Audio LPS-1 PSU

I got the LPS-1PSU to use with a Regen. It made a significant improvement. It gave the a more solid overall sound with a more powerful and detailed bass.
It also improved a Logitech Squeezebox Touch in a similar way.

[HiFiFan]

Thanks, I am going to order the LPS-1 today.