Chord Dave FPGA DAC
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- The Chord Dave is a much spoken about digital to analog converter, based on the WTA filtering designed by Rob Watts. Costing just north of 10k in euros, it is Chord’s flagship model. Expectations are high.
Contents of this video
00:00 - Intro
00:23 - Start of program
01:52 - Where to use
03:16 - The front and top
04:18 - The rear
06:19 - The inside
07:36 - About WTA
08:41 - In use
10:23 - Judged on…
11:22 - Sound quality
13:14 - The wrap
Manufacturer:
chordelectronics.co.uk/
Equipment lent by:
x-fi.nl
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Chord informed me that they recently started to deliver their DAVE DAC's with the connectors in the rear clearly labeled.
I confirm, I received DAVE two months ago and the various IN - OUTPUT are engraved on the back.
Thanks for sharing.
most comprehensive Chord Dave review in TH-cam to date. First time seeing inside Dave too. Thank you!
Wow, thanks!
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel always top reviews ........
🙏
PSA! for reviewers, DAVE owners and those who plan on demoing. The DAVE has a crossfeed function intended for headphone users. What is NOT mentioned in the manual is that when it is turned on, it REMAINS on even when not using headphones, thus resulting in a blurred stereo image when listening though speakers. If your DAVE sounds funny, it may be that the crossfeed function has been left on! The ONLY way to access the crossfeed function menu is by plugging into the front 6.3mm headphone output and the function will appear on screen.
How did you notice that. I always thought this is a Headphone only function and switched of with the headphone Mode . I just checked and noticed crossfeed was set to 1
I didn't know that either. But it appeared that that was not what I had heard the first few days. It was set to zero. If it had been the case, the sound quality couldn't have been improving over the days.But thanks for the tip.
@@mrgadget4863 Hi Mr Gadget, it is intended to stay on for those headphone users who would pair the DAVE to an external headphone amp. That way the crossfeed is not limited only to the headphone output of the DAVE.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Hi Hans. I too had noticed the extensive warm up time the DAVE requires. After you mentioned your initial impressions but the sound improving over time, I didn’t think the crossfeed was your issue but it did remind me of it and I thought I should mention it for the benefit of your viewers.
@@SuperMrGiraffe thx
Just wait until you partner the DAVE with the Chord M-Scaler. 1M taps and an unbelievable sound.
Love this DAVE review, Hans: 'This is an extremely good DAC and certainly the best I had on review'. Looking forward to the Hugo M Scaler review, too.
Coming soon!
Hello Sir,
I’ll not try to explain the level of vividness and the feeling that I’m sitting next to you in the listening room/lab that you have provided.Out of respect for you and this concise and well paced informative review.
I truly can not think of any other way to descry this but “BEAUTIFUL”.
CD
Wonderful
Great review Hans and fantastic product 👍
Thanks 👍
I have the DAVE on home demo for 2 or 3 weeks and it's incredible!
.
Nice review. Enjoyed it. Thanks
👍🏻
Thanks hans a great review
Very welcome
Hans thank you for another great review. I agree with your comment that “everything matters.” One suggestion. feeding the Dave with the Auralic Aries G2 makes a material difference. I suggest that if you still have the Mola Mola Tambiqui you listen to it with the Aries G2, as opposed to using the Tambaqui’s ethernet connection. I have such a set up and the Aries makes a material difference, and you will then have a more apples to apples comparison to the Dave. Best regards,
Did you watch the Tambaqui video? For that is exactly what I did.
I really liked the Dave demo at my local dealer especially with live recordings, I got lost in the music for a few hours untill the sales lead politely told me they were closing in shortly, I bought a portable chord Hugo2 10 minutes later for my headphones hoping for a little taste of that DAVE , and even though it wasn't as detailed and deep, the sound signature was very similar after a few hours of warm up, no regrets , my headphones sound so much better from the HD600 to the Utopia. I'm now a big fan of chord DACs and maybe someday I will purchase a used DAVE.
🤞🏼
My Chord Qutest has choice of 3 voltage output settings at start up.
I've found No information or tests anywhere, so I use the 2v as that gives a similar volume as my old CD player did.
Can anyone please answer. Which voltage output is most appropriate, the implications to the dac and amp and why ? Thanks.
2 volts is the most common since it is Red Book specification. As you have noticed already.
Thanks for this review. Any idea if Dave will evolve further anytime in the near future? … and if so, what would you like to see it update too? Thanks again.
I am told will stay in production for the coming years. As a streamer I use the Auralic Aries G2 and I don’t know a better one (which doesn’t mean it’s definitely the best, of course)
Hi Hans, it would be interesting to compare the DAVE with their QUTEST + a quality PSU like FARAD3 or Paul Hynes + a quality DC cable (E.g. FARAD3 silver cable)
Wondering how the 10K DAVE is performing vs. this
Absolutely. As there are a million other interesting tests to think of. And I only have 50 video a year🤔 And some suggestions seem a waste of time.
Great video. Please review T+A HA 200 headphone amp/dac.thanks
Noted (no promise though)
Hi Hans, in a previous video about the Tambaqui DAC you mentioned you wanted to compare it to the Dave. Just curious to hear your impressions about this? Thanks
THIS is the DAC battle we all wanna watch.
Especially Bartok , stuffing its face with popcorn
Just as curious about how you think they compare. Especially soundwise. Thanks ahead.
I thought I was rather clear😄. I'm going to buy the Chord....
Thnx. Just to inform: this week I heard the new Mola Mola Kula. All in one. Tambaqui built in. Mind blowing. Didn’t think this SQ was possible in class d
👍👍
Thanks
Just replaced a very good chord hugo tt2 dac with a Lumin X1 wihich has an internal dac, but i really wanted a very good streamer. So i hope internal dac will be amazing. Chord can still be used i guess.
I have not reviewed the Lumin so I can't say.
How about Meitner MA 1.2 or MA 3?
I am also very interested by a MEITNER MA3 review !
I have been told by a close friend of mine (OK it is not a scientific approach...), that "the MA-3 is maybe the only DAC that he has lessoned to, that can compete with the Dave" ...
Of course he has not lessoned to all the DACs available on the planet, but I know him for decades and he has very good ears..
So Hans, pleaaaaaaaase !
Great review Hans, thanks. Could you express the main differences between this dac and the mola mola tambaqui? Tnanks 🙂
They have about the same character, but the Dave has slightly more resolution overall and more texture in the lows. Slightly more micro dynamics as well. But it has no network functionality and has a higher price.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Very kind of you, thanks!
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel thanx. The answer I was looking for
I cant claim impartiality having been a Chord DAC user since the Chord 64->QDB76-DAVE+Mscaler. The DAVE + Mscaler is in another level compared to the DAVE alone. Once I heard the Mscaler hooked upto the DAVE playing Headhunters Chameleon and hearing more musicality I had to have it.
I know the feeling!
Damn.... How about the Sonnet Morpheus? Idk what else there is to review for the really hi fi stuff
The company has refused me review samples several time…
Hi Hans. Excellent review. Thanks for your honest hard work. I wanted to ask you if you tried the Dave alone (no mscaler) through toslink (optical). I tell you this because Rob Watts has mentioned that this input is the best in all of his dacs.
No, I didn't. I think the primary reason for Rob to prefer the optical input is the galvanic separation it offers. But the optical input is limited in bandwidth, the signal has to be converted from electrical to light and back and the connectors are of mediocre quality. If you use a quality streamer and stick to audio hygiene any other input will give better sound quality. If you spend this kind of money on a DAC, don't connect it directly to an ordinary computer but use an audio server with clean outputs or, like I do, a quality streamer or bridge.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel i had a Hugo tt2 and an aurender n100h server and after trying optical with a lumin u1 mini I was impressed. The vast majority of my music is cd rips and optical still lets my listen up to pcm 192 and dsd 64. The reality is that no matter how good is your setup you can never get the level of electrical isolation of toslink. The jitter for chord dacs is zero, of corse not, but the level of it is far less important than ground loops in the chain. These are rob watts claims. I encourage you to try it for yourself and see how good or bad it is. Again thank you for your videos, I’ll suscribe to your channel
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Truly, Hans, if you haven't already done so, perhaps you could make a video devoted to the importance of AUDIO HYGIENE, something which can make a big improvement in the quality of sound reproduction. Only very recently have I become aware of its importance.
Hans, one other problem with the Dave's lack of back panel labeling is the absence of a CE mark. One would hope that a digital product, especially one with a switch-mode power supply would have complete EMC testing. Is this confirmed in the manual?
There is no mention of a CE label in the manual. But it isn't the first high-end brand that does not do CE. I know of a distributor that cut away capacitors - needed for the CE label - at the inputs since that improved the sound quality clearly.
Out of curiosity Hans, what do you use the measuring equipment for in your background? Is it just decor? Is it useful to detect problems? Do you recommend them? Bedankt voor je videos!
I measure all equipment I review but very seldom publish them. Measurements can predominantly show if something goes wrong. It is impossible the predict the sound quality from measurements, although there are those that think differently. Only if a measurement is relevant for the viewer, I will mention it. As for instance with the very high output voltage of the Chord DAVE.
Would love to see you do a review of Schiit dacs.
I’ll try again but the last time they didn’t even answer my mail.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel they have a philosophy of having very low expenditures in order to pass the savings on to the customer but I bought a new headphone Amp from them a while back and they're not answering me now. They haven't charged my card yet but I'd still like to know if I need to look elsewhere.
Rob Watts recommends using the RCA outputs with the DAVE as they are better than the XLR outputs.
The question than is on what amp….
Hans, Im a big fan of yours. I have watched LOTS of your videos. I have learnt to trust your opinions. Im just trying a brand new Dave I dont want to say much because I have only heard 3-4 songs on headphones. The only thing I already know is that I dont like the Crossfeed function on headphones. Few questions if you dont mind. "Burning in" means, you leave it on for days, or you leave it on playing music through it for days? To hear the quality of The DAVE is better to use good quality headphones or good quality speakers? . I still have 6 weeks to decide whether to keep them or not. Thanks
Leave it on playing. I don’t like headphones listening, I only listen to loudspeakers.
is this better than mola mola dac?
Dit you watch the video?
I own the Chord Hugo TT-2 and the Chord Hugo M-SCALER - they have greatly improved the sound of my audio system - I have many CDs, which I'm loath to throw away, if for no other reason than to preserve their liner notes and booklets, which for the most part you CANNOT get when you buy and download a CD on QOBUZ.- so I bought a CD transport from another U.K. manufacturer - CYRUS - their CDt-XR transport, whose coaxial digital output I connect to the M-Scaler. The sound from my large CD collection is vastly improved.
NOW I find myself wondering if it makes any sense for me to buy the Chord DAVE, since I already have the TT-2 / M-SCALER combo. Would I be paying a LOT more for the DAVE in exchange for a barely perceptible improvement in sound quality over what I have now - or would I notice a major upgrade in the sound?
I can’t say. I did no direct comparison
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed your review of the DAVE alone and then after you used it with the M-SCALER. I just discovered your channel yesterday, and I've now subscribed to it. I will also help support it, as others of your viewers are doing.
At some point there will be a comparison made of the Hugo TT-2 and the DAVE. IF, as I suspect, no big difference is experienced between the two, especially when used with the M-SCALER, it's likely to be "GAME OVER" for the DAVE, as there may be very little reason to spend a LOT more money to own it. Considering that the DAVE is designed to be used with the M-SCALER, it likewise makes little sense to buy the DAVE to use by itself - although your review of it as a stand-alone D/A Converter is highly positive. On the other hand, there may be significant design features in the DAVE which the newer Hugo TT-2 can't possibly match, or simply doesn't have.
So here we are faced with an interesting dilemma, indeed, which CHORD itself has created - it may well have rendered its older DAVE obsolete, simply because of the technological advances which CHORD's engineers have achieved over the five years since 2016, when the DAVE was released, and the present day in 2021..
Dear Hans. Thanks to your video I have finally splurged on a used Dave. I am absolutley loving it. A huge huge step up from my entry level Topping DAC. I am wondering what your favorite crossfeed and HF settings are. I feel like I lean towards crossfeed as zero with my susvara
Congrats! I don’t use cross feed since I don’t listen to headphones. I use the PCM mode.
@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel thank you Hans. Thank you for all of the educational videos. I hope that Rob Watts sends you the new Mscaler v2 first before any other reviewer. You have single-handedly helped me with so many decisions including the Dave. Have a great day.
Nice review Hans. I must admit I hadn't bothered with standby on my DAVE prior to you review. Two observations since I have tried. 1. Roon can see the DAVE even when in standby which I didn't expect and 2. I have found an issue where the DAVE doesn't start properly from standby (sounds awful and music only on 1 channel) and I basically have to do a full off/on to clear the problem. Might need to give Chord a call on the latter in case I have found an intermittent problem with my DAVE. Keep up the good work and will be interested in your MScaler review as I was wondering if that effectively killed the reason for a Chord Blu owner to buy a Blu Mk2?
Yes, the Blu MkII only makes sense if you want a CD-player in matching Choral design. The M Scaler has better HF noise filtering on its inputs, added optical inputs and output as well as the option to cycle between the various upscaled sample rates including bypass.
That's personal, I think. Some like to keep their setup simple and ecstatically nice. The M Scaler doesn't fit the Choral line design wise. There are more reasons than sound quality only to choose for equipment.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel BOTTOM LINE: When we are LISTENING TO OUR MUSIC, are we continuously staring at and being awed by the AESTHETICS of our electronic sound-processing and -reproducing equipment setup, OR are we focusing on the impact the music we are listening to is having on our ears and our emotions? To me, the QUALITY of the reproduced sound takes considerable precedence over the visual integrity and aesthetics of my audio equipment. But, this is just MY opinion.
THEREFORE, to each his own, I say! You, Hans, make it abundantly clear to us viewers of your channel what your priority is: sound quality is what matters most to you; I feel exactly the same way about this as you do.
I realize that you are, in all fairness, acknowledging that there ARE people who care MORE about the aesthetics of their audio gear than about whether or not the music it reproduces sounds its best. These differences are what make us humans so fascinating - we, each and every one of us, has our own idiosyncratic preference as to what matters MOST to us. So, whatever floats YOUR PARTICULAR BOAT the highest, GO FOR IT!
Thank you, Hans, for bringing this interesting matter to our attention.
What do you think about the recent Audio Science Research findings?
It it ignorant to publish frequency domain measurements made from a DAC that has extremely high resolution in the time domain. If you do that, you completely missed developments made in digital audio over the last 10 years.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel thanks!
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thank you very much. Could you please elaborate on this a lille more in detail. What has been missed and how it made the measurements incorrect?
Hans, I have an idea for a video. I've noticed several times you mentioned that you are a trained listener. Would you be willing to share some of that information? I know listening skills are not developed overnight, but some tips may be helpful.
Great suggestion!
Tell me the start-up procedure connecting the dac to your amp. Because You mention the high voltage of the output!
Switch off both amp and DAC, make the connection between the DAC and the amp, turn both volume controls all the way down. Switch on the DAC, then switch on the amp and turn the volume control of the amp to a normal position. Then finally slowly turn up the volume control on the DAC.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel thanks for the answer. Maybe beter a line-output and a variable line output , so You can can choose .
Moulin Rouge music...
The Audio Physic speakers must have had their "legs in the air"
;-)
Don't you speak of that indecency in my presence, young man😉
And I was so keen on the Mola Mola Tambaqui because of your review! Damn
Sorry. Don’t watch next week for that might drive you crazy…..
🤪
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel my wallet can’t handle another plot twist.
BTW the Mola Mola is not too far from the Dave, has a streamer/bridge integrated and is ‘cheaper’😊
Many people have compared DAVE to Tambaqui and the differences are not large. Quite a few, including myself find the Tambaqui timbre, layering and PRAT to be ahead of the DAVE. Preferences are probably more down to the individual and the system rather than either DAC being “better”.
@@dinfreitas No need to watch the video next week since Hans already said he's going to buy the Chord. :)
Need a review of DCS Bartok now please
I’ll try to get a review sample
I have the Chord qutest and it doesn't have a power switch. I usually unplug the micro usb cable after use. Is this bad or should I just leave it plugged in permanently?
Leaving it on is better for the sound quality. Either switching it off or leaving it on won’t damage your Qutest.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel I wonder if anyone has tried upgrading the power supply on the qutest and if it made any difference?
Won’t adding more components to this setup be adding more “noise” into the signal path? Not to mention that starting with a computer as the signal source is the noisiest element of the whole system. Toslink helps but they are not very pure either.
In general that might be the case, but when set up carefully this level of equipment is built to high specs. Watch my video on audio hygiene. th-cam.com/play/PLMbsmejHnP8E-kEzlliBX1bc8V-V4aQfE.html
Thanks for the link, Hans!
I must have missed a serious update about your reviews. When did you start reviewing mega dollar gear? Like fine wines, they are above my pay grade so I’ll never taste one or I’ll forever be wishing I could have more!
It has always been the plan to raise the bar gradually. But that doesn't mean I forget about more affordable equipment.
Opamp output at this price-class...?
Us your ears....
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel just for my curiosity, do you know the reference of the op-amps that are used in the Dave ?
would love to hear it, but will leave the credit card at home. thank you
It's too late for me😙
some say Chord dacs are bright forward and too digital, what is your take on this
Whatever brought people to that judgement is beyond me.
Dear Hans,
This is a succinct review for the money, which, considering the insights on offer, is highly listenable. Yet there is the nagging feeling that it could have been so much more.
For example, it seems a little light on detail. No direct comparisons are made to other dacs in this oxygen thin price range. And when praise is forthcoming, wouldn’t it be more meaningful if it was qualified by a clearer exegesis of what your subjective preference is? But these are minor criticisms really. Your review of the Digital to Analogue Very Expensive has prompted me to consider how this dac might perform in my humble system at home. So in that sense, you could say it has been a worthwhile experience! Thanks Hans. You have aroused my hifi curiosity once more.
Perfection is a goal not a reality😊
I hope you did not robbed a bank for this one ...
No but I might turn the kitty upside down 😬