Dave on DAVE
I've had my Chord DAVE for less than a week now, and I've got lots to say, and yet little to say. For now, I'm very very very happy with DAVE. I've found that the AES input sounds best for me...but it's being fed like this:
Aurender N10 USB > Berkeley USB Converter > AES/EBU
Interesting that Rob Watts -- the designer and creator of DAVE -- thinks the USB input is very slightly best, followed by TosLink. I've also been listening to music through the TosLink, using a pretty good glass cable, but still keep coming back to the USB-to-AES connection.
I've exchanged some emails with Mr. Watts and he made two interesting points:
- While the DAVE's high-frequency filter was intended for used with 176K and above sampling rates, he finds "(rather oddly) that it sounds a bit smoother with 44.1 with it on -- odd cause it should not make a difference. I leave it on all the time."
- And in terms of time for break-in, he wrote: "differences are tiny compared to what will happen as you get used to the sound -- brain break-in is much bigger."
Meanwhile, is the DAVE better than the Berkeley Reference? At this point, it's still hard for me to say. In fact, in many ways, I do not hear that much of a difference...similar sound quality. If pushed to say, the DAVE offers more detail, slightly more, than the Berkeley Ref. But the Berkeley Ref offers more emotional depth, slightly more.
More time is needed, clearly.
Who else here has a DAVE?
What other DACs have you used?
Are you comparing the DAVE right now to any other DAC?
Dave,
who of course wonders how the DAVE will stack up to the Series 2 of the Berkeley Ref that is or will be available as an upgrade
Note: All of my music is PCM, a mix of ALAC (mainly) and AIFF, and mainly Redbook 44.1/16 with about 5% of the 2500 albums at some higher resolution.
