I've had a Chord QBD76HDSD in my system for a fair while now, currently being fed by a Melco N1Z HD player. When DAVE came out I was very keen to hear it -
...but despite trying it twice, and for a few days each time, in my system, although it did lots of admirable things in terms of extra detail and a remarkable airiness, it lacked the enjoyable music that I get from the QBD. I thought It'd be interesting try some of the other Chord DACs, having been told by others that they all had a better FPGA than my ancient old QBD machine. A friend kindly lent me his Hugo for a couple of weeks -
...and I was immediately impressed. It's got lots of drive and life, a different sound to the QBD but equally enjoyable. Quite remarkable! I finally thought I should try the Hugo TT, and this currently resides in my system -
I've taken advice about the output level, and although it's only been here for a couple of days my initial impression is that it's a smoother version of the Hugo. Very relaxing to listen to, maybe a little too polite, but I shall give it a few days' listening before drawing a conclusion. I haven't bothered with the other Chords because folk whose opinions I trust tell me they're not quite as good as the Hugo.