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The Chord DAC bandwagon

Would absolutely love to hear the Chord Dave, but the chances of that are next to none at the moment, and I’m not in a position to afford the deposit for a loan either. I’d have to sell just about all my gear to afford a 2nd or 3rd hand used one too... I can but admire the purty pictures instead! (Love the Jules Verne-esque looks! Have very mixed feelings about John Franks’ chassis designs, but I think he nailed it with Dave... just a pity about the name, but at least that’s not machined into the chassis!). Would be intrigued to hear it against the current ‘measures all but perfectly’ star, the Okto Dac8 Stereo.
 
It’s also a high quality Pre Amp, none of the other DACs with a volume control I’ve tried, have made me want to use them direct to Power Amps, the Bartok is that good I’m looking at an ADC so I can use it with my Phono stage and remove an Integrated/Preamplifier from the system.

The dCS Bartok is superb :)
 
I got a second hand Musette recently and knew within 24h that I had to get one of the current line up, which have the latest iteration of their in-house FPGA chip.

I know this is going to sound very anal and rather picky, but as far as i'm aware, Chord aren't a chip manufacturer, and don't make FPGAs, then install normal off the shelf FPGAs and program them. The language they use does seem to imply there's more going on than 'we use an off the shelf chip and run our software on it' which is basically how everything works.

The Dave uses the Spartan 6, which is a Xilinx FPGA (https://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-devices/fpga/spartan-6.html). Xilinx is part of AMD, so it's like saying they use an AMD processor for their DAC (it's just programmed a different way).
 
I know this is going to sound very anal and rather picky, but as far as i'm aware, Chord aren't a chip manufacturer, and don't make FPGAs, then install normal off the shelf FPGAs and program them. The language they use does seem to imply there's more going on than 'we use an off the shelf chip and run our software on it' which is basically how everything works.

The Dave uses the Spartan 6, which is a Xilinx FPGA (https://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-devices/fpga/spartan-6.html). Xilinx is part of AMD, so it's like saying they use an AMD processor for their DAC (it's just programmed a different way).
Does any Hi-Fi DAC use in-house designed silicon?
 
Do any of them actually have a proper volume control? That’s one of the things I love about my Weiss i.e. a volume knob.

I’d be very interested to try one sometime, though from what I’ve heard it would be hard to better what I’ve got.
 
I know almost nothing about Chord and probably less about DAC’s but I love the ‘Jules Verne’ look those devices have.
I know this is going to sound very anal and rather picky, but as far as i'm aware, Chord aren't a chip manufacturer, and don't make FPGAs, then install normal off the shelf FPGAs and program them. The language they use does seem to imply there's more going on than 'we use an off the shelf chip and run our software on it' which is basically how everything works.

The Dave uses the Spartan 6, which is a Xilinx FPGA (https://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-devices/fpga/spartan-6.html). Xilinx is part of AMD, so it's like saying they use an AMD processor for their DAC (it's just programmed a different way).

I was referring to Metrum, whose Transient chip is built in-house. The first iteration was a DAC-only chip, the Transient DAC2 contains 2 DAC1 chips in parallel plus an FPGA device. I don’t know if the FPGA is their own or bought in. I believe there is a Transient DAC3 chip on the way, which is user-upgradeable.

I think this kind of affordable upgrade path is highly commendable.
 
Do any of them actually have a proper volume control? That’s one of the things I love about my Weiss i.e. a volume knob.

I’d be very interested to try one sometime, though from what I’ve heard it would be hard to better what I’ve got.
You mean physically or a non digitally programmed volume control?
 
Do any of them actually have a proper volume control? That’s one of the things I love about my Weiss i.e. a volume knob.
Yes, the Hugo TT2 has a very nice volume knob with a rather cheap but functional remote control. I like the way the colour of it changes with its setting. No balance control though.
 
To pick up on the original point, yes, they have good write-ups because so many people think they sound good. I spent many thousands on a Hugo TT2 + M-Scaler and I’m very pleased with the results. Currently listening to Progzilla.com radio from the Internet and the combination makes the station very enjoyable to listen to. The Hugo TT2 is capable of driving speakers directly which suits the situation in my study where I never want or need trouser flapping bass.

Some have commented on the Chord DAC equipment sounding lean. My response is that it’s just reinforcing the sound characteristics of the speakers and the importance of system matching. To my ears most modern stand mounts sound lean unless the volume knob is set high – which is simply not an acceptable scenario in my study. A pair of Pro-Ac D20R floor standing speakers at relatively low volume is a match made in heaven, albeit at a price.

When you consider that the Hugo TT2 is a DAC / Pre amp / Power amp, if its limited power output suits your speakers and usage it’s an absolute bargain for the quality of sound.
 
When you consider that the Hugo TT2 is a DAC / Pre amp / Power amp, if its limited power output suits your speakers and usage it’s an absolute bargain for the quality of sound.

How do you use the TT2 as a power amp powering the D20R?

I owned a TT connecting directly to a Naim 250dr for a while and really like the sound, but never knew i also functioned as a power amp?
 
The dCS Bartok is superb :)
Indeed it is!
So is the Rossini :)

@jesmondtutu
The volume knob on the dCS Bartok and Rossini both work well.
I recently used my Rossini direct into the power amp for a week or so while waiting for some new 6922 valves for the pre.
 
How do you use the TT2 as a power amp powering the D20R?
It's a simple operation.
1) Plug the speakers into the output jacks (phono type). These are the same jacks you would use to take the DAC's analogue output to an analogue pre-amp or a power amp.
2) Make sure the Hugo is configured in AMP mode rather than fixed output so that the output level can be varied.

Away you go.
 
Tried to like the dave and the tt2, but for me they are just to lean sounding, all the detail, but nothing else, just left me feeling cold.
Plus i hate the design, they look very cheap and tacky, with the silly lights, compared to other hi end rivals.
The other thing that would bug me if i owned one is the power supply, as i know i would want to change that straight away and then the cables you need if you add the mscaler, plus you still can hear anything from it as you need to add streamer or something to it
So for me, dave + mscaler + power supply for both+ decent cables + decent streamer= alot of dosh, and it all looks a mess, but would hope it warmed up a lot on sound, but does it?
Or just get a rossini and clock and be done or msb dac, maybe?

Also just when you finally get the dave sorted, they bring out dave 2, lol, as that can't be far away now, especially when the tt2 beats the dave on a few things.
Anyway just my thoughts, but one to add to the list of guys that don't like the chord dacs
 


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