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Chord DAVE Review (DAC & HP Amp)

Rate this DAC & HP Amp

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 294 60.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 120 24.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 46 9.5%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 24 5.0%

  • Total voters
    484

Peternz

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Apr 20, 2021
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And to think I once seriously considered buying this piece of under performing audio bling. I have a Topping D70S and L30 amp and that combo well and truly kicks dave ass. Thank you so much, Amir.
 

composer

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Sep 14, 2020
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Ear is such a stupid sense, you can fool it with buzz words (there are plenty when it comes to talk about audio devices of any kind), good looking stuff, and hence the former are done, commit it with the bias of high prices you are led to spend.

When one tosses all that money on whatever audio gear is led to hear anything good to justify it, angels singing and God whispering through music.

How stupid ear is, how stupid ear bringers may become, as well as how egregious ear cheater may become...

Sorry for unwanted philosophy
 
Last edited:

Peternz

Active Member
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Apr 20, 2021
Messages
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258
Ear is such a stupid sense, you can fool it with buzz words (there are plenty when it comes to talk about audio devices of any kind), good looking stuff, and hence the former are done, commit it with the bias of high prices you are lead to spend.

When one spends all that money is led to hear anything good to justify it, angels singing and God whispering through music.

How stupid ear is, and how stupid ear bringers may become, as well as how egregious ear cheater may become...

Sorry for unwanted philosophy

Your philosophy is spot on. You are not going to sink a ton of money into something and then admit that you made a mistake and the thing you got is in fact mediocre.
 

ayane

Active Member
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Dec 15, 2018
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NorCal
Every time that characteristic "bulging" shows up in the headphone voltage vs impedance vs THD graph near saturation, it's a telltale sign of not having enough feedback.

Between that and the noise floor modulation, this is a poorly engineered product considering the "cost no object" price point...
 

audiotron

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
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208
tumblr_nqumn4ephf1tq4of6o1_400.gifv


... for that sort of money one would expect a 100% SOTA DAC and surely a more luxurious look.

Here is under the hood;

View attachment 220047


JSmith
Uber priced garbage!
 

Digby

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
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Is it me or does anyone else notice a vague nautical theme to this? It looks like it belongs on a ship or perhaps as part of a car gearbox. It is not my idea of attractive, but you have to give it points for being both aesthetically odd and very expensive at the same time. They must have some stellar salespeople at Chord, as I have to wonder just how many beholders find beauty in this kind of design.
 

Peternz

Active Member
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Apr 20, 2021
Messages
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Is it me or does anyone else notice a vague nautical theme to this? It looks like it belongs on a ship or perhaps as part of a car gearbox. It is not my idea of attractive, but you have to give it points for being both aesthetically odd and very expensive at the same time. They must have some stellar salespeople at Chord, as I have to wonder just how many beholders find beauty in this kind of design.

Well, if you ask me it is a bold design. It is innovative, it stands out and I find it more appealing than the Fisher Price esthetic of a lot of other stuff by Chord. I do find it looks very cool with the stand but without the stand it looks a little bereft, at least it does to me.
 

nsfgp

Active Member
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Dec 27, 2020
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185
Sorry off topic question. What kind of shipping service usually people use to ship something like this and how much it cost to ship+Insurance coverage for this thing round trip?? Next day air??
Usually a package this size is the perfect basketball-toss-entertainment substitute for postal/courier handler.
Is there an extra red shipping label saying "Update your resume before you toss/throw this box around ....".
Kudo to the kind loan of the kind forum member.
 

Somafunk

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Mar 1, 2021
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From an industrial design perspective I quite like the look of it but ideally I’d want a floating oled display mounted in a domed sapphire crystal, keep the button layout similar but anodised titanium finish rather than the tacky chromed look, and redesign the dac/amp so it is genuinely world beating, and sell for £2k. ;)
 

C. Cook

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2021
Messages
362
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184
:) I actually used my Audioquest cable for testing.
Well therein lies the problem! You just need a more expensive set of cables. After all, what's that old "high end" audio adage? You should 'budget at least 20% of your overall system price tag for interconnects!" LOL
 

Digby

Major Contributor
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Mar 12, 2021
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From an industrial design perspective I quite like the look of it but ideally I’d want a floating oled display mounted in a domed sapphire crystal, keep the button layout similar but anodised titanium finish rather than the tacky chromed look, and redesign the dac/amp so it is genuinely world beating, and sell for £2k. ;)
I liked how you started out from an industrial design perspective and have, almost imperceptibly, switched to a truly Scottish perspective by the end ;).
 

NTK

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Aug 11, 2019
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Whoever loaned this out, thank you for your bravery in shipping such an expensive item to Amir.
And sorry for the less than stellar results. :(
I suspect it may be @Jomungur's.
...
I was shocked. I’m not even upset about the money factor, because my sound system, which I thought already sounded great, sounds even better. I was even thinking about letting anyone who is in NYC come check it out, but perhaps a better direction is: if you can afford the DAVE, the Topping is a less than 1/10 of the cost. So buy it, and compare honestly and see what you think. Take the DAVE out for a couple of days and see if you miss them. Meanwhile, I sent the DAVE in for measurements and let's see what they say.
...
 
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