Chord DAVE Review (DAC & HP Amp)

[HuubFranssen]

Those are not the only possibilities, and in fact they are the three least likely ones.

I think this is very interesting. Can you explain this?

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Well that’s a bit disappointing Amit tests another broken unit / unknown provenance/ at least this wasn’t ‘cherry picked’ by the manufacturer!
Seriously though your work is invaluable every other forum is just a joke in comparison.
Keith

I'm curious, what are the chances of users owning a defective unit of such an expensive, prestige audio product like DAVE without knowing?
I thought the more expensive the more durable or better QC it should have, but for years I've seen so many expensive products just die or face issues out of nowhere.

 

[Robbo99999]

I'm curious, what are the chances of users owning a defective unit of such an expensive, prestige audio product like DAVE without knowing?
I thought the more expensive the more durable or better QC it should have, but for years I've seen so many expensive products just die or face issues out of nowhere.

He was just making a joke that people often defend some of these types of brands and products by saying the tested unit was defective. He was just making fun of them

 

[AudioSceptic]

Expedited courier shipping, yeah, with a fragile good service and lots of insurance. Are you wondering whether it got damaged during shipping? Most business grade couriers don't toss goods around like the guys working luggage at the airport. It's always possible, but I tried to pack that thing so it could withstand an explosion. Paid about $370 to ship it, figured it was like a website donation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Not many want to have such an expensive item scrutinised like this, let alone pay so much for the process.

Edit: what you paid is about what a lot of us pay for an actual DAC/headamp!

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

He was just making a joke that people often defend some of these types of brands and products by saying the tested unit was defective. He was just making fun of them

I'm aware of that my friend, however he's a person who has both expertise and also have his own brand so I just want to hear it from his point of view.

 

[Purité Audio]

I would welcome Chord ( and all manufacturers) sending their products directly to Amir for testing,they would have to realise though that Amirs reviews do not sugar cost the results that every other reviewer has to because there is no monetisation on ASR .
Long may that continue.
Keith

 

[Jimbob54]

I would welcome Chord ( and all manufacturers) sending their products directly to Amir for testing,they would have to realise though that Amirs reviews do not sugar cost the results that every other reviewer has to because there is no monetisation on ASR .
Long may that continue.
Keith

I would also like companies to say what measurements they believe show their products in the best light and what their in house readings of those show . Whether Amir can or will replicate is a different question.

Chord seem to like pushing a high performance narrative that doesn't seem to be reflected in what we've seen on any of their designs tested here.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I received it January 2020. Dealer had to order it so it took a few weeks. Warranty is 5 year incidentally.

I find it funny how no one seems to wonder whether products loaned by the manufacturer for official reviews might be cherry picked the other way.

Don't we assume that by default? I mean, if you're a manufacturer wouldn't you make sure you send an item that is at least up to spec?

 

[bennetng]

Possibly a rather sad and cunning plan by the manufacturer to make you purchase their accompanying stand, which by the looks of things slants the unit forward the appropriate amount to make the display readable.

Looks like the poor DAVE is infected by horsehair worms. Amir's white cable looks much less offensive, IMO.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Chord and other botique fans are clueless.
They think that: Chips cost pennies it shouldnt be able to compete vs Proprietary tech...
Guess what? Manufacturers like Ess, Akm spend a lot more money into research than botique stuff developers.
It might be cheaper to manufature, but im sure reasearch is much more expensive and they got their money back by selling huge quantities of chips.

Imagine a computer market where some manufacturers made their own CPUs from discrete parts instead of buying in chips from Intel and the rest. There would, of course, be a niche market for very low power computers using valves (tubes) in single-ended configuration because, you know, the first few instructions per second are the most important.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I wouldn’t know for sure unless I heard it. I always leave some wiggle room as audio is very subjective and personal. I was hoping you know what “digital” sounding means but I was wrong you have obvious never heard non “digital” sound reproduction in your life - go borrow a Linn turntable or some tape and get some listening experience

Why a Linn? There are so many to choose from.

 

[Shadrach]

I keep going back to the front page to make sure I haven't misread the decimal point in the price.
$14.000!
I'm sure it's a misprint.
$140.00.
Tell me it's a misprint, please.

 

[BDWoody]

. I was hoping you know what “digital” sounding means but I was wrong you have obvious never heard non “digital” sound reproduction in your life - go borrow a Linn turntable or some tape and get some listening experience

 

[AudioSceptic]

Yes (to my ears) if you play it back on a dac with high pre and post ringing.

That would be great double-blind test.

 

[Jake Cushing]

It looks like a Nintendo controller mated with one of these

 

[Katji]

Not enough filter taps for the text display. Connect to M Scaler and see if the fonts look better or not.
The use of serif typeface simply expose the weakness due to lack of taps.

That serif typeface has been typical/standard thing on Chinese gear since forever.

 

[AdamG]

Understand. It does what it says it does. It's also not a poor performer by any objective measure.

It is clearly overpriced by 10x. So my commentary is, what should the verdict be for being completely overpriced and not worth the money? It's not snake oil, it's not great, it's not broken, and not fine. So what is the category for obsolete and overpriced?

To the former, Agreed I could have used better words. To the latter, I think this is being shaped/resolved by the community and Amir’s Product Review Vote Polls.

 

[Katji]

So this is the other Chord button style - ball bearings instead of Fisher-Price toy style.

 

[Ducnguyen2k10]

Maybe this unit is defective! The measurements by Goldensound showed differences!

 

[Robbo99999]

So this is the other Chord button style - ball bearings instead of Fisher-Price toy style.

A

It does look a helluva lot better than the Chord Hugo 2, I'll give it that at least!