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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

Thomas savage

Grand Contributor
The Watchman
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uk, taunton
Theres a conspiracy theory i like to share in the interest of the members and wider audio community alike , its a compelling narrative.

@amirm Is it true that you just don't like Dave's ? And its that bias against all things Dave that's compelled you to sabotage these results?

Evidence is compelling..,

You love dogs and have at least 2 but non called Dave ? This is correct?

You have children but curiously non of those whom you surly love are called Dave are they !?

I'm told non of your best friends are called Dave either .., do you deny this ?

After interviewing a former employee of yours ( a garden executive no less ) its come to light the only thing called dave in your life is the trash can you named Dave !

Theres a clear and unmistakable pattern that can say nothing other than ' you can't stand anything called Dave ' . One can only speculate as to the reasoning for this illogical bias , this hatred that runs so deep that you throw rubbish at it everyday . That's real disdain, I think we all can agree .

I'd move to suggest had Rob called this device ' Amirm ' we'd be seeing vastly different results and unfettered praise for Chord and the DAC , is this not correct ?!
 

Ageve

Active Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2021
Messages
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640
Location
Sweden
Dave is actually a Chord salesman:
Pink-Panther-Nanco-Bank-Robber-w-Money.jpeg
 

AlephAlpha001

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2022
Messages
94
Likes
174
Location
Hong Kong
Theres a conspiracy theory i like to share in the interest of the members and wider audio community alike , its a compelling narrative.

@amirm Is it true that you just don't like Dave's ? And its that bias against all things Dave that's compelled you to sabotage these results?

Evidence is compelling..,

You love dogs and have at least 2 but non called Dave ? This is correct?

You have children but curiously non of those whom you surly love are called Dave are they !?

I'm told non of your best friends are called Dave either .., do you deny this ?

After interviewing a former employee of yours ( a garden executive no less ) its come to light the only thing called dave in your life is the trash can you named Dave !

Theres a clear and unmistakable pattern that can say nothing other than ' you can't stand anything called Dave ' . One can only speculate as to the reasoning for this illogical bias , this hatred that runs so deep that you throw rubbish at it everyday . That's real disdain, I think we all can agree .

I'd move to suggest had Rob called this device ' Amirm ' we'd be seeing vastly different results and unfettered praise for Chord and the DAC , is this not correct ?!

 

bennetng

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
1,634
Likes
1,692
That’s a nice graph. However given the dac is based on an IC with predefined reconstruction filter, I’m guessing it may sound “digital” if you know what I mean.
guessing it may
Indicates you don't even have confidence about your claim.
"digital"
Adding a quote also indicates you don't even know what you are talking about.
if you know what I mean.
Meaningless.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
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234,386
Location
Seattle Area
High pre and post ringings from predefined reconstruction filter on the IC sound like high frequency hash to me and I hear that as sounding “digital”.
Whoever created your music had a standard DAC without such filters. How come they thought it sounded nice but you don't?
 

simbloke

Senior Member
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May 30, 2019
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584
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North Wales, UK
Not to mention that it seems to be a very Chinese practice for some reason. Many of the Chinese brands use Serif fonts. I guess Chord knew what they are competing with :facepalm:
I have noticed that Chinese fonts tend to have serif versions of the western characters. It might also be unfamiliarity with western writing meaning they don't have the same view of what looks good.
 

chesebert

Member
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
61
Likes
37
Indicates you don't even have confidence about your claim.

Adding a quote also indicates you don't even know what you are talking about.

Meaningless.
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
 

Snafu

Active Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2018
Messages
223
Likes
140
Since the Topping D70s SINAD is ~120 dB and it costs ~$650, then given that "money is power" (as opposed to amplitude), I would expect the Chord DAVE SINAD to be at least 120 + 10*log($14,000 / $650) = 133.3 dB. But then we have to apply the law of diminishing returns. Does anyone have formula for that? :D
Chord Dave $$ - Topping D70s $$ = profit

:)
 

bennetng

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
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1,692
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
You have some very obvious goalpost moving. Firstly you posted a Stereophile plot indicating the noise floor that Amir got does not agree with Sterophile. Then I posted an Okto screenshot showing objective measurement results from the same Stereophile website. Now you talk about how you subjectively think about filters.

Now even more off topic things. Tapes? I am pretty sure I have listened to much more tapes than you. 1.875 to 30 ips, Studer, Revox, Otari, Nagra... I heard them A LOT.
FYI:
 

voodooless

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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
Let’s make a high quality digital recording of this and then play it back again… does it then suddenly sound “digital”?
 

DanielT

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
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Sweden - Слава Україні
..The only other possibility is that the unit was broken.
What, we got as far as page seven before that classic came out?!:oops:

It usually appears (unit broken?) on page two or three when some damn expensive product is tested and its performance is not in relation to the price. Or worse, underperforms in relation to price,or underperforms in general.

By the way, thanks for the test Amir!:D
 
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