James
Thank you for the writeup.
My demo was different than yours in that I only had a brief spell with the TT2/Violectric Nimbus amplifier (so not the TT2 straight out into headphones) - however the quick results were the same. Uninvolving and making me bored and itchy to leave.
On the flip side my demo with the Mytek Brooklyn/Headamp GSX Mini (same as above ie WITH an external amplifier) had me toe tapping and engaged for more than an hour. I did not want to leave.
FYI for those who are following - another point to mention as well. Here in the States TT2- $5400 while the Brooklyn comes in at exactly half.
I was able to have a good listen to DAVE last night. To the hyper detailed TT2 sound, it adds warmth and a natural ease to the music. It swings, it boogies, it’s a lot of fun and I really like what it does. One of my favourite ‘difficult’ tracks is ‘Top of the City’ from Before the Dawn (Kate Bush). This track can sound muffled and distant on the wrong equipment. Not on DAVE.
For me, the understated looks (in Black) and the lack of glowing balls and light displays through viewing portals makes a compelling case for DAVE. Sound quality wise it has all the attributes that I enjoyed with the Mytek Brooklyn - They are both are very enjoyable DACs to listen to and allow me to just relax and enjoy the music they make. DAVE brings even more realism and detail to the party but at this moment I’m thinking I could be very happy with either… but one is around 6k less than the other, adds Network streaming functionality and MQA decoding (not a big deal to me) and balanced headphone outputs.
I’ve got some serious thinking to do over the next few days.
You might well be advised to audition the Mytek Manhattan II. I haven’t heard it, but anecdotally quite a bit better than the Brooklyn+. Significantly more expensive than the Brooklyn, but still significantly less than the DAVE.
Well DAVE was a curate’s egg. On one hand, superbly revealing making the most of a good recording. On the other, maybe just too revealing. For example, the title track on Shelby Lynne’s ‘Just a little loving’ sounded as stunning through DAVE as when i first heard the track 9 or so years ago. Blown away is an apt description. On other albums, the results were so so and some favourites just sounded flat through DAVE. Another favourite, Talk Talk’s fantastic album ’ Spirit of Eden’ came across as very detailed yet disjointed and not as enjoyable as it usually proves - i moved onto something else half way through.
So it was with a bit of a heavy heart that i packed DAVE up. I’ve never wanted to cherry pick my music playlist based on how good they will sound and this is what i found i was doing with DAVE. It’s a fantastic machine and i can understand why it’s so highly rated. I suspect the results could be different with a top class USB source (the Streambox is no slouch here though), attention paid to mains etc but the search was on for a bedside system so certain limitations were required (although i’m thinking of adding another radial to my dedicated mains supply to feed the bedroom system…)
So to sum up, its been an interesting exercise over the last few weeks and i’ve ordered the Mytek Brooklyn DAC +. I really enjoyed my time with the Bridge (the same DAC but with a network board installed) and loved its no nonsense engineering and its superb SQ. It’s just what i was looking for. With the money saved i may even treat myself to a Chord Shawcan headphone cable
@glevethan Gregg - i’ll be interested to hear what you think if you audition the Brooklyn at home. Well worth trying IMHO.
I can highly recommend Meze Classics 99 lovely headphones. Come with two cables one for mobile and.one for at home. They won’t break the bank either but sound way above their price.
Chord build quality at DAVE level is very good (not Linn Klimax standard, but what is?). Chord does have some annoying quirks ergonomically such as Blu2 having sockets very close together. DAVE’s optical inputs are a challenge too. I thought any optical cable would fit but no. However the sound quality makes me forget those matters. Blu2 DAVE is the best CD player I have ever heard and my Linn streaming system was second best until Katalyst came along. Now I have no favourite (well maybe still Chord by a whisker).
My view on the transport is different from Simon’s, but I am using Blu2 between my Mac mini and DAVE.
My other recommendation is to avoid audiophile cables with Chord kit. I found using Pro cables worked really well - Canare especially. Chord comes from a Pro background so perhaps this accounts for it or maybe simply my preference. I use Audeze LCD3s with DAVE though I prefer to use loudspeakers. One downside for headphones is there is only a single ended socket, you cannot use a balanced cable. I use balanced cables for connecting to the Etude amplifier and think they are significantly better than RCAs.
I have never heard a Brooklyn DAC so can’t comment on how the Chord would fare in comparison.
Glad to hear you found what you are looking for James, at least you now can sleep knowing you tried all options, and found your preferred Headphone Dac/amp. I really think these things come down to personal preference, just like with speakers. I also hope this will not discourage others from trying CHord DAC’s, because many of us do like what they deliver.
I’m sure my ramblings won’t put people off trying Chord DACs. I did find them enjoyable but ultimately not quite what i was looking for. DAVE was a real eye (ear ?) opener !
James
Nice read and enjoy your new Brooklyn. It is an impressive little box and I really enjoyed demoing it at CanJam.
Care to compare it to your WM1Z - I would be curious to hear what you think between to two
I find them fun and a pleasure to listen to, the have surprising low range performance for a closed back headphones but are well balanced, very clear, easy to drive and time well. Very well made and a lovely finish especially the walnut and gold ones I have. All parts are replaceable to if something should happen to break. Not sure what else to say really, You need to try them yourself, plenty of reviews around of them.
The Brooklyn DAC + is settling in nicely. Not a lot of difference if any (via USB) with the Bridge SQ wise which is good. It does run warm rather than hot which was a slight concern of mine with the bridge as the network card seems to chuck out a lot of heat. I must say the Chord DAVE has intrigued me and I’m sure I’ll revisit this again one day, but for a bedside system to replace the 1Z, the Brooklyn is very nice indeed.
How does it compare to the 1Z ? As you well know, the 1Z makes great music and I still get a great deal of pleasure from it, either via my Shure IEMs or the Z1R ‘phones. The introduction of the DAC functionality in the 3.0 firmware update added something I didn’t think I’d need, but since converting to Roon for my stored and (Tidal) streamed music it’s come into its own for going beyond the internal storage when listening at home. USB playback on the 1Z is slightly inferior to playback from the internal memory and is certainly much closer when using USB from the Streambox S2 Ultra rather than my Mac book. It still sounds very good over USB but to me the sound is flatter and loses some of the fluidity that comes from the 1Z playing from internal memory.
The Brooklyn betters the 1Z via USB and I would say both are very close when the 1Z is playing back from memory. If I was nit picking, I’d say the Brooklyn goes deeper in the bass and hits harder, the 1Z having a sweeter high end than the Brooklyn. Both make great music though and I’ve got the best of both worlds now for portable (well work and holiday listening) and home headphone listening. Hope that helps and i’ll be interested in your own findings
PS - the Bridge is reviewed in the latest edition of Stereophile, Not read it myself yet so i’ll be interested in what they think of it when i take a read later.
What are good options with a NDX2 set up? I’m using with a SN2, as I wanted a headphone stage that would work with system automation and the NDX2 remote for volume control. The headline doesn’t have those options, unhelpfully. It all sounds lovely with HD800’s, so interested whether that is the best set up with the NDX2. I’m running the system with a HiCAP DR and XPS DR.
I think it’s great, just asking really if anyone had experience of running something better of the NDX2. The SN2 headphone amp is a Class A amp, so it’s well up there quality wise.
I actually discussed the Headline with my dealer today and it predates the move to streaming, so Naim don’t really have a separate headphone amp designed to go with the new streamers unfortunately. Leaves a problem if you wanted to go separates.
You could send the digital out from NDX2 to one of the Chord DACs: Hugo M-Scaler TT2 for example (about £6k). They are all great headphone amplifiers.
However, unless you do a lot of headphone listening I’d be inclined to use the SN2. If you are using headphones regular then I recommend auditioning a Chord DAVE with Audeze LCD3 cans, it may not be for everyone, but I like it. LCD4 cans are even better, but I didn’t use my LCD3s enough to upgrade.
The other headphone setup I really enjoyed was the Stax Electrostatic Ear-speakers, I would recommend trying the Stax SR-007 MK2 Omega Reference System.
I tried the LCD 4 connected to a DAVE a few years ago at Canjam london and it was a very impressive combo - as it should be for the price! My main reason for being there was to demo a Cavalli Audio Liquid Gold amp which i did with Mr Speakers Ether C headphones. I ended up ordering the amp on their next production run - turns out it was their last. At home, my friendly local NAIM dealer lent me audeze LCD3’s and Senn HD800S cans. Although i found something quite seductive about the planars they could not keep up with he dynamism and detail of the Senns so i ordered a set alongwith a stunning after market copper cable from Toxic Cables, also now defunct, I am done tinkering with the set up. It sounded fanastic with my NDS but ive yet to try it with the ND555.
Not sure I understand your point here - the Headline functions in the same way for the SN2 and Separates. There’s no remote option for volume under either.
I’ve just upgraded my Headline from being powered by a NAPSC-equivalent to a Supercap-equivalent - sounds fabulous!
