I do not have the 282 anymore to test again but what matters most is how it sounds on your side. I’ve compared the Dave direct to 300DR and via Allegri+. I cannot say that I could notice a real difference, maybe a very slight loss of transparency with the Allegri connected and that was it so I’m now using it with the NDS.
2 Likes
Pardon my ignorance here, but is that comparable to what a ferrite does?
I have used DAVE with NAP 200 with no problems at all. I use a Chord Etude now, which I prefer as long as you run it with balanced connections from DAVE. My recommended ICs are Canare L4E6S Star Quad if you can go balanced, but to facilitate connection to NAP 200 I used a Naim RCA to DIN supplied by my dealer.
I would be very reluctant to put a pre between DAVE and power amplifier irrespective of cost. The best pre I have heard was from Chord, which was so good I couldn’t even tell it was in line. Didn’t seem worth over £30k for something I couldn’t even tell was there.
2 Likes
The best pre has indeed the ability to disappear completely. You even don’t notice it’s there. However i understood that you was not referring on that…
I could not tell DAVE with £30k pre from DAVE without £30k pre. So I chose DAVE without and saved £30k. To be honest I didn’t have £30k to spend. I sold my Linn Klimax pre and haven’t missed it at all. Linn no longer makes the KK so I guess they must also think it’s no longer needed.
1 Like
But linn actually discontinued the streamers and only sell the dsm: streamer and preamp together !
1 Like
DSM is ADC, Exakt, Streamer, Digital Pre, Processor & DAC
DAVE is Digital Pre & DAC
So no additional Pre needed with DSM
Pre only needed with DAVE if you have analogue sources
Linn KK was an analogue pre
Chord still makes preamp for those who need it
I wonder how close to finishing is Davina, Chord’s mooted FPGA ADC to match Dave. That combined with Dave would provide analogue inputs, thus dispensing with a necessity for a preamp for analogue sources - though how useful or versatile in practice would depend on what inputs come with it.
I think it makes sense to simplify their product lines, good for linn and good for the linn’s users.
It is refreshing to see that, even at the level of your system, the Hugo 1 can be as satisfying as much more expensive devices!
Perhaps Naim will finally manage to develop successors of their nDAC and DAC V1 devices that can compete with Chord both in terms of musical satisfaction and in terms of price.
4 Likes
Hi Simon…
In my system Dave is the only one providing the signal earth connection and I set phase to positive
I also found Dave to be more analogue than Hugo
I am plug in Dave in a different socket than my naim amps.
Congratulations though as you tried it and have reached a conclusion
2 Likes
I don’t think naim want to follow that approach. For them a chip Dac works in providing the sound that they want.
I expect ND555 to have a production life of at least 10-15 years while they seek a replacement for the TI1704 DAC
1 Like
Also, the Chord solutions’ claimed strengths lose a little force when you think that most of the music is recorded using commercial DAC chips
I would give it 5 years or so myself, the streaming market is moving fast. When i quizzed Steve Sells recently he said they were already working on a number of new ideas to replace their favourite dac.
1 Like
Why?
The Chord DACs’ strengths are in the naturalness of their presentation (some say analogue like - presumably meaning they have managed to reconstruct in a way that sounds like it hadn’t been digitised) and, at least in the case of Dave, clarity. They achieve that with the music as recorded, digitised through whatever commercial DACs have been used.
1 Like
WHAAAT……Bu**r!!!
1 Like
Oops sorry Nigel
Apologies for the thread drift, but @Gazza , did you ask Steve if the new DAC/technology that would go into a new Naim DAC would make their way swiftly into the streamers? Also was there any mention of the possibility of a ‘modular’ DAC upgrade for streamers with new DAC technology, or am I hoping too hard?
I have asked this question from Rob Watts - who has devoted a large portion of his professional life to the design of a digital source that betters analogue sources. The question being, is there technology than can make digital sound even better ?
(By the way it is worth noting he used to own an LP12 himself)
His answer was (not his exact words) that there aren’t too may ways to build a discrete element DAC (and moving away from a chip based DAC), and if one wants to optimize DAC performance, one invariably ends up with the way DCS and Chord have done it.
May be Naim will be the third company to do it this way?
In the meantime I am not losing any sleep over this, knowing that a Chord DAC has 30+ years of R&D and is really as good as it gets, today in 2019.
1 Like
It’s useful to mention that not all finds the Dave completely natural. Some, on other forums, found the vocals a bit harsch sounding.
Simon S found it too forward and preferred to stay with the hugo.
I personally never heard of someone saying that a vinyl replay is harsch or too forward. So i would be careful with this analog like sounding of the Dave.
I will report next week on it. Will try to listen to it with different components and with and without a preamp. Maybe it will be a revelation, who knows.