We do need the pre-amp, as our highest quality source remains the Vertere turntable, rather than the M Scaler + DAVE.
If you only have a streamer, then perhaps the pre would not be necessary. It would save a pretty penny but the streamer (or DAVE) would need to have a really very, very good pre-amp section in it to match the performance of the pre-amp that we now have.
We tried running single ended wiring and balanced. DAVE is really single ended by core design. The amp is primarily balanced but can be used single ended. For us, balanced won out by a fair margin over equally posh single ended wiring. We tried both Atlas Mavros and Townshend F1 Fractal wires in both RCA single ended and XLR balanced. The big surprise was not the benefit to streamed music but the scale of improvement when the phono stage to pre-amp went from single ended to balanced wiring. It was materially better to our cloth ears.
Just out of interest here how does the Hugo TT2 compare to an Ndac 555. Do you need to be aiming at at a Dave as an alternative?
Is the USB on the Chord dacs worse than the Bncs?
Does a Innuos Zennith work better with the Chord Dacs via USB or using as server via ethernet and using a decent streamer on a bnc?
For the latter with my system, zenith 3, phoenix usb into MScaler/TT 2 I found usb from the phoenix was better than with a streamer in between. Others may find different. Iām interested in the converter Iāve read about that changes usb into dual bnc but unless I could audition in my system itās a none starter. This is the happiest Iāve bee been with any of my systems
First of all a big thanks for this thread, it is very fresh, interesting and friendly. It has helped me to reflect on my system and it has taken me to some unexpected places, including a foray in Mongolian heavy metal music.
I started experimenting with MP3 files in 1995 and streaming FLAC files with a Squeezebox in 2004. Over the years I have ripped my CDs only once, I just update/correct metadata when necessary (3000 CDs or 1TB). I have a Synology NAS and a SuperUnity (first generation) in my main system.
I have two NAS synchronized in different locations in France and Italy and also carry my collection in a 1TB card in my A&K. All this very convenient, but I still buy CDs, curating my collection is a big satisfaction. Of course I have a Naim CD player.
Now I have the desire to implement a very high quality CD player system. Options are the legendary Naim 555CD (second hand), a Rega Isis, an Esoteric player from Japanā¦ But reading this thread (it took me several days) I have learned that I also have options with Chord.
I am thinking of a CD transport (Rega, Cyrus or Exposure) into Hugo M Scaler into Hugo TT 2. All connections BNC coaxial cables.
Has anybody tested a similar configuration? Do you think this will provide a similar level of performance than a top CD player? Any comments or recommendations?
Ok, I have been hereā¦ albeit not at the same timeā¦ so need to use the unreliable memoryā¦
The TT2 has a very different presentation to the NDAC/555PSā¦ the latter has a more earthy darker soundā¦ the TT2 is more sprightly
The DAVE in my opinion is however in a completely different league in terms of sheer transparency, immediacy, drive, emotion and timing.
To me the DAVE and ND555/555PS(s) is a more natural comparisonā¦ but to my ears the DAVE clearly eclipses that in sheer insight, emotion and timingā¦ but both are very enjoyableā¦ and at this level personal preference and system synergy become dominant.
I use Naim streaming transports, specifically an NDX2 with my DAVE, and now use a MScalar, I do like what it does to 44.1-48 materialā¦ the resultant audio becomes typically so artefact freeā¦ really gets you closer to the recording on my many recordingsā¦ listening to Radiohead, The Bends as I typeā¦ and itās just so good.
I spent a long time hereā¦ in the end I decided I preferred the unbalanced interconnects between the DAVE and the Etude over balanced interconnectsā¦ I found interconnects equally affected both in terms of subtle sonic character which is what you would expect over a short distance. I use home brew gold plated silver twisted pair interconnects.
As you say DAVE is an unbalanced design, with an analogue inverter in its preamp to create balancedā¦ the Etude is natively balanced, but I prefer its inbuilt inverter when using its unbalanced input.
At the moment I use the DAVE preamp directly feeding the Etude as I not using analogue sources.
However if I insert a Chord preamp at some pointā¦ I will probably run balanced between it and the Etude so as to retain best transparency to minimise signal conversions when using DAVE with its unbalanced outputā¦ since Chord preamps are also natively balanced.
Well doneā¦I used to be where you are, but perhaps not looking quite as neat as yoursā¦ but I took it all down in the endā¦ I found it too hard to navigateā¦ and felt my music collection had become effectively inaccessible. So I ripped it all and now all accessible online from a local NAS, ā¦ and I have instead many silver storage cases with all my CDs in stacked high in my garage now.
In that list I have only listened to the CD555ā¦ a very enjoyable sounding playerā¦ the DAVE is rather differentā¦ and to my ears and experience it digs deeper into the recording, hardly surprising there are differences as they use very different DAC and reconstruction filter technologies and approaches which means the resultant analogue signal is created differently.
DIgital to analogue conversion is ultimately a compromise, and the algorithms and methods used allow the designer where to make those compromises. On very revealing systems, and with high end headphones this becomes more noticeable. System synergy becomes increasingly important too. Apart from Hugo1 I felt Chord Electronics sources were never totally at home with Naim NACs.