Chord Dave

I can't tell you what to purchase. I will provide some suggestions to listen to: Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated amp, T+A PA 3100 HV integrated amp, Parasound JC5 amplifier(I don't like their preamps), Constellation Inspiration 1.0 amp and preamp, Jeff Rowland 625 S2 and Corus preamp. I've heard all of the aforementioned components.  

Hey guys,

sorry if this steer off-topic but folks here seem familiar with the sound of the DAVE DAC so I'd like some advice...

I've got a Hegel HD30 DAC now being fed by an Aurender N100H. The sound is *very* affected by the USB cable and power-cord and isolation (still points) I use under the N100H. I was thinking to upgrade to an N10 which sounds better (based on almost all other reports), but then I heard an owner of the DAVE dac say that this particular dac is remarkably jitter-resistant... he had compared the sound using multiple USB cables and servers (including Aurender n10 and macbook etc) and could hear virtually no difference.

So now I'm wondering what's a better way to go:

* Keep Hegel HD30 DAC and upgrade to Aurender N10
* Keep Aurender N100H and upgrade to CHORD DAVE DAC

Naturally, I would love to audition all of these options in my own system but this may not be possible. Any advice is welcome!

-Dave

Have any of u compared the dave and the optional gryphon diablo 300 dac? Im currently running qutest w my diablo 300. Thinking of upgrading. I want the sound to be “thicker”, your suggestions would really be appreciated.

Had the bartok also in mind. Or lampizator?

I just read a post saying the dave/blu/mscaler combination blew the bartok? Comments are welcomed. 

Having owned the DAVE/Blu2, I doubt it would be "thicker" than what you have. It has many strengths - forensic detail being one of them - but it is quite lean sounding and somewhat thin. Claims by Chord fanboys should be treated with scepticism, particularly when you're spending this much money.

I haven't heard the Bartok so don't know how it compares.

My audio pal just got a Dave and in a short period of time, thoroughly prefers it to his fully upgraded Denafrips Terminator.  Now that I am a pensioner, I think I will content myself with the performance of my Ayre Codex.  My upgrade from 4 different ~$1K DACs to the Ayre QB-9 and then the Codex offered a huge improvement in SQ in my system.  In fact, when I got the QB-9, I sold my SOTA Sapphire TT and never looked back.