Interesting comparison over at Darko.Audio (I wish more reviewers had the courage to do useful comparisons): Chord DAVE vs PS Audio DirectStream Sr.
Cheers.
I’m a long time fan of the way Mr Darko does things. His review of the DSJ was one of the reasons i bought it
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Yes, also his comparison of the Terminator, DS-Snr and a couple of others.
I would be interested if he did a comparison to Esoteric, dcs and MSB top offerings.
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Chord come from a military background, which probably contributes to why they make the units as small as possible. Plus it is more practical. Never understood why audio boxes have to be so large.
I use the Chord Mojo with Mr Speakers Aeon, might go up to the Hugo2 but the Mojo is just so practical. They are all FPGA but the Mojo uses a smaller processor.
I struggle with the concept of a reviewer doing a head-to-head comparison of one thing against another thing that is double the price.
You can’t go with the price all the time… Prior to buying P S Audio’s BHK range of amplifiers I used Constellation Audio’s reference amplifiers: for style, fit & finish and not forgetting the amount of money required to buy them, the Bugatti of amplifiers, even makes your wonderful equipment appear cheap… Well, I sold them, moved on, and at a mere fraction of the price the BHK amplifiers in my system were musically more engaging than the top of the range Constellation amplifiers… So, the financial cost of both makes of amplifier in my situation had no bearing….
If it wasn’t for the issues raised with reliability with my BHK amplifiers I would be very happy with them, their effortless musicality, and I wouldn’t be selling them… But just too many problems with them !! I can’t be bothered with the hassle anymore…
Darko acknowledges and comments on the price differential. Also, wouldn’t at least some of that extra cost go into the headphone amp, which the DS doesn’t sport, making the DAC comparison more level?
Buy these and forget about the rest…
The audio jewelry look of the DAVE does increase the price in my opinion. The DS looks kinda ho hum in comparison.
Thanks for the link. I need four channels for my setup. I will order them when I get home tonight…
That too. Good point.
You will love them.And a lot cheaper than the Constellation’s…
Plus it is made in the UK. More expensive over here as I can attest to…!
I noticed that, I might just buy 8 of them …
All good points, and again, none related to the quality of the DAC or coding of the FPGA.
I own the Veritas mono blocks by Merrill and can not say enough good things about them. They just shine!!! I have my eye on the yet released Merrill Element 114’s. The GaN technology being used in the new Element amps is supposed to be a game changer. If they sound any better[which they will] than my Veritas amps I will be all in…
Really? No one has mentioned that the Dave was designed by a guy named Watts?
I’d give more credence to Darko’s reviews if he had decent-quality supporting equipment and documented what he used in the reviews, but those I’ve seen look like he is using a desktop-sized system with mini-speakers.
Does it say anywhere that Redcloud was used onboard the DS?
The last name of the head brewer at one of my favorite local micro-breweries is “Porter.” Life calling’s.
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