Popular Post ray-dude Posted February 21, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 21, 2019 Welcome to the Chord family Rajiv! We'll get you a DAVE soon The Computer Audiophile, Jiffi32, beautiful music and 2 others 4 1 ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
Popular Post ray-dude Posted February 24, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2019 On 2/23/2019 at 9:00 AM, jaspal kallar said: Pity you didn't have on hand sufficiently efficiently speakers (and cable adapters) to drive directly from the M Scaler and TT2 combo. You mean like this? With Omega Super Alnico Monitors, we thought the TT2 was clearly a step up from DAVE (driven direct). They became more of a full range speaker and really benefited from the extra power. Any loss in transparency and spatial detail with the TT2 (vs DAVE) was more than made up for with better dynamics and presence. Whether with DAVE or TT2, the Voxativ Z bass driver was absolutely transformational. Esp. with mScaler, the quality of the bass (and the reality that those pristinely articulated low resonances brings to well recorded music) make music absolutely holographic. If you are direct driving Omegas from Chord DACs, I consider the Voxativ bass drivers an absolute must audition (and purchase) The Voxativ 9.87's (with 4D drivers) and Voxativ Zeth's (with 1.8 entry level drivers) both are better when driven by DAVE. They are more efficient and faster than the Omegas, so the extra oomph of the TT2 doesn't bring as much marginal value as with the Omegas. However, the way superior spatial resolution (esp. depth and height) of the DAVE really shines through with the Voxativs. The Zeths with 1.8's are surprisingly robust on the low end. They don't strictly need any supplementation in the bass, the the sense of physical space and presence you get with HMS and the Voxativ bass unit is quite remarkable, even with the Zeths. In near field it is no contest: go with the Omegas. The Voxativs are like sitting in front of a intense laser beam, whereas the Omegas are softer and more generous. In near field, the Omegas really achieve transcendent imaging (esp. depth and height), but the Voxativs are just too intense (for me). For more normal listening positions, Voxativs are clearly the cat's meow. austinpop, spotforscott, Tran Chau Tuan and 4 others 4 3 ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
ray-dude Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Thankfully, that setup is only temporary for audio nights (the civilians in the house are a patient lot, but not that patient We did not listen to the Omega/TT2 combo in near field so I can't answer directly (it's my buddy's TT2, alas, so I can't check right now). However, the effect of the TT2 on the Omegas is very different than the effect of the DAVE over the TT2 though. The TT2 really extends the tonal range of the Omegas, and brings much more presence and relaxed sound. It feels like a different speaker with the additional authority behind it. We also have within our group First Watt F1J and F2J amps, and they both had a similar transformational impact on the Omega (hard to believe they are the same speaker as what we hear direct from Hugo2 and DAVE). Unfortunately, even with the First Watt amps, you give up so much that incredible transparency that you get direct. With TT2, you have an approximation of that "full'ish" range speaker effect with the Omegas, but retain all that amazing transparency and detail. HMS obviously takes it to the next level, and the Voxativ Z bass driver makes it a no compromise full range speaker system that (for me) blows most conventional high end speaker rigs away (my previous speakers before going with direct driven speakers from Chord DACs were B&W 802d3's) Interestingly, Voxativ drivers don't get that extra extension from either the First Watt amps or the TT2. For them, the extra transparency and spatial detail (esp. depth and height dimensions) from the DAVE dominate the A/B comparisons. Those differences are also there with the Omegas, but the lift from the TT2 is so profound, that that is a VERY easy tradeoff for me to make. Once you've had a DAVE for extended amount of time, you really notice when that amazing depth and height detail goes away. For me, DAVE is still king (Rajiv's wallet was wise not to demo it , but the extra power and upgrade speed of the TT2 really brings something extra to the table for speakers like the Omegas. ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
ray-dude Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 4 minutes ago, spotforscott said: Thanks @ray-dude , valuable insight. Based upon your observations, I doubt I will go forward with my planned Omega purchase because I do not want to add an amp to DAVE. I guess I will just stick with my Abyss headphones, maybe upgrade to new TC version. I would definitely recommend the Voxativ's then! The Omegas ($2k) are amongst the best bargains in Audiophilia (and amazing and well worth having for near field if you have a situation that allows it), but the entry level Voxativ Zeth's ($7k) are pretty amazing direct from DAVE. In normal circumstances, I have the Vox 9.87's for 2 channel, the Vox Zeth's are my rear surrounds, and the Omegas are in storage waiting until I have an office at work again (in a cube right now) so I can set them up near field. beautiful music 1 ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
ray-dude Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 I have custom rca to female banana adapters that I use. If you want something for a quick experiment, Amazon has RCA to banana cables (cheap but good for seeing if the approach makes sense for you). I’ve found that DSD content Sounds pretty good with Chord DACs, but that mScaler elevates PCM content much higher still. Rob Watts has written about the reasons why, but I think it is less about DSD not sounding good (it is the best I’ve heard in my room) but PCM sounding astonishingly good when put through the mScaler. that being said, I haven’t auditioned PS Audio or other DACs that have a reputation for outstanding SQ with DSD, so I can’t comment on how well Chord DACs stack up. ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
ray-dude Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 Battery/power makes a surprising amount of positive impact. For those going down the power/RFI rabbit hole with the HMS and Chord DACs, I spent WAY too much time on same earlier this year and wrote up my notes: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/audiowise-opto•dx-optical-isolation-bridge-for-dual-spdif.23757/reviews#review-22155 (with apologies to Chris for linking off site...in retrospect, AS would have been a better forum for this sort of write up) ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
ray-dude Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 Ted, I concur that DSD does not have as much magic as PCM when going through Chord DACs. With mScaler, the lift for PCM content is so profound, that the separation over DSD is amplified even more. Rob has written many times about why he feels that's the case. The gist is that it is not possible to to fully reconstruct the original source with DSD, and that with 1M taps with the mScaler, he's able to approximate the original source to more than 16 bits accuracy. Net net: the magic of Rob's reconstruction strategy is much stronger for PCM content vs DSD content. Does your current DAC support 768kHz content on USB? If so, in HQP, give the new poly-sinc-long-lp PCM filter (no dither) a go. For PCM content, this is a very good approximation of what I hear with mScaler in HMS. I've not had a chance to listen to any summit-fi DSD-first DACs, so I can't say which strategy is better (in an absolute sense) ted_b 1 ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
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