DAVE
What it is
DAVE is a Chord DAC that Watts designed around a single FPGA and a discrete pulse array, with no DAC chip Head-Fi, Jun 2015Head-Fi, Oct 2015. The UK retail price of £7,995 was announced at Munich in May 2015, and on 3 October 2015 he said release was due later that month Head-Fi, Oct 2015; on 2 November he said the delay was his, as production code had not gone to Chord Head-Fi, Nov 2015.
Design
One FPGA, about ten times Hugo's capacity, runs everything including the display, apart from the galvanically isolated USB decoder Head-Fi, Oct 2015. In 2022 he gave the chain: WTA1 to 16FS (705 or 768 kHz), WTA2 to 256FS, then a three-stage IIR filter to 104.25 MHz before the noise shapers drive the 20-element pulse array Head-Fi, Jul 2022. He gave DAVE's tap count as 164,000 in 2015, 2018 and 2022, the 2022 post naming it as WTA1's Head-Fi, Mar 2015article, Apr 2018Head-Fi, May 2022.
In 2015 he described the noise shaper as 5 bits at 104 MHz, 17th order, with 350 dB digital-domain THD and noise Head-Fi, Jul 2015. In 2016 he said its output is 6 bits including overload bits, covering 0 to 20 elements Head-Fi, Mar 2016. In 2022 he said the final shaper "was not limited to 17th order", as going higher gave worse sound quality Head-Fi, Jun 2022.
The pulse array has 20 elements per channel, each a flip-flop and resistor Head-Fi, Mar 2016Head-Fi, Nov 2019, chosen over 16 for overload margin Head-Fi, Jan 2016. The output stage is a discrete Class A stage inside one feedback loop, with a second-order analog noise shaper on the single-ended output Head-Fi, May 2016. He said his DACs, DAVE included, have one amplifier, two resistors and two capacitors in the direct path, with an extra inverting amplifier for DAVE's balanced outputs, and no coupling capacitors Head-Fi, Feb 2018Head-Fi, Aug 2018.
Inputs, outputs and power
A 2022 interview lists BNC, AES, optical and USB inputs Upscale Audio 6:27. The M Scaler connects to the dual BNC inputs, BNC 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 Head-Fi, Feb 2017. DSD plays as DoP or native ASIO, native being the only route for DSD512 Head-Fi, Dec 2015. PCM+ is 164,000 taps with Hugo's DSD filter; DSD+ is 82,000 taps with a non-decimating DSD filter Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Oct 2015.
Headphone and line outputs share one amplifier Head-Fi, Aug 2015; output impedance is 0.055 ohm single-ended and 33 ohms balanced Head-Fi, Dec 2016. He gave the maximum output at 1% THD as 6.75 V RMS in November 2015, into 300 ohms Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015, and again as 6.75 V in July 2022 Head-Fi, Jul 2022, and as 6.8 V RMS into 300 and 33 ohms in another November 2015 post Head-Fi, Nov 2015. The current limit is 0.5 A RMS, giving 2.1 W into 8 ohms Head-Fi, Jan 2018. At -3 dB the output is 3 V RMS for a full-scale input Head-Fi, Feb 2018. Balanced XLR is not for headphones Head-Fi, Feb 2016.
DX outputs carry 705 or 768 kHz with volume data for his planned power amplifiers; in 2019 he called them "for future products only" Head-Fi, May 2016Head-Fi, Feb 2019.
The supply is a medical-grade switch-mode unit taking 90 to 263 V Head-Fi, Aug 2016Head-Fi, May 2018, and DAVE is connected to mains earth Head-Fi, Apr 2019. He said that unit is not the critical part: the output stage supply impedance is 3 milliohms and the discrete reference is under 0.1 milliohm Head-Fi, Aug 2016. In 2024 he said "A battery in DAVE is a good idea" and that designing it today he would do it differently MFG Audio Reviews 56:32.
How he says to use it
In 2016 he rated USB best, then optical Head-Fi, Feb 2016; in 2018 he called optical the best input Head-Fi, Jan 2018; in 2022 he called his 2016 preference a post where "I made a mistake" Head-Fi, Mar 2022 (see Which input sounds best on a Chord DAC (optical, coax, USB or…, Which Chord inputs are galvanically isolated, and which setups…, Do digital cables (USB, coax, glass or plastic optical) make a…).
With an M Scaler, set OP SR to white and use both dual BNC outputs on one DAVE pair, left BNC to the lower pair Head-Fi, Sep 2018Head-Fi, Feb 2019 (see How do I connect the M Scaler to DAVE, and why does dual BNC only…, My DAC drops out, clicks or loses lock. What should I check before…, Which BNC cables, and what length, should I use between an M…). He keeps his DAVEs in PCM+ with M Scalers Head-Fi, May 2018, runs the HF filter off with the M Scaler Head-Fi, Jan 2023 (see Which filter setting should I use on Hugo 2, TT2 or Qutest, and…), and says never to upsample at the source Head-Fi, Mar 2018 (see Should I upsample in software (HQPlayer, PGGB or my player) before…).
Volume is fully digital and, he says, does not change sound quality Head-Fi, Mar 2016Head-Fi, Mar 2016. DAC mode is pre-amp mode fixed at -3 dB Head-Fi, Apr 2022 (see Should I use a pre-amp (tube or solid state), or run the Chord DAC…). He advised against an external headphone amp; the Susvara, at 92 dB SPL, is a case where a listener might want more Head-Fi, Dec 2015Head-Fi, Jan 2022 (see Is my Chord DAC powerful enough for my headphones?, Should I add an external headphone amp to a Chord DAC?, Can Hugo, Hugo 2, Mojo, TT2 or DAVE drive loudspeakers directly…).
Crossfeed has 0 (off, the default), 1 (minimum) and 3 (maximum) Head-Fi, Feb 2016Head-Fi, Dec 2015. He prefers 3 on headphones Head-Fi, Feb 2016, and the control stays active for speakers until unset Head-Fi, Feb 2018 (see What does crossfeed do, which setting should I use, and why didn't…).
He keeps his DAVE on Head-Fi, Jul 2021 (see Should I leave my Qutest, TT2, DAVE or M Scaler switched on all…), doubted there is much physical break-in Head-Fi, Mar 2016 (see Do Chord DACs need burn-in or warm-up?), and did not recommend changing the supplied PSU Head-Fi, Apr 2021 (see Should I replace the supplied power supply with a linear or…).
Compared with other Chord models
In 2015 he said DAVE was "about four times deeper with recordings that have good depth" than Hugo Head-Fi, Oct 2015; in 2018 he gave 26,000 taps for Hugo against 164,000 article, Apr 2018.
In 2018 he called DAVE "completely unbeatable in terms of transparency, particularly in soundstage depth" against Hugo 2, while saying Blu 2 with Hugo 2 wins on timbre, rhythm, bass and instrument power Head-Fi, Feb 2018. He said M-scaled DAVE beats M-scaled TT2 in every regard Head-Fi, Mar 2019 and TT2 has higher distortion Head-Fi, Mar 2023. With an M Scaler, he described DAVE over Qutest as a step up in transparency, depth and detail, with 30 times lower distortion Head-Fi, Aug 2018.
From 2016 to 2022 he said no DAVE 2 was planned or started Head-Fi, Nov 2016Head-Fi, Jan 2018Head-Fi, Aug 2020Head-Fi, Feb 2022, and in 2023 and 2024 talks that he had not started a replacement Eric's Hi-Fi 8:36HIFICLUB 50:50. In October 2026 he said he could not talk about future development Distorsiuni Interioare 1:17:34. In the Soundnews interview (recorded autumn 2026, published October 2026) he called the Ultima DAC he still has to finish "a completely different product" from DAVE article, Oct 2026article, Oct 2026article, Oct 2026. Asked whether a DAVE successor could hold Quartet in one chassis, he said "I think that would be a nightmare", while adding "I never say no, but the difficulty of preventing the noise of all the processing from upsetting the DAC was an enormous challenge" article, Oct 2026. Asked if DAVE is still the perfect partner for Quartet, he said yes but "it is not the perfect DAC" article, Oct 2026article, Oct 2026.
Release and official documents
- Price announced at the Munich show in May 2015. In October 2015 he expected release later that month; in November he said the delay was his, with production code due to Chord the following week.Head-Fi, Oct 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015
From Chord Electronics. Links open Chord's own copies; reviews hosted on Chord's site are left out. Chord's DAVE page.
Manuals and guides
Drivers (Windows)
Other
Key figures
His own figures, dated. Where he gave different figures at different times, each appears.
Show all 40 figures
| Figure | Value | When | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| WTA1 filter taps | 164,000 (2015-03; repeated 2018-04 and 2022-05, and in 2022-08 and 2024-07 talks) | 2015-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2015HIFICLUBE.NET JVH 45article, Apr 2018Head-Fi, May 2022AVstore 6:55HIFICLUB 50:42 |
| DSP cores running in parallel for the first WTA stage | 160 (at half the original speed) | 2015-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2015 |
| DSP cores running in parallel for WTA filtering | 166 | 2015-05 | Head-Fi, May 2015HIFICLUBE.NET JVH 1:17 |
| Taps in DSD+ mode | 82,000 (PCM+ is 164,000) | 2015-11 | Head-Fi, Nov 2015 |
| Filter chain | WTA1 to 16FS (705.6 or 768 kHz); WTA2 to 256FS; three-stage IIR filter to 104.25 MHz | 2022-07 | Head-Fi, Jul 2022 |
| Transient timing reconstruction at 256FS | 88 nS | 2015-11 | Head-Fi, Nov 2015 |
| Noise shaper word length and rate | 5 bits at 104 MHz | 2015-07 | Head-Fi, Jul 2015HIFICLUBE.NET JVH 2:41 |
| Noise shaper order | 17th order (2015-07); in 2022-06 he said the final shaper was not limited to 17th order, as going higher sounded worse | 2015-07 | Head-Fi, Jul 2015Head-Fi, Jun 2022 |
| Noise shaper output including overload bits | 6 bits, range 0 to 20 elements | 2016-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2016 |
| Noise shaper integrators (Hifistatement German text; English is a machine translation) | 17th order with 46 integrators | 2016-01 | article, Jan 2016 |
| Noise shaper in-band digital performance | 350 dB THD and noise (stated as -350 dB in 2015-10) | 2015-07 | Head-Fi, Jul 2015Head-Fi, Oct 2015 |
| Digital test signal reproduced exactly | -301 dB | 2016-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2016 |
| Pulse array elements | 20 per channel | 2016-01 | Head-Fi, Jan 2016Head-Fi, Nov 2019 |
| FPGA power dissipation | 5 W (Hugo 0.8 W) | 2015-05 | Head-Fi, May 2015 |
| FPGA supply current | 5 A | 2015-10 | Head-Fi, Oct 2015 |
| Maximum output, headphone and RCA, at 1% THD | 6.75 V RMS (2015-11, into 300 ohms; repeated 2022-07 without a load stated), also given as 6.8 V RMS into 300 ohms and 33 ohms (2015-11; 1.4 W into 33 ohms); the rating he quoted was 6 V RMS, which he said the unit exceeds | 2015-11 | Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Jul 2022 |
| Output at -3 dB volume, full-scale input | 3 V RMS (0 dB is 4.24 V RMS, same as Hugo) | 2018-02 | Head-Fi, Feb 2018 |
| Balanced XLR output | up to 12 V RMS (+3 dB volume); 6 V RMS plus and minus at -3 dB; clipping at 13.6 V RMS | 2018-03 | Head-Fi, Aug 2015Head-Fi, Mar 2016Head-Fi, Mar 2018 |
| Output impedance | 0.055 ohm single-ended; 33 ohms balanced | 2016-12 | Head-Fi, Dec 2016 |
| Headphone current limit | 0.5 A RMS; 2.1 W into 8 ohms | 2018-01 | Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Jan 2018 |
| THD at 1 kHz, 2.5 V RMS | 0.000016% into 300 ohms and 0.000059% into 33 ohms (2015-11); 0.000007% into 300 ohms (2016-08) | 2015-11 | Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Aug 2016 |
| Noise floor (APx555) | close to -180 dB, identical with and without signal | 2015-06 | Head-Fi, Jun 2015 |
| Noise floor (APx555) | -179 dB, identical with and without signal (Nintronics open day talk, November 2018, uploaded December 2018) | 2018-11 | Pursuit Perfect System 18:40 |
| THD and noise, -60 dBFS, A-weighted | 2.6 uV, -128.4 dB re 6.8 V RMS (-117.7 dB re 2 V) | 2016-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2016 |
| Dynamic range, A-weighted | 127 dB re 6.75 V RMS (2022-07); -127.5 dB at 2.5 V re maximum output (2016-08); in the pulse array switch-off test, 128 dB going to 128.5 dB in a December 2017 post and 128.5 dB going to 129 dB in an October 2017 talk (video published 2017-12) | 2022-07 | Head-Fi, Jul 2022Head-Fi, Dec 2017Head-Fi, Aug 2016RMAF 43:11 |
| Reference supply impedance | under 0.1 milliohm at the feedback point; 0.5 milliohm at each flip-flop | 2016-08 | Head-Fi, Aug 2016 |
| Output stage supply impedance | 3 milliohms | 2016-08 | Head-Fi, Aug 2016 |
| Reference noise, 20 Hz to 20 kHz | 0.22 uV (2016-05); under 0.3 uV (2016-08) | 2016-08 | Head-Fi, May 2016Head-Fi, Aug 2016 |
| Switch-mode supply input range | 90 to 263 V, 47 to 440 Hz | 2016-08 | Head-Fi, Aug 2016 |
| WTA coefficient accuracy against ideal sinc | 13.9 bits (about 14 bits in 2015-06) | 2018-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2018Head-Fi, Jun 2015 |
| Latency (stated for the M Scaler video mode as the same as DAVE) | 104 mS; in October 2017 he gave the delay of DAVE's 164,000-tap filter as about 0.2 s, and in 2015 he described a lower-delay WTA setting for video; he did not reconcile these figures | 2018-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2018Head-Fi, Oct 2017Head-Fi, Jun 2015 |
| Highest temperature stated for DAVE | nothing above 75 deg C | 2018-03 | Head-Fi, Mar 2018 |
| Display mean time to failure | over 50,000 hours | 2021-07 | Head-Fi, Jul 2021 |
| Design life target | half life exceeding 25 years | 2022-06 | Head-Fi, Jun 2022 |
| UK retail price | 7,995 pounds | 2015-10 | Head-Fi, Oct 2015 |
| DX output | 705 or 768 kHz, 24 bits, full level, volume in user data | 2016-05 | Head-Fi, May 2016 |
| Crossfeed settings | 0 off, 1 minimum, 3 maximum | 2016-02 | Head-Fi, Feb 2016 |
| Clipping onset by volume setting, solo | +4 dB (2016-01, 2016-05); +5 dB with headphones (2016-10); +3 dB (2019-04); +4 dB (2022-01) | 2022-01 | Head-Fi, Jan 2016Head-Fi, May 2016Head-Fi, Oct 2016Head-Fi, Apr 2019Head-Fi, Jan 2022 |
| Clipping onset by volume setting, with M Scaler | +6 dB (2019-04); +7 dB (2022-01) | 2022-01 | Head-Fi, Apr 2019Head-Fi, Jan 2022 |
| Design effort | two and a half full-time years (2018-12); 2 to 3 years (2019-06); more than 3 years (2020-08); nearly 3 years (2022-07) | 2018-12 | Head-Fi, Dec 2018Head-Fi, Jun 2019Head-Fi, Aug 2020Head-Fi, Jul 2022 |
Quotes
“Hugo and Dave don't use any kind of DAC chip, the analogue conversion is discrete using pulse array.”2015-06-18 Head-Fi, Jun 2015
“Dave's noise shapers are accurate to -350 dB and this was the performance required by depth perception.”2015-10-30 Head-Fi, Oct 2015
“In 2016 with Dave I did indeed prefer the brightness of USB, and I thought it was down to the technical benefits of Dave supplying the clock with USB.”2022-03-27 Head-Fi, Mar 2022
“I did everything I wanted to do, and I have not worked out how I will fundamentally beat it.”2018-12-08 Head-Fi, Dec 2018
Caveats and open points
- The '17th order with 46 integrators' figure comes from the German text of the 2016-01 Hifistatement interview (the publisher's translation; the English here is a machine translation of it), so it is not his wording; 17th order also appears in his own Head-Fi post of 2015-07.
- Many 2015 posts predate production code. On 2015-10-06 he called DAVE a work in progress with small improvements still coming, and on 2015-11-02 he said production code was not yet delivered, so early figures are pre-production unless he repeated them later (164,000 taps was repeated in 2018 and 2022).
- Noise shaper description changed with the question: 5 bits (2015-05 transcript and 2015-07), 6 bits including overload bits (2016-03), 17th order (2015-07). In 2022-06 he said the final shaper 'was not limited to 17th order' because going higher gave worse sound; he did not state a different final order.
- DSP core counts differ: 160 for the first WTA stage in a 2015-03 post (Head-Fi, Mar 2015), 166 in 2015-05 (Head-Fi, May 2015). His account of the filter design also differs: four redesigns for timing closure (2015-03, Head-Fi, Mar 2015), two failed designs before the working one (2017-10, miceblue425 28:44), and a start near 200,000 taps (2018-07, c w 20:10).
- Maximum output differs by date and condition: 6 V RMS was the quoted figure (2015-06), he gave 6.75 V RMS at 1% THD in two November 2015 posts and again in July 2022, 6.8 V RMS in a third November 2015 post, and +4 dB volume gave 6.7 V RMS (2016-05) Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Nov 2015Head-Fi, Jul 2022Head-Fi, May 2016. The record does not settle which of 6.75 and 6.8 is exact.
- Clipping thresholds are given as +4 dB (2016-01, 2016-05), +5 dB into a 46 ohm headphone (2016-03, Head-Fi, Mar 2016), +5 dB for headphones (2016-10, Head-Fi, Oct 2016), +5 dB for material peaking at -1 dBFS (2017-08, Head-Fi, Aug 2017), +3 dB (2019-04), and +4 dB solo or +7 dB with an M Scaler (2022-01); a 2018-06 post about a Blu 2 plus DAVE stack says no voltage clipping at +6 dB but a possible current limit into 8 ohms (Head-Fi, Jun 2018). Each was stated for a specific load or source level.
- His input ranking changed: USB best, then optical (2016-02), optical as the reference (2018-01), and in 2022-03 he called his 2016 USB preference a mistake. A 2018-04 post still opens with 'USB is best' (Head-Fi, Apr 2018).
- His development-time statements differ: two and a half full-time years (2018-12, Head-Fi, Dec 2018), 2 to 3 years (2019-06, Head-Fi, Jun 2019), more than 3 years (2020-08, Head-Fi, Aug 2020), nearly 3 years (2022-07, Head-Fi, Jul 2022).
- Head-Fi, Nov 2019 (pulse array elements are per channel, in the TT2 thread) has a date estimated from post IDs. Head-Fi, Mar 2018 and Head-Fi, Mar 2018 are from other products' threads and are used only for statements about DAVE.
- Posts about 'Blu Dave' describe a Blu Mk2 feeding DAVE and do not necessarily apply to DAVE alone. The 2016-02 '$13k' remark in Head-Fi, Feb 2016 is a dealer's, relayed by Watts, not a Chord price.
- The UK price of 7,995 pounds is the only price he gave; local prices were set by distributors (Head-Fi, Oct 2015). A 2016 Weekly ASCII article gives size, weight and a Japanese price, but in the author's words, not his.
- In the Soundnews interview (recorded autumn 2026, published 2026-10), 'a completely different product' answers a question about the Ultima DAC (article, Oct 2026 to #p103), not Quartet. Interviewers' statements in that and the Distorsiuni Interioare podcast (for example that Quartet unlocks DAVE's full 768 kHz) are not his and are not cited as facts.
- Measured figures differ by date: THD at 2.5 V into 300 ohms was 0.000016% (2015-11) and 0.000007% (2016-08); he cited 0.000015% THD in 2016-03 (Head-Fi, Mar 2016). Dynamic range was -128.4 dB re 6.8 V (2016-03), -127.5 dB (2016-08), 128.5 dB in the October 2017 RMAF talk against 128 dB in a December 2017 post Head-Fi, Dec 2017, and 127 dB (2022-07).
Questions about this product
Owning and setting up
- Can DAVE drive power amplifiers directly, and is its DAC mode any different from pre-amp mode at -3 dB?
- Is TT2 plus an M Scaler as good as DAVE?
- Should I send DSD as DoP or native?
- What does the M Scaler actually do, and is it worth adding to my DAC?
- Do I need the Chord driver on Windows, should I use ASIO or WASAPI, and will my DAC work with Mac, Linux, Android or an iPhone?
- How do I connect the M Scaler to DAVE, and why does dual BNC only work with the output set to white?
- Should I use the RCA or XLR line outputs on TT2 or DAVE into my amplifier?
- What does crossfeed do, which setting should I use, and why didn't the original Mojo have it?
- Why do I hear a buzz or feel a tingle when the charger is connected, and should I earth my unit?
- Why won't Rob comment on other brands' products?
- Will existing Chord products get firmware or code updates, and can DAVE be upgraded?
- Can I make an XLR-to-RCA adaptor by shorting the negative pin?
- How do Mojo 2 and Hugo 2, or TT2 and DAVE, compare?
- Is Chord working on a DAVE 2, Hugo 3, Mojo 3 or TT3, and when might the Ultima DAC arrive?
- Is my Chord DAC powerful enough for my headphones?
- Should I put ferrites on my BNC or USB cables, and which kind?
- Should I use balanced or single-ended headphone drive, and why are Chord headphone outputs single-ended?
- Which headphones, speakers and sources does Rob use himself, and which pair well with Chord DACs?
- Which kind of source does Rob recommend feeding a Chord DAC?
- Can I take DAVE, Hugo 2, an M Scaler and a power bank on a plane, and how does Rob listen on flights?
- Do lossy or streamed files sound worse than local files on a Chord DAC?
- How do I make sure my player sends bit-perfect data at the native sample rate?
- How loud is safe, and does hearing loss make high-end gear pointless?
- Is Chord's digital volume control transparent, and does it lose resolution at low volume?
- Is M Scaler pass-through bit perfect, and why is the scaled output quieter?
- My DAC drops out, clicks or loses lock. What should I check before returning it?
- Should I use a pre-amp (tube or solid state), or run the Chord DAC straight into a power amp?
- Why does Rob use a digital DC servo instead of coupling capacitors, and is there anything worth modding?
- Has Rob published his own recordings, and how were they made?
- How does the Quartet M Scaler differ from the Hugo M Scaler?
- How good is Bluetooth on Hugo and Hugo 2, and are aptX HD or LDAC lossless?
- How many taps and pulse array elements does each Chord DAC have?
- Should I add an external headphone amp to a Chord DAC?
- Should I leave my Qutest, TT2, DAVE or M Scaler switched on all the time?
- Should I use optical or coax into my Qutest?
- What DSD rates does each input on a Chord DAC accept?
- What do the colored indicators mean (volume, sample rate, charging), and is a volume color the same level across Chord DACs?
- Which Chord DACs accept 705.6/768 kHz from an M Scaler, and how do I connect Hugo 2 or Qutest to get the full 1M taps?
- Why does my DAC mute or click when the track or sample rate changes?
In depth
- Why does Rob design to -301 dB, how can that be verified, and how does small-signal accuracy relate to depth?
- Why might a brighter or more detailed change actually be a step backward?
- Does source jitter matter with a Chord DAC, and would a reclocker, external clock or USB-to-SPDIF converter help?
- Which input sounds best on a Chord DAC (optical, coax, USB or BNC), and why does Rob prefer optical when it is said to have more jitter?
- Do measurements tell you how good a DAC sounds, and is Rob an objectivist or a subjectivist?
- How are Chord's filter stages split across 16FS, 256FS and 2048FS, and what does each stage do?
- What do noise shaper order and speed buy, and why does DAVE's 350 dB noise shaper matter?
- What does Rob mean by depth, and what in a DAC improves or collapses it?
- What is noise floor modulation, how does Rob measure it, and why does he say it is audible below what can be measured?
- What is the WTA filter, how was it tuned, and how does it differ from a conventional windowed sinc filter?
- How does a pulse array DAC work, how does it differ from R2R and delta-sigma, and why is it insensitive to jitter?
- What are the DX outputs for, and what happened to the pulse array power amplifiers?
- Which kinds of error does Rob consider audible, and which does he consider benign?
- Will a USB purifier, JitterBug or USB isolator improve my DAVE, TT2 or Hugo?
- Do Chord DACs decode MQA, and what does Rob think of it?
- How can upscaling to 705.6/768 kHz improve sound if the recording has nothing above 22 kHz?
- How do microphones, studio conversion and mastering limit what a DAC can reproduce?
- How were Chord's current DACs and the M Scaler developed, and how long did each take?
- If the data reaching the DAC is bit perfect, can the source (laptop, phone, streamer, CD transport or network gear) still change the sound?
- Is the filter algorithm more important than the tap count, and would more than a million taps keep improving the sound?
- Should I replace the supplied power supply with a linear or aftermarket one, and will that affect my warranty?
- Should audio processing dither or noise-shape, and is 64-bit floating point transparent?
- Which Chord inputs are galvanically isolated, and which setups short the isolation out?
- Which filter setting should I use on Hugo 2, TT2 or Qutest, and what does the HF filter do?
- Why does Chord use FPGAs and discrete conversion instead of DAC chips or a custom ASIC?
- Why does Rob distinguish perception from hearing, and why does he distrust psychoacoustic thresholds?
- Do Chord DACs need burn-in or warm-up?
- How do Chord DACs handle DSD, and does Rob consider DSD better or worse than PCM?
- What does Rob mean by 'starting and stopping of notes', timbre variation and 'sense of flow', and what causes them?
- Why does tap length matter, and why a million taps?
- Does hi-res audio sound better than CD, and should I buy the 96k or the 44.1k release?
- Is battery power better than mains, and can I power the M Scaler or Qutest from a power bank?
- Should I upsample in software (HQPlayer, PGGB or my player) before a Chord DAC, and can it match an M Scaler?
- What does Rob think of Class D amplifiers, and how do his pulse array power amps differ from them?
- What is Davina, and what happened to the pulse array ADC?
- Why are half-band decimation filters and studio sample-rate conversion a problem, and how much aliasing rejection is enough?