[SecretAgent]

Folks, how big is the gap between the Mojo2 that I currently have, and the Dave, which I dream of having one day?

I'm genuinely very curious about that

 

[Reactcore]

I'm genuinely very curious about that

M2 is a marvelous little piece. Using it battery operated with headphones and toslink input its floating isolated and gives organicly smooth HF noise free sound. Make it Mscaled and imo you get real close to TT2 and near stock Dave performance.

Imo TT2 wins out in headphone drive power, Dave makes a grander holographic and realistic sound picture cause of its superior noiseshapers and 20 element pulsearray (DAC section).

For its price M2 is a no brainer

 

[thePhones]

Folks, how big is the gap between the Mojo2 that I currently have, and the Dave, which I dream of having one day?

I have not heard Mojo 2, I own Hugo 2 and have used it a long time with M Scaler, TT2 auditioned only for a short while.
And to me Dave is something different to the other dacs. Every step up till TT2 is a little bit more refined but the pure emotional reaction I have when listening to M scaled Dave is not the same with Hugo 2 or TT2. From the start I was always on a search for the best recordings so the revealing quality of Dave fits that goal. If you like poor or medium quality recordings it might be a bit too honest. If money is a concern get the M Scaler first as it will lift the performance of every Chord Dac fivefold imo.
If you are very sensitive to tonal balance I would listen to all of them before buying as there are slight differences. Dave sounds neutral to me, Hugo 2 a bit bright, TT2 a bit warm.

 

[harris4crna]

I own the dave and have for several years,I love it but acknowledge readily that there are tons of great DAC's that I could be happy with...making this into a sport with rooting interest is so silly

What is your favorite amp/dac combo with your ZMF Calderas? I am an owner of Chord products.

 

[harris4crna]

A few days ago I did some tests to see how much difference there was by switching the entire system back to normal power with stock cables.

Since I started using batteries, first with the M Scaler, followed a few months later by the streamer and much later by the DAVE, I had never brought the system back to the mains.

Then DAVE original network cable, m Scaler original power supply and Lumin U1 mini reconnected to its internal switching power supply.

To give the final blow, I also put stock USB between the streamer and the M Scaler.

I was shocked, I thought I would find small nuances, but instead the change was drastic.

I then tried reconnecting the batteries and doing another test.

Practically, while streamers and M Scalers undergo a notable change if left connected to the charging circuit, the DAVE does not suffer from changes in sound even during charging.

So in summary, the complete isolation of a digital system from the home AC current undergoes a drastic improvement in the sound, noticeable on all audio frequencies, becoming completely free of harshness on the higher frequencies and with a noticeable increase in overall focus.

I am going to be lazy. Are you saying I connect my system to a lithium battery like a Blue Yetti and the sound is better than connecting to a home outlet. I am not an electronic engineer, so I understand Barny electronic talk.

 

[jlbrach]

What is your favorite amp/dac combo with your ZMF Calderas? I am an owner of Chord products.

at the moment I am enamored with the dave/blu2/envy combo with caldera

 

[harris4crna]

at the moment I am enamored with the dave/blu2/envy combo with caldera

Yes, the Envy....Hope to hear this combo soon. Thank you.

 

[Ards]

Folks, how big is the gap between the Mojo2 that I currently have, and the Dave, which I dream of having one day?

Did @Triode User post his test conclusions yet?

 

[SecretAgent]

Did @Triode User post his test conclusions yet?

Can't wait