You misread my reply. All your other points are good solutions ...but in respect to the wire from the DAC output to the other downstream components...you need to stop RF noise from coming BACK up that wire. Some DACs use a low pass filter or transformer at the output but this takes away...

Any downstream RF noise from the amplifier AC Mains connection or EM induced thru the speaker leads ...all this permeates to any galvanic connection. So the DAC RCA outputs are also galvanically connected to this mess....and hence the DAC innards as well. Small subtle impact on the circuits...

Before you assume there is some kind of magic going on ...Consider that the preamp is in the DACs output path. Ask yourself... if Dave has volume that is nigh perfect...noise shaped too ....and the output is not stressed due to it going into a high impedance...then how does adding a pre in the...

That 'somehow' that's degrading a sound is that your source is a generator of RF noise ...that is the digital logic sets off MHz/Ghz energy that travels back up the power cables or any metal signal cables or even via the chassis itself. The whole chain then acts like a big antenna and path to...

Any metal appendage is an antenna. Signal or power. Shielding helps but rfi is insidious & incredulous ...but it travels meters in open air to impinge on a dac and show up at the output jacks. Yes, rfi is well outside the audio band but its mere presence in the conductor/dielectric path affects...

I was exhibiting at CanJam NYC with my wares RF optimizing both a Hugo2 and TT2 through a similar HQPlayer setup. I had Utopia and HE1000se headphones available and in the quiet before the attendees showed up I had a good listen to both. I must say that the Hugo2 sounded incredibly good - even...

I was at CanJam NYC (first show plying my wares) and sat through both of Rob Watt's talks and he came to my stand for a chat. In his presentation, he provided good in-depth technical information, however my takeaway was the incredulity of the level of resolution being strived for. Rob is not...

You don't need reclocking. Mscaler reclocks and then all chord DACs reclock again. Modern DACs are immune to variations in upstream timing. If you hear a difference ...there is another mechanism at play

Drawing attached. Either of these will work. Presumably the interconnect has some level of shielding via the DAC's ground. However my cable guy says that the issue with using interconnects for driving speaker loads is the thinner gauge wire used limits the frequency response with higher...

This is great ...time for me to try XLR!. So what is the wiring diagram,then?

I've never touched the balanced XLR outputs. I know the single ended RCA's are just a direct lead from Rob's pulse array output (well via a hi/low gain relay). My understanding is balanced just takes this to an amplifier stage to create a negative going signal. So you have ~twice the power but...

FYI, I have DIY voxativs and recently adjusted my TT2 to low gain mode (from high gain). Big difference in SQ. I play music as loudly but I notice it's more transparent.

Dual-BNC is maxed out at 768kHz sample rate (at 24bits) due to S/PDIF being the technology underpinnings. I like the separation of digital upsampling from D/A and MScaler sets a benchmark for how good digital audio can sound. As far as 2020 products, I'd like to see: - the digital amps (whats...

Go to your dealer. As has been mentioned on this forum and other communications i've read, some newer Dave units are problematic (a component change, i think). Definitely, with factory (or non exotic) coax cables, this should not happen.

If your are running Windows10, its native USB Audio 2.0 so any Chord DAC is plug-and-play WASAPI 'exclusive-mode' without driver install.

Q: remove a hot tray from an oven with two hands but only one mitt - without getting burned A: use toslink alone, not in combination with a conductive interface

Done. i have dozens of plots. But of course only a negligible fraction of the possible permutations of equipment and inputs - and not every rf measurement test is accompanied by a listening test. still, its plainly obvious which source-to-dac setups produces less measured RF : metal conducts...

@wilsonlaidlaw please don't insert FUD where there is none. The HTML constructing this post you are reading probably goes through dozens of switches, storage stages, transmission modes, etc. 're-clocking' in the parlance of a digital transmission is just clocked buffer copies from source to...

Get the longest cable they have. With the optical connection, moving your digital stack away from Hugo2 will greatly help sound. So don't go optical and then put your source right beside. Instead place Hugo2 close to you (headphones), move your source waaay across the room, use only a...

@JaZZ Look around you. Batteries everywhere and getting more capable at less cost. Soon you will succumb :)

Too much conjecture going on here... As part of my optodx product development I put a signal/spectrum analyser on the outputs of H2/TT2 and then did all the RF measurements. Basically this peers into the DAC and let's you see what changes (signal/power) affect the RF energy and envelope. I...

Nick, true, i need to buy a 4-ohm 88dB speaker and try to make it sing with a good amp. I'm just reticent to grow my chain and/or compromise. Its now 2020 and I hope a next generation Dave (digital amp?) can combine TT2's supercap current drive capability *PLUS* a transparent equalizer to...

Despite my experience with various powered (active) speakers, i am a sucker for the transparency I hear DAC-direct. I have a HMS-TT2 stack direct to high eff speakers (DIY voxativ and other 96+dB coaxial drivers with lightweight crossovers) and always supplemented by a REL S510 and Taket...

These are 4ohm 88dB speakers. Certainly you don't mean they are driven directly from Dave?

Several players work fine (roon, JRiverMC, foobar, HQPlayer, etc.). They all support WASAPI Exclusive (or ASIO) audio modes. If you only every play ripped CD content or mass market compressed music, its all 16-bit/44.1 kHz sampled (regardless of the compression used: FLAC lossless or lossy at...