Chord DAVE & Audeze LCD-4z: high-end headphone listening on the desktop

Neither a review of the Chord DAVE, nor a review of the Audeze LCD-4z headphone, this video establishes a baseline for future coverage of high-end head-fi gear.
More (audiophile) info:
darko.audio/2019/01/chord-dav...
Spotify playlist: open.spotify.com/user/1230928...
Tidal playlist:
tidal.com/playlist/4fad3727-4...
Qobuz playlist:
open.qobuz.com/playlist/2060723
More information:
Chord DAVE (7995GBP):
chordelectronics.co.uk/produc...
[**CORRECTION: The DAVE has 164000 taps, not 1,000,000** ]
Audeze LCD-4z (US$3995):
www.audeze.com/products/lcd-c...
Audio Note UK Audeze headphone cable ($TBC): www.audionote.co.uk/index.html
Sennheiser HD800S (€1590):
en-de.sennheiser.com/high-res...
Chord Hugo 2 (1800GBP):
chordelectronics.co.uk/produc...
MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open (US$799):
www.mrspeakers.com/headphones...
Darko.Audio is a web magazine covering new and exciting developments in the audio world. We aren’t afraid of indie rock or techno.
Web: Darko.Audio
Instagram: / darkoaudio
Twitter: / darkoaudio
Facebook: / darkodotaudio

[@jasonwrites9186]

5:10: I feel the Hugo 2 is like the $20 bottle of wine, and the Dave is like buying the whole vineyard. ;)

[@MultipleInterface]

JasonWrites Hugo 2 is better than a $20 dollar bottle of wine

[@anandhua.b4589]

The mojo is the 20$bottle of wine The Hugo 2 is the 100$bottle of wine

[@tars3249]

The mojo is the €20 wine, the Hugo is the €100 wine and the dave is the €5000 wine.

[@kraljo1]

Chord Mojo is 500$ dac,Hugo is 2500$ and Dave 12500$. There is no vine.

[@2233sc]

Yeah, i think we're off by a couple orders of magnitude on the analogy...

[@MarkJones-bc5vx]

John, your channel is something that I always had in my mind, but could never put it into words. The way you communicate about audio makes the nerdy parts seem way more interesting to talk about. Keep the videos coming. I wish I had wonderful component lying around my house to swap out on a whim.

[@RyanZNO]

You're my favorite hi-fi person. Your presentation style, the way you explain everything, just top notch all around. Keep up the great work!

[@daviddammusic]

Exactly🙌🏻

[@tonertron]

Hi John. Many thanks for the great content, outtakes, advice, recommendations and new music heads up. I'm currently enjoying the Morphology album you mentioned on my new Naim Unit Atom which I bought last Friday - partially on your recommendation and enjoying a £10 bottle of red..... All sounding/tasting lush! Keep it up..

[@bikesbeersbeats]

A bottle of $10 wine with great music can make any setup sound like $10k.

[@srbmckenzie]

It's an almost exponential growth rate too.... 4x $10 bottles of wine can make it sound like a $1M system

[@DaKerim58]

Now add some chicken nuggets

[@tugbars4690]

10$ wine with 10k$ sound system makes it sound like 100k$ too. That's the point i guess.

[@ryanthomastew]

Great video as always John - keep doing what you're doing!

[@JohnJones-wo1bc]

Love the metaphors and similes. Great Channel John!

[@GDawg2K2]

As a 30yr recording engineer, listening to you speak about the effect of cabling on freq res, especially on one balanced vs another is frightening. As are the platitudes being used to describe deficiencies in reproduction. My fav is warmth. Which inevitability means less of a sound stage. Everything beyond measured response charts is subjective. The goal needs to be start with accuracy, with no points being given to personal preference. Once you have a headphones that are accurately reproducing what's driving them. Harsh as it may be, you can then eq to your hearts content.

[@Supperconductor]

Great review. I'm still rocking my old classic system. MacBookPro running Audirvana+ -> Light Harmonic Geek Out 1000 -> Sennheiser HD-600s. Mostly red-book CD rips with some high-res purchased downloads. Still VERY happy with this setup. I might upgrade to a tubed Schiit Amp & DAC but in no hurry.

[@p3terlos]

I feel like I just watched someone eat the world's best steak and drink the world's best beer in front of me.

[@DarkoAudio]

Ha! Job done then.

[@cool28990]

@@DarkoAudio How can I listen to music from KZbin to Chord Dave? Please help Thank you.

[@TiFrameLock]

Great job! I really enjoyed the video, I can't afford the Dave but I'm lucky enough to have a new pair of the LCD-Xes and Gungnir Multibit. I bet the Dave sounds incredible.

[@correzzana1992]

Same here, I would say almost a perfect expense/return point. Which amp are you using?

[@Zhiloreznik]

You know that feeling when you think your Dragonfly Red is $20 wine?

[@DarkoAudio]

I do!

[@halstonrossi]

😹

[@thomasmleahy6218]

Well, 2 yrs ago, but still relevant. Have a pair of LCD 3s, time to consider something new, and now Audeze may have another something new out, have to check it. Very interesting review with all the connection details right out there. Time to see what's up after the zombie apocalypse, still have parts delivery issues to deal with. Hope things are looking up on your part of the world. Greetings from the Chicago'burbs, and thank you, sir. TTFN.

[@itisifelix]

Every single Darko video I watch, I find a new artist I favourite on Qobuz/elsewhere thanks you your recommendations. Cheers 🍷

[@veetour]

I like your conversational style of reviewing where you're speaking in non technical day to day language.

[@TheTonson1]

Are these genelec ones in the background? Would love to hear your thoughts on them, awesome video as always, cheers!

[@chelicon21]

Its nice to finally see flagship headphones partnered with decent gear for a change. So a big thank you for that John. I have the LCD4 (200ohms) driven with the Luxman p-750u headphone amplifier which is partnered with Luxman flagship SACD player the D-08u. The sound is quite extraordinary, almost every time a have a listening session it takes my breath away. For me the sound is quite simply sublime....

[@leemartin2978]

That’s a beautiful combination of equipment you have

[@chelicon21]

lee martin Thanks it took many years to build up to the system I have now, but I genuinely think I’ve reached my own musical nirvana.

[@Bluebair]

I loved my old pairing of sennheiser hd800 (sdr modded) with ifi audio's micro idsd black label. That bass switch was practically made for the hd800! I now have the Campfire audio Solaris, which paired amazingly with the black label as well, although I use it with my V40 as I sold the hd800 and black label to fund the Solaris.

[@railwaystationmaster]

Your stellar take on hi fi is extremely fresh and revealing ,and as a DAVE owner I have found my satisfaction level I feel comfortable with , from it's compact desktop friendly ballistic build quality to the revelation of detail it extracts from the source , pop it into a Chord ensemble stand and it looks futuristic ,more showy and expensive plonk . However one note of curious detraction from the adulation is the cheap looking remote that accompanies their behemoth dac , hope they address this in the near future , currently a cloud in an otherwise pristine sky .

[@britishskiing]

Hey John. Fantastic video! I had a 4hr afternoon with the Meze and LCD-4 using the Dave and the HugoTT2/M Scaler. I preferred the LCD-4 to the Empyrean. The Meze sounded more like the HE-X. Not as weighty down low and the vocals were noticeably inferior. The M Scaler is a marvel too. Minuscule improvement with the Dave. Melco N1ZS Streamer Chord M Scaler Chord HugoTT 2 Audeze LCD-4 Unreal.

[@vonStalhein2]

$25,000 of equipment it's just fucking insane

[@hushpuppykl]

vonStalhein2 ... not when you earn say $25k a month 😬

[@Nephilim-81]

I gotta say I love my headphone rig right now. I’m using a Burson Soloist amp, chord Qutest DAC set at 3V blue) RMS and a Cyrus CD i with a PSXR -2 power supply. Have audioquest interconnects and Pangea cables. Fantastic. The only thing I’m missing for me right now is an M-Scaler. If I put that in my chain I’d really have a truly elite audio system. Headphones I use and love the most with this set up are the LCD XC and Sennheiser’s HD 800. We live in great times!

[@sirenbrian]

Nice to see the shout out for World Party - that album is a favorite of mine too. The followup, Egyptology, did it for me too. To the matter of the sound of the DACs, are the differences something that could be compensated for by a simple EQ profile selector in the DACs? Why do DAC makers seem to pick one sound and lock it in? Is there something destructive about allowing a user-selectable choice of how the DAC chooses to make an analog signal from the digital data? Thanks for the review, very interesting stuff.

[@happyforestgump1]

DACS like the iFi's iDSD or RME's ADI-2 DAC have a range of digital filters that do what you're talking about.

[@veggiefella]

I had a pair of LCD-3 headphones... They were nice sounding, but I got rid of them because they were fatiguing to wear because of weight. Nice to see that they are concentrating on making them lighter...

[@cameronleaney7860]

Id love to see this guys collection tour...

[@lorenzgohlke]

I use Tidal Hifi > Audirvana > MacBook Pro > Chord USB cable > Chord Mojo > Audioquest Tower cable > STAX SRM-313 > STAX SR-303 . I am extremely happy with this setup and have been using it for about 3 months. I am looking into getting a new power cable, jitterbug and maybe upgrading the USB cable in the future, because I am pretty sure that the sound could be a bit meatier. The sound is very transparent and clear, especially when listening to famale voices (Cécile McLorin Salvant‘s Dreams and Daggers e.g.) or acoustic guitar (Sara K‘s Warer Falls e.g.). The midrange is nicely pronounced and the base is extremly tight and defined (Andrew Bird‘s Are you Serious shows this very well). Other than that, I mainly listen to ECM stuff and other Jazz, Acoustic, Rock (Dire Strairs, etc.) Classical and the odd bit of Rap. Ah...and lots and lots of Florence and the Machine!

[@gaza4543]

If you want a fuller sound try qobuz instead of tidal if available in your region. I found the qobuz far meater where tidal airer and maybe more "natural"

[@nitromenoob]

you should end that train of audio equipment with airpods just for the memes

[@DarkShade455]

Same here. Tidal > RME ADI-2 DAC > STAX SRM-006t > SR-009/SR-L700/SR-507-SR-Lambda. All though i don't believe in the expensive cable non sense, placebo in my opinion but whatever floats your boat :) I just get lost in the sound and time just flies by!

[@Borednlonely]

It’s interesting that you mentioned Audio Note as I have a DAC 2 from them that trumps all the Chord DACs I’ve heard. I haven’t heard the DAVE mind you.

[@michaeldillon4459]

Good playlist sharing - thanks

[@yannick930]

Great philosophy "buy what you can afford". I started with a Fiio k1 a few months ago and now i'm using a mojo with a Hifiman He 400s and a Sennheiser HD 660s. Every week i stepped up i felt exactly like you in this video. This is my 20$ bottle of wine for the moment :) I don't believe in end games but improvement and i hope there is a lot of steps before i have to spend that money :)

[@mattclayson]

I've been using the HUGO TT2 with the Audeze LCD-4 for the past 3 months and for me this is the best I have heard the LCD-4 sound. I've listened through a DAVE, which has the resolution but lacks a bit of weight and oompf, but the extra output power of the TT2 really brings the pretty hard to drive LCD-4 to life it's an amazing desktop rig for the harder to drive headphones like the LCD-4 and HiFi Man Susvara etc.

[@matthewtodd3879]

I have the STAX basic system headphones with stax energiser ,brill

[@niyaazisaacs1990]

I love your approach with this video. I recently became a owner of Bose Companion 5's. I bought them because I want to hear what a lot of people are hearing. On weekends I switch to my Bowers & Wilkins 602 S3 and Cambridge Azur amplifier. Beginning to learn peoples opinion on sound don't matter if you like what you hearing. Scary stuff because i really enjoy the Bose's mest up sound signature lol! Its a hell of alot of fun!

[@AndrazAntonic]

Came for the hardware review, left with some great music. #lifeisgood

[@LorenzoNW]

You HAVE to buy the ToneKraft headphone cable by Audio Envy for your 800S - it’s transformative! When I bought my 800S used, it came with a $600 Cardas cable. I really wanted to try the ToneKraft after reading about how well they perform with the 800S. Nothing to lose with their satisfaction guaranteed return policy. Well, it totally annihilated the Cardas, and at half the price! I bought a 10’ length because Captain (the owner and designer) told me there were no trade-offs up to that length. I’m happy with the 800S because it’s a great match for my Cary 300SEI amp and Cary 303/300 CD player. I’m using the Ultimate interconnects by High Fidelity Cables which is crazy expensive but magical. One suggestion I can make is to place a couple Bybee iQSEs beneath the DAVE near the input jacks and maybe one or two by the headphone jack if there’s room. They’re very likely to increase the dimensionality and musicality even further.

[@megazine]

Great video. I just subscribed. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this channel. Weird algorithm by KZbin

[@hippieshake2580]

Have World Party Goodbye Jumbo on my portable rig and liked them when they first come out, put the message in the box is my favourite track.

[@goldenears9748]

John, I know you love the Naim Atom. I have the Nova at home and love it. Would love to hear your thoughts and test one.

[@gli7utubeo]

The DAVE and the LCD4 (with an amp in between which is my preference) is a match made in heaven. The DAVE brings out the details, and the LCD4 expresses those details and provides the fullness of the images and the great soundstaging and listening venue and atmospherics. Just great synergy here. (Nice review Mr. Darko, you captured the essence and goodness and listening experience of this pairing. Thanks!) Again, I have not heard the LCD-4Z, just the 4, but your comment about the Senn vs. the 4Z is how I hear it too. (Note that IMHO another great pairing to the DAVE is the Meze Empyrean. Less staging and bloom and impact, but very nice natural tonality and fine deep resonant bass. Just to stress here, this is IMHO from long-term personal experience. My goal is always truth and insight and detail and flow and grace and liquidity without fatigue or digital glare. LOL, way too many ANDs I know. But thanks for reading my rambling comment.)

[@trellusg]

Beautiful setup! Way out of my league price-wise but I don’t resent people who can afford it, I think it’s totally nice!

[@richardcarmichael8915]

Great video. Thanks.

[@MrGrosMamouth]

I know this is getting old, but the set-up that got me into desktop audio was a DAC/amp combo, the Aune X1s with a pair of HD600. I went with what was considered by many to be a good entry level headphones, and I have been happy with it for the past 3 years. It's getting a bit harsh to my likings, I now have a Schiit Asgard 3 on the way along with some Audeze LCD2C. The amp is supposed to be on the warmer side, and when I demoed the LCD2C at the store last year I fell in love but could not afford them.

[@kubjohal]

Would be great to hear your thoughts on the DAVE in a non-desktop headphone system.

[@stuartthurston4765]

All traded in and orderd today, I cant find the audio note anywhere. Any idea on release date?? Thanks

[@humanitech]

Great review.. But sadly beyond my budget. But was wondering when you might review the nme api2 as they are based in Germany and there is some interest in this versatile dac with it eq mix and play options. Would be nice to see what flavours and colours it has used as a stereo dac and linked amp and speakers. Especially for such reasonable money.

[@criticalshot516]

I'll just make a friend named Dave and save the money.

[@chelicon21]

CRITICAL You just made me laugh... a lot 😂

[@rakeshjonnalagadda1766]

Lol

[@eLcHiNoChannel]

I currently own the LCD-XCs. I am curious about an upgrade. I am thinking 4z, MM-500, or MX4. I'd appreciate any feedback or advice.

[@espengggg]

Morphology's Traveller is putting a big smile on my face and gets my foot going :)

[@constantinosh9489]

Schiitaudio Lyr + schiitaudio multibit + LCD2 is my combi 👍🏻

[@WanderinWizard]

This world of audiophile is truly crazy you could grow a small wine vineyard for the prices of this devices. I get it. but its madness.

[@mrgadget4863]

I like your reviews John. If you like the effect of the jitter bug or corresponding IFI devices you should give the Mutec MC-3+ Smart Clock USB a try. I think there is also room for improvement how you feed the DAVE on the digital side from a cable point of view. I use the mutec and from there go straight to the digital balanced input of the DAVE. You may expereince a similar step up as with your audionote cable. Btw I use ATLAS Headphone cables on my Audeze LCD X, which are at least far superior than the Cardas clear light that I also own and purchased because of the good reviews.

[@matfezza]

Glorious HD 👍

[@itsik_]

I've had some "decent" headphone systems at home, such as Ayre Codex and Bryston BDA2+BHA1. Lately I've been into DIY and sold everything off. My amp is a Bottlehead Mainline and DAC is Twisted Pear Audio Buffalo 3, which uses an ESS 9038 Pro chip. I've been happy most recently with the ZMF Aeolus but this rig sounds great with HD800S and even HD650

[@iamyourfuture808]

Reminds me of an oldschool Audi TT petrol filler

[@lenkiatleong]

Actually, it's like comparing a Euro20 with Euro80 wine. Most people can discern Euro5 and Euro20 wine but not Euro20 and Euro80 bottles. To me, Hugo2 has stronger bass and thus masked off a lot of freq. Dave has very weak bass, thus one can hear more freq. As for the cable, a decent quality one will do. Actually, high end headphone stock cable is good enough. To me, cable acts as freq filter. Some cable cut off certain low freq and thus enhance some higher freq and likewise. So, users who prefer high, mid or lower freq may like certain type of cable. :-)

[@JonPickles]

GoodbyeJumbo is absolutely fabulous album. Sounds great on vinyl.

[@grahamstrahle4010]

I am sorry, but not at all surprised, to hear that my Hugo2 is a rung down. Thanks for a really interesting vid.

[@leecolton2068]

Hi,I have a pair of grado ps2000e. Please advise me if they would pair well with the Dave? Or would you recommend anything else?

[@thetheoryguy5544]

Was thinking. Ah the Dave must be like 1k. Search it up and saw it cost 10k was like got damn!!!!!!!

[@VeeHausen]

Great video mate, and beautifully put together! Really liked this epi-vlog-Darko-style! :D

[@DisjointedConversations]

Really enjoy the channel. Thanks. I love Goodbye Jumbo also. I get away from it for a year or longer but then I rediscover it and get happy all over again.

[@MultipleInterface]

This has quickly become among my favorite KZbin channels. I have an Audio GD Master 9 with the Chord Qutest and Focal Utopia headphones. I also have the Chord Hugo 2 for on the go because I travel for work. Sound is amazing, of course. I’m really curious about the MScaler. I thought about going for that and I’d really like to know your thoughts on it if you can get one in, and compare Qutest/MScaler to the Dave. I could even send you a couple great headphone amps like the aforementioned Audio GD or a Woo Audio WA22. Thanks for doing what you do, cheers.

[@hermannisavolainen8328]

Awesome!

[@behemothinferno]

This is or the meze empyrean? I can audition the LCD-4z but can't listen to the Meze so which one should I get?

[@maxb.simonsen2459]

I'm a student so I enjoy what I can afford, in this case a Schiit Bifrost into a Schiit Asgard 2 into a pair og Sennheiser HD 660s, and here I'm really happy with the level of detail i get from this system. Usually it's hard to find modern music which doesn't sound like garbage, with poor sounding bass synth, and almost always a lot of distortion which is not very apperent on loudspeakers.

[@hushpuppykl]

Max B. Simonsen ... in a few years you will be itching for the Chord Mojo then after that the Chord Hugo 2, then not long after that it will be the Dave. 😬

[@stuartthurston4765]

Great review. I'm in the process of selling my 2 channel system for this as a replacement. Cant get the Meze in the px deal.🤬

[@DrGIzmoBRad]

As far as a home headphone setup, I've got a Roksan Attessa with an outboard Nima tonearm and Ortofon MC20 feeding an OriginLive Discovery 1 phono preamp for analog, and a RPi /JustBoom DigiHAT streamer feeding Meridian Director DAC for digital. These sources are then fed into a multi tap transformer volume controlled 6DJ8 tube preamp. The preamp drives a transformer coupled headphone interface with analog crossfeed into planar magnetic headphones. These many disparate pieces of equipment form a headphone station that allows audio escapism in fine style. As per your example, it's a €35

[@DrGIzmoBRad]

bottle of Merlot ...

[@kcsi1]

Very enjoyable channel. Eliminates my guilt I feel because of my expensive toys.

[@wojciechczupta9185]

John, could you say how Dave compares to Qutest and to Yggdrasil?

[@phreak1118]

I have had a Schiit Jotunheim/Bifrost 2 hooked up to my laptop powering my Sony Z1R's. Fantastic combination. Streaming FLAC files from my NAS.

[@HugAFreak]

What about the Qutest? I'm really curious how a Qutest + MScaler will compare to a Hugo TT2.

[@ktcochran35620]

I must know more about Audio Note's custom headphone cable. That was INSANE.

[@rjy8960]

Running a Hugo 2 from a Pi and Digi+ in my office with either a pair of Bose Companion 50 speakers or Audeze EL-8 closed back which work reasonably well.

[@GhostFace_OG]

Thanks John. Great info here, keep up the good work my friend. Take care of yourself.

[@ddrenth]

Wait just a second...I LOVE that World Party album!!! Thank you for using that in your review!!! I have to put you on pause for a minute and go listen to that...sadly through my amp's DAC and not a DAVE...lol

[@DarkoAudio]

I love Private Revolution even more. :)

[@ddrenth]

@@DarkoAudio I will definitely give that a listen ASAP. Thanks again Mr Darko.

[@hanpolar]

John, you are my role model in this hobby of pursuit of music. Really enjoyed the video and your philosophy behind it.

[@DanielHeo]

If you have such a high end amp, why the LCD-4z instead of the LCD-4? Love your commentary on the luxury goods bit; I really think people who balk at the cost of top-end goods don't really understand why price tags make themselves upset.

[@gerardfletcher1203]

waterboys world party take me back talk talk great music another thought provoking video

[@ddrenth]

I put on Goodbye Jumbo, Fisherman's Blues, and ended with Spirit of Eden right after the video...good times.

[@x32i77]

I cant find that cable 😰 . Do they sell it now already ?

[@chrissimmonds4383]

Life's too short for mediocre gear, which is why we listen to you John. love your videos

[@sebek0311]

Quick question, why would you spend 8k for a DAC if you can have an analogue turntable like Rega 6 for a fraction of the cost?

[@rickg8015]

The Meze Empyrean looks like an aesthetic match to the Jules Verne nautical inspired Dave.. Maybe sonically a match too. PS - only listened to the Dave at a dealer’s listening room with active pro Focal studio monitors. It was a good pairing TBH.

[@jurumal]

You should round out the chain with a statement headphone amplifier, particularly the HeadAmp GS-X Mk2. That’ll elevate the sound even further.

[@DarkoAudio]

That might be the case but then I'm dealing with two boxes and not the elegant simplicity of one.

[@maxb.simonsen2459]

Can you compare the dave directly to the directstream?

[@DarkoAudio]

Have a look again at the description box. ;)

[@rbnjr]

Are you using room to play on the macbook

[@realcrypt1206]

I've been running the Audeze LCD-X's (upgraded audeze cable) with the topping a-90 and d-90se amp/ dac stack for the last few months. I personally love the sound and can listen for hours of enjoyment. The build quality feels superb and the sounds for my ears hits that sweet spot of feeling critical while maintaining enough warmth to not experience that cringe. I'd love to eventually upgrade to something like the Abyss Diana V2's with the accompanying Elven Audio stack . But for a relatively approachable (~$3500 US) head-fi unit I've been quite pleased with the LCD-X's and topping stack! Thank you again for the content

[@tdfmike3915]

I have a similiar stack for my lcd x and hd800. I recently brought the lcd 4z. And Im having a strange time with it... Im somewhat missing the base presence and dark 3d sound of my X. But then again some eq in bases makes them superior imo... Maybe I need to upgrade my chain or my source?? Either way hifi is an expensive Hobby

[@fahdkamal1420]

I run the same gear as you do and i absolutely am in love with it! I mainly listen on tidal for convenience but for deep listening I do listen FLAC and DSD on foobar. It’s that feeling of listening to a good speaker system i get everytime - just that hiphop is painful to listen to because of the sibilance/treble but i guess it’s mastering as other genres like jazz and soul is sublime… Now im considering A90D or LCD4 for that intimate listening pleasure

[@TheFijianGuy]

Price to performance ratio I prefer the hd800S to the audezes.

[@kennethgarcia25]

After listening to you for 6 months, I'm splurging on the $20 wine plus a Dave with a pair of Utopias! I've heard from recording engineers that this may be the best headphone mixing scenario! Thanks, but ouch on the price. Still, listening will be elevated to quite an event.

[@StephenBritton]

Really loved the new direction of this video John, well done. Can't wait to see the rest of the videos in this summit head-fi series.

[@yeahthatsright33]

Same this is format is awesome. His recent videos truly just captured a guy having great fun with incredible audio equipment.

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

ifi mercury usb cable (150$)nuforce icon hd dac headphone amp and preamp(350$) Sennheiser hd 700 headphones(500$)=1000$ sounds great also feeding through wireworld rca (100$) arcam delta 120 power amp (700$ second hand) and b&w dm 580 floorstanding speakers (300$ second hand) so another 1000 for a power amp speakers combo with the same dac preamp .2000$ total i'm very happy with the sound

[@antonhelsgaun]

The jitterbug gives better sound?

[@miguelbarrio]

Audio Note is known for their amps. Ongaku for example. There’s also the diff between Audio Note Japan and UK.

[@DonHamlin]

Perfect video. Just telling it like it is and giving headphones the respect they deserve.

[@polmacdiarmada]

Really enjoy your videos John, keep up the good work

[@wojciechczupta9185]

... and to Gungnir Multibit (which I use currently)

[@antoinep9733]

Great content John, really enjoyed this one, and thanks for the playlists in your description. Chord need to hire a graphic designer. Dave has such outlandish industrial design, but the display UI looks like their accountant threw it together in Microsoft Word 🤮

[@BunnyslippersEUC]

I demoed the sennheiser Orpheus he-1 at a show. It was in a small vip room. It was difficult to judge the sound, because I only had 10 min. And I couldn't use my own music. It sounded very clean. And because of the size of the drivers, I could hear some sound coming vertically. I also demoed some other highend headphones from Meze, Hifiman, Focal etc.

[@888Prosper]

Great video! I love your channel.Any chance of getting the Mscaler in the chain? I heard it elevates Dave to another level

[@hadleys.4869]

Thank you for your audio impressions. I love my Audeze LCD-4z combined with chord Hugo tt2/M Scaler pair. I’m using audeze’s silver plated premium cable and a silver dragon usb cable for input.

[@Nephilim-81]

Hey Darko! Well done! You looked like you had fun and I know how you feel. Also, I love sharing music sources cause I feel they matter the most! For further listening try TEN CITY's FOUNDATION (1987) and if you can get your hands on it MFSL's 2007 mastering of Permanent Waves by RUSH. So good brother. Especially with those hd 800's.

[@rickym.5271]

My current setup is with the sony tazh1es paired with audioquest nightowl. Cables are balanced audioquest headphone leads, audioquest cinnamon USB(why didn't I buy the carbon instead) and audioquest nrg y3 power cord. Source is tidal hi fi from my ThinkPad and sony nwwm1a(mostly ripped CDs). I listen to pretty much everything that is good music(jazz, rock, rap, metal, funk, r&b, blues etc) Overall sound is smooth, warm and liquidity. It's like listening to audio in a vacuum. Very clean with virtually no distortion. Everything is layer with great separation. On some tracks, the combo sounds like a recording studio session. The perfect sound for long listening session during the after hours. Man... this sound great, then.....zzzzzzz. Made me late for work everyday for a week once everything was setup...... Totally worth it baby! In the future, maybe a set from the legendary hd600 series(more likely the 660s). After that, I don't know where to go unfortunately. I would like to have totl headphoness without getting a personal loan lol. Let the force be with you all! Cheers!

[@carolineleonard8214]

I love the metaphor very succinct. As stated I've heard the DAVE already and know that it's the best in the world (yes I've heard many others including the PS audio DAC.) I can echo that it sound glorious and it boils down to how much you want to pay. I want the DAVE but could only justify PS Audio's DAC in my current system. A great review. Keep them coming.

[@87togabito]

Paul Leonard really? Having read what both manufacturers have had to say, part of me feels that PSaudio’s literature makes more sense to me. To me, the PSaudio’s native upscaling should equal better liquidity of sound than the DAVE. But that said, I’ve not had the chance to listen to them in my system. Why do you place the Dave above the PS audio dac?

[@carolineleonard8214]

Depth, detail, space and oh yes my mouth was open and I nearly dribbled. It's astounding.