Shootout Denafrips Terminator Plus VS Chord Dave with Farad LPS

It is just an amazing device...both, but one is better...
www.faradpower...
www.faradpower...

[@franciscobernoussi5495]

Fantastic. One of the best hearing I've ever heard. Big up Mike !

[@Eschew_Obfuscation]

Thank you sharing your thoughts. I enjoy hearing What you have to say. And you’re English is very good! Keep up the good work.

[@robcaputo9708]

You certainly don’t need to apologize for English your passion for the sound corrects any language issue if they even heard one. Please do more videos. Please let me know what the rest of the sound chain was. Yeah, I may not be able to achieve your sound system, but it’s so inspiring.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, please watch more of my videos, the you can find all the good stuff... 😉 cheers Mike

[@maartenrib9953]

Hi mike was a fantastic day and mann you make a hell of a latte coffee. Best of the day. And you ob speakers are the bomb. Such realism all the hard work came out in a few hours. Never had so much goosebums on a day. Will be repeated🎉

[@soopy1975]

Wow I thought Denafrips was great then the Dave 😀 as you say the realism and presence of the audience so much truer 🔥

[@ericharrelson2045]

I own the T+, but on my end, the Dave is clearly another level up.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, yes, but T+ is very good for the price. But if you add XLR cables and Power cable for Athena and Athena itself, price difference is much smaller than expected. But you have to add the Farad upgrade to Dave too...cheers Mike

[@Jil8840]

Chord Dave is the best.

[@Stephenwongdirectimaging]

I have. try. both with my hifiman susvara headphone. I prefer terminator plus more background super dark and smooth detail

[@tomb375]

Chord! Dave is Much better. Terminator is a little sharp for me on the high end. Thank you for this video.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, Termi is not sharp. Never! Dave is nearly 3x the price ( with this LPS mod) cheers Mike

[@tomb375]

@@headquarteraudio5388 What about Holo Spring 3 or May?

[@YouSoundButtHurt]

I went back and forth comparing and the Dave has more detail and presence that I could hear through my headphones compared to the Denafrips. I think the Dave would be worth the premium price over the Terminator.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Yes, but i hope i will find a solution, to get the sound not for a Dave price + 4K for LPS.... maybe the Soulnote D2/D3...cheers Mike

[@YouSoundButtHurt]

@@headquarteraudio5388 If you find the solution, let us know!

[@datka3]

I agree it’s hard t add preamp with Dave , DAC direct with Dave is magical .

[@asegal4677]

Very interesting video! Have you any experience with the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC?

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, no sorry...cheers Mike

[@asegal4677]

@@headquarteraudio5388 Thanks!

[@edverbeek6292]

Congratulations with your speakers.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, many thanks, that gives me power... 😄 cheers MIke

[@N02tradamus]

I also have a Dave + Farad3. Farad3 makes it almost like a Dave 2.0. Very nice. :)

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Yep :) Chord has to do it like that way... its time...and a really good outputstage ( discrete ) this device might be a killer cheers Mike

[@manardh7387]

The Denafrips beat the Dave with much better transparency into the piano performance. The Dave put a layer of grunge into the performance.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, yes, well said and heard 😀. Piano sounds real, because the lower octaves where given right.. and the huge soundstage with timing speaks for itsself...cheers Mike

[@Jil8840]

Chord Dave wins hands down. Chord beats the crap of the Denafrips. More transparent, more full bodied, more live, better stereo image, with the chord dave. Thanks for the test.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, Denafrips is no crap, for the price a wonderful DAC. Dave is with LPS 17000€, i think its better to go with Aurender A30... Streamer, DAC and Pre and OCXO Clock...cheers MIke

[@jlo8775]

Chord Dave is garbage. Sorry you got took for $10K 😂🤦‍♂️

[@Rick--A-F]

Hi, interesting video and lovely large speakers! Could you please give more info about the Farad psu and also what capacitors you used?

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Please ask maartenrib for more information about the farad, he has also news i think... you will find him in the comments at the bottom...cheers Mike

[@connorduke4619]

As per usual with R2R versus FPGA Dac, R2R (Denafrips) wins on tonality and soundstage depth and FPGA (Chord) wins on resolution, so it depends which sonic qualities one prefers. I always go for tonality and soundstage depth and hence the Denafrips here. ps> which power amps are being used here? I am looking through your videos to see whether you have demo'd any Denafrips amps.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, your opinion , but for me and others not even near the truth. Pink Faun 180 monos...cheers Mike

[@gioponti6359]

interesting, through a bluetooth headphone I find the recording with the denapfris to have less syllable issues (less pronounced „sss“), seemingly more enevelopping (?) 3d sound, and more body than with the dave & lps. Dave & Lps however make a nicer piano. wish to hear that live :). Many thanks for sharing!! Also recording is great choice!!

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, Dave is much faster and more precise, please hear this song with your rig, its very very difficult. Dave had its one magic in every way..cheers Mike

[@LimePieMusic]

Terminator is absolutely amazing dac 😃👍

[@torus186]

Yeap but the Chord Dave is better here.

[@herbertotto9145]

Hello Mike, two questions. What amps have you used and who has modified the Dave ?

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, for amps please wait for my next video and please watch in the video discription for link to farad. If you need somebody for installation of the lps upgrade please write me an email. Cheers Mike

[@zitronengold]

Hallo Mike, - klasse Video und Soundbeispiel. - der Dave klingt verdammt gut. Was wurde an der Stromversorgung verändert, bzw. wie kommen die drei Netzteileausgänge in den Dave? Die zwei AMT's sind über eine extra weiche angeschlossen oder bekommen sie das selbe Signal wie das Horn? gruss Markus

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, wenn du da weiter Interesse zB Kauf des Tunings hast, kann ich gerne vermitteln. Ich selbst habe da keine Aktien drin. Der Mundorf ist mit einer extra Weiche extrem hoch angekoppelt. Cheers Mike

[@user-nf4ob5rq4o]

These two dacs sound differently. If one prefers the “presence” of the sound then Dave is the one to listen. If one values the “smoothnesses and bloom of analog” of the sound (especially the midrange} then the T+ is the one to get. I would get both of them. It’s difficult to choose.😊

[@headquarteraudio5388]

mmmhh, Dave in this configuation is near 3x the price, for me it is easy to choose... 😁 cheers and thanks Mike

[@user-nf4ob5rq4o]

@@headquarteraudio5388 Yes. I agreed. But I have learned not to judge the sound based on the price of the components.

[@chasehatton3691]

The Chord might just get u to turn down the volume slightly to enjoy it. Whereas the Terminator Plus could encourage or illicit the opposite effect. All about dynamics , punch , drive and super soundstaging with imaging with The Chord. Not to be outdone, the Terminator Plus is so silky smooth up and down the sound spectrum. In doing so in such a captivating and easy listening manner. In this contest, I am going for the Chord , albeit at more moderate sound levels.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

We will see, what the new frimware will do....cheers Mike

[@backrack01]

Chord Dave is better. But it's also appx 2x the price. Denafrips has always been great for the money company. I don't think you can get that much better than the Terminator at its price point. It's a wonderful DAC. If you want to hear better... your going to need to spend 14k. :)

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, for me it was important to know there ist something better there. Please be aware, you need Athena for a fair comparsion in price. Also i hear with HEKSE Headphone, the level of this Dave Headamp is very very good... cheers Mike

[@Hypofx]

@@headquarteraudio5388 I have Athena paired with Pontus II and Kinki MX 7 best for the buck category price/value ratio is great. I think Athena is a great Preamp and matches to the DAC

[@headquarteraudio5388]

@@Hypofx Hi, you are right, but it matches up to Terminator II. If you need power and control, there are more affordablöe amps than the EXM7, but again, for the price its very very good...cheers MIke

[@Hypofx]

@@headquarteraudio5388 sure i wanted to go with the terminator but i had to draw the line :))

[@jlo8775]

Chord Dave was just tested by Audio Science Review and failed miserably. Imo, Chord is highly overrated to begin with. I have a Terminator I and it’s absolutely superb for the money. To this day the only dac I’ve heard that would make me give up my Terminator is the DCS Bartok.

[@kalakalaiand3343]

how much would you say farad LPS improves Chord dave? thank you!

[@maartenrib9953]

Hi here some findings of my dave with farad supply ots a long read but covers it all. I also replaced all Internal caps of the dave this week. That improves the dave on all fronts.

[@maartenrib9953]

Review farad lps part two After 2 weeks of constantly playing music on the dave with the new farad lps with some constant intervals I listened to the same pieces of music but also tried to analyze some amazing songs that I know very well. Below some of my obvious notes i made these last two weeks and what stood out Bass has gotten a different character besides more presence and strength on almost all tracks, the already not so bad sounding thumps that were not really drawing attention now shifted to a more sole identity of that bass that contributes much more to the soul of each song. The opportunity is also much more there to just focus on for example a voice or violin and tell your brain to cancel out the rest of the music. It almost feels like looking direct into the eyes of the artist. Drama free from deadmau5 is a difficult song for a lot of setups and mostly in the beginning of the song Pre-lps upgrade. After the linear upgrade the voices tend to come looser of the overwhelming continued bass humm and synth. It's a noisy song but now the ease and rest has kicked in to selectively listen, it's like breathing the fresh swiss mountain air instead of flat country air (not city that always sucks). From a technical point of view, what i always tend to approach due to the way i am, I expected the amplifier to have the most control over transients and power of a song. But I now start to realize that the beginning of the chain probably has much more influence as i expected. And is much more important. Listening on low volumes also gives much more satisfaction. The deep dynamic character of the music stays much more sustained than before and with higher volumes. Elton john’s ‘love song’ tapping feet in the right high corner is much more becoming a feet as i hear it instead of a high tick. The playing kids in the rear you can locate and give an accurate position and the waving sea has become much more distant and a bit like a 3d painting. Spacious songs, live and where room ambiance is present got a lot more ease or less fatigue, how you approach that i guess and have become much more musical. Monica Mancini with skylark is singing in a holistic surrounding where she now sings more in the front and her hoarse voice has become much more pleasant and adds a sort of truth to my brain. Sarah mclachlan, an angel her voice is truly sung from out of heaven. The piano now is almost in the same league as her voice and is competing for attention. The closing and opening of her lips are can be heard and compliment the light touches of the piano keys. Really eerie now. The low keys notes of the piano or synth are pounding through my room and make you open your eyes each time. Bizarre song Effortless listening to music and fatigueless on higher volumes, instruments are sliding 3D through your ears creating an absurde realistic stage and image in front of you. Jaw dropping without exaggerating everytime and it's getting better with small steps after 7/8 days now. Also below -24dB in my system the dave seems to find to level out its max dynamic range it seems that’s sort of a sweet spot were everything has maximum depth stage and realism. Celestial echo of malia the bass is relentlessly eerie and floats through the room and takes your eardrums like a feeling of water with no pressure through your head. You slowly when your eyes are shut go into a trance that feels like a warm bath. Absurd, it always sounded beautiful but a lot of music now feels like you understand what the maker was trying to create and that the search of us addicted audiophiles found it at last, that sums up a bit this lps upgrade. The two weeks its online now i noticed a slight shift to become somewhat more smooth and less edgy but that’s really tiny and could be my brain but anyways the pleasant side of the spectrum. Could be changing more in the next few weeks i dont now that. Kudos for farad anyways till now.

[@maartenrib9953]

To answer how much, it makes it a dave 2.0 and after a while and listening back to a original dave you cannot understand why they placed that cheap switching power supply in there that wrecks the dave and removed the musicality of it. You have to hear it to grasp it. Chord nows this and has some lame respons as the problem is understood but they will never openly acknowledge this.😢

[@edwinchann7885]

I recently added the Farad supplies to my Dave/MScaler. It’s night and day better. It’s become an addictive listening experience.

[@kalakalaiand3343]

So it would be 3 seperate farad 3 supplies for dave?

[@ericelmore2742]

Great review just found your channel. Are you by passing the clock in the streamer by using usb and allowing the terminator and the Dave to utilize there built clock? Was there a sound difference using usb vs coaxial?

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, both played with their own internal clock. After my 12th anniversary upgrade, I think Dave will loose the battle. But my friend upgraded the Dave with 10 Farad PS. We will see.. for me now the Arce in Clocksync with T+ is the new king..with Tubulus Concentus I2S cable... cheers Mike

[@asw7544]

​@@headquarteraudio5388 Thank you for the video and the great review, you have a very nice system. Were you able to compare Terminator Plus 12th to Dave?

[@net_news]

the Frips to me

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, thanks. In real here never, Dave is far better, maybe use full HD with very good headphones. Thanks for comment, cheers Mike

[@net_news]

@@headquarteraudio5388 will try with better headphones, I've found the Dave a little sibilant.

[@twochaudiomg2578]

Both seemed like bottom end buzzing fat bass. Upper mid on up were nice

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Please let us know your system? Cheers Mike

[@johncallaghan3097]

Please tell us what recording this is. I suspect it might be Sara Bareilles, but if so none of the recordings on KZbin seem to possess as deep piano. I initially liked the terminator's bass and general presentation, but I have to hand it to the Dave, it was imho much better and more realistic, particularly with the ambience -- audience enthusiasm, handclapping, etc. But man, the DAC is £10,000 -- that's three times the cost of my entire system. Gotta draw a line somewhere...;-)

[@maartenrib9953]

Used you can pick them up for much less, and the latest sound exacly the same as the first👍🏻

[@QQ-td9id]

Note technical and production wise, R2R have one potential weakness -- resistor precision variation, when we are arguing about which has better details and transparency, 0.01% variation might count from unit to unit out of the production line! Is the TP you heard the same as my TP?

[@headquarteraudio5388]

:) I don't care about your TP :) cheers Mike

[@ysk249]

Great review with comparison videos. However, I couldn’t tell much of a difference between the Chord Dave vs. the built-in DAC of my McIntosh or Sugden amp. So I am not sure if you really need a hi-end DAC if you have hi-end amps.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, you need one, but you also need an optimized environment. Also an amp needs to be able to show the differences easily. Every detail matters...cheers Mike

[@TheRaywell]

thank you for the interesting video, tell me what is better to use for digital audio: pinkfaun i 2 s bridge or matrix element h usb with a usb2 converter to i2s musician phonix ? (dac musician aqiarius)

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, it depends a little on the quality of the PC you use for the Pink Faun Card. I think, Pink Faun is hard to top, and you can upgrade with much better OCXO clocks. Also you need just one cable, like Tubulus I2S... Cheers Mike

[@Hypofx]

Im not sure about the Athena is the weakest link there, I have too and I checked with much more expansive DACs than my Pontus II and Athena never holder back the DAC don't forget its a zero gain preamp by the way its a great match to my Gold Note Phono

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, i love Athena( see my video) but vs Dave with preout no chance. But as i said for the price a gift..cheers Mike

[@Hypofx]

@@headquarteraudio5388 sure sometimes people forget price/value is a thing. you can always find 'better" but:) keep up the good work love the videos

[@headquarteraudio5388]

@@Hypofx Hi, so i said Athena is very good for the price. But i want more, so i have to invest more, thats the business...cheers Mike

[@Hypofx]

@@headquarteraudio5388 totally fine :) keep up the good videos

[@bedrosdaoudian8927]

Thanks for this excellent opportunity for us to compare these 2 extremely expensive DACs. However, I seem to disagree slightly with your opinion. The Terminator sounds natural: I play piano myself so I can really tell the Terminator presentation to be a natural sound of piano. With the Dave the piano doesn't sound like a piano! The Dave sound is artrificial and also the separation is not as good. With the Terminator the Piano sound is distinct and clearly separated from the surrounding atmosphere. With the Dave the sound seems muddy where the boundaries are unclear between the piano and the people shouting in the background...The only thing that seems to be superior with the Dave is the beefy vocals with are more punchy than that of the Terminator. That being said, but still even the vocals don't seem to be as natural as in Terminator's presentation.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Maybe you have to be here next time to get the same results 😉 ...cheers Mike

[@QQ-td9id]

I have both here for 2 years, with DDC and M Scaler. Not a piano player but do play a few instrument's and I can't agree with your assessment -- maybe we all have different gears, speakers, listening room environment, and different perceptual brains. In fact ,TP is slightly warmer and "muddier" to me. Note my system goal is also natural, transparent, extreme high FIDELITY, extreme high SNR and low distortion, don't allow any color.

[@bedrosdaoudian8927]

@@QQ-td9id The difference is that I'm just basing my conclusion depending on what I heard through the video.....

[@narisnilubol86]

Honestly, based on this video, I enjoyed denafrips more. Again, it's just a phone recording.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, even with the Samsung recording you can hear the differences very good. There is a new Farad LPS upgrade out there and some other important tunings for the Dave, Terminator has now 12th Firmware, we need a new shootout i think... cheers Mike

[@jeffc1421]

I also liked the sound of Terminator better as well. The Chord DAVE's presentation was perhaps more "obvious", but the sound from the Terminiator was more realistic, more organic, and more refined to my ears.

[@AusGanesh]

Hello friend, Like you I was running Athena with Terminator 2, now I have upgraded to Audio Research Ref 6, I do agree with you that Athena is a bottleneck but very good component for the price. Yes I do agree with you on improvement of sound with Chord Dave in your system. But personally I believe you should have gone and got better line stage, like the Ref6, then you should have compared Cord Dave against Terminator plus. Thank You for the video. Will contact you in regards to XLR connectors soon. By the way what amplifier are you using? I am running Rogue Audio M180 monoblocks. Thank You.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, why a better linestage AR for 16.000 ? Better Dave with Linestage and Headamp and less expensive cabeling... cheers Mike

[@alexfoxpoker]

Звук в Denafrips и других R2R очень зависит от качества деталей. Вопрос как может ухудшиться качество этих деталей со временем. Как и где потом это все ремонтировать? Chord кажется мне более надежным вариантом. Можно сравнить разные форматы записи, от CD до DSD и как меняется звук.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Во всей этой высокоценовой ерунде обычно используются не более качественные детали, а более качественный маркетинг (дороже), поэтому и дороговизна

[@ericlofroos2405]

The Denafrips is much more detailed. The sound stage is much closer to the front. The Dave on the other hand has a much fuller sound stage. They’re both great, just different. It all depends on individual taste.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, thanks for your opinion, but we heard something else, and its not taste. Cheers Mike

[@QQ-td9id]

IMHO, DAVE has bit more details. I have both of them (TP with optional DDC, DAVE with optional M Scaler) balanced connected to high precision Benchmark HPA4 (with extreme high SNR and low THD+N) + AHB2 + Harbeth M40.3 XD speakers. They are both pretty good to keep, neither is perfect though.

[@user-nf4ob5rq4o]

Do you think TP has more details then Dave?

[@headquarteraudio5388]

@@QQ-td9id i heard, tje RCA out is the better output at the Dave cheers Mike

[@headquarteraudio5388]

@@user-nf4ob5rq4o Before the 12th FPGA update the Dave had more Details, after, i think, the Terminator Plus is better... we will check this out sometimes.. cheers Mike

[@ColocasiaCorm]

Is it just me or is there serious peak in the treble

[@headquarteraudio5388]

just u :) cheers Mike

[@ColocasiaCorm]

2:32 4:44

[@ColocasiaCorm]

Interesting. Termi sounds a little more scooped.

[@ColocasiaCorm]

First is tonally more balanced. Second is little sizzle

[@WolfgangWimmer]

So in conclusion, the Chord Dave DAC is better because you should buy your Power supplies, 3 pieces. This is nothing more than a advertisement video.

[@headquarteraudio5388]

This was a shootout for fun with a friend and his gear, i dont sell any powersupplies

[@mariuszs9263]

You should put open baffle on stillpoints fantastic results My open baffle is three way, Raal Lazy Ribbon ,Lowther PM5A Great Plain Audio Model -416-8B Best Regard Robert

[@headquarteraudio5388]

Hi, OB dont like a gap to bottom...so no way for me, thanks. Cheers Mike