I have lived with a Chord Dave on my desk at work for 5 days a week for about 10 hours a day for several years now. I use it mostly with near field monitors as I am on the phone a lot. However, when I am responding to emails and headphones are on my head, I know the Dave sound signature inside and out so it makes for an easy comparison to other products. The Headphone section of the Dave is the only weak point. Weak is a very over exaggeration and I don't mean this in a negative way as it is pretty darn good but the headphone amp is not at the same level as the DAC in the Dave. And the DAVE is my all time favorite DAC for sure, hands down. For 75% of the headphones, I use with the DAVE, I am quite satisfied. But on headphones that like power or are a bit harder to drive to peak performance, I feel I am wanting more. The DAVE has plenty of finesse and control but not when I want to Rock the House. I would imagine when the day comes for a Dave revision I foresee it having the Hugo TT 2 style of amplifier in it and then, the Dave would be a true End-Game piece of gear. I'll keep my fingers crossed this happens one day.
The headphone amp in the Hugo TT 2 is a beast. It controls and defines the pace of the headphone driver not like an Indy 500 Stock Car but more like a McLaren. Power, Control and Beauty are my three adjectives to describe its finesse.
Three of my favorite headphones are:
- the Focal Utopia
- the Hifiman HE1000 (V1 or V2)
- the Audeze LCD-3
The authority presented by the Dave, especially with the planar magnetic headphones is truly amazing and rare. The HE-1000 has the largest driver size when compared to the Utopia and LCD-3, resulting in a much lower frequency range. The LCD-3 has a huge bottom end or bass but it does not get as low and controlled as the HE-1000. Well, it was like listening to new headphones with the Hugo TT 2 attached to the Chord DAVE. It was a new experience and all of these headphones improved in ways I have not heard before.
The DAC in the Hugo TT 2 is no slouch when compared to the Dave which is definitely part of the reason for the re-acquaintance with my three favorite headphones. The TT 2 does not have the level of focus and precision of the Dave but in comparison to the Hugo TT (original) and even the Hugo 2, it is a big step up in performance and sound quality. Moreover, it has processing power that is halfway between the Hugo 2 and the Dave. What does this mean? It‘s like a supercharged computer.