DAVE DAC Preamp Amplifier

The DAVE is Chord's flagship and premiere hi-fi desktop DAC. It's a true reference-level product and is designed with their latest generation FPGA technology by Rob Watts. The Chord DAVE DAC is known for its exceptional audio performance and innovative technology, providing some of the best conversion and detail retrieval of any DAC on the market. The DAVE is a favorite here at Moon Audio and even graces the desktop setup of our CEO and Founder, Drew Baird, P.E. There simply is no other DAC that compares in sound quality, and if you're of the analytical persuasion, be assured that the DAVE will leave no detail hidden, and give you completely unmatched audiophile-grade clarity of sound.

Dragon Cable Recommendation: The Silver Dragon USB Cable is our best-selling cable at Moon Audio and the perfect companion for the Chord Electronics DAVE DAC. The Silver Dragon USB transfers digital audio from a computer or portable device such as a Phone, Tablet, or DAP (digital audio Player) to a USB-capable DAC. The Silver Dragon Interconnect or the Silver Dragon Digital Cable are other great options depending on your existing setup.

The Most Advanced DAC on the Market

The DAVE is the most advanced and best DAC Chord Electronics has ever made. It features the very best conversion technology available, using proprietary techniques never seen before, making DAVE the most advanced DAC/preamp amplifier in the world. DAVE stands for ‘Digital to Analogue Veritas in Extremis’, a moniker that best reflects the product's capability; a device so advanced and with so few compromises, that it is absolutely truthful in the extreme — a standard that all other DACs on the market simply cannot hope to match. It’s a leap above the performance of the Chord Hugo, Hugo 2, Qutest, Chord Mojo, Hugo TT 2, and you can combine it with the Chord M Scaler for an upsampled quality that you have to hear to believe.

Features

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz flat within +/-0.1dB (HF filter off)
• Tap length filter: 164,000
• THD + N: 127.5dB (AWT)
• Channel separation: Great-than 125dB @ 1KHz
• Dynamic range: 127.5dB (AWT)
• Sample frequencies: 44.1Khz – 768Khz (16 – 32bit) and DSD64 to DSD512 native DSD + DoP (input dependant)
• Digital inputs:
  4x 75Ω S/PDIF BNC Coax – 44.1kHz to 384kHz
  1x AES XLR – 44.1kHz to 96kHz
  2x Fibre Optic TOSLINK – 44.1kHz to 96kHz
  1x USB Type B – 44.1kHz to 768kHz (16 – 32bit) – PCM and DSD
• Analogue outputs:
  1x Stereo Pair of Unbalanced RCA
  1x Stereo Pair of Balanced XLR
  1x ¼” TRS Jack Headphone Output

This is How a DAC Should Sound

Not all DACs are created equal. Using proprietary technologies painstakingly developed by Robert Watts over the past twenty-years, DAVE is Chord's most advanced FPGA DAC to date.

Handling the conversion of your music with absolute precision, and exceptionally low noise, yields an organic performance that simply cannot be matched.

The DAC, which is also a reference-level headphone amplifier and ‘digital preamp’, distills twenty years of Chord research, development, and advanced engineering into one device. At its heart lies a new version of the advanced Spartan 6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with 1,000x the processing power of the traditional mass-produced chip DAC. DAVE's FPGA is loaded with over a million lines of code to confront complex timing issues head-on, with speed and precision.

The FPGA's extraordinary capability enables a number of key sonic benefits, including significantly improved timing and the best noise-sharper performance of any known DAC. DAVE's technology delivers music with unmatched reality and musicality, with an unrivaled timing response. The device's lossless digital volume control outputs the signal directly to your power amplifier for the purest experience.

The DAVE has a full-sized LCD display, showing input, sample frequency, volume, and set-up configurations options, within Chord's famous porthole design. On its fascia, DAVE also features a rotary encoder with a large stainless steel controller and ball buttons, enabling direct interactivity in addition to the supplied remote control.

Key Features

Chord Custom FPGA DAC

768kHz Type B USB Input

4x 768kHz BNC Coax Inputs

2x 96kHz AES/EBU Inputs

2x 192kHz Optical Inputs

Expandable DXO Inputs

1x Unbalanced RCA Outputs

1x Balanced XLR Outputs

1x ¼" Headphone Output

Supports 800Ω Headphones

Configurable Crossfeed

Standalone Preamp Function

Galvanically Isolated USB

Supports up to 768kHz

Native DSD Supported

DSD 512 (8x) Capable

Solid Aluminium Chassis

IR Remote Control Included

What's in the Box?

• 10A Mains IEC cable
• IR Remote control
• Type-A USB to Type-B USB cable
• Optical cable
• 2x AAA batteries

Press and Reviews

Chord Magazine

Guides & Advice
by Moon Audio

Stereophile

by John Atkinson
May 2017

What HiFi?

by What HiFi?
Jun. 2016

Hifi Pig

by Linette Smith
Apr. 2018

HiFi+

by Alan Sircom
Jan. 2017

Hi-Fi- World

by Jon Myles
May 2017

What Hi-Fi?

Best DACs of 2019
by Staff