Chord Dave
Chord DAVE digital-to-analogue converter, both a digital preamplifier and reference headphone amplifier, designed for demanding listening in the living room as well as through headphones.
Description
The Chord DAVE is a high-end digital-to-analogue converter that also serves as a digital preamplifier and reference headphone amplifier. It allows a digital source to be connected directly to a power amplifier or headphones, without any additional analogue preamplification stage, thanks to its digital volume control.
At the heart of the unit is a Spartan 6 FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), running over a million lines of code dedicated to digital signal processing. This programmable architecture, unique to Chord, aims to improve signal synchronisation and noise shaping during conversion. On the headphone amplification side, DAVE delivers 1.4 W into a 33 ohm load and 154 mW into 300 ohms (6.8 Vrms), with a very low output impedance of 0.0055 ohm, a total harmonic distortion figure of 127.5 dB and channel separation greater than 125 dB at 1 kHz.
The connectivity covers both digital uses and hi-fi system links: a USB type B input, two Toslink S/PDIF optical inputs, an AES/EBU XLR input, four BNC coaxial inputs and two BNC outputs, as well as a stereo RCA line output and a stereo XLR line output. The unit features an LCD display showing the selected input, sampling frequency, volume and configuration, viewable through Chord's characteristic porthole, complemented by a stainless steel rotary encoder and a remote control.
This type of unit is aimed at discerning listeners who want to centralise digital conversion, preamplification and headphone amplification within a single chassis, whether to drive a power stage directly in the living room or for high-resolution headphone listening. Its versatile connectivity also makes it a central piece capable of bringing together several digital sources.
Technical specifications
| Headphone output | 1.4 W (33 ohms) |
| Output impedance | 0.0055 ohm |
| THD | 127.5 dB |
| Channel separation | > 125 dB at 1 kHz |
| Dimensions (W × H × D) | 338 x 60 x 145 mm |
| Weight | 7 kg |
What to check before buying used
The Spartan 6 FPGA and its conversion circuits are sensitive to power surges: it is worth checking that the unit has always been used with a stable mains supply and avoiding any example that has suffered an electrical fault. The numerous BNC and XLR connectors on the rear panel deserve a visual check of their mechanical fit, as looseness or poor contact could indicate heavy use. It is also worth checking that the digital volume control responds smoothly, without jumps or level jolts, as a sign of the internal circuits functioning correctly.
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