Headphone "Rolling" Adventures with DAVE

Galm · Apr 7, 2018

Hey there!

I had found a fantastic deal on a DAVE several months ago that I had been and still am enjoying with my Utopia. However, I had also been curious as to how well DAVE sounds with many of the other nicer headphones on the market.

So I spent quite a few hours hunting through @greengnome 's awesome devbrada tool waiting for easily flippable prices on some of the higher end headphones. Not because I wanted to make a profit, but because I wanted to be able to try a headphone for 1-3 weeks and then sell it again without taking too big of a loss. I've heard many claims of so and so headphone sounding amazing while others claim it isn't well driven by DAVE etc... And I wanted to hear it for myself as well as get some real time at home with headphones I’d never blind buy with the intention to keep.

At this point I've gotten to try:

Focal Utopia (duh)
Sennheiser HD800 SDR + Rugliner mod
Audeze LCD-3 Pre-Fazor
Mr. Speakers Ether Flow
Abyss Phi 1266
Fostex TH-900 MKII Emerald Edition (gorgeous headphone)

I'm pretty happy with this list, I think mainly Hifiman was the only brand that got no representation that I was interested in, and I'm still debating on getting an LCD-4 to try.

One other note is that I mainly listen via Roon, and for Utopia and HD800 used a bit of a bass boost using a low shelf filter. For LCD-3 I used the built in preset in Roon.

With that said these are my impressions:

Sennheiser HD800 SDR + Rugliner mod

I owned HD800 in the past, but I had sold it for Utopia well before getting DAVE. That left me curious to see what it would sound like direct out of DAVE as imaging is a strength of both the DAVE and the HD800. I really didn't like HD800 at stock and SDR modded mine so when I saw this pair with both mods for 650 I sprang on it.

In the end... My thoughts of HD800 didn't change that much. Direct from DAVE HD800 sounds more precise than with some of my older gear (I've previously had a Cayin iDac-6, Woo WA7 duos, Yggdrasil, and a Ragnarok). While the bass is a touch weaker than what the tubes on WA7 could offer the detail is noticeably better. For certain genres the HD800 + DAVE was a phenomenal combo. Classical, acoustic, and vocal focused tracks all shined tremendously when the recording was up to snuff. I had forgotten how open HD800 feels when wearing. Versus Utopia is really is that 5th vs 30th row experience with orchestras sounding much more expansive around your head. One of my favorite soundstage tests is Inharmonic Symphonic by Argaman at the 2 minute mark. And HD800 was the overall winner at making this track sound incredibly wide and open. The image was more clear than I remembered on my old gear with a really enjoyable detailed low end for the double bass in the track. When HD800 is good… It’s really good.

However, in some ways DAVE couldn’t fix shortcomings I’d had with HD800. While classic rock also mostly shined, more modern genres of rock, hip hop, and electronic music left a lot to be desired. Tracks from Green Day’s Dookie, Dr. Dre’s 2001, and Daft Punks R.A.M. are all in my standard playlist for evaluating a headphone. And on these tracks the headphone sounds weak. With Green Day tracks I find it most enjoyable when it sounds really full and punchy. HD800s soundstage is so wide there is actually too large of a gap between instruments. Combined with a lack of bass impact songs like Welcome to Paradise sound weirdly thin in the guitars and bass. Lack of bass impact also made hip hop tracks come up short in most cases. Give Life Back To Music by Daft Punk is one of my favorite test tracks for heaphones as well because the opening of the track is massively crowded but that the same time extremely well recorded. The best headphones make this track still sound clear, not crowded, and captures the low end warmth also present on the track. HD800 could easily keep up with the number of things going on with the little bell on the left and ascending guitars on each side easily locateable, but again came across as strangely thin from it’s low end despite my bass boost EQ. It just didn’t quite sound right.

I would say the biggest surprise for me was that the headphone wasn’t as fatiguing as I remembered. Perhaps the rugliner mod was better than I expected or the bass boost was helping more than I thought or DAVEs inherent smoothness was helping with that. Or most likely a combination of the three.

Overall I enjoyed the experience but mostly felt reassured as to why I switched to Utopia from HD800.

I’d give it an overall rating of 7/10 mostly because while I listen to everything… I listen to everything so it was not satisfying with many of my favorite genres. When it was good it was a 9 to even a 9.5/10, but when it was bad more like a 4/10… So if you’re an HD800 lover, this combo would be more like a 9/10. I think a high end tube amp would make it better though.

Audeze LCD-3 Pre-Fazor

I was really interested in hearing this headphone as I’d only ever heard Fazor LCD headphones before. And I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this combination.

First off, yes the LCD-3 was a bit underdriven. Using some of the more powerful outputting amps I had available through friends, like a Jotunheim, there was a noticeable jump in bass presence and a smaller jump in bass detail.

Despite this, the combination with DAVE worked. Without the Roon preset LCD-3 has some tonality issues in the mids and highs, but with the preset… Man was it enjoyable. The level of detail was higher than I expected and the tonality of the headphone was consistently and often stunningly natural in comparison to other cans. Making some of the dynamic driver headphones sound metallic or artificial in comparison.

Rock tracks were consistently good regardless of era with pleasant warmth, vocal tracks consistently sounded amazingly realistic even if HD800 and Utopia were pulling a bit more detail out of the tracks.

However, one of the biggest shortcomings of this headphone (besides comfort) was the soundstage… It was… weird. Very small for an open back as well as vague it almost reminded me of some iem presentations. Give Life Back To Music had great tonality but sounded somewhat crowded with the instruments being rather vague in location just… To the left, instead of clearly sound like it was behind my eye or side of my head or something like HD800, Utopia, and Abyss Phi were doing effortlessly.

Despite this I found the experience overall quite enjoyable. I think the underdriven nature made the bass a bit more warm and less defined sounding, but at the same time that made it pretty pleasant to listen to. It didn’t really do anything else super wrong using the preset. It was mostly pretty easy to just enjoy the music.

Overall I thought this headphones was an 8/10. I understand why people were upset with Fazor. Quite a good combo.

Mr. Speakers Ether Flow

This headphone was weird. It appeared that DAVE was driving it well, but the tonality is so different from most headphones the result wasn’t really my cup of tea.

First off… The headphone is sibilant, treble sounded very peaky around female vocalists and really had a noticeable emphasis up there. Bass extension was also somewhat poor which I had thought was because of DAVE but did not seem to be the case.

The soundstage alright. It wasn’t particularly wide or accurate and probably would be last without the LCD-3 being in the mix, but since it was is was decently ahead of LCD-3.

Overall for most genres I didn’t really like it. Orchestral, hip hop, acoustic, rock etc… For the most part wasn’t really particularly good. I was ready to write off the headphone altogether until I finally found what it’s good at. When I was trying this headphone NYC Canjam occurred and I met Dan Clark. My friend was a big Mr. Speakers fan and spent a lot of time in his room with Ether Flow and Aeon Flow Open. And he said that Dan’s listening preferences lined up with his own of mostly indie pop and electronic genres. When I gave a listen to those types of tracks… The headphone started making sense. What comes across as a lack of detail on many well recorded tracks gives the headphone a characteristic of being smooth as hell on many indie genres. Even artists like John Mayer sounded really just easygoing and pleasant on this headphone. That lead to me trying some smooth jazz, which also sounded quite good.

Overall I’d give this a 5/10. Certainly not my cup of tea, but I finally understand what it’s for.

Fostex TH-900 MKII Emerald Edition

First off, in Emerald this thing is gorgeous. Just absurdly good looking. Seriously look at the photos… It’s top tier.

So this headphone is fun. Very bassy, and if I was keeping it probably would have made a bit of a bass reduction EQ, but it’s just really fun to listen to. The bass may be a bit much at stock, but the extension is awesome. Easily gets that subwoofer feel in your head that even LCD-3 wasn’t even close to in comparison. This headphone worked very well with DAVE. HD820 is here now so it has competition, but this is the most open and detailed sounding closed back I’ve heard besides HD820 (which I heard at Canjam and it is definitely really good for a closed back).

Give Life Back To Music had warmth in spades and surprised me by the level of detail and preciseness of the soundstage. It was a pretty good rendition of the song. Hip hop sounds awesome on these as does poppy tracks with female vocals. Most music sounded surprisingly good on this headphone.

Its weakness was clearly the mids. Some people say the headphone is really sibilant, but I didn’t notice that on DAVE so much as the mids were really recessed. Rock tracks where guitars should be at the forefront aren’t quite there, and I found I’d need to turn up the volume to get them there (which is pretty bad) and male vocals also sounded a bit far away.

Overall I rate this headphone a 7/10. Little too bassy, but overall surprisingly good detail for a closed back and amazing extension. The mids are what hurt it most.

Abyss Phi 1266

This is one of the ones I was most interested in trying. I’ve heard it at shows but wanted to hear it direct out of DAVE.

So first off like the Fostex this thing extends. Low end is really really good. It’s got a great combination of detail while also going low enough to hit the sub bass notes. Next up is the soundstage. It’s also quite excellent. Really wide with excellent placement. Of note though is direct from DAVE HD800 did still keep its edge which I was unsure about going into this. If Abyss Phi's soundstage is made of circles extending on either side the HD800 was just slightly bigger and slightly farther away circles. Close but not quite there.

Detail on this headphone from DAVE is… Pretty great. It’s got a bit less than what’s on a more powerful amp. Besides that the detail is still what I would call basically flagship class with vocals sounding clear and centered with a really good presentation in basically every genre. This headphone doesn’t seem to have a glaring weakness like the Fostex or HD800 even if the frequency response has a few dips that aren’t optimal. It really does excellent with most genres, it’s just sometimes a lot of bass and edged out by Utopia in detail driven direct from DAVE. Otherwise the tonality is quite good and it’s also an incredibly visceral listening experience.

The problem with all this is that I know how much better it can be. I heard Phi out of the WA33 and even better the Wells Audio Monoblocks at Canjam and… Damn. Out of that set up the headphone was super impressive. Detail was increased, bass was even more effortless and crisp, and the soundstage was more precise and wide enough that I’m not sure if HD800 would beat it anymore.

So overall out of DAVE I’d give this headphone an 8… 8.4/10 I guess. It’s really good and you can hear some of the magic, but far more than the LCD-3 this thing needs more power. So what hurts it is mostly the fact that if you can afford an DAVE and a Phi you really should also have a nice amp with this thing.

Focal Utopia

This is the titan out of DAVE. Easily easily the best overall.

Detail is freaking phenomenal. With the exception of lower bass where HD800 is actually probably slightly ahead due to its thinness and quick attack it’s ahead of everything. Throughout all these tests Utopia was my reference vs every headphone and what was stopping me from wanting some of the headphones I ended up enjoying.

Imaging is also just really damn good. Give Life Back To Music with the bass EQ was the most impressive sounding of any of the headphones. Despite Utopia not having a very large soundstage (probably just over Fostex sized and above only LCD-3 otherwise) it’s got the best imaging. The song somehow doesn’t sound crowded at all despite all the instruments, and the bass provides a very nice warmth underneath.

The mids are also really a shining aspect of Utopia. Green Day songs off Dookie are awesomely punchy and crunchy. The treble is perhaps a bit emphasized like some people have complained about but mostly not too bad. Maybe HD800 jaded me but I don’t find it very fatiguing in comparison. The bass boost also did a lot to alleviate some fatigue as I originally found myself turning up the volume a little for more bass.

The only real downside I can think of is compared to LCD-3 there is a hint of metallicism in the tone of the headphone. It’s not really something I notice listening to it alone, but could hear it comparing directly with LCD-3.

Otherwise this is still my genre master headphone. There was nothing that sounded truly bad on this headphone. There of course were songs that sounded a bit better on Phi, wider on HD800, more fun on TH-900 etc... But overall Utopia is consistently extremely enjoyable out of DAVE.

I also have the most experience with Utopia versus all the other sources I’ve used, and DAVE is the best pairing I’ve heard. I’d love to hear it with some of the more iconic tube amps like a ZDS or DNA stratus or something, but I haven’t had the opportunity so far.

I’m back down to one headphone again. But for the most part don’t really miss anything. If I was gonna buy a second headphone it would be a Phi with a powerful amp.

Overall 9.5/10 Still my favorite headphone that isn’t Orpheus.

DAVE Notes

Overall when comparing DAVE to other systems what mostly became clear to me is that DAVE has a smoothness that somehow isn’t also resulting in a lack of detail. When I listened to a Jotunheim set up using both a dac and a turntable, DAVE sounded most like a hybrid of the vinyl and dac sound with more detail than both (not implying that’s surprising considering the price difference). The result is a very natural yet also very detailed sound.

It’s also warmer than Yggdrasil with, in my experience versus the Gen 1 boards, a significantly more natural sounding low end. Listening to an upright bass on Yggdrasil sounds like the harsher upper tones of the instrument are more prevalent, while DAVE has a much more resonating low sound that sounds more like what one sounds like in person to my ears. The ultimate test I did of this was my Yggdrasil vs a DAVE on a Focal Kanta set up. That experience honestly made me a believer that dacs did… Well anything at all based on how different DAVE and Yggdrasil sounded… And made me want a DAVE.

It also shines in imaging, where nothing I’ve tried has a more concrete clear idea of where instruments are located. Hugo 2 was interesting because it was much of DAVEs sound with a bit less certainty of where each instrument was located and it’s actually a bit warmer with Utopia. Listening very carefully to cymbals sounds more artificial on Hugo 2 and basically wrong on Mojo.

This set up is… well really expensive. Versus a Hugo 2 or a nice other dac and a tube amp DAVE really isn’t worth the crazy msrp. I managed to find this one used for less than half the msrp. That’s still probably not worth it but I’d be lying if I haven’t tremendously enjoyed it. If the DAVE was 6k new and like 4k used I’d say it’d be pretty damn compelling… So maybe ask Chord to get rid of their dealer network so they can start selling used.

Overall I had a blast doing this. The Fostex also had a driver balancing issue so I ended up sending that back to the guy who sold it to me for RMA, but otherwise all the headphones ended up okay. This scratched my itch of always wondering what was out there since I basically auditioned Utopia and bought it immediately never having heard much of the competiton. (While it worked out, not advisable). If I get any other headphones to try I'll add my impressions of them here!

If you guys have a headphone you think I should try let me know!

Lastly, here are some of my favorite pictures I got while doing this! (Unfortunately I'm not exactly a pro photographer)

First some of the TH-900 MKII Emerald because it looks amazing:

Then here are some of the group shots with Phi, Ether Flow the Emerald TH-900 and Utopia:

Here's a fun shot of the Chord family together... I had the Hugo 2 for one last day and the Mojo was a friend of mines. I thought it was pretty fun to look at.

And here are the last group photos of the HD800, LCD-3, Ether Flow, and Utopia: