Chord Dave and lInear power supply

@lalitk As the owner of a chord Dave I’ve been looking and reading about power supplies for quite some time. I’m a big believer in a good power supply. Many have reported that the power supply in Dave though small in size, indeed performs well and changing it yields no improvement. That is what Chord’s John Franks says. I have to say that right now with the chord Dave powered by PS Audio PP10 and data suppplied by EitherRegen, upscaled by M-scaler; it is sounding damn good. Extremely open and smooth but with more detail than you can count.

I’ve been on the fence and chatting with a friend the other day I decided that I was probably good with the onboard power supply. Then @shkong78 posts this. Probably not if, but when, will I buy one. I actually tried to put the stuff in the shopping cart on the website today and it won’t let you put multiple items in the cart. Saved by the glitch.

Jerry

Kinda makes the new Mano ULTRA mkIII Farad look like a giant slayer.

Ahead of reviews.

@lalitk 

Power supplies are a black art not easily mastered by digital engineers. 

@shkong78

Thanks for sharing and Congratulations on improving the performance of your DAC. Looks like one hell of a upgrade to a subpar stock power supply. And if I may say so at a bargain price of €3K.

One thing you didn’t report, are you using stock power cords or did you upgrade PC’s on Farad power supplies? If yes, did you hear further improvements?

Honestly, I am bit surprised to see the quality of stock power supply in a DAC of this stature. At $14K entry point, one would think you are getting a robust power supply. I hope folks at Chord are astute enough to improve the existing power supply in future models.

@carlsbad 

Now is the best time with high USD/vs Euro.

If Euro recovers, then coupon may not be of help.

😁

Ok.  Signed up on their site.  Waiting for a coupon.  😁

@carlsbad

Hi Jerry

The improveemnt brough by Farad linear power supply is day and night.

The installation is not that difficult as most people feared.

No soldering is requied.

Just simple change of board after loosening some screws.

They are not warm at all  with little power compsumption less than 40 watts.

Good luck!

Thomas

carlsbad,

Years and years ago I repaired old vacuum tube televisions at my dad's store. I know replacing the Dave's power supply is rather simple to do, but for some reason I just don't want to. I'd rather change DACs than change the Dave's power supply.

@ricred1 

First I'll say that I'm not afraid to take on any project, am an "expert" with a solder iron, and am currently building upgraded crossovers on 6 separate boards.  

However, looking at the directions to upgrade on the Farad website, this looks about as simple as it gets.  Review the instructions and you may decide you can handle it.

Jerry 

I preface this by saying that if you use an external power supply on your Chord products it will void any warranties you may have.  That said, I had a customer trade in a Dave, MScaler, and a Sean Jacobs DC4 for each item.  It did make a noticeable difference in the width of the soundstage.  The Sean Jacobs power supplies are large and they might have the worst packaging I have ever seen but they sound great and definitely don't run hot.  

I've owned a Chord Dave for a couple of years, but have been very hesitant to purchase an upgraded power supply. Although, I have technical experience, I don't want to disconnect the current power supply and install the new one. 

BTW, how warm does the Farad Super 3 power supply run?  Some of the small power supplies run warmer than I like to see. thanks.

I am a big believer that the power supply can be extremely  important to quality musical component and always key in an amplifirer.

Some lower power equipment can have a quality on-board power supply.  

I was just talking to a friend today and he mentioned Dave as an example where many believe the on-board power supply is excellent while others disagree.

I have a Dave with M Scaler and have really worked to bring the rest of the components in my digital stream up to it's level.  

Now you've got me wondering if I should jump on the power supply.

Jerry

@antigrunge2 

I agree with  your opinion that digital system is sensitive to power cable and supply.

Sean Jacobs DC4 also got favorable review, but I opeted for Farad and happy with improvement at modest cost.

Thomas

I had a similar experience when switching from a Voltikus feeding my Antelope Zodiac platinum + 10M clock to a Sean Jacobs Dc3/4 linear PSU driving both the modified clock, the Etherregen and the DAC. The increase in separation, decay and attack and soundstage localisation of individual musicians was nothing short of revelatory. Digital seems to be hugely dependent on clean power and accurate clocks. N.B. even then the power cable, in my case a Nordost Valhalla had a significant contribution to make.