The Chord Electronics DAVE DAC/pre amplifier is the most advanced DAC we have ever created. It employs proprietary conversion technology found nowhere else, establishing DAVE as the world’s most sophisticated DAC and digital preamplifier. Its name Digital to Analogue Veritas in Extremis reflects its purpose: a device engineered with such extreme precision and so few compromises that it delivers truth in its purest form.

Distilling more than twenty years of Chord Electronics’ research and engineering, the Chord Electronics DAVE DAC/pre amplifier also serves as a reference‑level headphone amplifier and digital preamp. At its core is the powerful Spartan 6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), offering 1,000× the processing capability of conventional mass‑produced DAC chips. This FPGA runs over a million lines of code, enabling it to tackle complex timing challenges with exceptional speed and accuracy.

This extraordinary processing power unlocks significant sonic advantages, including dramatically improved timing accuracy and the finest noise‑shaping performance of any known DAC. The result is music reproduced with unmatched realism, clarity and timing precision. DAVE’s lossless digital volume control feeds your power amplifier directly, preserving absolute signal integrity.

A large LC display presents input, sample rate, volume and configuration settings within Chord’s signature porthole design. The front panel features a precision‑machined stainless‑steel rotary controller and ball‑bearing buttons, offering intuitive tactile control alongside the supplied remote.

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: >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

Technical Specifications

Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz +/- 0.1dB
THD +N: -127.5dB (AWT)
Channel Separation: >125dB @ 1kHz
Dynamic Range: 127.5dB (AWT)
Headphone Output: 1% THD 6.8v RMS with 300Ω (154mW), 1% THD 6.8v RMS with 33Ω (1.4w)
Output Impedance: 0.055Ω (short circuit protected)
Operating voltage: 90v AC – 250v AV auto switching 50Hz – 60Hz
Power consumption: Full power – 40 W
Standby: 10 W
Dimensions (including connectors): 7.8cm (H) 33.5cm (W) 15.2cm (D)
Weight: 5kg