Chord Dave Replacement

toetapaudio,

I sent you a PM. I'm also looking into the Hugo M Scaler and Blu mk2 as possible upgrades. 

I've owned a PS Audio Directstream, Bricasti M1, Jeff Rowland Aeris, Chord Dave, and today I auditioned the Rockna Wavedream Edition DAC. Out of all of the DACs I've heard, I could easily live with the Aeris, Dave, or Wavedream. The Wavedream only has a couple hours on it, but from the first note it sounds like a more transparent Chord Dave to my ears. My wife said it sounds just like the Dave. It's my understanding that the Wavedream only has 20 hours on it. Like a true audiophile with "issues", I'm saying to myself, if at $8300 list the Rockna Wavedream Edition sounds this good, how good does their $16K Signature DAC sound? More to follow.

What makes you want to upgrade from DAVE? Like others said, I'd try first an MScaler with DAVE. I'd also look at the Mola-Mola Tambaqui and the new dCS Bartok.

There are a lot of people that absolutely love the M-scaler. I've tried it in my system and I don't like it. To my ears it makes music sound unnatural. 

Bel Canto Black EX DAC/Control Preamp.