Chord Electronics launches a new DAC called DAVE

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DAVE (Digital to Analogue Veritas in Extremis) is Chord Electronics' most advanced DAC to date. It features a digital preamplifier and a headphone amp - and it goes on sale this autumn for £7995.

Instead of traditional off-the-shelf solutions, Chord tends to use an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) in its high-end DACS and use its own software to do all the number crunching. And DAVE is no different.

Chord's newest arrival also features a high-grade filter with enhanced processing powers and full high-res audio support, including DSD and DXD files up to 768kHz.

Outputs include XLR and standard RCA connectors, plus an advanced headphone output. Inputs include USB Type-B, two optical and four coaxial digital sockets.

Many of you will be familiar with Chord's traditional casework styling - it's precision-milled from aircraft-grade aluminium. The case features a full-sized LCD display and "rotary encoder' with a large stainless steel controller.

The press release also points out that the specifications include two ultra-high-speed digital coaxial outputs, for "future, unannounced Chord Electronics products". We wonder what those could be?

Read all our Chord Electronics reviews

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Andy Madden
Andy Madden

Andy is Deputy Editor of What Hi-Fi? and a consumer electronics journalist with nearly 20 years of experience writing news, reviews and features. Over the years he's also contributed to a number of other outlets, including The Sunday Times, the BBC, Stuff, and BA High Life Magazine. Premium wireless earbuds are his passion but he's also keen on car tech and in-car audio systems and can often be found cruising the countryside testing the latest set-ups. In his spare time Andy is a keen golfer and gamer.