This is the very first time I've come across someone else describing concepts similar to those of Rob and the unbelievably high db figures that the human ear/brain may be able to discriminate Nice find.

I found Qutest/Mscaler improvement to be so subtle that I couldn't tell, even at the highest setting.

Speaker/listener placement Once you get these *just* right, even a few mm of speaker location makes a difference for the worse. Most people don't have this option due to WAF, but for singles or those with 'mancaves' that's where I'd expect the largest bang/buck

Surely this is a windup

My understanding is that analog attenuation affects damping factor. I'm sure an electronics expert will correct me if that is not always the case..

Yep, display mode 4 is what I have settled on. Least intrusive.

It does, thanks. Didn't think of that - doh!

Thanks Rob. Good thing I double-checked eh! So much for the IEC standards etc. Mind you, Neutrik is not a run-by-night brand, so if they do it this way, I bet most others also do it.

@Rob Watts Dave-related question: Got a pair of Neutrik '3 pole XLR female to RCA' adapters Says wired according to IEC 268-12 Pin2: signal, Pins 1 and 3: connected to ground Is it OK to connect them to another power amp while the normal RCAs are connected to the normal power amp? (I'm...

I can vouch for that. Didn't manage to hear *any* difference despite faffing around with cables, ferrets, batteries and so on Moving the speaker toe by a couple of mm I can tell easily, but not the MScaler effect under blind testing. I've spoken to others who are the same.

Ha ha, that was not a cheap listening session Yes, Dave is clearly a bit better than the excellent QuTest on all fronts. Once the replacement Martin Logan panels are ready, I will take them through the 'rational speaker placement' routine: and then try upscaling once again. Dave presents a...

It's exactly the same with my second set of speakers, floorstanders with efficient (95db) dynamic drivers. My current theory is that there might be a brain 'mode' that needs to switch on for someone to perceive the MScaler effect. We know that the brain fills in the 'blanks' all the time, so...

Same here. People talk about 'game changer' and such. I couldn't hear any difference, and boy did I try. Placebo was on MScaler's side, I wanted to hear a difference. But there was none. (to my ears) towing the speakers a couple of mm makes a clear difference, but not the MScaler. Maybe our...

It is important to be honest with oneself. You felt it wasn't adding enough, fair and simple. I couldn't make a case for it either. Paying double the price and going for a Dave made more sense.

For speaker-based systems I found that QuTest is a no brainer Under blind A/B testing I couldn't pick up any difference with the Qutest. So percentages of improvement vs price became irrelevant. Dave I found to be a clear improvement overall. Didn't have to squint, guess or blind test. It...

The Scaler bypass button is fully volume-matched. A/B testing couldn't be easier. QuTest also pauses for 2 seconds between full scaling and bypass. Dave I think gets the channels confused for a couple of seconds before deciding 'this is it!' Probably glitch in the Dave code that got fixed...

There was an element of that, yes. During the 5-6 weeks I had it tried all I could think of, including listening scaled for a few days and then taking it off to see how I felt. Nada I'd certainly keep it if I had such evidence...

Yeah it does. There is just a 2-second gap between full scaling and bypass. Makes A/B very easy and convenient.

Ah, but it is not meant to assess differences, that would indeed take time (like assessing the 'red' filter vs the 'white' filter) Quick A/B is good for discovering if there is a difference in the first place. If there *is* a difference, then time is needed to decide which state is preferable...

Were it not for the 'bypass' button, I'd probably still own the MScaler:deadhorse: I think it is important to be realistic with one's abilities to detect audible changes, let alone describe differences in sound quality. Repeated blind tests helped me stop fooling myself. All it took was masking...

I felt enough is enough with the mscaler - if I can't hear any difference with it in the chain, what is the point of keeping it? Let someone else enjoy it. Moving the speakers a few mm I can tell the difference, but not the scaler effect at any level. Oh well, could be some neurons inside my...

Hi Rob, Doesn't mp3 320kbs compression (among others) get rid of the sounds 'hiding' behind louder ones? If that is the case then MScaler aims to do the opposite. By 'objective' I had in mind something like waveform before microphone superimposed upon waveform after DAC. Would that ever be...

When I first listened to them 20-odd years ago I was shocked at how transparent they were. Got my pair a few years later, not new - they were still magnificent once they were amplified and placed correctly. Quite fussy they are. with the new panels they should be better than when I first got...

Yes, funny huh the Dave made an immediate change to the TT2, scaled or not Not good for the credit card..

Yep - but his ears are trained through mixing music for years and whatnot Same here, wouldn't bet I can hear much over 14-15K So what, it's a loss of half an octave out of 10?