[jlbrach]

i had the problem with just the dave and tidal before i got the blu 2....i have not yet noticed it when playing a CD with the blu 2 so i surmise it to be a problem related to tidal in some fashion

 

[Triode User]

i had the problem with just the dave and tidal before i got the blu 2....i have not yet noticed it when playing a CD with the blu 2 so i surmise it to be a problem related to tidal in some fashion

It is not just Tidal. It happens with radio streams with me as well.

Agreed that there there is no issue with a CD in the Blu2. Do you stream to Blu2 and do you still get the issue that you previously had streaming to Dave?

 

[Rob Watts]

Actually for me that 'first song static' isn't just Tidal. I also get it when streaming radio to Blu2. When I first start the radio stream I get distorted music/static. If I then try another stream it plays ok. And then I can revert to the original stream which now plays OK.

The same is true with Tidal streams for the first song.

It doesn't happen all the time. It is possibly after Blu2 has been switched off (but I haven't properly investigated if that is the circumstance where it occurs).

Does anyone else have this issue?

@Rob Watts - any idea what is going on? I am using an Auralic Aries streamer and connecting to the Blu2 via USB.

Thanks, Nick.

I do not know for sure, as I did not design the USB drivers. But in the past this has been down to the app. When a track is finished, the app shuts down the USB audio. It needs to send a new start command with a new track or stream; some apps don't do this properly. I have no problems with Radio 3 at all (just got to remember to shut down JRiver as it is in exclusive mode beforehand).

 

[AndrewOld]

I do not know for sure, as I did not design the USB drivers. But in the past this has been down to the app. When a track is finished, the app shuts down the USB audio. It needs to send a new start command with a new track or stream; some apps don't do this properly. I have no problems with Radio 3 at all (just got to remember to shut down JRiver as it is in exclusive mode beforehand).

Hi Rob, there's no need to leave JRiver to play Radio 3 - just add the Radio 3 URL to the "Connected Media" section, or into a playlist.

And while we are on JRiver it is probably a good idea to turn off dithering, in case you haven't already. The default is now TPDF dithering, which is applied regardless of whether you have used DSP/Volume control or not. You can turn it off in Tolls > Options > Audio > Advanced.

 

[AndrewOld]

@AndrewOld i concur with you when you asked many times before for stand alone M Scaler, i'm pretty sure Chord understand your request as well as other audiophiles.

But they eventually decided what they have in roadmap like any other business in this world.

Sometimes these roadmaps, customers take it and others leave it.

One more thing, how much do you think CD mech will cost in Blu2?

Let me turn your question around. How much would the Blu2 be worth without the M Scaler? i.e. just as a stand-alone mechanism. Like the Blu was. I reckon a good few thousand.

And as for road maps .. they can easily be changed. When the Blu2 was first announced there was a huge outcry that it only had an s/pdif input. So a USB input was added, fairly quickly, although iirc there were some problems. I am only suggesting a product that leaves something out, no significant new or challenging work. Just a decent case with an M Scaler inside it, styled to suit the DAVE probably. Happy to pay a good few thousand for that too.

But there is for sure something M-Scaler like on the road map. Why else would the Hugo2 have inputs for it? What do you think that will be, and when?

Obviously some of the folk on here who have taken the jump into the Blu2 don't want to see a standalone M Scaler, because it will devalue the investment they have made in their Blu2, but I'll not stop asking for it!

 

[hmartin]

Ah, I didn't see that post lurking in the Hugo2 thread.

What Rob said though was that Davina will be comparable in price to Dave. Dave is more expensive than Blu2.

So based on that Blu2 may be the cheapest way to get an M Scaler for the moment.

Of course we will need to see if Davina beings any extra toys to the party in terms of features that will make it attractive over and above Blu2.

I accept that fundamentally it is an analogue to digital convertor but I bet many people will eye it up as being an M Scaler with added frilly bits.

Yes you are probably correct, but if that extra cost for a Davina help finance Robs work in developing new better ADC technology we all will benefit from, then the extra cash is well spent.

But if a separate cheap M-Scaler is released that would be the first choice for people today clearly.

 

[taka taste]

Our hope is that more people will be able to enjoy the good sounds accomplished by M Scaler.
For that, we want the product of popular version.

I think that CHORD assume an important role to popularize good sound.

I first thought that M Scaler was installed in CD Player because of latency.
However, it seems probably not to be so.

 

[Triode User]

I first thought that M Scaler was installed in CD Player because of latency.
However, it seems probably not to be so.

I am sorry but I am being thick and do not quite understand what you are saying here.

 

[GryphonGuy]

It could be a translation problem. I get that all the time here in Malaysia.

"I'm sorry we don't have any product-x at the moment. Would you like me to order one in for you?" translates to either "finish already" or "no have". Malays like to be economic with English. too many words otherwise that don't add meaning only complexity.

Cheers
GG

 

[taka taste]

I am sorry but I am being thick and do not quite understand what you are saying here.

I am sorry. My writing is bad.

At first I thought...
More taps is more latency.
CD Player has mechanical function. It takes time to operate.
Therefore, Not mind long latency of M scaler.
So it seems that M Scaler was installed in CD Player.

At first I thought so. but...
USB input was added.
I learned the real latency with Rob's Post #206 of this thread.

So I thought that it was not necessary to be a CD Player.
And even a simple M Scaler product may be available.

You are using BLU MK. 2. I envy you.

 

[marcmccalmont]

Will BLU2 read cd dvd formats other than redbook? ie HDCD DVD audio etc?
Thanks Marc

 

[Malcyg]

Obviously some of the folk on here who have taken the jump into the Blu2 don't want to see a standalone M Scaler, because it will devalue the investment they have made in their Blu2, but I'll not stop asking for it!

I think everyone probably agrees that a standalone M Scaler would be a good product and I'm sure that one will come. Standalone was my original preference until I concluded that Blu II would allow me to get the M Scaler at half price by trading my CD transport, retain CD playback capability and not require an additional shelf in my rack. So a good result all round for me.

I don't think that anyone is against the idea and I don't believe that folk that enjoy music and this type of device would be petty enough to wish to deny a product to others purely because it may 'devalue' an item that they already own. That would just be childish. I do though think that some folk may be a bit tired of you making the same point repeatedly and doing so in a provocative way - such as the quote I have included above. You have made your point and it is a valid one, but why do you have to keep going on about it? Count back through this thread and see how many times you have made the same point.

 

[Triode User]

I think everyone probably agrees that a standalone M Scaler would be a good product and I'm sure that one will come. Standalone was my original preference until I concluded that Blu II would allow me to get the M Scaler at half price by trading my CD transport, retain CD playback capability and not require an additional shelf in my rack. So a good result all round for me.

I don't think that anyone is against the idea and I don't believe that folk that enjoy music and this type of device would be petty enough to wish to deny a product to others purely because it may 'devalue' an item that they already own. That would just be childish. I do though think that some folk may be a bit tired of you making the same point repeatedly and doing so in a provocative way - such as the quote I have included above. You have made your point and it is a valid one, but why do you have to keep going on about it? Count back through this thread and see how many times you have made the same point.

+1 from me as well to all of this.

Additionally I have repeatedly suggested that by the time there is a stand alone M Scaler it is quite possible that Chord prices will have risen through the whole range this may conspire to erode the price advantage of a stand alone M Scaler. Also the Chord products outside the UK are probably at a very attractive price at the moment due to (possibly temporary) currency movements and this must make the Blu2 attractive even with what some may regard as a redundant CD mechanism. Finally, a stand alone M Scaler is unlikely to be limited to the digital inputs on the Blu2 and this when taken with the necessary high quality power supply is likely to imply a price probably not too different to the current Blu2 price.

But hey, roll the dice and hope for a cheap as chips MScaler and you might get lucky but I agree there is no need to keep on telling us what you want. We get the picture.

 

[ecwl]

I have finally changed my mind about how source-dependent Blu2 is. I think I and many others have said before, compared to other DACs (including the old Chord QBD76HDSD), Chord DAVE is less source-dependent as I can barely hear any difference when I change my computer settings, whereas I have found with my current computer setup, I cannot hear a difference when going through Blu2. I presumed that's because Blu2 has even better galvanic isolation than Chord DAVE. Keep in mind I run a low-powered PC with an SoTM USB card with linear power supply called CAPSv3 Carbon that was designed by Computer Audiophile website. Because I need a bit of parametric EQ for my speakers (since I can't physically remove the bass peaks without turning my living room into an old-school hi-fi shop), I was running JRiver on the headless PC and when listening to Tidal, I run the Tidal app and let JRiver capture the Tidal audio stream to DSP it before sending it to Blu2. So I acknowledge there probably is some degree of noise going from the PC into the Blu2.

For totally unrelated reasons (I got tired of remote desktop into the PC to access Tidal), I decided to try Roon out. Roon is run from my desktop. So I only installed Roon Bridge on the CAPSv3 Carbon for music playback. I shut down JRiver and Tidal. And I was shocked by the sonic improvement in terms of transparency, detail and dynamics. And I don't think it's because the parametric EQ implemented by Roon is significantly different than JRiver. I would say the improvements were much more dramatic than when I switched out my Shunyata Venom power cable and stock BNC cables for Nordost Heimdall 2 cables. So clearly, Blu2 can still improve with better USB sources. And I would concur with what others have said here that if you have the money, you should consider upgrading your USB source first before upgrading power/digital interconnect cables. That said, I was perfectly happy and amazed with Blu2 sound even prior to this recent change. So I wouldn't rush to switch USB sources if that's not in your upgrade pipeline.

 

[Malcyg]

Where does it end? You improve one thing and it ultimately highlights something else.

I upgraded my speakers 7 years ago with the aim of gradually working at getting my main system good enough to make the most of my speakers over time. Now, my speakers are the weak link! We went to Symphony Hall tonight for a Beethoven concert - the hall is purpose built for concerts with reverb chambers and other physical sound control elements built in. The acoustics are excellent and the sound is really very good. I got back home and played the Leonor Overture which we'd heard live tonight. Everything was there but on a smaller scale - like coming home from the movies and watching widescreen TV. On the one hand, it proved how good my system is now but, on the other, it demonstrated that there is more that can be had if I upgrade my speakers.

Took this photo just before the show started.