[penguin69]

On reflection I am not quite sure what you are trying to achieve.

If your objective is to assess the Blu2 with MScaler why not compare cd replay via that and then cd replay on the Blu2 but just using it as a normal cd transport.

If your objective is to compare cd versus Tidal then why not feed Tidal into the Blu2 usb?

Hi,

Yes, test 1 (yesterday) was to see how my CD collection faired against streaming from Tidal. I thought that would be a good start, as initially it looked like I would only get a couple of hours with the Blu II (not Chord's fault, more to do with timings of when I am at home and the dealer is open).

Today's testing will focus on running the Tidal stream through the Blu II USB.

Good point made though. Really, I'm just looking for the best sound I can. If it comes from CD, that's fine as I have most of the music I like already on CD. If it comes from streaming Tidal, so be it.

Cheers as always for the feedback.

 

[penguin69]

Different masters between the CD and Tidal version? Could be a victim of the loudness wars with Tidal making it seem more ‘full’.

I did try to match these for the two albums in question. I later on tried some other rarer albums which I had (albums by a French band called Indochine) and the results were the same.

 

[penguin69]

There are several possibilities here. Some have already made the same comments but I'll try to be more specific...
1) Mastering issues: Tidal has two versions of Age of the Plastics (latter one being remastered). If your CD version is the original version and you're playing the remastered version on Tidal, the CD version would sound flat. I can hear it from the first track. Similarly, Tidal has two versions of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly, MQA 48/24 and 44/16 CD version. I found the CD version to be more accurate with the transients whereas the MQA version to blur the transients but it may sound "richer" to you, especially if that's what you've been listening to. So the proper way to really compare it is to rip your CDs to your Cocktail X100 and then compare instead of using Tidal. Or just play the disc using X100 instead of Blu2 (but then you won't be able to quickly A/B). I'm listening to the Tidal versions (remastered AgePlastics & 16/44 Nightfly) off my Blu2 and they sound great.
2) Volume issues: Because Blu2 turns 16/44 to 24/705 and it has to make sure the signal doesn't clip, the volume is reduced by like 2.6dB or 2.1dB per Rob Watts (I can't remember the exact number). It does make volume matching difficult. I'd listen Blu2 at 3dB louder than off DAVE.
3) RF noise into Blu2: is the USB input or coax input of Blu2 connected to something, like your Cocktail X100? Unfortunately, there is no galvanic isolation from the USB input and coax is always sensitive to RF noise. The noise filtering is at the dual BNC Blu2 output. The filtering is fantastic but some devices are sufficiently noisy that the Blu2 simply doesn't filter well enough. My dealer uses a Cocktail X40 which has a switching power supply that's not grounded and definitely injects too much noise via USB (even with DAVE being galvanically isolated) and coax. Even when you're listening to CDs, if noise is injected into Blu2 via coax/USB, I find it degrades the final audio output. I would unplug those connections when listening to CDs on Blu2 for now. If your long-term plan is to stream to Blu2 via USB, you may want a better streamer, or at least add an Audioquest Dragonfly to X100 USB output (which I've tried on my dealer's really noisy laptop into my Blu2 which made a night and day difference).
4) Blu2 settings: To get the most out of the Blu2, you should put the dither switch at the back to Up (Off/Normal). The Down position is if you want to feed a non-Chord DAC with a dithered signal. That's for playing CDs. For USB/coax playback, Up position is 1 million taps and Down is 2/3 million taps. Although the down position should still sound pretty good, the Up position just always sounds better. So you want to hear the most out of Blu2 in your short audition period.
48 hours is not a lot of time to audition. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply.

As per my last reply, I did try to compensate for the mastering possibility by trying different albums. Nevertheless, it's a good point and it was probably the first thing I noticed when I went to select the Tidal equivalents of the CD, viz. that I needed to match correctly.

The volume issue I also expected, and I tried to manage this as best as I could in the A/B test by knocking 3db off the Optical input from the Cocktail Audio X100 when switching over.

There were no inputs connected to the Blu II yesterday during my testing, so RF noise from USB wouldn't have been an issue. I have a Dragonfly, I will remember to use that today when I run my Tidal tests using Dave only and Dave + Blu II.

Regarding the dither switch, I was wondering about this. The Blu II manual didn't seem to provide a huge amount of guidance in this regard. I left it up for the CD test yesterday (and the sample rate switch at its lowest position). Should I just be experimenting with the dither switch, or is there an optimal approach for CD and another or USB/Coax? Again, the manual isn't super-clear in this regard.

 

[Triode User]

Thanks for the reply.

As per my last reply, I did try to compensate for the mastering possibility by trying different albums. Nevertheless, it's a good point and it was probably the first thing I noticed when I went to select the Tidal equivalents of the CD, viz. that I needed to match correctly.

The volume issue I also expected, and I tried to manage this as best as I could in the A/B test by knocking 3db off the Optical input from the Cocktail Audio X100 when switching over.

There were no inputs connected to the Blu II yesterday during my testing, so RF noise from USB wouldn't have been an issue. I have a Dragonfly, I will remember to use that today when I run my Tidal tests using Dave only and Dave + Blu II.

Regarding the dither switch, I was wondering about this. The Blu II manual didn't seem to provide a huge amount of guidance in this regard. I left it up for the CD test yesterday (and the sample rate switch at its lowest position). Should I just be experimenting with the dither switch, or is there an optimal approach for CD and another or USB/Coax? Again, the manual isn't super-clear in this regard.

The dither switch is only used when Blu2 is connected to other DACs. Always have dither Off when Blu2 is connected to Dave. This is not a test it and see thing, just do it. This applies both for CD played on Blu2 and also USB input to Blu2.

I assume what you mean by the lowest switch position for upscaling is actually maximum sample rate. In which case you have the correct position.

Really the only thing left to fiddle with is the cables between the Blu2 and Dave. I used to be a cheap and cheerful advocate here but I have changed my mind considerably and now realise that they make a huge difference. The best I have heard are the ones that I make but in the interests of fairness other makes are available as they say or also you could try loading out the cables with clip on ferrites which seems to work for some people. If you can get the right bnc cables between Blu2 and Dave then the harshness in the mid/treble disappears, bass becomes deeper and more detailed and any hint of the music being fatiguing is removed.

 

[penguin69]

The dither switch is only used when Blu2 is connected to other DACs. Always have dither Off when Blu2 is connected to Dave. This is not a test it and see thing, just do it. This applies both for CD played on Blu2 and also USB input to Blu2.

Thanks Triode, that's what I gathered from the manual, but I think one of the other posts above suggested something different.

I'm struggling currently to get any playback via the USB input. The Cocktail Audio x100 is generally excellent as a device, but can be a bit temperamental on USB replay. However, the Blu II manual says nothing about how to switch from CD replay to USB replay. So at the moment, I don't know which unit is the source of the problem.

Does something need to be done to switch between CD replay and the USB input, or does the Blu II detect this? Sorry to ask, but I have to hand the unit back tomorrow so any tips appreciated that will help me get this working before I run out of time.

I'll keep checking the manual in case I have missed something...

 

[Triode User]

Thanks Triode, that's what I gathered from the manual, but I think one of the other posts above suggested something different.

I'm struggling currently to get any playback via the USB input. The Cocktail Audio x100 is generally excellent as a device, but can be a bit temperamental on USB replay. However, the Blu II manual says nothing about how to switch from CD replay to USB replay. So at the moment, I don't know which unit is the source of the problem.

Does something need to be done to switch between CD replay and the USB input, or does the Blu II detect this? Sorry to ask, but I have to hand the unit back tomorrow so any tips appreciated that will help me get this working before I run out of time.

I'll keep checking the manual in case I have missed something...

It’s initially confusing but Blu2 works on a prioritised autodetect. So, if a cd is playing then Blu2 takes the output from that. If there is no cd playing (it doesn’t matter if there is one in the tray, only that it isn’t playing) then Blu2 looks for other signals and automatically plays them. Additionally if you are playing through usb input into Blu2 and start a cd then Blu2 automatically stops playing the usb signal and switches to the cd.

Hopefully that helps rather than adds to the confusion.

 

[penguin69]

It’s initially confusing but Blu2 works on a prioritised autodetect. So, if a cd is playing then Blu2 takes the output from that. If there is no cd playing (it doesn’t matter if there is one in the tray, only that it isn’t playing) then Blu2 looks for other signals and automatically plays them. Additionally if you are playing through usb input into Blu2 and start a cd then Blu2 automatically stops playing the usb signal and switches to the cd.

Hopefully that helps rather than adds to the confusion.

Yep, really helpful - thanks.

I've got it working now, knowing that it was the Squeezelite server that needed re-configuring.

Thanks again.

 

[Triode User]

Yep, really helpful - thanks.

I've got it working now, knowing that it was the Squeezelite server that needed re-configuring.

Thanks again.

You’re welcome.

 

[penguin69]

Oh yes ... now we are talking.

Huge soundstage, huge dynamics.

 

[ecwl]

I have a Dragonfly, I will remember to use that today when I run my Tidal tests using Dave only and Dave + Blu II.

You may not need the Dragonfly for the X100. I have only had experience with X30 and X40 and they both benefitted. Hard to know whether it’s better with or without for X100 into Blu2.

 

[watermad]

Chord Blu MK2 Output Faliure!

I was happily listening to BBC 6 Music Giles Peterson when I left my lounge for 5 minutes to come back to the unmistakable smell of frying electricals.

There was a strong plastic odour, so I immediately switched off my Hi-Fi system and set about locating the fried electronics. At the moment the UK is going through what for us is a mini heatwave, the ambient temperature in my lounge is 25c, my system was on for 6+ hours and the Blu was very hot to the touch not merely warm.

I didn't turn on my Hi-Fi until today and the Blu Mk2 turns on recognises the CD in place however the DAVE registers absolutely no data from the Dual Data BNCs. I have verified the DAVE is operating fine as I can play music directly connecting to the BNC from my streamer, however the Blu Mk2 is not transmitting any data.

Has anybody had a similar failure, I would have thought it would have some thermal protection, not go puff?

 

[etnt]

This arrived today

 

[Christer]

This arrived today

And the price for such an exclusive special wooden box package of fat grey cabling in a "silk"purse, amounts to ?

 

[ZappaMan]

This arrived today

I’m thinking ... raiders of the lost ark

 

[etnt]

What it is up against