[Christer]

I was hoping to post this on the new Hugo M Scaler thread, but one does not exist yet. Feel free to move this once it's created.

I am so glad I had other plans that brought me to London this weekend, allowing me to attend CanJam, reconnect with my good friend @romaz , and meet head-fi'ers like @STR-1, @TheAttorney, and @jude .

It was also very nice to spend some time with, and get to know @Rob Watts. Since the lines at the HMS/TT2 stations were unrelenting, Rob was kind enough to set me up with his own personal units in a quiet space, so I could have a listen.

Please note that these are just first impressions, and subject to change after I have a chance to evaluate in my own home and system.

The Hugo TT2 easily drove my HD800 (SD mod) as loud as I could want them. Even with the SE output, that Rob says is the most transparent. Luckily I had a female XLR adapter that allowed me to also try the rear XLR balanced outputs, and there is a ton of power in this thing.

Since I didn't have a lot of time, I listened to the HMS/TT2 as a combo. I was very impressed. Not only was I hearing excellent SQ, it was without the need for my expensive Cavalli LAu in the picture. This is an intriguing value proposition, as the sale of my amp could mitigate the daunting cost of this combo.

What I heard was very clean, punchy, incisive, and balanced. There was no hint of harshness, and a wealth of micro- and macro-detail. There was a rightness to the sound that I very much want to explore further. Instruments like piano and female voices sounded natural and just "right." Bass was prodigious, which is not something I have been able to say with any component other than my Cavalli driving my HD800s.

However what blew my mind, and really is the highlight, is the MScaler. I am not putting down the TT2 at all, since it clearly contributes to the whole. Certainly, with more evaluation time, I'll have a better chance to characterize it relative to other DACs I've known and loved. Some of you may recall me saying how impressed I was with the Blu2 demo at RMAF last year. That was in a crowded demo room, listening for all of 5-10 minutes. Here, with a little more time, and full control of the music selection, I have to say I felt that same wow factor from Denver.

The HMS has a scaling button that cycles between pass-through, and upsampling to 192, 384, and 768. The upsampling to 192 and then 384 are each a nice jump in SQ. But I was amazed at how big a leap in performance occurred between 384 and 768.

I'll reserve more prose for when I can actually review this combo, but I will say if you're in the market and funds permit, this combo merits a careful listen.

Finally, it was great to end the show going out with Roy to a nice dinner and concert - the Mahler 8th at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. I'm a glutton for punishment, so I actually went to another Proms concert the day before, the Beethoven 9th. I love the Proms!

Nice to hear.
Two questions arise. How did you like Mahler's 8th and Beethoven's 9th live?
And how did Kaplan's Mahler 2nd displayed on your macbook screen sound via the TT2 /Mscaler combo?
Did you play the orginal native 24/96 masterfile or a downsampled version?
I have both the Kaplan DGG and Fischer's Budapest version from Channel Classics.
Both musically and SQ-wise I prefer the Fischer version via my system.
The Channel Classics is a native DSD64 recording but Jared's more natural miking rather than DGG's multi-multi stuff sounds better and more realistic via my Qutest.
Sensible miking matters much more than whether the recording has been done in pcm or DSD imho.
Cheers Christer

 

[jonstatt]

Im not sure I understand: does the m-scaler sound better than blue2 with ferrites? If not, what's the big deal. If so, I agree.
Jeff

Rob replied to my post on this, that if the RF is dealt with one way or another, then both Blu and HMS will sound identical. So the question is, do the ferrites and cables people are using clean up the RF as well as Rob's internal approach which is ferrite based as well. My question for @Rob Watts is how can the RF noise from the FPGA be removed with just a single internal ferrite vs having to use many along a cable? For example a very short cable with less ferrites is not as good as a longer cable with more ferrites.

 

[austinpop]

Nice to hear.
Two questions arise. How did you like Mahler's 8th and Beethoven's 9th live?

I enjoyed both very much!

And how did Kaplan's Mahler 2nd displayed on your macbook screen sound via the TT2 /Mscaler combo?
Did you play the orginal native 24/96 masterfile or a downsampled version?

Wow you have good eyes to notice that. Indeed it was one of the albums I listened to. It was in DSD64, and was a good test to confirm that the combo plays DSD well. It does. I didn't do any extensive comparisons, but I didn't get the sense of an SQ penalty for DSD content due to decimation.

 

[rayl]

Rob replied to my post on this, that if the RF is dealt with one way or another, then both Blu and HMS will sound identical. So the question is, do the ferrites and cables people are using clean up the RF as well as Rob's internal approach which is ferrite based as well. My question for @Rob Watts is how can the RF noise from the FPGA be removed with just a single internal ferrite vs having to use many along a cable? For example a very short cable with less ferrites is not as good as a longer cable with more ferrites.

That was my implicit question when I asked about surface mounted chip ferrites.... bec those are available with curves targeted exactly at 2GHz at much higher impedences (like > 1200 ohms from my recollection of my ferrite search). The closest I've seen with snap-on is in the 800 ohm range targeted at BlueTooth around 2.4GHz, so lower than 800 ohms at 2GHz.

 

[Crgreen]

That was my implicit question when I asked about surface mounted chip ferrites.... bec those are available with curves targeted exactly at 2GHz at much higher impedences (like > 1200 ohms from my recollection of my ferrite search). The closest I've seen with snap-on is in the 800 ohm range targeted at BlueTooth around 2.4GHz, so lower than 800 ohms at 2GHz.

Here’s what Rob said a day or so ago:

“Yes the ferrites have actually been added into the driver and isolation circuitry directly. I went to crazy lengths to improve the isolation at 2 GHz - and oddly, adding ferrites on the BNC cables actually makes it sound slightly worse (oddly a bit brighter with them). But the intent is to make it easy to use without spending silly money on cables or having to add ferrites, and this I have succeeded.”

 

[GTL]

I have an Aurender W20 with dual AES EBU outputs. Can I somehow utilise it with the HMS dual BNC input? Is there any benefits to this approach?

 

[Triode User]

I have an Aurender W20 with dual AES EBU outputs. Can I somehow utilise it with the HMS dual BNC input? Is there any benefits to this approach?

The HMS has dual data OUTPUTS, not dual data inputs.

 

[marcmccalmont]

I have an Aurender W20 with dual AES EBU outputs. Can I somehow utilise it with the HMS dual BNC input? Is there any benefits to this approach?

AES EBU and SPDIF Coax are not compatible. With my N10 best sound is with the upsampling done by the M scaler so either SPDIF coax or TOS inputs to the M Scaler would probably sound best with the output not upsampled by your W20

 

[SuperBurrito]

Chord and Rob,

I've placed an order. Thanks for listening to the forums and making this product! I've been waiting for this ever since I received my Dave one year ago and can't wait to receive it.

 

[rgs9200m]

Thanks TheAttorney. But for whatever reason, I just never let components touch each other. I even keep power supplies separate from whatever it is powering. I always feel that components need to dissipate their heat to open air. I feel they need to breathe. Maybe it's superstitious, but that's my approach.
But thanks anyhow.

(I also don't like to put physical pressure on cases.)
Ha ha, I had to look up "plinth".

 

[rgs9200m]

Imagine the people who bought not only the Blu2 but a stand just so they could accommodate both the DAVE and the Blu2. I wonder if the HMS could fit (with stability) where the Blu2 is supposed to go on the stand...

 

[jlbrach]

I don’t see this as a dealer problem

Why did these folks buy the blu2 if they did not need the CD transport?

Very good hi end audiophile CD transports are not cheap and never were cheap.

because that was the only way to get the m-scaler...i bought my blu2 and have primarily used it with usb connection from my laptop.....

 

[AndrewOld]

Imagine the people who bought not only the Blu2 but a stand just so they could accommodate both the DAVE and the Blu2.

Not to mention a fancy cable. My view of the stand is that it is a direct payment to the John Franks pension fund.

 

[rgs9200m]

I wonder if the HMS operates at a cooler operating temperature than the Blu2, which reportedly is on the very warm side.

 

[Crgreen]

I wonder if the HMS operates at a cooler operating temperature than the Blu2, which reportedly is on the very warm side.

Probably, as it has an external SMPS.

In fact, the Blu2 runs hot even if just used as a CD transport and with upsampling turned off.