CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I wonder, would any of you guys wish to make an educated guess as to the likely launch times for Choral M Scaler, Ultima DAC and Rob's Digital amps? .....assuming they do eventually make it to market, of course. I would likely be an immediate buyer of at least 2 of the 3 products. (The Ultima DAC may be a step too far for me, depending upon price.)

I'm not sure if you need Ultima dac if you decide to buy Choral M Scaler and Pulse array power amp.
Pulse array power amps are in fact DACS with more power output.
Amps are going to accept digital data (not sure about all input interfaces but dual coax is most likely already confirmed) via dual coax, probably not single analog input.
So you only need Choral M Scaler or a "classic" Hugo M Scaler -> dual coax -> pulse array power amp -> speakers.
Ultima DAC is most likely redundant in that configuration - if you are not planing to use any headphones.

 

[Mediahound]

Rob will likely discuss the Choral M Scaler in October, I'm likely going to go see him there, what's amazing is that there are no interviews, or any videos of Rob for the recent NYC CanJam, no one recorded Rob?

I don't think it was recorded although Rob has posted his slides starting here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/watts-up.800264/page-255#post-17430724

 

[Jawed]

I'm not sure if you need Ultima dac if you decide to buy Choral M Scaler and Pulse array power amp.
Pulse array power amps are in fact DACS with more power output.
Amps are going to accept digital data (not sure about all input interfaces but dual coax is most likely already confirmed) via dual coax, probably not single analog input.
So you only need Choral M Scaler or a "classic" Hugo M Scaler -> dual coax -> pulse array power amp -> speakers.
Ultima DAC is most likely redundant in that configuration - if you are not planing to use any headphones.

After Rob has done Choral Super Scaler and Ultima DAC, it'll be time to refresh Hugo 2, Qutest, TT2 and DAVE I think.

DX Amp (power pulse array amp) looks less and less likely every day. After those DACs are done another 3 or 4 years will have passed, I reckon.

 

[miketlse]

Rob will likely discuss the Choral M Scaler in October, I'm likely going to go see him there, what's amazing is that there are no interviews, or any videos of Rob for the recent NYC CanJam, no one recorded Rob?

I think on the NYC canjam thread, @GoldenOne mentioned having recorded some seminars, but it was not clear which ones. I thought it was also strange that there are no posts mentioning Chord at the Bristol Show.

 

[GoldenSound]

I think on the NYC canjam thread, @GoldenOne mentioned having recorded some seminars, but it was not clear which ones. I thought it was also strange that there are no posts mentioning Chord at the Bristol Show.

I recorded the Rob Watts DAC topology one and the Reviewer Q&A one. Also did an interview with Rob.
They're all ready to go, I'm not sure when they'll be going live yet. Sometime in the next week most likely

 

[Icenine2]

Choral M Scaler..........has to be $10K yes?

 

[FunkyBassMan]

Choral M Scaler..........has to be $10K yes?

I don't understand the need for a Choral M-Scaler. I thought with the million taps of the current M-Scaler, the waveform was accurately reproduced.

 

[Mediahound]

I don't understand the need for a Choral M-Scaler. I thought with the million taps of the current M-Scaler, the waveform was accurately reproduced.

It apparently is even more accurate with 2 million taps or higher. It's not just about waveforms but also transients, noise floor modulations, etc.

 

[miketlse]

I don't understand the need for a Choral M-Scaler. I thought with the million taps of the current M-Scaler, the waveform was accurately reproduced.

No, 1 million taps reproduces the waveform to an accuracy equivalent (I think that meant the parameters were equivalent) to 16.x bits. Each doubling of the taps adds one bit to the accuracy, so 24 bits would need a 256 MScaler.
The numbers are in one of Robs posts from a few years ago.

 

[JTbbb]

Choral M Scaler..........has to be $10K yes?

Well I won’t be getting a Choral M-Scaler when it arrives. C’os the funds I had waiting burnt ‘ole in me pocket.

 

[GoldenSound]

No, 1 million taps reproduces the waveform to an accuracy equivalent (I think that meant the parameters were equivalent) to 16.x bits. Each doubling of the taps adds one bit to the accuracy, so 24 bits would need a 256 MScaler.
The numbers are in one of Robs posts from a few years ago.

Things also get a bit more complex with noise shaping to high degrees of accuracy.
Running things with an extremely accurate noise shaper and using arbitrary precision levels of say 64 bit vs 256 bit can actually still change the final output for a 24 bit file.

I imagine the new MScaler whilst it also will most likely have a more advanced filter itself, will also probably have a better noise shaper. Will be interesting to see though!

 

[miketlse]

Things also get a bit more complex with noise shaping to high degrees of accuracy.
Running things with an extremely accurate noise shaper and using arbitrary precision levels of say 64 bit vs 256 bit can actually still change the final output for a 24 bit file.

I imagine the new MScaler whilst it also will most likely have a more advanced filter itself, will also probably have a better noise shaper. Will be interesting to see though!

The upscaling/filters could also appear in the Ultima Dac - that coding followed by testing must have taken Rob a fair few hours.

 

[kawhia]

I bet Kate Bush will sound fantastic through it

 

[johnwillmclean]

You cannot dodge age related hearing loss, how does Rob Watts account for this given listening tests are a vital part of his methodology?
I’d understand if there was a third party involved for this part of the process, that would make sense, or Rob has made evaluation tests decades ago.

 

[FunkyBassMan]

You cannot dodge age related hearing loss, how does Rob Watts account for this given listening tests are a vital part of his methodology?
I’d understand if there was a third party involved for this part of the process, that would make sense, or Rob has made evaluation tests decades ago.

As I understand it, age-related hearing loss affects frequency response in the high end, not transient timing, soundstage, depth, etc. I don't think frequency response is an issue anymore in DACs.