Hugo M Scaler by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[GhiAB]

@GhiAB, I’m assuming that you’re using the Innuos Zen MK3 which is a very nice music server indeed. https://innuos.com/zen-mk3/. Okay, I’m very jealous. What you’re wanting to do is bypass the less then fantastic Amanero USB input on your M Scaler by connecting your Innuos server via USB to the SRC.DX, and then using one BNC cable from the SRC.DX to connect to your M Scaler. You would only need two BNC cables from the SRC.DX if your streaming signal from the Innuos was higher than 192kHz. As you can see in the pictures Nick Bacon at WAVE High Fidelity talked me into getting a third WAVE Storm cable. And I’m glad that I did because I was using a single Moon Audio Silver Dragon BNC from the SRC.DX to my HMS before I got the WAVE Storm BNC, and oh my what a difference in sound quality the Storm BNC cable made.

I bought my SRC.DX from Nick, even though he’s in the UK and I’m in Wisconsin, because his customer sevice is absolutely the best. Now I think that I’m right about what you need to do here, but it wouldn’t hurt to email Nick at WAVE High Fidelity just to make sure that this is what you’ll need to do. He’s super great about answering his emails.

Thank you.
I agree completely about Nick Bacon. I will ask for a single BNC cable as soon as I have completed the system.
I want to bypass the USB on the MScaler.
You are wright about the Zen Mk3 but I did not consider that the output from it is limited so two bnc cables out of the SRC.DX going into the MScaler will not be nedeed. I stream TIDAL and for the moment the Innuos is limited to cd quality.

 

[GhiAB]

I really like the Innuos and it saved me a lot of space after burning all my Cd’s onto it’s HDD.

 

[dcp10]

Just to clarify, this is the cylindrical (coaxial) power plug for the M-Scaler. I'm wondering if either the female part is too far recessed and/or Chord has sourced another power brick which comes with a slightly different (and looser) male plug.

Quick update: my audio dealer and I compared their M-Scaler with my unit. The power brick has indeed changed and now has a (very-slightly) shorter plug. My unit also had a (slightly) more recessed jack. Not sure if that was a deliberate design change, or just bad luck. Anyway, the unit is going back to Chord - they were very proactive about this: kudos. I'm now back where I started, with the dealer's silver M-Scaler in place of my black unit. I have to say that, even with their unit, the power plug doesn't fit very tightly - but at least it feels more stable. I'm hoping that the replacement unit won't take quite so long to arrive as the first.

Thanks to everyone for their helpful suggestions and feedback!

In the absence of a new DAC (still waiting for my DAVE), I'm using a Hugo 2 with a dual-BNC-to-coaxial adaptor. And, for anyone interested, found that the Hugo power supply induces a nasty buzz when my (Naim) amplifier is on. This used not to be a problem when the Hugo 2 was connected directly to an earthed CD player and an earthed streamer - but now it's connected to the (un-earthed) M-Scaler I get the buzz. My fix was to connect the Hugo 2's USB input to my streamer's USB input, using a micro-USB to USB-A cable. Not very elegant, but it does kill the buzz for the time being.

 

[bpcans]

I really like the Innuos and it saved me a lot of space after burning all my Cd’s onto it’s HDD.

@GhiAB, on my way home from picking up my Roon Nucleus music server, I stopped at BestBuy to get a 2TB SD card to put in it so that I could rip my hundreds of CD’s that I’ve collected over 40 plus years onto it. Talk about a painstaking waste of my time. Geezus! Tidal and Qobuz literally have tens of millions of tracks and albums available at my fingertips just by using my iPhone or iPad to look them up. It’s just so much easier to let Roon find the music.

 

[HarveyLowis]

Thank you.
I agree completely about Nick Bacon. I will ask for a single BNC cable as soon as I have completed the system.
I want to bypass the USB on the MScaler.
You are wright about the Zen Mk3 but I did not consider that the output from it is limited so two bnc cables out of the SRC.DX going into the MScaler will not be nedeed. I stream TIDAL and for the moment the Innuos is limited to cd quality.

+1 for this. Actually im getting 2 Wave Storm BNC and SCR.DX, but after some email and DM with Nick Bacon and @bpcans, i changed my order to 3 Wave Storm BNC and SRC.DX.

 

[Reactcore]

I appreciate the suggestion - thanks

Just to clarify, this is the cylindrical (coaxial) power plug for the M-Scaler. I'm wondering if either the female part is too far recessed and/or Chord has sourced another power brick which comes with a slightly different (and looser) male plug. This would seem to rely mainly on friction (against a metal clip) for retention, but there is a tiny annular indentation right at the end - which doesn't seem aligned with the metal clip. Consequently, the loose fit and lack of "click/clip" causes the plug to come out. Even forced into place, I'm concerned as to the possibility of power on/off sparking.

For what its worth.. heres a photo of my HMS socket and original plug.

The plugs inner hole is quite big, but the space between pin and spring in the socket clamps tightly for contact.

 

[dcp10]

The plugs inner hole is quite big, but the space between pin and spring in the socket clamps tightly for contact.

Thanks. My unit had a slightly more recessed socket - perhaps it got damaged during transit, or was a manufacturing tolerance.

 

[Reactcore]

Thanks. My unit had a slightly more recessed socket - perhaps it got damaged during transit, or was a manufacturing tolerance.

Did you return it?
I'm sure once its fixed and settled you'll forget it when youre immersed in blissful sound

 

[dcp10]

Did you return it?
I'm sure once its fixed and settled you'll forget it when youre immersed in blissful sound

Yes - I'm awaiting a replacement and am currently using my dealer's loan machine.

 

[DJW50]

I am hoping to add an M Scaler to my set up some time this year. I am in a state of confusion over the cables that will run from the proposed M Scaler to my current Qutest (which I really like over the onboard DAC of my Pathos Inpol Ear)
I have seen the likes of the Wave Storm etc along with a seller on e-bay who uses the QED Silver cables with ferrite rods fitted in dual BNC cables.
I don't want to spend a fortune but want decent cables any suggestions and why they should be used would help me.

 

[SteveHulk]

I am hoping to add an M Scaler to my set up some time this year. I am in a state of confusion over the cables that will run from the proposed M Scaler to my current Qutest (which I really like over the onboard DAC of my Pathos Inpol Ear)
I have seen the likes of the Wave Storm etc along with a seller on e-bay who uses the QED Silver cables with ferrite rods fitted in dual BNC cables.
I don't want to spend a fortune but want decent cables any suggestions and why they should be used would help me.

Cables from the m scaler to the DAC are very important. The m scaler can create a lot of rf noise and rejecting as much of it as possible before it hits the DAC is very worthwhile.

The physical construction of these cables is important.

To understand this it is probably easier to think of the cable as a waveguide for an E-M wave rather than as conductors for electrons. This will highlight the importance of the physical layout of the conductors in the cable.

In the case of coaxial cables this layout is a metal central wire surrounded by a cylindrical sheath of metal conductor. The impedance of the cable is determined by the alignment and spacing of these two conductors as well as the electrical properties of the dielectric medium in the space between them.

An alteration of this setup at any point will cause a change in the impedance at that point.

When a travelling E-M wave encounters a change in impedance it splits into a transmitted wave and a reflected wave. Such changes in a data cable are undesirable as they create unnecessary noise in the data stream which the connected devices will need to reject.

The ferrites are necessary to supress rf noise. Their strength and spacing is determined by the rf frequencies that need to be suppressed.

Improperly applied ferrites will distort the conductors, leading to data noise from all the reflected waves.

You need to be sure that any cable maker has taken these considerations into account and has acted upon them.

Wave Storm cables, according to their maker, have taken into account the strength, spacing, and proper application of the ferrites.

 

[Widell]

Cables from the m scaler to the DAC are very important. The m scaler can create a lot of rf noise and rejecting as much of it as possible before it hits the DAC is very worthwhile.

The physical construction of these cables is important.

To understand this it is probably easier to think of the cable as a waveguide for an E-M wave rather than as conductors for electrons. This will highlight the importance of the physical layout of the conductors in the cable.

In the case of coaxial cables this layout is a metal central wire surrounded by a cylindrical sheath of metal conductor. The impedance of the cable is determined by the alignment and spacing of these two conductors as well as the electrical properties of the dielectric medium in the space between them.

An alteration of this setup at any point will cause a change in the impedance at that point.

When a travelling E-M wave encounters a change in impedance it splits into a transmitted wave and a reflected wave. Such changes in a data cable are undesirable as they create unnecessary noise in the data stream which the connected devices will need to reject.

The ferrites are necessary to supress rf noise. Their strength and spacing is determined by the rf frequencies that need to be suppressed.

Improperly applied ferrites will distort the conductors, leading to data noise from all the reflected waves.

You need to be sure that any cable maker has taken these considerations into account and has acted upon them.

Wave Storm cables, according to their maker, have taken into account the strength, spacing, and proper application of the ferrites.

And how can you describe this in an A-B test with or without these cables to determine the sonic differencies? As it is an significant cable Investment its a worthwhile to establish the actual real World sonic improvements! Pleased to hear….

 

[Sampajanna]

And how can you describe this in an A-B test with or without these cables to determine the sonic differencies? As it is an significant cable Investment its a worthwhile to establish the actual real World sonic improvements! Pleased to hear….

Wavestorm cables are amongst the most obvious cable upgrades I have heard. Immediately apparent.

 

[SteveHulk]

And how can you describe this in an A-B test with or without these cables to determine the sonic differencies? As it is an significant cable Investment its a worthwhile to establish the actual real World sonic improvements! Pleased to hear….

It is a good question.

In a domestic setting it is difficult to do the sort of rapid A-B testing that is needed where the cables could be switched quickly.

An objective test would at least have to be double-blind so involving other people in the testing process. Two parallel audio chains A and B which are identical except for the two components being compared would be ideal with these chains feeding into a switching component (eg a preamplifier) so nothing has to be powered down to change from A to B.

Not at all easy to do at home.

Perforce comparisons done at home are subject to bias and the rapid fading of audio memory as changes are made to the chain.

All I can say is when the Wave Storms were in I kept getting those little surprises of the "I never heard that before" type when playing my favourite tracks. These were mostly of the ultra-fine detail kind where the new detail is not artificially created but emerges as a result of the "blackening" of the background.

Everybody's mileage varies in terms of perceived value for money for these improvements. I am definitely at the end of the spectrum where I'll part with the dollars for this.

At the end of the day it's about whether, when sitting in your chair surveying the smoking crater where your bank account used to be, you still feel good about what you are hearing.

If you don't feel good for any reason then go and get your money back!

 

[DJW50]

I really like this guy and his reviews and I like what I think is the honesty that he comes across as.