Hugo M Scaler by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[Amberlamps]

I have both Jriver MC and Foobar.

I like Foobar most as it is lightweight and more stable, you add only the plugins you need and custimize how it looks and be operated. I have 3 different control apps on my phone and tablet to choose and work flawless.

I use Foobar on an old Wyse 2core fanless thinclient PC with external PSU and optical network SFP running (by most forgotten) win7 embedded. No bothering updates and also no useless extra's vs win 10/11.

I probably never change this player as its perfect for me.

I used Foobar, but a long long time ago, well over 10 years ago, can’t exactly put a date on it but it would be a minimum of 10 years and I have no idea what all plugins are available for it now.

I liked it, but as with everything, we move on and had I not needed a media server aka plex, dropbox, a streamer aka roon server and most importantly, something to grape usenet with, I would of used my nuc solely with roon rock or some distro with the bare minimum. But I needed multiple things that were easy to run together and something that would be noiseless 24/7 hence needing to either use windows or debian.

What are your thoughts on jriver ? I think it’s a bloated piece of schit that the developers keep adding more schit to it for the sake of adding schit, then hassling you for money at any opportunity.

Actually, maybe I might have logitech media server, as I have the logitech G910 Orion Spectrum keyboard and it came with a pile of stuff when I was installing the drivers, but it’s on my gaming pc, and I never use it so I guess I will never know if I already have it, but the keyboard is nice.

 

[AndrewOld]

What are your thoughts on jriver ? I think it’s a bloated piece of schit that the developers keep adding more schit to it for the sake of adding schit, then hassling you for money at any opportunity.

Sure JRiver has far more features than any reasonable person would want, and the whole video side of it is of no interest at all, but I thought it was great software, very well supported. I liked it in particular because I could make views of my music exactly as I wished. Contrast with Roon whose support is appalling, and who force you to see things their restrictive way. Alas, JimH wouldn't add Qobuz or Tidal to JRiver so perforce they lost my custom, and Roon gained it. Still get an annual email offering me the latest JRiver for a few bucks - actually took the offer up last year for no good reason apart from sentiment and old times sake. Did use it to rip a CD.

 

[Amberlamps]

Don’t get mor

Sure JRiver has far more features than any reasonable person would want, and the whole video side of it is of no interest at all, but I thought it was great software, very well supported. I liked it in particular because I could make views of my music exactly as I wished. Contrast with Roon whose support is appalling, and who force you to see things their restrictive way. Alas, JimH wouldn't add Qobuz or Tidal to JRiver so perforce they lost my custom, and Roon gained it. Still get an annual email offering me the latest JRiver for a few bucks - actually took the offer up last year for no good reason apart from sentiment and old times sake. Did use it to rip a CD.

Don’t get me wrong, Jriver does the job, I just found it to continually get things added to it for the sake of adding things, and I totally agree that they have much better support than roon has, roon have literally 0 support and the one time that I was honoured with their presence, the dude was like why would you want to use wasapi when asio is better ?

Condescending little wank, if I wanted an answer like that I would have punched my balls instead. It was to do with a problem with wasapi on the topping d10s, now wasapi and d10s worked perfect on other things, just not on roon, although wasapi worked ok on roon, just not with the d10.

To be honest, I can’t say that I’m satisfied with any audio player, they all have their annoyances and if their annoyances catch me on a bad day then I usually post schiit on the internet, or do a line or two and if I don’t, I will break things, usually my fingers when I punch whatever it was that annoyed me, in this instance my monitor as I punched out my reply to roon on it.

 

[Boogie7910]

I use Dave so I need a separate amp. I have been debating for the past few years whether to buy TT2 to replace Dave so I don’t need a separate amp. Since I don’t listen loud. You can always start without a separate amp with the speakers and if it’s not loud enough, then you can explore what separate amp to buy.

So I ended up just buying the Chord BerTTi to power the SVS Prime Pinnacles. I didn't think the TT2 would be enough, and SVS told me the same. So would you expect I still lose some transparency by adding an amp?

 

[SteveHulk]

So I ended up just buying the Chord BerTTi to power the SVS Prime Pinnacles. I didn't think the TT2 would be enough, and SVS told me the same. So would you expect I still lose some transparency by adding an amp?

I would think with that setup you will get a very good result.

However, if in the future you ever become dissatisfied with the transparency of your system, I think the first port of call would be the tweeter technology in the speakers rather than the extra amplifier.

 

[ZappaMan]

Sine wave inverters in Black Friday deal

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Renogy-100...b92-25073892d1ef&ref_=pd_hp_mw_btf_dealz_osfl

 

[Jxnkz]

Hey, anyone selling this Wave High Fidelity Storm Reference cables? I am located in the EU

 

[Boogie7910]

I just saw ASR where he ripped the Mscaler and said it doesn't do anything useful. In fact it adds noise and jitter. His TT2 review also said it's expensive, out dated, and no better than modern $500 DACs. What's the general take here?

 

[NoBodyNoWhere]

I just saw ASR where he ripped the Mscaler and said it doesn't do anything useful. In fact it adds noise and jitter. His TT2 review also said it's expensive, out dated, and no better than modern $500 DACs. What's the general take here?

It’s hard to say if the guy actually listened to any music through the system or if his assessment is just based on a set of measurements.

Of the DACs I frequently use, the Hugo TT 2 with the M Scaler is significantly better (at least for my tastes and hearing). The DACs I have compared it to are the Denafrips Ares II, Schiit Yggdrasil OG and Schiit Bifrost 2/64 plus a few others in the sub $300 range. The Hugo TT 2 (without the M Scaler) provides distinctly more precise imaging and a clearer mid and high range than my other DACs. With the M Scaler, I found there was more clarity and detail in the bass (which I did not expect). Although I find with DSD files, it is better to bypass the M Scaler and feed them directly to the Hugo.

I’m sure that there are other DACs out there that might appeal to a different set of tastes or expectations. System synergy will also likely affect how you hear the DAC.

As an aside, when using the Bifrost or Yggdrasil, I always prefer them running through the buffered gain stage or tube stage of the Schiit Freya+, but when I use the Hugo TT 2, I prefer the passive attenuator. I’m not really sure what’s going on here - there’s just something different - maybe there is a subtle clarity to the Hugo that sounds better with minimal electronics in the signal path whereas the other DACs might benefit from what the buffered or tube stages can do.

 

[ecwl]

I just saw ASR where he ripped the Mscaler and said it doesn't do anything useful. In fact it adds noise and jitter. His TT2 review also said it's expensive, out dated, and no better than modern $500 DACs. What's the general take here?

M-Scaler does add jitter, and maybe noise (not sure). But Chord devices are very jitter immune so it's a bit irrelevant.
I haven't heard TT2 but I have heard all the other Chord DACs and they all sound great to me.

I think the real issue is that some people cannot hear improved transient accuracy with increased tap length. If you can't hear it, you can't appreciate it.
And of course, people get offended when it's pointed out to them because it's their hobby and it feels to them that I am attacking their ability to appreciate their hobby.

But the truth is, I recently ran a frequency sweep on my stereo and I noticed I've lost even more high frequency hearing due to aging. Down to 12-13kHz now (instead of 14-16kHz a few years ago). So if I hear a pair of speakers and I thought it's fine but others find it bright and I look at the measurement and the speakers have a higher volume >14kHz, I won't get offended. I'll just accept that I can't hear everything. So if I own that pair of speakers, I'll just be happy that I don't hear its flaws and can enjoy it but I'll also be okay if others can and choose a different pair of speakers and say that my speakers are inferior to others. The speakers just works for me.

Another issue I have found more and more consistently is that some people who complain Chord DACs are too bright or don't sound better than $500 DACs actually have USB sources that have a lot of ground loop leakage current RF noise pumping into the Chord DAC. As a result, it is almost true that the Chord DAC ends up sounding close to regular DACs (especially if you don't appreciate improved transient accuracy). The problem is that some people might have spent thousands or even tens of thousands of dollar to buy their super-duper streamer so they don't want to be told that they made a poor purchasing decision because once again, they might feel attacked. So it's easier to blame the Chord DACs than to say I made a terrible purchasing decision on the streamer.

Ultimately, I think audiophilia is a hobby. If you like what you own and it sounds great to you, who am I to say you're wrong.

 

[Amberlamps]

M-Scaler does add jitter, and maybe noise (not sure). But Chord devices are very jitter immune so it's a bit irrelevant.
I haven't heard TT2 but I have heard all the other Chord DACs and they all sound great to me.

I think the real issue is that some people cannot hear improved transient accuracy with increased tap length. If you can't hear it, you can't appreciate it.
And of course, people get offended when it's pointed out to them because it's their hobby and it feels to them that I am attacking their ability to appreciate their hobby.

But the truth is, I recently ran a frequency sweep on my stereo and I noticed I've lost even more high frequency hearing due to aging. Down to 12-13kHz now (instead of 14-16kHz a few years ago). So if I hear a pair of speakers and I thought it's fine but others find it bright and I look at the measurement and the speakers have a higher volume >14kHz, I won't get offended. I'll just accept that I can't hear everything. So if I own that pair of speakers, I'll just be happy that I don't hear its flaws and can enjoy it but I'll also be okay if others can and choose a different pair of speakers and say that my speakers are inferior to others. The speakers just works for me.

Another issue I have found more and more consistently is that some people who complain Chord DACs are too bright or don't sound better than $500 DACs actually have USB sources that have a lot of ground loop leakage current RF noise pumping into the Chord DAC. As a result, it is almost true that the Chord DAC ends up sounding close to regular DACs (especially if you don't appreciate improved transient accuracy). The problem is that some people might have spent thousands or even tens of thousands of dollar to buy their super-duper streamer so they don't want to be told that they made a poor purchasing decision because once again, they might feel attacked. So it's easier to blame the Chord DACs than to say I made a terrible purchasing decision on the streamer.

Ultimately, I think audiophilia is a hobby. If you like what you own and it sounds great to you, who am I to say you're wrong.

Dude, over the last month or so I’ve stayed away from music as no matter what I listened to it on, it was horrible, truly horrible, but it started when my tinnitus started getting louder and I’ve done nothing to cause this increase in volume and things sounding bad. I think it might be a symptom of my newly diagnosed diabetes, been diagnosed for a year but I still eat sugar and metformin, glimipremide and alogliptin altogether ain’t working for me, but neither is ramipril, sulfasalazine and methotrexate. I’m dying young and I can’t wait, hopefully it’s either in my sleep or a quick and painless heart attack.

Maybe something to look in to if you think your hearing is getting worse and you don’t have an obvious cause to attribute it to. As diabetes is known to cause hearing problems.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

I just saw ASR where he ripped the Mscaler and said it doesn't do anything useful. In fact it adds noise and jitter. His TT2 review also said it's expensive, out dated, and no better than modern $500 DACs. What's the general take here?

You just saw that now? . This is the site that says a $50 Chinese dongle DAC is all that is needed, and all the "jitter" and noise was when he connected it to a crappy Chinese DAC, go figure. That site is a joke, go there if you want comedy

 

[ecwl]

Dude, over the last month or so I’ve stayed away from music as no matter what I listened to it on, it was horrible, truly horrible, but it started when my tinnitus started getting louder and I’ve done nothing to cause this increase in volume and things sounding bad. I think it might be a symptom of my newly diagnosed diabetes, been diagnosed for a year but I still eat sugar and metformin, glimipremide and alogliptin altogether ain’t working for me, but neither is ramipril, sulfasalazine and methotrexate. I’m dying young and I can’t wait, hopefully it’s either in my sleep or a quick and painless heart attack.

Maybe something to look in to if you think your hearing is getting worse and you don’t have an obvious cause to attribute it to. As diabetes is known to cause hearing problems.

Sorry to hear about your health issues. That totally sucks.

 

[Boogie7910]

You just saw that now? . This is the site that says a $50 Chinese dongle DAC is all that is needed, and all the "jitter" and noise was when he connected it to a crappy Chinese DAC, go figure. That site is a joke, go there if you want comedy

Well I been out of the loop for some years lol. I was just wondering why this guy is saying my Chord gear is already obsolete

 

[The Jester]

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