[yaccobo]

I made it easy - the Hugo M scaler has a pass through mode (with filter gain equalised) so it's dead easy to hear it; the switch is labelled OP SR, and red is pass through, green is 176.4/192, (1/4 M taps) blue is 352.8/384 (1/2 M taps) and white is the full 705.6/768 1M taps.

Edit: only white enables the dual data mode, all the others are single data mode with one BNC active and the other disabled.

When I cycle through the OP SR modes (by pressing the OP SR button), there is a 2-3 second delay between blue and white during which the music sounds almost like mono, before it snaps into the 705/768 kHz mode. If I cycle between red and green and blue, there is no such delay.

That means that if I want to compare a music file with and without the effect of the M Scaler, I can only compare it if I am in the full 1M tap white mode and then press the OP SR button once to go into the red pass-though mode: in effect, I remove the MScaler magic from the file.

Is this the correct behaviour, and is this the best way to hear the effect that the HMS adds to the music?


Another question: what is the function of the 3rd button from the left (labelled DX OP)? This button is sometimes green, sometimes blue, depending on the music, and it always turns on automatically after I start playing the music. The only device that is attached to the HMS is Chord Dave through dual BNC cables.

 

[Amberlamps]

When I cycle through the OP SR modes (by pressing the OP SR button), there is a 2-3 second delay between blue and white during which the music sounds almost like mono, before it snaps into the 705/768 kHz mode. If I cycle between red and green and blue, there is no such delay.

That means that if I want to compare a music file with and without the effect of the M Scaler, I can only compare it if I am in the full 1M tap white mode and then press the OP SR button once to go into the red pass-though mode: in effect, I remove the MScaler magic from the file.

Is this the correct behaviour, and is this the best way to hear the effect that the HMS adds to the music?


Another question: what is the function of the 3rd button from the left (labelled DX OP)? This button is sometimes green, sometimes blue, depending on the music, and it always turns on automatically after I start playing the music. The only device that is attached to the HMS is Chord Dave through dual BNC cables.

DX output is for a yet to be released amp. It has no function at the moment.

 

[AndrewOld]

When I cycle through the OP SR modes (by pressing the OP SR button), there is a 2-3 second delay between blue and white during which the music sounds almost like mono, before it snaps into the 705/768 kHz mode. If I cycle between red and green and blue, there is no such delay.

That means that if I want to compare a music file with and without the effect of the M Scaler, I can only compare it if I am in the full 1M tap white mode and then press the OP SR button once to go into the red pass-though mode: in effect, I remove the MScaler magic from the file.

Is this the correct behaviour, and is this the best way to hear the effect that the HMS adds to the music?


Another question: what is the function of the 3rd button from the left (labelled DX OP)? This button is sometimes green, sometimes blue, depending on the music, and it always turns on automatically after I start playing the music. The only device that is attached to the HMS is Chord Dave through dual BNC cables.

I raised the issue of the brief mono interlude when cycling through modes with Rob. He said that’s how it is. Here is his reply

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...-official-thread.885042/page-96#post-14501096

 

[Sagitis]

I read through the chord advertisement and gone through this thread a bit and I am very confused with this m scalar product.
when you sample the original source with a higher sampling rate you still end up the same material as the source your were given.Unless you rencode the original singla differently or the source was sampled at a higher sampling rate than you were given before as an input to the m scalar. This methods have been done by the japanese company first theJVC Victor with their K2 technology rencoding the material to sound like 20bit and denon using their al 32bit processor.

So if I am correct what the m scalar is doing, is taking the original and rencode it like JVC did in the pass. This methode could not be counted as upscale which chord has adverstise, it should be recoding reinterpreting the digital singal closer to the analog signal. Am I right with this concept?

If what Rob's m scalar have such a big impact on the sound, it seem that the engineers who created the standard/method reading red book CD have seriously flaw in their theory in reading the disc or even recording the material in their AD converter causing great distortion which vinyl gurus dislike the cds.

 

[JaZZ]

See my earlier post with a simplified explanation. Note that digital recordings need to be low-pass filtered to avoid aliasing and get rid of the high-frequency noise from the sampling itself (stair-steps), and this filter is crucial. As it seems from the various reviews (and my own experience) the quasi-perfect filter achieved by the M Scaler's extreme upsampling algorithm is what removes much of the «digital sound» from digital recordings.

 

[yaccobo]

I raised the issue of the brief mono interlude when cycling through modes with Rob. He said that’s how it is. Here is his reply

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...-official-thread.885042/page-96#post-14501096

Thanks @AndrewOld for pointing at Rob's reply, much appreciated.

 

[AndrewOld]

Thanks @AndrewOld for pointing at Rob's reply, much appreciated.

Let’s face it, you’re not going to be using any other than the full number of taps, so the wee glitch is nothing to worry about. And fwiw I don’t believe that switching while you are playing a track is a good way to compare things, you are comparing one section of music with another. Best way to compare is to listen to the same segment through the two different sampling rates or whatever.

 

[JaZZ]

When I cycle through the OP SR modes (by pressing the OP SR button), there is a 2-3 second delay between blue and white during which the music sounds almost like mono, before it snaps into the 705/768 kHz mode. If I cycle between red and green and blue, there is no such delay.

So why does my M Scaler not do that!? It switches fluently through the settings, with the same ~¼ s interrupt between all of them. In exchange I get 2-3 s hickups after upward sample-rate changes through Toslink (i.e. S/PDIF). Therefore I'm now going USB with some ferrites (which sounds about the same to my ears).

 

[Mikey99]

So why does my M Scaler not do that!? It switches fluently through the settings, with the same ~¼ s interrupt between all of them. In exchange I get 2-3 s hickups after upward sample-rate changes through Toslink (i.e. S/PDIF). Therefore I'm now going USB with some ferrites (which sounds about the same to my ears).

I also do not experience that, at most a fraction of a second delay.

 

[xxx1313]

My Hugo M Scaler arrived last week and I would like to share my first impressions. Take them with a grain of salt, because my unit is not fully burned in yet.

Hugo M Scaler is easy to set up, so I could start listening immediately. To be honest, I was disappointed by the sound at the beginning. The tighter bass was rather easy to spot, but even easier to identify was brightness added by the M Scaler. Not brightness in terms of sibilance. No, M Scaler does not sound sibilant at all, even less so than solo DAVE. Sound with the added M Scaler just sounded leaner than DAVE alone. As I thought I was hearing noise, I added a bunch of ferrites (sorry for mentioning the bad „F“ word again) between SPMS and M Scaler, which helped a bit. Nevertheless, the SMPS seems quite good to me.

The next day, after further 20 hours or so of burn in, I continued listening. The sound differences were easier to spot now. With M Scaler, bass was much tighter and seemed to reach a bit lower, it was faster, with better dynamics, highs were cleaner – but the Lush mids of solo Dave were still not there. Voices seem to come more from the throat than from the chest. I tried to remove the USB reclockers, but this degraded the sound just as much as when removing the M Scaler (much smaller soundstage, less resolution, less tight bass etc.). I also tried to interchange the reclockers (tried ISO Regen after tx-USBultra), changed USB cables. Trying Shunyata Alpha HC instead of Alpha NR added the highly desired warmth, but bass was much softer / less tight and the background less quiet, so I had to switch back to Alpha NR. I also changed the other cables and reclockers back to my original configuration. Then I listened to Eric Clapton’s Unplugged, and suddenly the M Scaler showed its full beauty. I never heard guiter tracks like this. Incredible leading edges seem to put you to the MTV studio rooms. Incredible sound quality, I only had a similar feeling when I first listened to Sennheiser’s HE1. Sound was still leaner than what I was used to with solo DAVE, but technically is was considerably better, incredibly good. I could hardly stop listening.

To put the long story short, the longer you listen to M Scaler, the more indispensable it becomes. On the other hand, I can easily imagine that M Scaler may not seem like a no-brainer in a short listening session at the noisy environment of a trade fair. I am happy to have bought Hugo M Scaler and will keep it for sure, it is summit-fi. Nevertheless, I will add another Lush^2 USB cable to replace the Uptone USPCB and will look for an affordable BNC cable with added warmth (especially with more lower mids, maybe also a little more bass). Stock BNC cables seem to be really ok, but I have to tweak the sound of my audio chain to mimic the tonality of solo DAVE, which I like so much.

Enjoy your M Scalers!

 

[musickid]

Andrew i am 100 percent sure there is no chord psu quality control issue for any of their products. i cannot believe you would insinuate such a thing. the reviewer has his own agenda and wants to appear smarter than the rest.

Yaccobo play music on white 1M taps then pause for 2 seconds switch to pass thru red and compare the same song. The DXOP button indicates incoming sample rate so red for 44.1 and so on.

Sagitis please read this mscaler theory overview before you so confidently disregard (in two sentences) nearly 30 years of structured scientific research and testing which has resulted in the mscaler/wta algorithm.

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/wp-c...7/The-theroy-behind-M-Scaler-technology-1.pdf

 

[GreenBow]

I tried to remove the USB reclockers, but this degraded the sound just as much as when removing the M Scaler (much smaller soundstage, less resolution, less tight bass etc.). I also tried to interchange the reclockers (tried ISO Regen after tx-USBultra), changed USB cables. Trying Shunyata Alpha HC instead of Alpha NR added the highly desired warmth, but bass was much softer / less tight and the background less quiet, so I had to switch back to Alpha NR. I also changed the other cables and reclockers back to my original configuration.

Where would you use re-clockers? Neither do I understand how they could change the sound, since Chord re-clock signals. I assume they clock incoming signals to the M-Scaler too.

Taking that assumption, any other re-clocking would be negated by Chord's clocks. Ultimately either way, the DAVE would be clocking the sound.

 

[Amberlamps]

I wonder, everyone who has an mscaler already, what type of music does one use the most ?

Is it mainly classical music, or is it a mix ?

 

[xxx1313]

Where would you use re-clockers? Neither do I understand how they could change the sound, since Chord re-clock signals. I assume they clock incoming signals to the M-Scaler too.

Taking that assumption, any other re-clocking would be negated by Chord's clocks. Ultimately either way, the DAVE would be clocking the sound.

To be honest, neither do I understand how re-clockers change the sound, but they do imo, and the difference is not subtle in my setup. The digital output of SP1000 is bit-perfect, so reclocking should not change the sound in theory. I am a pragmatist and accept what I hear, in case that the sound difference is big enough, even though in theory it should not exist. Sceptics could also mean that added noise would cause the sound difference, but did you ever experience that noise does enlarge the soundstage and improve instrument positioning and separation? I never did. On the other hand, I can also easily accept that other people cannot hear a difference, or even when they hear it, it is not worth the extra cost of buying a re-clocker for them.

In any case, M Scaler + DAVE is an end-game setup for me.

 

[ray-dude]

To be honest, neither do I understand how re-clockers change the sound, but they do imo, and the difference is not subtle in my setup. The digital output of SP1000 is bit-perfect, so reclocking should not change the sound in theory. I am a pragmatist and accept what I hear, in case that the sound difference is big enough, even though in theory it should not exist. Sceptics could also mean that added noise would cause the sound difference, but did you ever experience that noise does enlarge the soundstage and improve instrument positioning and separation? I never did. On the other hand, I can also easily accept that other people cannot hear a difference, or even when they hear it, it is not worth the extra cost of buying a re-clocker for them.

In any case, M Scaler + DAVE is an end-game setup for me.

FWIW, I have heard where noise on the USB chain can significantly flatten and muddle a soundstage. There may be a scenario where you're reclocker is blocking some upstream noise sources?

Alas. as with all digital discussions, noise is SO system (and even time of day) dependent that it is difficult to generalize from any one person's experience (or to question that experience). If something works for you, celebrate it and accept it, but be willing an open to try other things (even if orthogonal to the stated function of what you have in your chain) and be open to how your system responds.

The good news is that mScaler and Chord DACs are so damn revealing that A/B comparisons are usually pretty clear (if there is a difference to be heard, you'll hear it)