[acordfan]

acord shouldn't OPSR be white??? it's not in your photo.

Switch it off at the mains after you switch hugo2 off first. To power up source then mscaler and finally hugo2.

Will your second day with mscaler begin at midnite?

I cycled the OP SR button and found that it is not turning white during playback, only OFF, Green, Blue and Cyan. Are you getting the same sequence of colors as it's pressed?

 

[ray-dude]

It was just a coincidence that I posted my impressions of Hugo 2 / mscaler after your question.

The DAC sound signature is the same with or without m scaler. If you are looking for a big change in that m scaler won't give it to you. If you are after improvement in the sound from your Hugo 2 then m scaler will give you subtle improvements (tightening up / texture etc). The biggest impact is on soundstage (instrument / vocal placement) and dimensionality which is truly in another dimension to Hugo 2 alone.

For me it is an improvement in all my music through Hugo 2 but becomes musical magic (and transformational) with recordings that have captured this soundstage information. I hadn't realised this this was in the recording without m scaler added.

@Hifi Boy you may find my big review of Blu2 with DAVE and Hugo 2 interesting (linked below). I'm still waiting on my HMS, but I suspect the macro conclusions are going to be the same. For me, there was a definite lift with my Senn HD=800's (SR mod), but the profound lift was when directly driving single driver high efficiency speakers. With the Omega Super Alnico Monitors (and later, Voxativ 9.87 speakers with 4D drivers), the Blu2 mScaler lifted the performance of the Hugo2 a shocking amount.

I came away from the experience believing that my beloved HD800's were now the bottle neck in overall system performance when listening to headphones. Next in my list is searching out headphones that have the kind of lift I experienced with single driver high efficiency speakers (after RMAF, the Abyss Phi and Susvara are the current top of my contenders list, but I need to find a place to audition them side by side, with mDAVE and mHugo2 and hopefully mTT2).

Once our HMS's and TT2 arrive, it will be time for a refresh of the matrix (Blu2 and HMS crossed with Hugo2/TT2/DAVE) Can't wait for us US-based plebes to get our share of Chord love with the new kit!

 

[apmusson]

@apmusson Did you use an adapter to connect the QED to the Chromecast or is there an option with a 3.5mm termination?
I m experimenting with optical too atm and finding it rather adequate sonically.

Yes. I used an Audioquest toslink to mini toslink adapter for the Chromecast end of the QED cable. I find optical to be my preferred connection mechanism but it is limited in bandwidth (96/24 for Chromecast output).

 

[Jgeffen]

I'm new on this site and I have read most of this thread because I'm a Chord fan after buying the Chord Qutest DAC, a few months ago. I really love this DAC in combination with my Yamaha A-S2100 amplifier and Revel F208 Speakers. So, I am interested in the Chord Hugo M scaler too, but it seems to me right now, it is not worth the money (4000 euro is a lot of money for any audio device, I think, except loudspeakers). It seems to me that that the M Scaler makes music a little better, but my recent investment in ifi iPurifier and if iPower devices is doing the same for far less money. I really think the M scaler is a nice addition if you can easely afford it, but for others, perhaps I should say 'normal people' it is just too expensive for what you are getting. I can afford it, but I'm very sure my wife would reject this investment, although she loves the Chord Qutest DAC. How about others in this thread, what is your opinion about price-quality?

 

[apmusson]

I'm new on this site and I have read most of this thread because I'm a Chord fan after buying the Chord Qutest DAC, a few months ago. I really love this DAC in combination with my Yamaha A-S2100 amplifier and Revel F208 Speakers. So, I am interested in the Chord Hugo M scaler too, but it seems to me right now, it is not worth the money (4000 euro is a lot of money for any audio device, I think, except loudspeakers). It seems to me that that the M Scaler makes music a little better, but my recent investment in ifi iPurifier and if iPower devices is doing the same for far less money. I really think the M scaler is a nice addition if you can easely afford it, but for others, perhaps I should say 'normal people' it is just too expensive for what you are getting. I can afford it, but I'm very sure my wife would reject this investment, although she loves the Chord Qutest DAC. How about others in this thread, what is your opinion about price-quality?

M Scaler is definitely towards the top end of the audio chain. There is a lot that you can do in most hifi to improve quality but each person has a different start point and value perspective. I do not own speakers and use the Hugo 2 to drive my headphones directly. For me the M scaler is worth it. I have friends who wouldnt think twice about adding £3500 to the cost of their cars for the right paint and accessory pack... and others who would spend £3500 on the whole car. Each to their own.

 

[marcmccalmont]

I'm new on this site and I have read most of this thread because I'm a Chord fan after buying the Chord Qutest DAC, a few months ago. I really love this DAC in combination with my Yamaha A-S2100 amplifier and Revel F208 Speakers. So, I am interested in the Chord Hugo M scaler too, but it seems to me right now, it is not worth the money (4000 euro is a lot of money for any audio device, I think, except loudspeakers). It seems to me that that the M Scaler makes music a little better, but my recent investment in ifi iPurifier and if iPower devices is doing the same for far less money. I really think the M scaler is a nice addition if you can easely afford it, but for others, perhaps I should say 'normal people' it is just too expensive for what you are getting. I can afford it, but I'm very sure my wife would reject this investment, although she loves the Chord Qutest DAC. How about others in this thread, what is your opinion about price-quality?

I can only speak for Blu2, the difference between low medium and high was quite noticeable but the difference between a good source (ProJect CD Box rs + PS / MSB CD IV / Aurender N10) directly into Dave vs Blu2 at 1m taps was a small improvement. I would ask people with good sources to compare them directly connected to their DAC vs 1M taps, not bypass vs 1M taps, just curious?

 

[acordfan]

I'm new on this site and I have read most of this thread because I'm a Chord fan after buying the Chord Qutest DAC, a few months ago. I really love this DAC in combination with my Yamaha A-S2100 amplifier and Revel F208 Speakers. So, I am interested in the Chord Hugo M scaler too, but it seems to me right now, it is not worth the money (4000 euro is a lot of money for any audio device, I think, except loudspeakers). It seems to me that that the M Scaler makes music a little better, but my recent investment in ifi iPurifier and if iPower devices is doing the same for far less money. I really think the M scaler is a nice addition if you can easely afford it, but for others, perhaps I should say 'normal people' it is just too expensive for what you are getting. I can afford it, but I'm very sure my wife would reject this investment, although she loves the Chord Qutest DAC. How about others in this thread, what is your opinion about price-quality?

I bought the M scaler knowing that I'll have the best possible sound quality from my Hugo 2 or future Chord DAC for years or decades to come. Granted I'm using Campfire Andromeda IEM as my reference, which surprised me how well it scales.

 

[AndrewOld]

I'm new on this site and I have read most of this thread because I'm a Chord fan after buying the Chord Qutest DAC, a few months ago. I really love this DAC in combination with my Yamaha A-S2100 amplifier and Revel F208 Speakers. So, I am interested in the Chord Hugo M scaler too, but it seems to me right now, it is not worth the money (4000 euro is a lot of money for any audio device, I think, except loudspeakers). It seems to me that that the M Scaler makes music a little better, but my recent investment in ifi iPurifier and if iPower devices is doing the same for far less money. I really think the M scaler is a nice addition if you can easely afford it, but for others, perhaps I should say 'normal people' it is just too expensive for what you are getting. I can afford it, but I'm very sure my wife would reject this investment, although she loves the Chord Qutest DAC. How about others in this thread, what is your opinion about price-quality?

You wrong. M Scaler makes a huge and profound difference to your music. It makes it more. Massively. Intravenously, profoundly. For what it does to your music and your connection to it, and the reality of it, it is cheap. Chord have done a really good job with the product, and priced it very keenly. It is not remotely comparable to an iPurifier (which I have too btw, but don’t use).

 

[TeediuS]

for those choosing to use optical, why? i read it that that is only upscaling 4x as opposed to 16x (though even without upscaling, the tt2 was sounding amazing)

 

[JaZZ]

The M Scaler upsamples to 705.6 or 768 kHz, that's the 16-fold for recordings with a sampling rate of 44.1 or 48 kHz. Recordings with higher sampling rates get upsampled by a reduced factor: 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz by a factor of 8, 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz recordings by a factor of 4.

Optical, coaxial or USB input doesn't matter.

Edit: Are we talking of the use with a Hugo₂? In this case, apmusson (below) is right: No need to use optical output, the Hugo₂ is capable of dual-data mode, hence full upscaling.

 

[apmusson]

for those choosing to use optical, why? i read it that that is only upscaling 4x as opposed to 16x (though even without upscaling, the tt2 was sounding amazing)

No. Full upscaling. Rob confirmed and I have experienced....

I am using optical for input and dual coax to attach to my Hugo 2. The mscaler takes the input from optical (upto 96/24) and upscale to the max.

 

[Jgeffen]

You wrong. M Scaler makes a huge and profound difference to your music. It makes it more. Massively. Intravenously, profoundly. For what it does to your music and your connection to it, and the reality of it, it is cheap. Chord have done a really good job with the product, and priced it very keenly. It is not remotely comparable to an iPurifier (which I have too btw, but don’t use).

Not according to some others in this thread (little improvements), but if so, I would like to read some magazine reviews first to be convinced.
I hope Hifi News will review it soon.

 

[Jgeffen]

I bought the M scaler knowing that I'll have the best possible sound quality from my Hugo 2 or future Chord DAC for years or decades to come. Granted I'm using Campfire Andromeda IEM as my reference, which surprised me how well it scales.

Thanks for your reply, it will be years, not decades, I assume.

 

[x RELIC x]

for those choosing to use optical, why?

Because optical allows for 100% electrical isolation and should be the reference for quality without electrical noise from the source. Not sure where you read that optical input is only 4x as that is completely inaccurate.

General comment... The source does not need to be up-sampled, and shouldn’t be, for the full M-scaling.

 

[dmance]

No. Full upscaling. Rob confirmed and I have experienced....

I am using optical for input and dual coax to attach to my Hugo 2. The mscaler takes the input from optical (upto 96/24) and upscale to the max.

FYI, hugo2 accepts 24/192 from Toslink ...as does M-Scaler I presume. You just need a usb-to-spdif with the latest xmos u8 chip.