[koven]

I think most like me who have combined with DAVE already had one.

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. If anyone is still going for DAVE now that TT2 is out.

 

[audio_1]

I sent an email to Qobuz support regarding slomo playback using Chords Asio 1.05 driver. I didn’t get any meaningful reply back. That was 2 weeks ago.

I also beeped @Matt Bartlett to bring the Qobuz and Chord Asio 1.05 driver problem to Chords attention

I'll contact Qobuz and Chord as well. The more people that highlight the problem, the more likely that it will be fixed.

 

[Mikey99]

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. If anyone is still going for DAVE now that TT2 is out.

If I were starting from scratch I would really think about HMS+TT2 vs HMS+Dave+Amp. My headphones are harder to drive so Dave alone is not quite enough, whereas I likely wouldn’t need the extra amp with the TT2. Others have commented that the Dave combination sounds better overall, but I don't know if the difference would be worth the price if you need the extra amp. I will give the TT2 combo a listen once one arrives at my dealer.

 

[AndrewOld]

Anyone pairing their Mscaler with DAVE? Seems like most people are going w/ the TT2.

Me.

 

[Triode User]

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. If anyone is still going for DAVE now that TT2 is out.

Dave is sonically superior to TT2 and so I am sure there is still a healthy market for Dave when bought with either Blu2 or HMS.

Edit, I did think about getting TT2 to drive speakers direct but decided to stay with Dave and separate amps so I could keep the quality of Dave.

 

[FangJoker]

I'm pretty close to upgrading from the H2 to the HTT2 and HMS even though I mostly use CIEMs. I use full sized headphones only when my neck feels really good as heavy headphones makes my chronic neck and shoulder pain worse. I've thought about getting a reclining chair in my home office so that I would put less pressure on my neck and going to a mac mini w/Roon system and just lay back and enjoy music.

 

[Triode User]

Is Optical the ultimate input to the Hugo MScaler?

The received wisdom is that optical is the best input because it isolates RF noise from getting into the HMS through the input.

BUT, what if it is possible to get a completely noise free USB input is it not possible then that the slight noise introduced by the optical transducer itself in the HMS might mean that in my scenario that is worse than my theoretically totally clean USB input?

I am assuming in this that the optical transducer might generate a small amount of noise. No doubt some would say it is so small as not to be important or that there are isolating circuits to take it out but isolating circuits are not always perfect and we are also seeing more and more that even small noise can be important.

Thoughts?

 

[Mikey99]

Is Optical the ultimate input to the Hugo MScaler?

The received wisdom is that optical is the best input because it isolates RF noise from getting into the HMS through the input.

BUT, what if it is possible to get a completely noise free USB input is it not possible then that the slight noise introduced by the optical transducer itself in the HMS might mean that in my scenario that is worse than my theoretically totally clean USB input?

I am assuming in this that the optical transducer might generate a small amount of noise. No doubt some would say it is so small as not to be important or that there are isolating circuits to take it out but isolating circuits are not always perfect and we are also seeing more and more that even small noise can be important.

Thoughts?

I may be wrong, but I thought an optical interface is simpler than a USB interface. So on balance IF such a thing makes a difference then with equally clean inputs an optical input may still be better.

I use optical. While I have not yet done critical comparison to USB so can’t rule out placebo effect, It does sound better to me.

 

[Crgreen]

Is Optical the ultimate input to the Hugo MScaler?

The received wisdom is that optical is the best input because it isolates RF noise from getting into the HMS through the input.

BUT, what if it is possible to get a completely noise free USB input is it not possible then that the slight noise introduced by the optical transducer itself in the HMS might mean that in my scenario that is worse than my theoretically totally clean USB input?

I am assuming in this that the optical transducer might generate a small amount of noise. No doubt some would say it is so small as not to be important or that there are isolating circuits to take it out but isolating circuits are not always perfect and we are also seeing more and more that even small noise can be important.

Thoughts?

In principle, you’re right about optical. In my experience, it’s also true in practice. As you know I use an electrical to optical convertor to feed red book CDs to my Dave. There is clear improvement in sound quality from using the supplied wall-wart power supply to a battery power supply, which I can only attribute to less electrical noise in the transducer circuit.

 

[AndrewOld]

.. but with USB the M Scaler owns the clock, whereas with optical the M Scaler is at the mercy of the clock in the data stream ...

 

[STR-1]

Is Optical the ultimate input to the Hugo MScaler?

The received wisdom is that optical is the best input because it isolates RF noise from getting into the HMS through the input.

BUT, what if it is possible to get a completely noise free USB input is it not possible then that the slight noise introduced by the optical transducer itself in the HMS might mean that in my scenario that is worse than my theoretically totally clean USB input?

I am assuming in this that the optical transducer might generate a small amount of noise. No doubt some would say it is so small as not to be important or that there are isolating circuits to take it out but isolating circuits are not always perfect and we are also seeing more and more that even small noise can be important.

Thoughts?

Also the transducer at the other end? The quality of the optical source (software/hardware) must surely matter for sound quality. I cannot back this up with technical argument, just a gut feel that that is just the way things are.

That said, I’ve chosen to use my AK 380 (via optical) as source while comparing the power cables I currently have on loan for the DAVE.

 

[musickid]

My dealer offers 100% trade in Greenbow. That was the only way i could afford HMS and a possible TT2 against H2 in the future.

 

[Triode User]

My dealer offers 100% trade in Greenbow. That was the only way i could afford HMS and a possible TT2 against H2 in the future.

Is that 100% of current retail price offered to you as trade in value? Presumably that is for recently bought kit, ie you would not get 100% of new retail cost for a 3 year old TT1? or would you?

 

[musickid]

I got 100% full retail price off everything. One item was a 2 year old beyerdynamic headphone for eg. Nintronics are unmatched here and enable the "smaller fish" to remain in the upgrade path.

 

[Nik74]

I got 100% full retail price off everything. One item was a 2 year old beyerdynamic headphone for eg. Nintronics are unmatched here and enable the "smaller fish" to remain in the upgrade path.

take me to your dealer