Hugo M Scaler by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[jarnopp]

Thanks for the tip! Looks very nice. Will buy it with the Roon Nucleus if the ”little box” we have been talking about does not materialize in time. Some coax interconnects from the drawer might find something to do. Nice touch with the ”native” outputs to HMS avoiding unneccesary upscaling ahead of the champion.

If you have an endpoint that is Roon ready (RAAT) and has optical out, do you need the dedicated, fanless, quiet etc. of something like a Nucleus. Wouldn’t any Roon core sound the same if it has enough processing speed to run and transmit your music to the endpoint and then optical from that to the dac?

Edit: typos

 

[AndrewOld]

Andrew, it doesn't have a DAC.

For many (and me) the CD ripping and internal storage in the Zenith is an easy one box solution although as you say will not be needed by all. The squeezebox implementation within Roon with the Innuos servers allowing playing from RAM is also a real attraction for me.

Right enough, I confused the zenith mk3 with the zen mk3. I am sure Chord could make a better roon endpoint than the zenith mk3 for a lot less than £3.4k. A roon endpoint need only accept some data from the network and pass it by usb or spdif to the DAC. It would be inherently very low noise and simple. Like a simplified Poly. Once you start adding cd ripping, disc drives, processor, Roon Core the thing gets noisy and expensive and it gets even more expensive to make it quiet again! And I finished with ripping years ago. I can understand the convenience for some people though, but I’d rather have the option of putting my Roon Core somewhere else on my network. Then there would be no need to spend £3.4k on a 1TB pc.

 

[AndrewOld]

If you have an endpoint that is Roon ready (RAAT) and has optical out, do you need the dedicated, fanless, quiet etc. of something like a Nucleus. Wouldn’t any Roon core sound the same if it has enough processing speed to run and transmit your music to the endpoint and then optical from that to the dac?

Edit: typos

That’s what I’m trying to argue for A simple roon endpoint, utterly disconnected from the Core, so utterly uninfluenced by it.

 

[jarnopp]

That’s what I’m trying to argue for A simple roon endpoint, utterly disconnected from the Core, so utterly uninfluenced by it.

Yes, I think Chord could build a unit based on the Poly chipset that would offer a few additional features, such as optical out in addition to USB, and the ability to power from mains or internal battery (for critical listening) via a switch (or likely a colored ball setting). So, while the Elac unit I mentioned above is $399, and Poly is already almost twice that, I think the Chord version would come in at over $1000, but would probably be really nice. John, I’m willing to be a tester for this unit!

 

[Progisus]

It's more than likely been discussed before but a PI3 with Ropieee works great as a disconnected end point. If you use wifi as the connection instead of ethernet cable you will eliminate the noise generation on the usb ports. Changing to wifi totally eliminate the noise problems I was having. A Chord unit would surely be even quieter and of course look fantastic. I wonder if it is possible to get a custom cable that would allow the Poly to be connected as an end point to other. Does Poly really need the Mojo for it's operation? Maybe add the feature to 2GO?

 

[AndrewOld]

Yes, I think Chord could build a unit based on the Poly chipset that would offer a few additional features, such as optical out in addition to USB, and the ability to power from mains or internal battery (for critical listening) via a switch (or likely a colored ball setting). So, while the Elac unit I mentioned above is $399, and Poly is already almost twice that, I think the Chord version would come in at over $1000, but would probably be really nice. John, I’m willing to be a tester for this unit!

That Elac is an interesting unit, the kind of thing I was thinking about. Can’t seem to find an online supplier in the UK or Europe. Any ideas?

 

[rkt31]

my query to rob, does pass through mode work even when m scaler is not on ? if not does that mean m scaler still processing,cleaning, reclocking and -3db reduction to the 44.1/48khz data in pass through mode ? also do both bnc out output identical data at highest rate ?

 

[jarnopp]

That Elac is an interesting unit, the kind of thing I was thinking about. Can’t seem to find an online supplier in the UK or Europe. Any ideas?

Their dealer located show Premium Sound :
https://premiumsound.co.uk/brands/elac/

I’d contact them first, then Elac if they can’t help. Took a while after the announcement before it was available in the US. But what the heck, still waiting for TT2 here anyway!

 

[Jan Tage Holmber]

If you have an endpoint that is Roon ready (RAAT) and has optical out, do you need the dedicated, fanless, quiet etc. of something like a Nucleus. Wouldn’t any Roon core sound the same if it has enough processing speed to run and transmit your music to the endpoint and then optical from that to the dac?

Edit: typos[/QUOT
Instead of spending money on a Roon endpoint (the Nucleus originally planned to be connected by ethernet cable to the router in the office and transmitting wirelessly to the music corner in the living room) I wonder if it wouldn't be simpler to have the Roon Nucleus behind my chair in the music corner connected by ethernet cable to an AirPort Express and by USB cable to HMS.
After all the web connection of Roon Nucleus is used for streaming from Tidal (and Qobuz when available) and for upgrades. My WiFi where the router is gives me 150-200 Mbps and in the music corner 100 Mbps. Would it be enough for breaking the rule of direct connection to the router without penalty?

 

[Rob Watts]

my query to rob, does pass through mode work even when m scaler is not on ? if not does that mean m scaler still processing,cleaning, reclocking and -3db reduction to the 44.1/48khz data in pass through mode ? also do both bnc out output identical data at highest rate ?

Sure, it must be on. The intent is to let you hear the effect of the M scaler with everything else being equal.

 

[rkt31]

thanks rob !

 

[koven]

If you have an endpoint that is Roon ready (RAAT) and has optical out, do you need the dedicated, fanless, quiet etc. of something like a Nucleus. Wouldn’t any Roon core sound the same if it has enough processing speed to run and transmit your music to the endpoint and then optical from that to the dac?

Edit: typos

I was skeptical until I tried a better Roon core. I had a laptop core w/ Aries endpoint for a long time. It was pretty good but I think the Zenith is amazing.

 

[Lgn3]

I was skeptical until I tried a better Roon core. I had a laptop core w/ Aries endpoint for a long time. It was pretty good but I think the Zenith is amazing.

Out of interest are you playing direct from Zenith into HMS or via Aries as some seem to do ? I have read claims that SQ is improved Zenith - Aries - HMS. I am considering Zenith III or Aries G1 less for Roon which i am not signed up to but for playing local files presently. stored on a USB HDD.

 

[PJDubyaM]

my excellent top album recommendation of the month of October goes to: Blue Maqams, from Anouar Brahem, melding relaxing jazz and north african rythms and guitar stuff. has a really satisfying grove. I can picture a tent load of jazz artists from the 20's all high on weed, can barely keep their eyes open, but can't let go either.

Gave this a try last night via Qobuz. Loving it! Thanks for the recommendation. I think it's pretty much on the edge of my taste (much further into 'actual jazz', and it'd stop being my cup of tea), but really enjoying it. Listening to it whilst I type this!

 

[ZappaMan]

Gave this a try last night via Qobuz. Loving it! Thanks for the recommendation. I think it's pretty much on the edge of my taste (much further into 'actual jazz', and it'd stop being my cup of tea), but really enjoying it. Listening to it whilst I type this!

Great! Did you share my visualisation?

I can really recommend - The astounding eyes of Rita, listening to it now In work. Se846 + mojo poly - just unreal - the timbre of all those Near Eastern instruments and soft humming type singing - not sure things get much more immersive then this (whilst getting paid).