[AndrewOld]

Andrew as below.
Source is JRiver 24 on a Lenovo Windows 10 laptop. JRiver creates sine wave calibration files at 64-bit resolution and then dithers them down to 24-bit WAV files at 96khz sample rate - I set dither to TPDF.
My USB->SPDIF converter is this.
Audio Precision APx525 (Series A) Version 4.5 Software
Signal path for image#1: LAPTOP->USB->TOSLINK->HMS->TOSLINK ->APX (Input to Digital Optical)
Signal path for image#2: LAPTOP->USB->HMS->TOSLINK->APX (Input to Digital Optical)
FFT is 96k sample length, AP-EQUIRIPPLE Window and with 8 sample averaging
HMS was set to red (bypass mode)

Thank you. I hope @Rob Watts will comment on the apparent hf noise. Can you find where you read that Rob says MScaler sounds best with Toslink.

 

[dmance]

Thank you. Can you find where you read that Rob says MScaler sounds best with Toslink.

Andrew - I must read 20-30 HeadFi posts daily and have seen the words 'Rob' and 'optical' and 'preferred' in the same sentence many times. Here is a scattering of results from my searches:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...-official-thread.885042/page-30#post-14411376
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-dave.766517/page-772#post-14363040
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-hugo.702787/page-355#post-10653506

 

[iDesign]

Can someone show me where @Rob Watts encouraged everyone to stop having original ideas? It’s fascinating seeing Chord owner’s obsession with citing his posts and needing to have everything validated by him.

 

[AndrewOld]

Andrew - I must read 20-30 HeadFi posts daily and have seen the words 'Rob' and 'optical' and 'preferred' in the same sentence many times. Here is a scattering of results from my searches:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...-official-thread.885042/page-30#post-14411376
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-dave.766517/page-772#post-14363040
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-hugo.702787/page-355#post-10653506

You claimed that Rob said that optical sounds better on the M Scaler. The links you provide do not substantiate that. In the first which he says that for the DAVE "optical will sound the best". In another he says "Hugo 2 USB sounds the same as optical". In the third there is no quote from Rob, just from someone who thinks he has heard him say the same as you. Nothing to do with the M Scaler.

On the other hand, in the quote I linked to earlier, he says "With the M scaler and Dave on the pre-production prototype M scaler I could hear no consistent change from using USB or optical - but YMMV depending upon your source."

Here is another quote which does not fit your claim (though it is about the DAVE)

The technical reasons between optical and USB is that optical has complete RF isolation - matched with USB when fed via a lap-top in battery mode and no ground connection - but USB has slightly better timing as the source clock is Dave's local clock, so no re-timing issues via USB.Rob

and another

Actually we are talking tiny differences - a battery powered lap-top via USB sonically is as good as optical, plus USB handles everything. When I do critical listening I pull out the power on my lap-top - but the difference is so small it's something I do not bother with when actually listening to music.

So once again I ask you to please substantiate your claim that Rob says optical sounds better on the M Scaler. Note I am specifying the M Scaler, not a Hugo or a Mojo where there may be other issues.

 

[dmance]

@AndrewOld

Whoa there... MScaler is a digital to digital device. Bits in, bits out. It has no sound. True: only when there is a final conversion to analog output can what you ask be quantified. I made the assumption that Rob's FPGA logic was portable across MScaler and his DACs. Perhaps not. I've edited my post.

 

[514077]

Thank you for the note. But before I leave you should know that what you're proposing is not only unscientific, but perhaps anti-scientific. We can't prove a negative with science, but the lack of a substantial positive claim in this case makes any investment pretty pointless imo.

Bored. Blocking. Sick of the words 'blind test'.

 

[514077]

Can someone show me where @Rob Watts encouraged everyone to stop having original ideas? It’s fascinating seeing Chord owner’s obsession with citing his posts and needing to have everything validated by him.

I concur. There are some comparisons btw PCM and DSD I have made, wherein DSD comes in first for me. Just as I'll continue to use USB, and use high resolution content over RBCD, if I so choose. My ears tell me what I like, not anyone else or preconceived notions on this or any other thread.
Even Ted Smith of PSA said in an interview, that the math doesn't make sence, but DSD has something about it. (loosely quoted) So, I enjoy Rob's DACs, and what he shares with us. But, make up one's own minds.

 

[AndrewOld]

I concur. There are some comparisons btw PCM and DSD I have made, wherein DSD comes in first for me. Just as I'll continue to use USB, and use high resolution content over RBCD, if I so choose. My ears tell me what I like, not anyone else or preconceived notions on this or any other thread.
Even Ted Smith of PSA said in an interview, that the math doesn't make sence, but DSD has something about it. (loosely quoted) So, I enjoy Rob's DACs, and what he shares with us. But, make up one's own minds.

People are welcome to do what they like and believe what they like and say what they like. But when they claim that Rob Watts has said something that I can’t recall him saying them I will ask them to substantiate their claim with a link. If they can’t, then I expect them to withdraw the claim.

 

[thomaskong78]

Mscaler has a rather simple power supply.

If you connect it to Isolation transformer, the sound get more round with less edge.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R5CDG8O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can try above inexpensive one.

Thomas

 

[rkt31]

Did anybody give a try to cheap ifi dc purifier with power supply ? I tried it yesterday. It improved depth and details. I could listen deeper into the soundstage, vocals became more rounded at the same time. Ifi dc purifier got warm but not too much even after more than one hour. To me it's worth a try considering the cost.

 

[musickid]

Third party power supplies void the warranty. Those that replace the stock SMPS.

 

[rkt31]

Ifi dc purifier fits in between the existing power supply and m scaler. It does not have it's own power. It cleans the incoming dc power and outputs it. Only thing wether it is able to take that much power or not. Since it is rated around 80w and does not get hot , it seems it is able to deal with the required current while cleaning the incoming power.

 

[Triode User]

Ifi dc purifier fits in between the existing power supply and m scaler. It does not have it's own power. It cleans the incoming dc power and outputs it. Only thing wether it is able to take that much power or not. Since it is rated around 80w and does not get hot , it seems it is able to deal with the required current while cleaning the incoming power.

MScaler has a very low power consumption. Maybe only about 15% to 20% of the 80w that you mention.

 

[PANURUS]

Did anybody give a try to cheap ifi dc purifier with power supply ? I tried it yesterday. It improved depth and details. I could listen deeper into the soundstage, vocals became more rounded at the same time. Ifi dc purifier got warm but not too much even after more than one hour. To me it's worth a try considering the cost.

I put some ferrites on the 220v cable of the power supply and on the dc cable for the same result.
Remark : I use bnc twisted cables between the scaler and the Dave. If I put ferrites on this cable, I have not the same result then with coax cables.
Like Rob with snap on ferrite on coax cable, the quality is reduced.
With my twisted bnc cable, with or without ferrites, it is the same.
Edit:
So, my ferrites jump from my bnc cables toward the cables on the power supply.

 

[rkt31]

I put some ferrites on the 220v cable of the power supply and on the dc cable for the same result.
Remark : I use bnc twisted cables between the scaler and the Dave. If I put ferrites on this cable, I have not the same result then with coax cables.
Like Rob with snap on ferrite on coax cable, the quality is reduced.
With my twisted bnc cable, with or without ferrites, it is the same.

Imho there is no harm in using cheap ferrites in power cable on ac or dc side but on digital ( rca or bnc coaxial)analog signal cable( rca interconnect ) ferrite can have affect which generally is not positive. On analog cable there is clear high frequency degradation and loss of detail. On digital the effect is not that obvious but still too many ferrites in digital cable make music unnaturally soft and anemic . I prefer only one or two ferrite on digital cable at the most or better i wrap the digital cable with copper tape for more insulation from emi/rfi. I also used a number of ferrites( 15 to 20) on power cable of m scaler and still got some improvement with ifi dc purifier. Though improvement is not huge as SMPS is already so good but still it is worth for the asking price of ifi dc purifier.