[miketlse]

I had both a usb and optical source connected to the mscaler at the same time but only one playing at any one time. This wouldn't have caused any problems would it?

I did wonder about that when I read your post.
Best to unplug the usb cable when using optical, just to remove the possibility of electrical noise entering the mscaler, and impacting on your assessment of the optical source.
Maybe worrying about nothing, but it is easy to remove the potential risk.

 

[George Hincapie]

What’s the chances of Chord coming up with a Roon endpoint that you could just plug into you DAC or M Scaler? Then you could run Roon core on any convenient server, pc or mac.

There are already a multitude of superb products that fulfill this brief, why does it need to be Chord?

 

[AndrewOld]

There are already a multitude of superb products that fulfill this brief, why does it need to be Chord?

For example?

 

[GreenBow]

I had both a usb and optical source connected to the mscaler at the same time but only one playing at any one time. This wouldn't have caused any problems would it?

I have actually heard that USB in pass through, is better than USB to DAC. Shouldn't be any problems.

I do it all the time with TT2. I have three connections to it permanently. (I don't have M-Scaler.)

 

[ZappaMan]

I have actually heard that USB in pass through, is better than USB to DAC. Shouldn't be any problems.

I do it all the time with TT2. I have three connections to it permanently. (I don't have M-Scaler.)

As soon as you plug the usb into mscaler from your server then they immediately start swapping signals, the plug and play protocols, whereby the server will send power down the usb to power the usb device (which may not be powered itself), so the usb device can identify itself and maybe help to find the drivers.
Then jitterbug allows this initial power handshake but then interjects to prevent it after the handshake is how I understood it.

So even if you can hear it or not, RF from your server will be guided to your other components via the lead.

At least that’s my understanding.

 

[George Hincapie]

For example?

Metrum Acoustics Ambre, dCS Network Bridge, Allo DigiOne Signature, Ultra Rendu, Signature Rendu SE, Micro Rendu, Optical Rendu and more. That's just pure Roon End Points, I'm ignoring servers that can act as both Core and End Point.

 

[Whazzzup]

Like antipodes audio

 

[Amberlamps]

Fantastic stuff, thanks Amberlamps. Will read / digest properly probably over the weekend (it's being a busy week, this one!)

Use case would be: sorting out a NUC instead of getting a Roon Nucleus.

Yeah, A roon nuc is just an actual intel nuc motherboard inside a fanless case. Nothing special or specially made for roon.

You can do the exact same thing and make it crazy powerful like mine and still have change from £800, that includes a nice fanless case or just go for something capable and cheap. Compare it to the cheapest roon nuc, which is £1500 and it goes upto £2500 for the nuc +

A fair bit of saving if you diy, and all you really have to do is clip in 1 or 2 sticks of ram, screw down an M key M.2 ssd, and if you want and which I advise, get a small nuc sized sata ssd for storage and just slide it into position. Takes all of 10 minutes to build it, 5 minutes if you know what your doing. It's Super super easy.

If you buy one from simply nuc, ask them if they can update the uefi/bios to the latest version before they ship it to you, as it will save you the hassle of doing it.

 

[gnomen]

What’s the chances of Chord coming up with a Roon endpoint that you could just plug into you DAC or M Scaler? Then you could run Roon core on any convenient server, pc or mac.

I think this is an excellent suggestion. The market for NUCs is expanding quickly as people realise upstream quality matters. Both Pro-Ject and Stack Link have been released in recent months, at price points near to DIY equivalents and with all the engineering you could wish for given our current state of knowledge. They are competing with long standing options like the microRendu and the SOtM 200 which many on here have championed.

But with all those added products you are paying for additional power supplies, casing, connecting cables etc. Why not add the NUC to the end device in the same box, like Mytek have done with the Brooklyn Bridge? It could then be optimised for the device it is serving and the whole setup would be a lot tidier. In effect Chord have done this with the Poly for their entry-level offering.

Anyone from Chord care to comment?

 

[AndrewOld]

I think this is an excellent suggestion. The market for NUCs is expanding quickly as people realise upstream quality matters. Both Pro-Ject and Stack Link have been released in recent months, at price points near to DIY equivalents and with all the engineering you could wish for given our current state of knowledge. They are competing with long standing options like the microRendu and the SOtM 200 which many on here have championed.

But with all those added products you are paying for additional power supplies, casing, connecting cables etc. Why not add the NUC to the end device in the same box, like Mytek have done with the Brooklyn Bridge? It could then be optimised for the device it is serving and the whole setup would be a lot tidier. In effect Chord have done this with the Poly for their entry-level offering.

Anyone from Chord care to comment?

I agree that putting the renderer in the same box with the DAC could be wonderful, as Linn and Naim notably have been doing for years. But I can’t see Chord doing it, too many products. A single stand alone network bridge with Ethernet and wifi connectivity and whichever of BNC/spdif/toslink//USB gives the best quality would be a good place for them to start. They must have done some of the software work, and learned more than a few lessons, with the Poly. Indeed a network bridge is arguably less complicated than the Poly.

 

[514077]

I think this is an excellent suggestion. The market for NUCs is expanding quickly as people realise upstream quality matters. Both Pro-Ject and Stack Link have been released in recent months, at price points near to DIY equivalents and with all the engineering you could wish for given our current state of knowledge. They are competing with long standing options like the microRendu and the SOtM 200 which many on here have championed.

But with all those added products you are paying for additional power supplies, casing, connecting cables etc. Why not add the NUC to the end device in the same box, like Mytek have done with the Brooklyn Bridge? It could then be optimised for the device it is serving and the whole setup would be a lot tidier. In effect Chord have done this with the Poly for their entry-level offering.

Anyone from Chord care to comment?

To get Chord to comment, simply propose a violation of warranty by interesting modification, and they'll be right there. That's about it.

 

[miketlse]

To get Chord to comment, simply propose a violation of warranty by interesting modification, and they'll be right there. That's about it.

A similar ethos to this post on Facebook about Cunningham's Law.

 

[Amberlamps]

I agree that putting the renderer in the same box with the DAC could be wonderful, as Linn and Naim notably have been doing for years. But I can’t see Chord doing it, too many products. A single stand alone network bridge with Ethernet and wifi connectivity and whichever of BNC/spdif/toslink//USB gives the best quality would be a good place for them to start. They must have done some of the software work, and learned more than a few lessons, with the Poly. Indeed a network bridge is arguably less complicated than the Poly.

Personally, I think Chord should start building mid range all in one solutions. A Dac/server/streamer.

Thats what folk are wanting, things like that and there is no need to make it uber expensive, just tweak hugo 2 and stick it in a single case with 2go and scale it up a little, and then sell for sub 3k.

I wouldn't be surprised if something like that became your best seller. As that's what alot of folk want nowadays. To stay out of that market for an audio company in this day and age is weird. Granted there is mojo and poly and hugo 2 and soon to be 2go, but thats where it stops, it stops at the mobile / portable crowd.

If I was the boss of a company like Chord, I would be all over the all in one streamer / server market. Low end, mid range and high end. And the market is going to just get bigger, as thats what a hell of alot of folk want nowadays, a device where all there music and subscriptions are stored and which can sit in the living room and stream to phones, speakers, ipads etc etc etc.

In another story, I'm not liking My Aeon Flow Closed headphones that I just got a few hours ago, I thought my HD800S lacked bass lol, compared to the Aeons, the HD800S are like a pair of beats.

£700, who wants to buy a brand new pair of Mr Speakers Aeon Flow Closed headphones, as I can never see myself liking these compared to my HD800S, which in my opinion are in a completely different league to the Aeons, and rightly so.

Not upset, just sad as I thought I would of fallen in love with them from the minute I put them on, but from the microphonic cable that bugs you every time you turn your head, to the small'ish earpads which are starting to hurt my ears, and to the trebly high and bright sound with no bass. Oh and they feel too tight.

But they are good at details, noticing things in some songs that I've never heard like that before, so thats a plus, oh and good isolation.

 

[ZappaMan]

Personally, I think Chord should start building mid range all in one solutions. A Dac/server/streamer.

Thats what folk are wanting, things like that and there is no need to make it uber expensive, just tweak hugo 2 and stick it in a single case with 2go and scale it up a little, and then sell for sub 3k.

I wouldn't be surprised if something like that became your best seller. As that's what alot of folk want nowadays. To stay out of that market for an audio company in this day and age is weird. Granted there is mojo and poly and hugo 2 and soon to be 2go, but thats where it stops, it stops at the mobile / portable crowd.

If I was the boss of a company like Chord, I would be all over the all in one streamer / server market. Low end, mid range and high end. And the market is going to just get bigger, as thats what a hell of alot of folk want nowadays, a device where all there music and subscriptions are stored and which can sit in the living room and stream to phones, speakers, ipads etc etc etc.

In another story, I'm not liking My Aeon Flow Closed headphones that I just got a few hours ago, I thought my HD800S lacked bass lol, compared to the Aeons, the HD800S are like a pair of beats.

£700, who wants to buy a brand new pair of Mr Speakers Aeon Flow Closed headphones, as I can never see myself liking these compared to my HD800S, which in my opinion are in a completely different league to the Aeons, and rightly so.

Not upset, just sad as I thought I would of fallen in love with them from the minute I put them on, but from the microphonic cable that bugs you every time you turn your head, to the small'ish earpads which are starting to hurt my ears, and to the trebly high and bright sound with no bass. Oh and they feel too tight.

But they are good at details, noticing things in some songs that I've never heard like that before, so thats a plus, oh and good isolation.

Maybe ask about BURN IN time in the aeon closed thread.

 

[miketlse]

I think part of the explanation regarding the Aeons is in this post by Rob Watts.
Many other headphones have the bass notes padded out by distortion.
The Aeons do not introduce similar distortion, so naturally tend to sound bass light in comparison.
My pair sounded not quite right on day one, but improved after that.