Hugo M Scaler by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[xxx1313]

Is this device suppose to be able to clean up a "wall wart" DC supply? I prefer not to use a battery if possible.

G

I did not try it with wall wart DC supplies, but according to @Ragnar-BY it can:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...official-thread.885042/page-606#post-15295053

And the P8 is a quite good LPS on its own.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

Is this device suppose to be able to clean up a "wall wart" DC supply? I prefer not to use a battery if possible.

It does not matter if it is "wall wart" or battery. Just remember not to exceed 4,5 watts of dissipated power.

For example, I had a P8 with 9V output, regulator set to 7V and opticalRendu consuming 1,1A. It mean that regulator board would dissipate (9V - 7V)*1,1A = 2.2W of heat.
For M Scaler and 15V regulator "wall wart" or battery voltage should be not more than 19V.

 

[Progisus]

I thought there was a zener that blew over 16v to indicate no warranty due to over voltage.

 

[adyc]

Hi @ray-dude,

From ER thread in AS forum, I notice that that you feed NUC i7 directly to Dave. It seems that you bypass Mscaler and use HQPlayer for upsampling. Can you give your comments how HQPlayer’s upsampling compare to Mscaler. So far, we only have Dan’s experience. Would to have more feedbacks.

 

[ray-dude]

I have a HMS here as well, but didn't use it for the EtherRegen experiments I wrote up on AS (I tried to simplify the chain for the EtherRegen experiments...lower complexity and free up various power supplies to try on the ethernet chain). I have a new SoTM TX-USBultra in the mix (another reason I went USB direct instead of DX...playing with the new toy), a new TT2(!), and a new Abyss Phi TC I'm fiddling with as well, so things are a bit upside down right now (Christmas came early this year).

That being said, I find HQPlayer to be excellent, but finicky. Definitely not for civilians. An entire different set of tradeoffs and optimizations to be made, with an infinite number of configurations to play with. HMS does sound different, but too soon to say anything definitively (I'm right in the middle of this stuff right now, including USB direct and DX topologies).

My detour to test different configurations for the EtherRegen is done (great product BTW...definite keeper), and I'm now fiddling with the TXultra, but soon will get back to the DX/RF party with Dan's new toys. Stay tuned...

 

[Ciggavelli]

I have a HMS here as well, but didn't use it for the EtherRegen experiments I wrote up on AS (I tried to simplify the chain for the EtherRegen experiments...lower complexity and free up various power supplies to try on the ethernet chain). I have a new SoTM TX-USBultra in the mix (another reason I went USB direct instead of DX...playing with the new toy), a new TT2(!), and a new Abyss Phi TC I'm fiddling with as well, so things are a bit upside down right now (Christmas came early this year).

That being said, I find HQPlayer to be excellent, but finicky. Definitely not for civilians. An entire different set of tradeoffs and optimizations to be made, with an infinite number of configurations to play with. HMS does sound different, but too soon to say anything definitively (I'm right in the middle of this stuff right now, including USB direct and DX topologies).

My detour to test different configurations for the EtherRegen is done (great product BTW...definite keeper), and I'm now fiddling with the TXultra, but soon will get back to the DX/RF party with Dan's new toys. Stay tuned...

I'm very interested in the TXultra and EtherRegen. I have the ISO Regen, and I was blown away with how much better everything sounds now. I know the ETHER Regen is out of stock until February, but given how good the ISO is, I want to try the Ether. Do you have a link to that review, with the ethernet cables you used?

Also, given that the TXUltra does the same thing the ISO Regen does, I wonder if it is better? Have you compared the two?

 

[ray-dude]

I'm very interested in the TXultra and EtherRegen. I have the ISO Regen, and I was blown away with how much better everything sounds now. I know the ETHER Regen is out of stock until February, but given how good the ISO is, I want to try the Ether. Do you have a link to that review, with the ethernet cables you used?

Also, given that the TXUltra does the same thing the ISO Regen does, I wonder if it is better? Have you compared the two?

Here are links to my EtherRegen write ups (mainly looking at power and cable impact, my listening impressions echo what others are hearing):

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...d-experiments/?do=findComment&comment=1011192
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...d-experiments/?do=findComment&comment=1011228

So far, I'd characterize the TXultra as different than my ISORegen. I have the later tuned right where I want it. It will take a while to see where the TXultra goes, but I'm excited to finally have one in house (I've been wanting one forever).

 

[Ciggavelli]

Here are links to my EtherRegen write ups (mainly looking at power and cable impact, my listening impressions echo what others are hearing):

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...d-experiments/?do=findComment&comment=1011192
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...d-experiments/?do=findComment&comment=1011228

So far, I'd characterize the TXultra as different than my ISORegen. I have the later tuned right where I want it. It will take a while to see where the TXultra goes, but I'm excited to finally have one in house (I've been wanting one forever).

Thanks!

I have that same Dacrown Cat 8 ethernet cable in my setup too. I've been tempted to get the SOtM Cat7 cables, but the money could be used for better upgrades at the moment. So, I'm glad to hear that you rated the Dacrown the best of the inexpensive cables. I wish that UpTone had more LPS1.2 and EtherRegens in stock (both are out of stock until February). But, you're review has got me very curious to see how it improves the sound of my setup.

I'm curious as to what you think of the TXultra too. Please keep us posted

 

[Progisus]

So For the last couple days I had this feeling the sound was a bit lifeless. After changing headphones, iem’s and cables I finally unplugged mscaler for 20 sec. Upon plugging in the life was back. Interesting

 

[Amberlamps]

So For the last couple days I had this feeling the sound was a bit lifeless. After changing headphones, iem’s and cables I finally unplugged mscaler for 20 sec. Upon plugging in the life was back. Interesting

I've noticed that once or twice also, I noticed something just wasn't right, at first I tried changing songs and piddling about with cables and other settings, finally I yanked the power cable out of both my mscaler and tt2, a minute later everything was back to normal and working great.

I suppose it's just like a computer, every now and then they glitch out and need to be rebooted.

 

[musickid]

Even though Ray is at the top of the quest in understanding that which will optimise the digital audio signal path he never forgets those lower down the ladder of knowledge. Any PM i have sent him asking for help has resulted in an extensive long reply. I also discovered the hypnotic sound of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Bravo.

 

[JTbbb]

So For the last couple days I had this feeling the sound was a bit lifeless. After changing headphones, iem’s and cables I finally unplugged mscaler for 20 sec. Upon plugging in the life was back. Interesting

When powered back up did all the settings stay the same?

 

[Progisus]

When powered back up did all the settings stay the same?

Yes they did. Input remained as the one previously chosen (optical - green) and output stayed at the same resolution as the one previously chosen (Max - white).

 

[HumanMedia]

I thought there was a zener that blew over 16v to indicate no warranty due to over voltage.

You are correct, however what Ragnar is doing is using high quality regulators that need a higher voltage input in order to regulate down to the desired voltage. The result is a far cleaner power supply from less clean sources, but you need a higher voltage going into the regulator to achieve this.

 

[SoundeScapes]

For those of you that want to tweak and improve without voiding warranty using a different PSU for your M Scaler:
I know I have issues with RFI (ground loops too?) in my system and have been looking for ways to improve sound
not spending too much and also not voiding warranty.
I ordered this power cable from Clearer Audio, https://www.cleareraudio.com/products/copper-line-alpha-power-cable.
It seems to be a very well made cable and according to spec it's high quality copper, good shielding
and you can order it with 2 "super suppressors" (ferrites) and good Furutech connectors for ~£130.
It's also possible to order shorter lengths which I did (0.6m).

I use it with the stock PSU and I think the improvement equals that of the PSU upgrades I've done previously.
Some of the harshness is gone and there is definitely added depth.
I also think my result aligns well with Rob's comments on the subject recently where he said that it
doesn't matter where in the chain you mitigate RFI. It doesn't have to be in the BNC cables.
That comment was for ground loops though I think which I'm not sure I have since M Scaler only has a 2 prong connector, i.e. no ground.

This cable and a battery pack (Sandstrom 20000mah) for the Qutest has really made my system sound the best I have ever heard so far.
Or rather, they have allowed Qutest and M Scaler to do what they do even better