[TheAttorney]

Actually when it turns to white, there is no sound output at all

The Blue light (around 176khz output) should work on any single cable and is more than enough to give a flavour of what the HMS can do.
If you get the blue light, but still can't notice the difference against red light (pass through), then try a better cable (from HMS to DAC).
If there's no change with a better cable, or you don't have one to try, then maybe re-consider if the HMS is right for you at this point in your hifi journey?

Not everyone immediately hears the HMS benefits - and that included me at one stage (actually, I always heard a change, but wasn't always wowed by it)

 

[BPED]

I am currently using a Sean Jacobs (Custom HiFi Cables) DC3 LPS 15v power supply to good effect with the Mscaler. I am also trialing a much cheaper medical grade 15v SMPS to quite good effect with the Mscaler.

Do not EVER use a supply with greater than 15v because you will blow the over voltage device in the Mscaler. I also suggest not trusting suppliers to tell the truth about the output voltage of their after market supplies, some are over voltage. Check them before use.

Better to use 12v (HMS works with 12v) rather than risk blowing your mscaler.

Many use a PowerAdd PilotPro2 battery on its 12v setting (its 16v would blow the Mscaler).

I just realized that unfortunately the power output cable of the SPS 500 is not compatible with the power plug of the MScaler... not feasible it seems..

 

[alxw0w]

Hello Fellow Mscaler Owners, I got today a new chord m-scaler, connected to my existing Audiogd R2r-2 dac, using spdif out to coaxial input. Budget constraints prevented me to buy chord tt2 right now, wanted to test mscaler with my existing dac hence bought the m scaler first.
Back to my actual concern, after m-scaler in my chain, i am not able to listen to any difference , low,medium,high upsampling sounds same to me. Curious as to what is missing or doing wrong here.

To elaborate i have euphony running on an i7-laptop which is running via battery, -> MScaler(USB Input)- > AudioGD-R2R-2 (Coaxial input)-> LDR Preamp-> 2a3 Mono Amps->Openbaffle speakers.
I also notice a red light in DX-OP. which is consistent, do not understand what it means.
Suggestions please.

Rakesh.

Coax on agd can do only 192 so you are at 1/4 of the upscaling.
Anyway you should be able to hear some of the changes already. Decay is more "visible" bass notes sound different. They are more like dry and have better resolution. Sound more analog like I gues ? Also vocals have more authority and overall sound feels "bigger". It's hard to explain.
At least that is what I heard when pairing m scaler with hugo tt (1st one) or with mojo and setting upscaling to blue ball.

Maybe audio gd stuff isn't transparent enough ? Some time ago I had couple of agd dacs (r2r1, r211, r28...), and no offence but currently I wouldn't get them even for free. :/
So better save up some money and go for TT2 and then think of m scaler.

Oh one more thing. When evaluating m scaler try to listen to music for couple of days with upsampling on.
Then engage pass through mode, and listen again. That should give you the answer

 

[Progisus]

I suggest returning the mscaler and upgrading to a TT2. I feel you will get way more bang for your buck with your equipment.

 

[kelly200269]

Hello Fellow Mscaler Owners, I got today a new chord m-scaler, connected to my existing Audiogd R2r-2 dac, using spdif out to coaxial input. Budget constraints prevented me to buy chord tt2 right now, wanted to test mscaler with my existing dac hence bought the m scaler first.
Back to my actual concern, after m-scaler in my chain, i am not able to listen to any difference , low,medium,high upsampling sounds same to me. Curious as to what is missing or doing wrong here.

To elaborate i have euphony running on an i7-laptop which is running via battery, -> MScaler(USB Input)- > AudioGD-R2R-2 (Coaxial input)-> LDR Preamp-> 2a3 Mono Amps->Openbaffle speakers.
I also notice a red light in DX-OP. which is consistent, do not understand what it means.
Suggestions please.

Rakesh.

The HMS ‘doesn’t do well’ in quick A-B comparisons. But as has already been said, leave it ‘in the chain’ for a while, and there’s no going back.
I’ve used the TOSLINK output of HMS (max 192/176) into my Esoteric K-01X with great results.

 

[Glossator]

Have you tried using a battery in the RX (receive end) how does this compare with the Farad? Or is the Farad clearly better and more convenient. Did you try other power supplies with the Opto?

There seem to be a fair number of Opto users out there and not much collective knowledge, is there a discussion thread anywhere dedicated to the Opto? Or is this MScaler and the Dave thread it?

I went a bit up-hill-and-down-dale on this. I started off using a Sean Jacobs DC3 to power the HMS and both sides of the Opto DX bridge - not a good idea at all. Then I experimented using the DC3, stock HMS PSU, and Krisdonia battery in various combinations. As result of this experiments Sean very patiently split the DC3 into two separate DC3s (one for the Opto DX receiver and the other for the Opto DX transmitter and the HMS - with a 5m optical cable for the bridge) and swapped out the transformers to completely eliminate what had been an annoying hum. My ears had not the slightest hesitation sonically (i.e. battery hassle apart - and despite being cautious about not paying due regard to Dan's clear recommendations otherwise) preferring the DC3s (power at both end of the optical bridge matters). The end result is quite amazing (the only problem, which I think is now virtually sorted, is drop outs using the longer optical cable). Sean, by the way, merits an unqualified recommendation - he is great to deal with, incredibly responsive and constructive. I know that both ears and electrical environments vary so please take with a pinch of salt - but I hope helps a little ...

 

[ZappaMan]

I went a bit up-hill-and-down-dale on this. I started off using a Sean Jacobs DC3 to power the HMS and both sides of the Opto DX bridge - not a good idea at all. Then I experimented using the DC3, stock HMS PSU, and Krisdonia battery in various combinations. As result of this experiments Sean very patiently split the DC3 into two separate DC3s (one for the Opto DX receiver and the other for the Opto DX transmitter and the HMS - with a 5m optical cable for the bridge) and swapped out the transformers to completely eliminate what had been an annoying hum. My ears had not the slightest hesitation sonically (i.e. battery hassle apart - and despite being cautious about not paying due regard to Dan's clear recommendations otherwise) preferring the DC3s (power at both end of the optical bridge matters). The end result is quite amazing (the only problem, which I think is now virtually sorted, is drop outs using the longer optical cable). Sean, by the way, merits an unqualified recommendation - he is great to deal with, incredibly responsive and constructive. I know that both ears and electrical environments vary so please take with a pinch of salt - but I hope helps a little ...

sorry, could you explain a bit more plz.

 

[jrakesh]

I think that the coax will output 384 kHz for white but his audiogd dac only handles 192 kHz, hence he should use blue.

Yes, i am at blue mode. switching thru red,green and blue i do not notice any difference at all in sound quality.

 

[jrakesh]

double post, hence edited

 

[jrakesh]

The HMS ‘doesn’t do well’ in quick A-B comparisons. But as has already been said, leave it ‘in the chain’ for a while, and there’s no going back.
I’ve used the TOSLINK output of HMS (max 192/176) into my Esoteric K-01X with great results.

Will keep it in the chain and playfor couple more days, before making any decision.

 

[hmartin]

Yes, i am at blue mode. switching thru red,green and blue i do not notice any difference at all in sound quality.

For me even the first step red to green is big (44.1 -> 176.4), more natural sound e.g. analog. But my experience is that Robs dacs grow on you, as already pointed out by others. The real test is when you remove it after getting used to it.

 

[audio_1]

Have you tried using a battery in the RX (receive end) how does this compare with the Farad? Or is the Farad clearly better and more convenient. Did you try other power supplies with the Opto?

There seem to be a fair number of Opto users out there and not much collective knowledge, is there a discussion thread anywhere dedicated to the Opto? Or is this MScaler and the Dave thread it?

I Initially used a 33 Ah gel battery. I used to charge this about once a week. After doing a lot of research, I decided to purchase the Farad Super3. It is a definite improvement over the gel battery. Note that mains power should only be used with separate electrical circuits for the Dave and Blu 2. I installed separate circuits for the analog and digital parts of my system. The Heisenberg amps and Dave, are on one circuit, the Blu 2 and intel NUC running Roon are on a separate circuit. Separate MCBs were installed in the consumer unit. The circuits were also physically separated in the attic. I also took the opportunity to separate the digital and analogue parts of my system. The digital components are at the side of the listening room the Dave is between the Heisenberg amps and the speakers at the front. The greatest advantage of the Opto-DX for me as well as the sound quality improvements is that it allowed moving the digital source components to the side of the room.

Replacing the supplied BNC cables on the Opto-DX TX with 2 x 1.2 metre Oyaide DB-510 BNC digital cables was a greater upgrade than the Farad Super3. I will still probably upgrade the ifi iPower on the TX side also with Farad Super3.

The Opto-DX removed all traces of fatigue inducing brightness from my system. If anything the sound is too smooth.

 

[audio_1]

I went a bit up-hill-and-down-dale on this. I started off using a Sean Jacobs DC3 to power the HMS and both sides of the Opto DX bridge - not a good idea at all. Then I experimented using the DC3, stock HMS PSU, and Krisdonia battery in various combinations. As result of this experiments Sean very patiently split the DC3 into two separate DC3s (one for the Opto DX receiver and the other for the Opto DX transmitter and the HMS - with a 5m optical cable for the bridge) and swapped out the transformers to completely eliminate what had been an annoying hum. My ears had not the slightest hesitation sonically (i.e. battery hassle apart - and despite being cautious about not paying due regard to Dan's clear recommendations otherwise) preferring the DC3s (power at both end of the optical bridge matters). The end result is quite amazing (the only problem, which I think is now virtually sorted, is drop outs using the longer optical cable). Sean, by the way, merits an unqualified recommendation - he is great to deal with, incredibly responsive and constructive. I know that both ears and electrical environments vary so please take with a pinch of salt - but I hope helps a little ...

Initially I got the occasional dropout with the Opto-DX using 3 metre optical cables when changing source sample rates, i.e. from a 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz track on Qobuz. Replacing the original Opto-DX BNC cables on the TX side with Oyaide DB-510 BNC virtually solved this issue. I have always used Oyaide DB-510 BNC on the RX side. There have been no dropouts since getting the Farad Super3 power supply for the RX side.

 

[Glossator]

sorry, could you explain a bit more plz.

Happy to ... but not sure what bit needs explaining? Sorry, if it should be obvious.

 

[ZappaMan]

Happy to ... but not sure what bit needs explaining? Sorry, if it should be obvious.

Lol, just, you know...

No seriously, I don’t understand this power supply and why the reference to 5m cable. Maybe through a few pictures in and just describe the difference between battery powered and custom power source.
Also dan says not to create a bridge between receiver and transmitter but it sounds like you’ve done that by sharing 1 custom power source between them?

throw in a few photos too lol