Hugo M Scaler by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[Reactcore]

-How good is the Hugo 2+Mscaler combo versus the TT2 (have been considering buying a TT2 and adding a Mscaler down the line as an alternative)
-Would adding a Mscaler to Hugo 2 make it impossible to use the 2Go?

I would go for the Mscaler.
The improvement of it is too obvious of what those 1M taps do to the sound.
All sound is much better shaped to my ears.. and i say this after just listening for 1 silly day to it.

Ofcourse u can't just snap in a 2go with H2 and Mscaler without some custom cabling to link them together.

 

[Reactcore]

Nice!

Since you're handy, you may try to explore 1.5m, 3m and 4.5m pairs, enjoying the fun in this hobby!

Thanks, i might try that later on.. but my ears are longing for more musical bliss now

 

[NYanakiev]

I would go for the Mscaler.
The improvement of it is too obvious of what those 1M taps do to the sound.
All sound is much better shaped to my ears.. and i say this after just listening for 1 silly day to it.

Ofcourse u can't just snap in a 2go with H2 and Mscaler without some custom cabling to link them together.

Yeah, certainly not before the 2Yu finally comes out!

 

[Reactcore]

Run.. don't look back.. listening to John Williams 20th anniversary Jurassic Park recordings on 24/96.. I feel the sphere in the concert hall

 

[Uncle Monty]

A quick question on some possible upgrade paths for a current Hugo 2+2Go owner:

-How good is the Hugo 2+Mscaler combo versus the TT2 (have been considering buying a TT2 and adding a Mscaler down the line as an alternative)
-Would adding a Mscaler to Hugo 2 make it impossible to use the 2Go?

I intend to keep on using my Focal Utopia- no fancy speakers to power, unfortunately.

Any words of advice are welcome! Thanks!

I would save up for the DAVE rather than TT2/MS

 

[Reactcore]

I would save up for the DAVE rather than TT2/MS

Still i guess going first for the scaler is wise.. you will like it combined with all dac's.. Dave included. It will bring you closer to the ideal sound faster. And maybe by then Dave's successor will be out.

Now listening to a lossy Mp3 album of The Orb Live '93.. marvelous how this gets reconstructed.. splendid

 

[Progisus]

When I used mscaler with TT1 and H2, I found 500k taps with TT1 had more of an effect then 1m with H2. I feel the synergy with the attached dac is more important than focusing on the 1m taps. The quality of the filter is what is important.

 

[ZappaMan]

Still i guess going first for the scaler is wise.. you will like it combined with all dac's.. Dave included. It will bring you closer to the ideal sound faster. And maybe by then Dave's successor will be out.

Now listening to a lossy Mp3 album of The Orb Live '93.. marvelous how this gets reconstructed.. splendid

I like the adventures beyond the ultra world, it has a great rotating motif through out.

I haven't really researched about that yet, (broke at the moment due to other upgrades) but I did notice that audioquest sells some supposively high end optical cables (Vodka and Diamond) which are available with the mini-toslink termination on one end that I need for my xDuoo X10Tii. I'd be interested to know what people consider to be the "endgamest" optical cable out there, just for future reference.

romaz preferred this one, I’d like to buy it but am put off by the $40 postage...

https://shop.mapleshadestore.com/Clearlink-Optical-Cable_p_1228.html

 

[iamoneagain]

When I used mscaler with TT1 and H2, I found 500k taps with TT1 had more of an effect then 1m with H2. I feel the synergy with the attached dac is more important than focusing on the 1m taps. The quality of the filter is what is important.

Was this comparison with the Utopia’s? I never got to hear the H2 with the mscaler but I don’t think it would fix the shortcomings I found when paired with the Utopia’s, which was mainly a lack of warmth. The mojo type filters took away from the transparency, so I never used them. The Utopia’s sound amazing out of the Dave without the mscaler. The mscaler just improves the realism. So would think maybe with the TT, it was a better match even if not technically as good. I sort of even preferred the original Hugo with the Utopia’s vs the TT2.

 

[bikutoru]

When I used mscaler with TT1 and H2, I found 500k taps with TT1 had more of an effect then 1m with H2. I feel the synergy with the attached dac is more important than focusing on the 1m taps. The quality of the filter is what is important.

I had similar experience.
It is not that MScaler at 1m into TT2 is not noticeable to my ears, it is just way more subtle than when I had MScaler connected to 2Qute at only 500k. It was really more noticeable.

 

[Progisus]

Was this comparison with the Utopia’s? I never got to hear the H2 with the mscaler but I don’t think it would fix the shortcomings I found when paired with the Utopia’s, which was mainly a lack of warmth. The mojo type filters took away from the transparency, so I never used them. The Utopia’s sound amazing out of the Dave without the mscaler. The mscaler just improves the realism. So would think maybe with the TT, it was a better match even if not technically as good. I sort of even preferred the original Hugo with the Utopia’s vs the TT2.

Yes it was with Utopia. All my critical listening at that time was with Utopia. Even without mscaler the Utopia always sounded with more body from the TT and I was very used to the difference. I just found it interesting that the mscaler had a better upgrade to the TT at 500k than to the H2 at 1m.

 

[OM hawk]

romaz preferred this one, I’d like to buy it but am put off by the $40 postage...

https://shop.mapleshadestore.com/Clearlink-Optical-Cable_p_1228.html

Wow! So this is 130 usd, and the reviews on there claim it sounds noticably better than the most expensive Audioquest optical cable. That's awesome if true. I really didn't think I'd be able to find a significantly longer and better sounding optical cable for that amount of money. Fourteen feet! Fortunately managed to scrounge up the cash, and just now placed my order! Thanks for the recommendation, much appreciated.

 

[TheAttorney]

Wow! So this is 130 usd, and the reviews on there claim it sounds noticably better than the most expensive Audioquest optical cable. That's awesome if true. I really didn't think I'd be able to find a significantly longer and better sounding optical cable for that amount of money. Fourteen feet! Fortunately managed to scrounge up the cash, and just now placed my order! Thanks for the recommendation, much appreciated.

A few years back, I compared a variety of optical cables - this was with Yggy DAC before I got the DAVE. Some of the cables were el-cheapo, a couple of Audiquests (Diamond and a mid-range one I can't remember the name of - could have been Vodka) and the Mapleshade. The Diamond and Mapleshade were easily the best sounding, with the Mapleshade sounding a touch clearer and the Diamond a touch warmer. But at around 1/4 of Diamond's price, it was no contest VFM-wise in favour of the Mapleshade.

I only needed <1M length, but the Mapleshade is so thin that's it's easy to loop round (about 1ft diameter) several times and hold the loop in place with a couple of cable ties.

As an aside, even the el-cheapo optical cables sounded better than the best RCA or AES cables I had to hand - in this particular circumstance. Also, the differences between the optical cables were more subtle than when I had compared non-optical cables, but there were some differences nevertheless.

 

[Uncle Monty]

Now listening to a lossy Mp3 album of The Orb Live '93..

The Orb sound great in WAV or FLAC through the DAVE/MS - Ultraworld / UFOrb - very full sound, bass is bone shaking - saw them live myself in '91/'92

 

[Reactcore]

Now listening to Mahler symphony no.6..
Increddible.. in the past i found myself turning up the volume during low level parts of the piece to discern what happends..

Now i can easily make out the play and enjoy the varying dynamics leaving the volume at one setting as it should be.

Guess its time to build further my classical collection