[Gadget67]

Exactly my thoughts too, when I saw the picture? The DAC and Mscaler should never be stacked imho. For 2 reasons, RFI and heat. I believe that some type of footers should also be used to allow air circulate around them. I use the original black Finite Elemente Ceraballs that match my Dave and Blu 2.

I have them stacked on IsoPucks (four under the M-Scaler and four more under the TT2 sitting on the M-Scaler) so there is plenty of circulation as far as I am concerned. Chord shows then as a stack in all their advertising/P.R. pictures so I assume they don’t think it’s an issue. I have a bit of a space issue because I have “repurposed” the computer furniture and I don’t have a dedicated room or space. Not optimal but it works for me. @Triode User suggested moving the M-Scaler to the other side of my amp but then I’d need longer BNC cables (I’m sure he could take care of that...) and wouldn’t have a space for other uses like headphone stands, etc. I’ve maximized the available space and I’m happy with it for now. Hmmm....maybe a new house? Or not....

Heres a pic from a different perspective. I put IsoPucks under the TT2 after this was taken. My Audioquest Niagara 1200 is just visible in the bottom of the desk. Also a giant PITA getting all the cabling through the little open on top of the desk...

 

[bpcans]

I have them stacked on IsoPucks (four under the M-Scaler and four more under the TT2 sitting on the M-Scaler) so there is plenty of circulation as far as I am concerned. Chord shows then as a stack in all their advertising/P.R. pictures so I assume they don’t think it’s an issue. I have a bit of a space issue because I have “repurposed” the computer furniture and I don’t have a dedicated room or space. Not optimal but it works for me. @Triode User suggested moving the M-Scaler to the other side of my amp but then I’d need longer BNC cables (I’m sure he could take care of that...) and wouldn’t have a space for other uses like headphone stands, etc. I’ve maximized the available space and I’m happy with it for now. Hmmm....maybe a new house? Or not....

Heres a pic from a different perspective. I put IsoPucks under the TT2 after this was taken. My Audioquest Niagara 1200 is just visible in the bottom of the desk. Also a giant PITA getting all the cabling through the little open on top of the desk...

Gadget67, you know I used to stack my HMS and TT2 just to save space. I even put IsoAcoustic Orea Graphite pucks between the two units so they could breath better. But I got tired of having all that stuff spread out on my dining room table, so I bought a solidsteel audio gear rack and now we’re much happier. AQ Niagara 1200 on the bottom, it’s just easier to plug everything in the front in case I want to rearrange things. Then two Sbooster’s for the HMS and TT2 which are on the shelf above. A ROON Nucleus (Rev B), and a Woo Audio WA22 on top. Yes ideally you would like to have plenty of space between your expensive music toys .

 

[Gadget67]

Gadget67, you know I used to stack my HMS and TT2 just to save space. I even put IsoAcoustic Orea Graphite pucks between the two units so they could breath better. But I got tired of having all that stuff spread out on my dining room table, so I bought a solidsteel audio gear rack and now we’re much happier. AQ Niagara 1200 on the bottom, it’s just easier to plug everything in the front in case I want to rearrange things. Then two Sbooster’s for the HMS and TT2 which are on the shelf above. A ROON Nucleus (Rev B), and a Woo Audio WA22 on top. Yes ideally you would like to have plenty of space between your expensive music toys .

Yes, I would certainly like a set up that allowed better/easier access to everything but living in a reproduction house (my significant others dream house) comes with some limitations. We have a very large upstairs “everything” room for TV, 2.1 system, exercise spin bike, comfy furniture, computer stuff, etc. The large computer desk works well enough but is a giant PITA when rejiggering/reconfiguring. I do have my separate headphone station on a landing by the back staircase but only the “everything” room is air conditioned so we retreat there on hot days in the summer.

 

[JohnA1]

Hi all,

Newbie here, just got the mscaler yesterday.
It is feeding the QuTest with the stock double BNC cables and the stock power supply.
Supra USB cable coming from the laptop.
QuTest on its own (last week) made me say 'wow' especially on good 96 or 192 KHz recordings.
I was comparing it to my previous DAC, Musical Fidelity A324.

Based on this 'wow' I decided to give M Scaler a go, hoping for some extra 'wow', particularly on redbook recordings.

Didn't happen!

Lights appear OK, incoming signal onto Scaler has the right colour as Windows driver suggests, upscaled colours tally with what QuTest shows as input, all seems fine.
However when flipping through the 4 settings of 'OP SR' on the remote I can't hear any SQ difference. Nada.
Tried Chesky recordings on 16/44 up to 24/192.
The higher rez ones do sound pretty good through my electrostatics, but not better than the QuTest alone. No difference at all, irrespective of resolution.
Like the M Scaler is not there. Video mode was 'off' (just in case it equalized everything)

What's going on, is there a setup detail I may have missed?

 

[MatW]

Hi all,

Newbie here, just got the mscaler yesterday.
It is feeding the QuTest with the stock double BNC cables and the stock power supply.
Supra USB cable coming from the laptop.
QuTest on its own (last week) made me say 'wow' especially on good 96 or 192 KHz recordings.
I was comparing it to my previous DAC, Musical Fidelity A324.

Based on this 'wow' I decided to give M Scaler a go, hoping for some extra 'wow', particularly on redbook recordings.

Didn't happen!

Lights appear OK, incoming signal onto Scaler has the right colour as Windows driver suggests, upscaled colours tally with what QuTest shows as input, all seems fine.
However when flipping through the 4 settings of 'OP SR' on the remote I can't hear any SQ difference. Nada.
Tried Chesky recordings on 16/44 up to 24/192.
The higher rez ones do sound pretty good through my electrostatics, but not better than the QuTest alone. No difference at all, irrespective of resolution.
Like the M Scaler is not there. Video mode was 'off' (just in case it equalized everything)

What's going on, is there a setup detail I may have missed?

You are not the first with this kind of experience. I have to say, it is similar for me. The pattern I have seen in previous conversations around this topic is first you may get some suggestions on settings (some of which you have preempted with your information, e.g. on video mode being off), usually followed by the recommendation to try listening to the M scaler for a few weeks, then try without and see if you miss something. My take-away from these conversations is that for some people, the impact of the M scaler is subtle. Too subtle to be very apparent when cycling through the upscaling levels. I guess I am one of those people.

 

[JohnA1]

You are not the first with this kind of experience. I have to say, it is similar for me. The pattern I have seen in previous conversations around this topic is first you may get some suggestions on settings (some of which you have preempted with your information, e.g. on video mode being off), usually followed by the recommendation to try listening to the M scaler for a few weeks, then try without and see if you miss something. My take-away from these conversations is that for some people, the impact of the M scaler is subtle. Too subtle to be very apparent when cycling through the upscaling levels. I guess I am one of those people.

Just checked and the dual BNCs were swapped
Doubt that it will make a SQ difference, since QuTest was showing full bitrate coming in (white)

Before giving up on the beastie, what else can I try?
Got two 2m BNC cables coming in, also got a few GHz ferrites to experiment with, could the power supply be faulty and all lights appear OK but SQ stays unchanged?
Clutching at straws here..

 

[mammal]

Unpopular opinion, but you could always audition HQPlayer with its sinc-m or sinc-l. These filters are NOT the same as WTA/MScaler, but could provide you with further listening tests. Perhaps it will also not be audible to you (fans of HQPlayer swear by audibility of different HQPlayer filters and noise shapers). I would like to note here, that I am not suggesting one over the other, just that if you are unsure if you hear what MScaler does to your music, you could always try a different product, which in this case (as long as you have powerful PC) can be done at home without buying/borrowing new equipment for testing purposes. If you again hear nothing, perhaps this kind of product does not work for you. Just a thought.

 

[griff500]

Just checked and the dual BNCs were swapped
Doubt that it will make a SQ difference, since QuTest was showing full bitrate coming in (white)

Before giving up on the beastie, what else can I try?
Got two 2m BNC cables coming in, also got a few GHz ferrites to experiment with, could the power supply be faulty and all lights appear OK but SQ stays unchanged?
Clutching at straws here..

BNCs being swapped should make a difference.

Someone else here had a similar issue and it turned out to be a power supply. I think it might have been @Audioraider

It would certainly be unusual to press the bypass button and not hear a difference.

 

[JohnA1]

BNCs being swapped should make a difference.

Someone else here had a similar issue and it turned out to be a power supply. I think it might have been @Audioraider

It would certainly be unusual to press the bypass button and not hear a difference.

I will listen some more with the swapped arrangement, will also try CDs through optical input. Just in case.

What battery can I buy in the UK to replace the stock power supply? Worth a punt perhaps.
Somehow I clicked with Rob's tech talks and want to exhaust all options that my mscaler might actually not be working properly (zero difference in SQ!)
I've read lots of posts on the subject, but the batteries suggested are not available here

 

[griff500]

I will listen some more with the swapped arrangement, will also try CDs through optical input. Just in case.

What battery can I buy in the UK to replace the stock power supply? Worth a punt perhaps.
Somehow I clicked with Rob's tech talks and want to exhaust all options that my mscaler might actually not be working properly (zero difference in SQ!)
I've read lots of posts on the subject, but the batteries suggested are not available here

I've no idea what batteries you might try here but maybe someone else can advise.

Did you buy it from a dealer? If you did then do they have another one in stock for you to try another power supply?

On some music the effect can be more subtle than with other tracks but changing to the red bypassed setting should be noticeable.

 

[alxw0w]

I would be careful when using batteries (power banks).
I bought big power bank with different DC voltage outputs.
And in my case sound got worse when using power bank. Brighter harsher highs.
These power banks uses low quality dc to dc step up converters without much filtering hence noise could be high.
In my case stock SMPS is better choice. Plus there is no hassle charging batteries.

 

[JohnA1]

Exactly,

On some music the effect can be more subtle than with other tracks but changing to the red bypassed setting should be noticeable.

Exactly, RBCD should sound even a *bit* different when mscaler is red bypassed.
Hell, 20x more taps than QuTest

I understand 192KHz not sounding different (although I'd hope there should be some audible scaling effect)

 

[JohnA1]

One of the Chesky test discs has people talking/playing at different distances from the microphone.
Useful for assessing soundstage depth.
I could not hear *any* difference with red bypass, and that was RBCD!

 

[TheAttorney]

I'm one of those who believes that the quality of the BNC cables matters a lot for the HMS. And throwing a bunch of clip-on ferrites onto the stock cables will only give marginal improvements - you have to get fundamentally better cables to get the best out of the HMS. A better power supply and better upstream components will also help.

Having said that, the stock cables and p/s should be more than enough to show HMS' benefits, and many people are completely happy with stock.
So here is my simple headphone test for most easily demonstrating the benefits of HMS:

With maximum upscaling (white), play a track that has a strong central vocal with instruments to either side. The soundstage on either side should be have good height that is spread across the full width of the soundstage. Everything is in balance. Get used to it for a while.

Now drop down to Red - and the instruments to either side will suddenly recede into the mix, losing height, depth and impact. The vocals now dominate the overall presentation, with the life and soul of the total performance diminished. Because the central vocals now dominate, your focus naturally follows that and may miss the loss on either side. So don't listen to the vocals - listen to the instruments on either side. (The vocals will also diminish going to Red, but that's another story and I'm trying to keep the test as simple as possible).

If you don't immediately hear that effect with stock cables and p/s, then I suggest that the HMS is not right for you at this point in your hifi journey. Don't worry about it and just send it back and spend your money on something that does make a difference. If you enjoy your Qutest without HMS, then carry on enjoying it. Maybe come back to HMS in a year's time.

 

[The Jester]

One of the Chesky test discs has people talking/playing at different distances from the microphone.
Useful for assessing soundstage depth.
I could not hear *any* difference with red bypass, and that was RBCD!

Go back to 858 in this thread and follow “Redflamingolingo” and his similar issue ...