[The Jester]

Not that is shouldn’t make a noticeable difference to all genres but it’s more easily discernible with acoustic recordings …
wasn’t there a few posts a while back in this thread where there were similar comments about no real difference made by an MScaler being somehow resolved by an identical PSU from another MScaler ?
Edit: Back on page 859

 

[muski]

Comparing the Innuos Phoenix to the Jitterbug is like comparing lightning to a lightning bug, to paraphrase Mark Twain.

Nicely said. A perfect metaphor!

For me the Innuos Phoenix NET & USB were very significant, if expensive, upgrades. Today's discovery is how this pair (+ M Scaler) can transform an unlistenable Radio Swiss Classic AAC 96kpbps stream into something quite reasonable: harshness removed, more power in the mid-bass and some semblance of an actual soundstage.

cheers,
muski

 

[muski]

P.S. I love the Radio Swiss Classique French commentators. At the end of the piece they name the conductor, often by saying, eg, "Avec Riccardo Muti a la baguette." I know it means "under the baton", but I can't help but imagine Muti waving a loaf bread at the Philadelphia Orchestra...

 

[LarsMan]

No offence intended, but as I have so often before said, if you mainly listen to amplified instruments genres NO wonder you do not hear any differences/improvements with Mscaler.
Mscaler works very well in another realm!!!
Acoustic music!!!
I can easily hear the difference it makes even with streamed low res like the BBC Proms.
And with really well recorded hi res recordings my Mscaler/Qutest is well within the realm of true Highend SQ.

Cheers CC

No offense taken, but I'd say it's not about genre and almost all about the production quality of the recording. I've heard really crap recordings of music in every genre and as well as excellent ones...

 

[LarsMan]

I hear ya bro. i've heard this assertion many times. so maybe, with my music, there's just no way (whatever i do) to benefit from the HMS?

I listen to all kinds of rock, metal, punk, etc, and if it's well-recorded/mixed/mastered, I hear all kinds of improvements brought by the M Scaler - they are not 'WOW!' improvements, at least not over my DAVE alone, but there is an audible difference in sound quality....

 

[teknorob23]

how about switching from a usb out to an optical from pc to m scaler? any benefits to optical over usb? my tech suggested this today.

From everything you're reporting back here, i think you should really try a different source as and at least eliminate this as an issue, because if you're not hearing differences between standard BNCs and wave cables. With your Utopia, the HMS/TT2 front end you have a seriously resolving set up and you should hear a marked difference using upgraded BNCs, so i doubt switching from USB to optical from your PC will solve anything. Do you have a local dealer who might lend you any dedicated source? I definitely wouldnt jump ship to a DAVE, without trying this.

 

[OrenT]

From everything you're reporting back here, i think you should really try a different source as and at least eliminate this as an issue, because if you're not hearing differences between standard BNCs and wave cables. With your Utopia, the HMS/TT2 front end you have a seriously resolving set up and you should hear a marked difference using upgraded BNCs, so i doubt switching from USB to optical from your PC will solve anything. Do you have a local dealer who might lend you any dedicated source? I definitely wouldnt jump ship to a DAVE, without trying this.

Good points. I plan on talking with him tomorrow. Tnx.

 

[teknorob23]

Good points. I plan on talking with him tomorrow. Tnx.

look forward to hearing how you go!

 

[OrenT]

look forward to hearing how you go!

Will be writing Chord later via my dealer. Will be interesting to hear what they think.

 

[Triode User]

Did you guys notice that RW has said that the new xMscaler to join the Dave in the Choral range will be available late 2022? Start saving now!

 

[DJJEZ]

Did you guys notice that RW has said that the new xMscaler to join the Dave in the Choral range will be available late 2022? Start saving now!

Very excited

 

[Vyyy]

Hi to everyone,
I was brave enough ectually to buy Wave Storm Reference cables for my setup.
I realy did that based on reviews i have read and afcourse out of curiosity as i own full setup from chord and was eager to finnish that with best BNC cables. And its not secret that Wave cables there on my target.

Today i received them and plugged.

And you know what - this upgrade is not something that you should search for, or compare to stock over and over. Difference is instant and tangible.

I can describe that in this way:
1) much more weight and dynamics in every aspect (bass, voicing , drums, guitars)
2) dead silent background which reveals a lot of nuances and details as if music plays in vacuum or space.
3) high freq are noticibly smoother
4) you can now start playing very very loud.
5) you can now start playing very very quaetly and you hear everything with great dynamics and layers

Now back to examples. Paul Simons Graceland, with STORM sounds as its now not viny rip style lightweight bright sound recording (on Qobuz) but like dynamic CD recording.

Another thing which is shocking actually confirms what Rob Watts says that RFI kills deph perception. And as a result with Wave Storm every and i mean every recording sounds not so wide and more centric and deeper. At first this change in deph actually got my head sick after 5 or 6 songs. I mean i literally had to put away headphones as my brain was tired of this drastic switch in deph. Now as i listen more i get used to this sound and boy i like it.

Thing to notice, now TT2 crossfed level 1-2 looks like its almost not working! I understand becouse all sound has increased deph, crossfeed efect is very very minimal. And this is becouse with Wave Storm every music has narrower soundstage but very very deep.

All i can say is that for me its very very worth product. It changes sound signature in very enjoybale way.

Thanks in the first place for Chord products and @Triode User , for this addon.

 

[ecwl]

Did you guys notice that RW has said that the new xMscaler to join the Dave in the Choral range will be available late 2022? Start saving now!

My take is that Rob Watts is a perfectionist so his products always take time for refinement. Davina ADC and Pulse Array Power Amplifier have been in development for years. And whenever the performance of the prototypes don’t meet Rob Watts’ expectations, instead of pushing out a product that’s already state of the art, he keeps working at them until he’s happy with the product. So I consider any future M-Scaler product release dates to be rough estimates.
On the flip side, once in a while, we get surprise announcements like the Hugo TT2 which I would argue is like first gen (or zero gen) power pulse array technology.

This is why I don’t expect to buy any Chord products until they’re announced, rather than basing it on Rob Watts’ development roadmap.
On the other hand, because of his commitment to quality, I basically bought DAVE and Blu2 without hearing them on first release because I knew they would be something extremely special.

 

[The Jester]

Bonus for us “mere mortals” may be a few more S/H MScalers available, although there would always be the temptation to just keep the current model and buy a Qutest or TT2 for a second system ?

 

[ZappaMan]

One thing I’ve noticed about taking the mscaler out, is that I’m now getting listening fatigue after a few hours, and occasional headaches. Might be coincidence of course.