[HeeBroG]

The battery proved to be lower in noise but not lower in impedance than the stock power supply. But, the battery could be much improved when combined with an outboard regulator from http://ldovr.com.

Hi kennyb123,

Forgive my ignorance but is improved voltage regulation and lower output impedance one and the same thing?

G

 

[kennyb123]

did someone say the mscaler should not be used with lossless audio?? doesn't that rule out the whole of tidal and qobuz cd 44.1khz files as a start? unless i misunderstood.

does a 44.1khz cd quality stream from tidal or qobuz come under the category of RBCD?

I am certain they meant “lossy”. Also I don‘t agree with “should not”. The HMS will make lossy a bit easier to bear - but even so - listening to lossy is still a cruel thing to do to yourself.

 

[kennyb123]

Hi kennyb123,

Forgive my ignorance but is improved voltage regulation and lower output impedance one and the same thing?

It wasn’t too long ago that I didn’t know the answer to that. A friend explained it to me as follows.

Dual regulation allows several different schemes, all with the purpose of lowering output impedance and aiding in current delivery. Often, the first regulator is a series pass regulator using a high-current solid-state device followed by a high-speed regulator for faster response to current demand and voltage sag. But even cascading identical regulators allows faster response time (which equals lower output impedance) than one regulator by itself.

This is a single stage regulator that I tried with my TT2, with it set to output 15v and power supplied to it by a Pro Pilot2 battery at 16v: https://www.ldovr.com/product-p/dxp-1a5s.htm

That was the probably the biggest bang for the buck upgrade I’d experienced up to that point.

Out of curiosity, I thought I’d try a dual stage model, with the pre-regulator set to 15v and the output set to 14v: https://www.ldovr.com/product-p/dxp-1a5dsc.htm

I wasn’t expecting much but it turned out to be as big of an upgrade above the single stage as the single stage was over no outboard regulator. But that was only with the TT2. The HMS seemed to prefer getting the 15v from the single stage. I cannot explain why.

 

[HumanMedia]

I doubt if any of the power strip devices above will filter out 2.5ghz noise, especially ones that generate out of phase noise since they simply won’t operate at that high a frequency. However those clip on 2,5ghz ferrites might be useful on power cables...

 

[ZappaMan]

did someone say the mscaler should not be used with lossless audio?? doesn't that rule out the whole of tidal and qobuz cd 44.1khz files as a start? unless i misunderstood.

does a 44.1khz cd quality stream from tidal or qobuz come under the category of RBCD?

yes

 

[yagislav]

Does this mean you guys turn off the tidal MQA unfolding or turn off the MQA Core Decoder option in ROON so that all MQA files just stream as 44.1 direct to MScaler to get the best quality sound?

 

[ZappaMan]

Does this mean you guys turn off the tidal MQA unfolding or turn off the MQA Core Decoder option in ROON so that all MQA files just stream as 44.1 direct to MScaler to get the best quality sound?

Personally I just chose the non mqa version which is normally there alongside in tidal.

 

[iamoneagain]

did someone say the mscaler should not be used with lossless audio?? doesn't that rule out the whole of tidal and qobuz cd 44.1khz files as a start? unless i misunderstood.

does a 44.1khz cd quality stream from tidal or qobuz come under the category of RBCD?

Sorry I corrected my post to say lossy. Any streaming service that provides at least cd quality is best for the mscaler.

 

[GreenBow]

I doubt if any of the power strip devices above will filter out 2.5ghz noise, especially ones that generate out of phase noise since they simply won’t operate at that high a frequency. However those clip on 2,5ghz ferrites might be useful on power cables...

I was wondering the same myself.

The iFi Audio PowerStation has active noise concellation in the GHz and lower MHz. Then passive cancellation in the higher MHz. ….. Plus individual passive cancellation on each output.

Like I said, I don't have the M-Scaler. I can't test it.

Plus it seems, M-Scaler users would benefit from iFi AC Purifiers between M-Scaler and DAC plugs on the power strip.

 

[kennyb123]

Does this mean you guys turn off the tidal MQA unfolding or turn off the MQA Core Decoder option in ROON so that all MQA files just stream as 44.1 direct to MScaler to get the best quality sound?

Tidal had Rush albums in MQA before Qobuz had their albums in high res PCM. I was quite pleasantly surprised by how good their albums sounded in MQA. Their albums after Signals in particular sounded very enjoyable in MQA. I don't think we need to react to MQA as a vampire might react to a cross. If there is no high-res equivalent give it a try.

When I am selecting albums I tend target high-res PCM over MQA versions. But often I just allow Roon Radio to pick tracks for me. It attempts to pick the highest resolution track available amongst my library, Tidal and Qobuz. Occasionally it picks an MQA version. I can't recall a time when I reacted negatively or even noticed that this had occurred. Chord gear is wonderful and can bring the best out of whatever format it's provided. For anything that's CD resolution or above, it becomes more about the recording quality than the format.

 

[iamoneagain]

I’m sure it sounds fine bu

Tidal had Rush albums in MQA before Qobuz had their albums in high res PCM. I was quite pleasantly surprised by how good their albums sounded in MQA. Their albums after Signals in particular sounded very enjoyable in MQA. I don't think we need to react to MQA as a vampire might react to a cross. If there is no high-res equivalent give it a try.

When I am selecting albums I tend target high-res PCM over MQA versions. But often I just allow Roon Radio to pick tracks for me. It attempts to pick the highest resolution track available amongst my library, Tidal and Qobuz. Occasionally it picks an MQA version. I can't recall a time when I reacted negatively or even noticed that this had occurred. Chord gear is wonderful and can bring the best out of whatever format it's provided. For anything that's CD resolution or above, it becomes more about the recording quality than the format.

I’m sure it still sounds fine but to get the best out of Chord dacs and the mscaler is to feed it the original unaltered signal. This is based off of Rob’s comments in the past. Seems strange to put all this money into the rest of the chain but not start with best file source.

I haven’t done any MQA testing with mscaler since I dropped Tidal a while back but even with HQPlayer, MQA files unfolded sounded worse thru HQPlayer than just the non MQA cd quality file.

 

[kennyb123]

I’m sure it still sounds fine but to get the best out of Chord dacs and the mscaler is to feed it the original unaltered signal. This is based off of Rob’s comments in the past. Seems strange to put all this money into the rest of the chain but not start with best file source.

I haven’t done any MQA testing with mscaler since I dropped Tidal a while back but even with HQPlayer, MQA files unfolded sounded worse thru HQPlayer than just the non MQA cd quality file.

I spent all this money so I could enjoy the music. MQA can sound awesome. Will high-res generally sound better? Yes. Can I immensely enjoy either? Heck yes.

From my signature line you can see that I have gone out of my way to get the best from my Chord investment. On a scale from 1-10, with 10 being the highest, here’s how I’d rate the importance to getting the best out of these products:

1. Purpose-built server: 6-9
2. USB cable: 5-9
3: OPTO: 9
4. Power supplies: 6-9
5. PCM over MQA: 0-2
6. Optimized network: 5-8

I didn’t put a ton of thought into the above. My point was only to illustrate how much I think it’s worth worrying about something.

You can confirm this for yourself. Create a playlist containing the same songs in both high res PCM and MQA. Warner Brothers albums would pick from as they have sounded like the same mastering and the release timing suggests they are. Add like 6 pairs of tracks to the playlist and then play it back using shuffle. Try to guess which format you are listening to (without looking of course). If you can reliably pick out MQA then it’s worth sweating about it. I know I couldn’t - at least without investing a lot of time to tease out the differences.

 

[jlbrach]

Me as well, I would say it is a 3K headphone w/ 5K build and 1K sound..

wow, that is exactly how I feel and think your description is spot on....I will admit they are built like HP;s should be built and look great and feel comfortable....the sound however was for me a HUGE disappointment

 

[iamoneagain]

I spent all this money so I could enjoy the music. MQA can sound awesome. Will high-res generally sound better? Yes. Can I immensely enjoy either? Heck yes.

From my signature line you can see that I have gone out of my way to get the best from my Chord investment. On a scale from 1-10, with 10 being the highest, here’s how I’d rate the importance to getting the best out of these products:

1. Purpose-built server: 6-9
2. USB cable: 5-9
3: OPTO: 9
4. Power supplies: 6-9
5. PCM over MQA: 0-2
6. Optimized network: 5-8

I didn’t put a ton of thought into the above. My point was only to illustrate how much I think it’s worth worrying about something.

You can confirm this for yourself. Create a playlist containing the same songs in both high res PCM and MQA. Warner Brothers albums would pick from as they have sounded like the same mastering and the release timing suggests they are. Add like 6 pairs of tracks to the playlist and then play it back using shuffle. Try to guess which format you are listening to (without looking of course). If you can reliably pick out MQA then it’s worth sweating about it. I know I couldn’t - at least without investing a lot of time to tease out the differences.

I dropped Tidal months ago so I can’t do the testing anymore. I don’t want to get into MQA debate here but I would think avoiding altered files would be one of the many tweaks needed to get the best sound. MQA is going for a minimum phase approach, which is the opposite of the WTA1 filter.

 

[kennyb123]

I dropped Tidal months ago so I can’t do the testing anymore. I don’t want to get into MQA debate here but I would think avoiding altered files would be one of the many tweaks needed to get the best sound. MQA is going for a minimum phase approach, which is the opposite of the WTA1 filter.

Given the religious zeal some have over MQA, I agree it's probably best to avoid further discussion. For me it's all about the music so as long as it's not compressed I can enjoy regardless of format.