[Currawong]

No when flying it's just a Bixpower power-bank, Hugo 2, Hugo M scaler and DCA Stealth. I used to take a Dave with me, but that went into the hold.

That puts you right up there with Sugiyama-san and his insane stack, except yours only has 3 components, and you fly with it.

 

[Jawed]

Only when I am perfectly happy with the pre-production prototype, and Chord are happy to launch it too. It's a major project - easily the most complex design I have ever done by a huge margin in terms of PCB design and FPGA coding. Six months ago, my son Daniel, out of the blue said it was sonically the most important thing I have ever done, so I think it will turn out to be very much worth the wait.

I'm curious if you can finalise this new scaler without having got Davina to be at least functionally complete, as Davina would be the only clean source of 16FS recordings you would have access to, since it would also output 44.1KHz or 48KHz recordings for use with the scaler.

 

[JazzAudioDog]

@Rob Watts Hi Rob, do any cables exist that help suppress the external RFI that is generated by the M-Scaler? Are excellent shielding and good BNC connectors the only considerations? After I purchased my M-Scaler my garage door opener would not work. I needed to place 4 layers of RF blocking fabric under the M-Scaler and the garage door opener worked fine again. I also built a small 4 layer tent over the connector end of the M-Scaler to return my TV to its previous picture quality.

I’ve read your posts in a different thread about 2m cable length or 2GHz ferrites to suppress RF but I thought that was only internal to the cable. Is it the RF on the cable that is CAUSING the M-Scaler to produce RFI?Thanks!

 

[GuiltyRocker]

@Rob Watts Hi Rob, do any cables exist that help suppress the external RFI that is generated by the M-Scaler? Are excellent shielding and good BNC connectors the only considerations. After I purchased my M-Scaler my garage door opener would not work. I needed to place 4 layers of RF blocking fabric under the M-Scaler and the garage door opener worked fine again. I also built a small 4 layer tent over the connector end of the M-Scaler to return my TV to its previous picture quality.

I’ve read your posts in a different thread about 2m cable length or 2GHz ferrites to suppress RF but I thought that was only internal to the cable. Is it the RF on the cable that is CAUSING the M-Scaler to produce RFI?Thanks!

Wow that is crazy that is radiates so much RFI that is affecting your garage door. Could it be something else at Play like your router?

 

[JazzAudioDog]

@GuiltyRocker No, the router and satellites have been there for several years. The problem started after I recently installed my M-Scaler (HMS). Initially I didn’t know what the cause was. I finally thought about what had changed and remembered a post I read that mentioned RF from a HMS. So I bought some RF blocking fabric and tried 2 layers directly around the garage door opener antenna without success, then later tried 4 layers directly under the HMS. It blocks a direct line-of-sight to the garage door opener 10 to 15 feet away. It worked immediately. I then built the “tent” and noticed that my TV picture improved. I had wondered what caused that problem. The TV is in a separate home theater approximately 20 feet away.

Also, I’m not using the included BNC cables. I’m using another brand sold by the retailer I bought the HMS from. They’re an older design but highly regarded audio-wise but may not have modern shielding on them.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

@GuiltyRocker No, the router and satellites have been there for several years. The problem started after I recently installed my M-Scaler (HMS). Initially I didn’t know what the cause was. I finally thought about what had changed and remembered a post I read that mentioned RF from a HMS. So I bought some RF blocking fabric and tried 2 layers directly around the garage door opener antenna without success, then later tried 4 layers directly under the HMS. It blocks a direct line-of-sight to the garage door opener 10 to 15 feet away. It worked immediately. I then built the “tent” and noticed that my TV picture improved. I had wondered what caused that problem. The TV is in a separate home theater approximately 20 feet away.

Also, I’m not using the included BNC cables. I’m using another brand sold by the retailer I bought the HMS from. They’re an older design but highly regarded audio-wise but may not have modern shielding on them.

Try using Belden 1694A, it is a double braided shield plus a 100% foil shield, all of it equates a quad shield, it is very inexpensive, you can order it from Bluejeans cable at any length and terminated with BNCs. It is also 18 gauge coax which is awesome for a cable of this type.

 

[Rob Watts]

@Rob Watts Hi Rob, do any cables exist that help suppress the external RFI that is generated by the M-Scaler? Are excellent shielding and good BNC connectors the only considerations? After I purchased my M-Scaler my garage door opener would not work. I needed to place 4 layers of RF blocking fabric under the M-Scaler and the garage door opener worked fine again. I also built a small 4 layer tent over the connector end of the M-Scaler to return my TV to its previous picture quality.

I’ve read your posts in a different thread about 2m cable length or 2GHz ferrites to suppress RF but I thought that was only internal to the cable. Is it the RF on the cable that is CAUSING the M-Scaler to produce RFI?Thanks!

Oh that's weird as Hugo M scaler passed all the EMC tests for conducted and radiated EMC. It's not going to be the GHz SQ problem, but more like 50 MHz to 104MHz that's the issue. I would try the stock BNC cables anyway to see if it goes away, and of course the Belden as per @GuiltyRocker. Also, the unit is double screened (you can see the extra screening through the glass port).

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Oh that's weird as Hugo M scaler passed all the EMC tests for conducted and radiated EMC. It's not going to be the GHz SQ problem, but more like 50 MHz to 104MHz that's the issue. I would try the stock BNC cables anyway to see if it goes away, and of course the Belden as per @GuiltyRocker. Also, the unit is double screened (you can see the extra screening through the glass port).

That's what I thought, that is a crazy amount of RFI. Something else must be up.

 

[JazzAudioDog]

@GuiltyRocker @Rob Watts Thank you for your rapid replies! This allows me to replace the current cables with the stock cables immediately, actually tomorrow as it’s late here. I’ll post my results.

 

[Christer]

@GuiltyRocker @Rob Watts Thank you for your rapid replies! This allows me to replace the current cables with the stock cables immediately, actually tomorrow as it’s late here. I’ll post my results.

Hmm, much as I like my Mscaler and would find it very dfficult indeed to listen without it, I always have to turn it off when I want to watch Televison, it somehow interferes with the antenna of my TV.
No big problem and I never listen to music at the same time as watching TV.
Cheers Christer

 

[adyc]

Only when I am perfectly happy with the pre-production prototype, and Chord are happy to launch it too. It's a major project - easily the most complex design I have ever done by a huge margin in terms of PCB design and FPGA coding. Six months ago, my son Daniel, out of the blue said it was sonically the most important thing I have ever done, so I think it will turn out to be very much worth the wait.

My question is that whether the new Ultima DAC requires this new scaler to have the best sound quality? Or the new Ultima DAC also has a companion Ultima scaler?

 

[The Jester]

Also when the new Ultima DAC and new MScaler are released will they be an addition to the range or replacements for the current Dave and Hugo MScaler ?

 

[jcn3]

Also when the new Ultima DAC and new MScaler are released will they be an addition to the range or replacements for the current Dave and Hugo MScaler ?

Rob has mentioned in videos (at a minimum -- haven't read all of his posts) that the products he's working on are additions, not replacements -- and will be more expensive than the Dave (since the Ultima line is Chord's TOTL) and the HMS (new scaler will be in the Choral line).

 

[JazzAudioDog]

Oh that's weird as Hugo M scaler passed all the EMC tests for conducted and radiated EMC. It's not going to be the GHz SQ problem, but more like 50 MHz to 104MHz that's the issue. I would try the stock BNC cables anyway to see if it goes away, and of course the Belden as per @GuiltyRocker. Also, the unit is double screened (you can see the extra screening through the glass port).

I tried the stock BNC cables and they did not make a difference. The garage door opener would not work without the RF blocking fabric present. The garage door opener again worked fine when the RF blocking fabric was returned to beneath the Hugo M-Scaler (HMS).

 

[jcn3]

I tried the stock BNC cables and they did not make a difference. The garage door opener would not work without the RF blocking fabric present. The garage door opener again worked fine when the RF blocking fabric was returned to beneath the Hugo M-Scaler (HMS).

looks like you should check in with your dealer and see if they have one you can borrow and see if you get the same result.