[ecwl]

I have not been hearing ANY difference, much less an improvement, using my MScalar at the 16X upsampling (light blue light) vs. the 1X no upsampling (red light), as playing 16-bit 44.1 KHz sampling through Tidal to Roon (USB) to my MScaler, then my Chord Hugo TT2 (connected by Chord-provided BNCs and stacked on top of the MScaler), to my Grado PS1000 headphones.

Determined to hear a difference, I tried Black Pumas Colors at high volume as recommended. I do not hear a difference even with that. I play for a bit at 16X (light blue light) then switch to the 1X (red light), where the difference should be the greatest.

What sort of difference, in what part of the song, should I be listening for? What might I be doing wrong (I don't hear differences on other songs, either!)

Yeah, I have found that about 1 in 10-20 forum posters say they can't hear a difference with MScaler. Although some with some guidance can hear the difference.

For that specific song (Colors), what you should be able to hear is that both the melodic instruments and vocals are just slightly warmer and more 3-dimensional at 16x
But slightly more easier to hear (and this is where some people just can't seem to hear) is that all the percussive instruments have better transient accuracy. Meaning all the drum strikes seems more accurate, sometimes it's the attack is sharper at 16x upsampling. It's the difference between a soft clap of the hand vs a hard quick clap of the hand.

To microanalyse the sonic differences often leads to people going, well, is the difference that big? But when you relax and just start getting used to MScaler, for me, it's very hard to go back to going without the MScaler on my main rig.

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

I have not been hearing ANY difference, much less an improvement, using my MScalar at the 16X upsampling (light blue light) vs. the 1X no upsampling (red light), as playing 16-bit 44.1 KHz sampling through Tidal to Roon (USB) to my MScaler, then my Chord Hugo TT2 (connected by Chord-provided BNCs and stacked on top of the MScaler), to my Grado PS1000 headphones.

Determined to hear a difference, I tried Black Pumas Colors at high volume as recommended. I do not hear a difference even with that. I play for a bit at 16X (light blue light) then switch to the 1X (red light), where the difference should be the greatest.

What sort of difference, in what part of the song, should I be listening for? What might I be doing wrong (I don't hear differences on other songs, either!)

(Oh, and earlier, though not on this song, I actually was removing the MScaler from the chain and going directly to the TT2, finding no improvement from the MScaler.)

Thank you for any insight!

With MScaler It's been said that it's much easier to hear the differences on speakers compared to headphones only. Even though this is headfi after all I firmly believe everyone should at least try a proper 2 channel system in their home if possible. I was headphone exclusive for years and then I got speakers and you realise how much of the sound you're missing out on when it's freed from the limitations of those little cups.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Yep, in my quest to hear the MScaler improvement, I paid a significant amount to my audio designer for him to enhance my setup to allow me to switch the MScaler/ TT2 into my two-channel speaker system (good stuff… Focal Sopra 3 floor speakers, Anthem AVP amp, etc.). In this case, I am double amping the TT2 output, as it goes through the Anthem amp, which although Chord customer service recommends for using the TT2 with speakers, Robert Watts does not (he says TT2 direct to speakers is better).

I heard no difference then through speakers, but I should go back and revisit that. Thanks!

 

[Ciggavelli]

Yep, in my quest to hear the MScaler improvement, I paid a significant amount to my audio designer for him to enhance my setup to allow me to switch the MScaler/ TT2 into my two-channel speaker system (good stuff… Focal Sopra 3 floor speakers, Anthem AVP amp, etc.). In this case, I am double amping the TT2 output, as it goes through the Anthem amp, which although Chord customer service recommends for using the TT2 with speakers, Robert Watts does not (he says TT2 direct to speakers is better).

I heard no difference then through speakers, but I should go back and revisit that. Thanks!

Leave the Mscaler in your system for a week and listen every day. Then take it out after that week and listen again. You may be be surprised with the results. It’s easy to pick up differences that way.

 

[ecwl]

I heard no difference then through speakers, but I should go back and revisit that. Thanks!

Hmm… I thought you said you heard no difference through headphones.

If you’re using speakers, you need to make sure your Anthem amps are not class D, like the M1.
Because Class D amplifiers switch at such a low frequency that it’ll destroy all the transient improvements that the M-Scaler makes.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Yeah, I have found that about 1 in 10-20 forum posters say they can't hear a difference with MScaler. Although some with some guidance can hear the difference.

For that specific song (Colors), what you should be able to hear is that both the melodic instruments and vocals are just slightly warmer and more 3-dimensional at 16x
But slightly more easier to hear (and this is where some people just can't seem to hear) is that all the percussive instruments have better transient accuracy. Meaning all the drum strikes seems more accurate, sometimes it's the attack is sharper at 16x upsampling. It's the difference between a soft clap of the hand vs a hard quick clap of the hand.

To microanalyse the sonic differences often leads to people going, well, is the difference that big? But when you relax and just start getting used to MScaler, for me, it's very hard to go back to going without the MScaler on my main rig

With MScaler It's been said that it's much easier to hear the differences on speakers compared to headphones only. Even though this is headfi after all I firmly believe everyone should at least try a proper 2 channel system in their home if possible. I was headphone exclusive for years and then I got speakers and you realise how much of the sound you're missing out on when it's freed from the limitations of those little cups.

On my Persona speakers the difference is night and day, the depth increases drastically, the timbre and tonality become more real and the stage widens. The entire musical presentation becomes much smoother, but doesn't lose any detail. I also noticed a reduction of sibilance, to the point that I no longer hear any.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Hmm… I thought you said you heard no difference through headphones.

If you’re using speakers, you need to make sure your Anthem amps are not class D, like the M1.
Because Class D amplifiers switch at such a low frequency that it’ll destroy all the transient improvements that the M-Scaler makes.

I can see why I never liked the sound of class D.

 

[chesebert]

Hmm… I thought you said you heard no difference through headphones.

If you’re using speakers, you need to make sure your Anthem amps are not class D, like the M1.
Because Class D amplifiers switch at such a low frequency that it’ll destroy all the transient improvements that the M-Scaler makes.

you are misinformed. Class D is not digital and all modern well designed class D analog amplifiers have more than sufficient slew rate and bandwidth for audio applications and many have superior bench performance to class A and AB amps.

 

[headmanPL]

Leave the Mscaler in your system for a week and listen every day. Then take it out after that week and listen again. You may be be surprised with the results. It’s easy to pick up differences that way.

For any new HIFI purchase, I'd also recommend listening to music you're already very familiar with, before looking for improvements to tracks you don't know. That'll get you used to the new sound characteristics. Usually for a good few days. You can then try the same music without Mscaler. That will quickly reveal if there's any benefit to having it in your system.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Thank you for the great advice… a week at a time for long-term differences is a good idea.

Even if I still hear no differences, I still enjoy the multi-colored lights!

 

[Meridian7]

@ruthieandjohn
Do you have access to a good quality headphone? A loaner? Plug it in the TT2 and check if you find differences upscaling with MS or not.
To me the difference is not especially more details, but without upscaling the sound comes from inside my head, between the ears.
With upscaling everything expands and the sound comes from everywhere and near non from between my ears.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

@Meridian7 , thanks. Yes, I think my headphones are good enough… been using either the Grado PS1000 for open or Focal Stellia for closed. Any particular recording, such as Black Pumas Colors, that you recommend as highlighting a difference? Thank you.

 

[JazzAudioDog]

I’ve tried two sets of cables so far, the stock BNC cables and a set of a well known brand BNC cables, the HMS had the problem when either set was used. The RF blocking fabric worked when placed under the HMS regardless of the cable set used.




https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093TT9C65?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

The RF blocking fabric minimized the interference to the point before I purchased the HMS. Note that I do not have any relationship with the RF block fabric other than purchasing it a single time. When I initially bought it, I thought the problem was something other than the HMS. And I suppose it still could be. I initially wrapped the entire rear ⅔ of the garage door opener with 2 layers of the RF block fabric. Exposing the antenna to only my car in the driveway. It didn’t work. So I thought what if….. So I took the already cut fabric, folded it over and placed it directly beneath the 3/4 inch thick maple cutting board under the HMS, and it is also therefore now 4 layers thick, and voila, problem solved, the garage door opener now works from a distance out in the driveway where it worked prior to the HMS purchase.

It could be multiple RFI issues in play. Perhaps a neighbor bought an RFI emitter appliance and my HMS addition overwhelmed the garage door opener. Who knows? All I know for sure is what happened when I experimented and had the results as described in the previous paragraph.

Chord did additional RF testing and responded back to me that they found only a small blip at 433 MHz which is the most common garage door opener frequency. My garage door opener frequency is 315MHz. It doesn’t matter because they asked me to test with the RF blocking fabric removed from beneath the Mscaler but with the IR port covered. I did it and the garage door opener still worked. i then removed the RF block fabric from the IR port and the garage door opener still worked. It’s worked now for over a week. My theory that a neighbor was using an RFI emitting device, and now has stopped, may be what happened.

The silver lining in all of this is that I took the now unnecessary RF block fabric (2 layers) and hung it from the side of my equipment rack between the Mscaler and the router. Wow! My digital is now as smooth as my analog. No harshness at all. I didn’t expect that powerful of a change. Those of you with a router near your Mscaler and DAC may wish to try this.

A big thank you to Chord for the excellent customer support!

 

[chesebert]

Chord did additional RF testing and responded back to me that they found only a small blip at 433 MHz which is the most common garage door opener frequency. My garage door opener frequency is 315MHz. It doesn’t matter because they asked me to test with the RF blocking fabric removed from beneath the Mscaler but with the IR port covered. I did it and the garage door opener still worked. i then removed the RF block fabric from the IR port and the garage door opener still worked. It’s worked now for over a week. My theory that a neighbor was using an RFI emitting device, and now has stopped, may be what happened.

The silver lining in all of this is that I took the now unnecessary RF block fabric (2 layers) and hung it from the side of my equipment rack between the Mscaler and the router. Wow! My digital is now as smooth as my analog. No harshness at all. I didn’t expect that powerful of a change. Those of you with a router near your Mscaler and DAC may wish to try this.

A big thank you to Chord for the excellent customer support!

Is this what you bought?
Faraday Fabric-EMI RFID Shielding-Block WiFi/RF Anti-Radiation Military Grade for Radiowave Microwave and Radiation Protection Nickel Copper Fabric, RFID Blocking Material 36"x44" inch

Is the fabric conductive on the surface?

 

[Thompsonkirk]

Since it’s cheap, why not try it? At the least it’ll be the audio equivalent of a tinfoil hat.