I think this is a good juncture at which to update my own findings re the TT2/mscaler combo I've had for a good few years now - and yes
@Christer, at prices that were definitely more reasonable/competitive than would appear now alas
.
And I must admit I have found that a fair few 'generally accepted/agreed' attributes (even RW's views) are not necessarily set in stone lol
....viz, and
in my system/environment :
1. Re.
power supply.... The stock SMPSs
can be bettered IMHO. I first replaced with 2x modest LPSs, which brought slight, but noticeable improvements in overall delivery - especially in dynamics handling. But indisputably, much more noticeable was then the use of my Ferrum Hypsos PSU. 'Supercaps' are all well and good, but their performance will still be determined by the quality of
their power supply! And this was further confirmed especially when I replaced my AirlinkTransformers ASF3000 Balanced Mains Unit with an excellent model from UK specialists FACTOR ONE - their "Balanced Power" BMU-2500 :
https://www.factor-one.co.uk/product-page/balanced-power-bmu-2500 and that I reviewed here :
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bal...s-unit-from-uk-specialists-factor-one.976139/
2. Re.
external amplification...yes, direct out is extremely good, but again
can be bettered (as many others have found). First came the Ferrum OOR/Hypsos combo, but more recently overshadowed by a Cen.Grand 9i-906 "Silver Fox". And even (much) more so with the BMU-2500 in situ.
3. Re.
transparency...yes, not on the same scale as Dave -
but, with 1 and 2 in place, significantly greater. The level of clarity, 'openness', spatial positioning/imaging etc. I'm now experiencing is in another league entirely... and 'layering' is finally much more clearly noticeable than ever before. Plus, although RW has said TT2's
RCA out will be more transparent than
balanced out, any such (slight) difference is
more than covered by my own mentioned system upgrades at least.
This element will also, of course, depend much upon the quality of cables (and connectors). I personally will only ever use OCC silver and copper combination (such as Neotech's UP-OCC Teflon covered
solid) in my cable builds... transparency being just one of this wire's many virtues IMHO...ps when used in a shielded,
dual configuration (separate for pos/neg; signal/return), it can even perform supremely well as digital IC (
NOT using braid shield as return/grnd!!) between mscaler and TT2. In my own case, I experienced no interference/negative effects due to "noise", even with one atop the other! And with
no need for countless 'chokes'. But very slight performance increase did indeed come when I placed them side-by-side, although also probably helped when separating
all my gear much better on (long) wood shelving rather than stacked on an upright equipment stand!
And the extra dynamism/richness/'solidity' (of bass especially) from
balanced out to the "SF" now rules out use of RCA completely - for
me, and in my particular system. To be honest, I've never been a big fan of RCA connectors anyway, and much prefer the design/implementation/construction of
good XLRs (such as TOTL Cardas and Viborg).
Lastly, something else that (surprisingly and quite noticeably) raised the Chord combo's game - along with that of my Denon DCDA110 (SA)CD/DVD-/+R player as source and the Silver Fox - was the use of some really nice "isolation feet", and which I'd never really considered as being particularly necessary/good value in the past...how wrong I was. And once again these were from the same guys as the BMU :
https://www.factor-one.co.uk/shop, with my review :
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/iso...mphony-from-uk-specialists-factor-one.976272/
And so in short, hopefully my own experience highlights just what mscaler and TT2 are
truly capable of delivering...and way beyond virgin 'stock' as far as I'm concerned. But as always...
system dependent lol!
...
ps. I myself find TT2's function as pre-amp and therefore allowing remote volume control for the Silver Fox to be worth its weight in gold...especially as the SF guys state the optimal input is between 2.5V and 3.5V (rather than relying on 'DAC' mode's 5V)...
nice...
seriously I’m ended game until something fails.