[rkt31]

Most of the head hi fier believe that don't spend much in dac , but headphones should be totl but imho it is actually just opposite. source should be the best you can afford.

 

[betula]

Most of the head hi fier believe that don't spend much in dac , but headphones should be totl but imho it is actually just opposite. source should be the best you can afford.

IMO all the links in your audio chain should be pretty much on the same level in order to enjoy the benefits of each. Otherwise you'll be missing out; the lower-end gear will limit the higher-end gear's performance. This is true for DACs, headphones, amps, everything.
(Although I will be more careful with this opinion, because a few weeks ago I received a good beating in the Empyrean thread for saying this.)

 

[GreenBow]

To me it's not about balancing the parts of the audio chain equally. I find buying the right item in terms or quality and balance is most important thing.

Like someone might have the Hugo 2, so think only an £1800 headphone is way to go. However someone might already own a £1000 set of headphones, and be looking at any up to £2000. Whereas some headphones in that price range might only offer some of the upgrade qualities required, but not all. Then they may see a headphone at £3000 that covers all their bases of requirements. To me that is the headphone to buy, unless you are prepared to compromise on what you already love.

Like I had a Hugo 2 and I could have upgraded amp and speakers. Instead (because of a multitude of reasons) I bought a TT2. Why is not relevant, but it was the equivalent of an amp and speakers upgrade anyway. It's what you need that is most important.

 

[betula]

To me it's not about balancing the parts of the audio chain equally. I find buying the right item in terms or quality and balance is most important thing.

Like someone might have the Hugo 2, so think only an £1800 headphone is way to go. However someone might already own a £1000 set of headphones, and be looking at any up to £2000. Whereas some headphones in that price range might only offer some of the upgrade qualities required, but not all. Then they may see a headphone at £3000 that covers all their bases of requirements. To me that is the headphone to buy, unless you are prepared to compromise on what you already love.

Like I had a Hugo 2 and I could have upgraded amp and speakers. Instead (because of a multitude of reasons) I bought a TT2. Why is not relevant, but it was the equivalent of an amp and speakers upgrade anyway. It's what you need that is most important.

Sure, what I said I treat it as a general rule of thumb. Individual circumstances might differ.

 

[betula]

Regarding the high-pitch noise:

It has been mentioned recently, that the TT2 can emit a high-pitched noise for a few seconds when the screen is on. I never really payed attention to this (prefer to listen to music on the TT2) but since the comments, I made my TT2 the subject of my scrutiny. Rob has mentioned earlier, that the noise should not be audible from a distance bigger than 1m. Which means, some level of noise is normal with the TT2 when the screen is on. This 1m seems like a very relative distance. People with different hearing or a room with different level of background noise can alter this 1m.

Since my examinations, I have discovered my TT2 does emit some noise when the screen is on and it displays sampling frequency. When the display is showing something else, the slight noise drops to 10%. Of course after a few seconds when the screen goes off, the noise completely disappears.
My TT2 is usually within 1m when I use it, so this level of noise might be normal according to the designer. Perhaps it is normal for all TT2 owners who experience it?

Anyway, this is not a deal breaker for me as I still find the TT2 absolutely awesome and when I am listening to music and the screen pops up for a few seconds due to volume adjustment or anything else I can't hear the high-pitch noise even when sitting right next to the TT2. So it doesn't affect my user experience at all. Still I think it would be great to have a more elaborated and detailed explanation from @Rob Watts what we are experiencing and how relevant/irrelevant it is, just to put every Chord customer's mind to peace.

 

[greyforest]

i ve read three cases that tt2 got malfunction and send back for repair because of high working temperature, in all the cases that tt2 is driving headphone through xlr output. Is that something I should worried about? My Hugo 2 does emitted quite a lot of heat while functioning (feels like a cup of hot water)

 

[musickid]

I've tried all combinations of display brightnesses and display settings and my TT2 is always silent. Over 3 days of testing this. I know of at least one member who sent his TT2 back for a check up because of the noise when the display is on full brightness.

I do understand the 1 metre rule but then why is my TT2 silent with all display brightnesses and displayed settings playing music or not whilst some members are reporting instances of noise?

 

[bluenight]

Regarding the high-pitch noise:

It has been mentioned recently, that the TT2 can emit a high-pitched noise for a few seconds when the screen is on. I never really payed attention to this (prefer to listen to music on the TT2) but since the comments, I made my TT2 the subject of my scrutiny. Rob has mentioned earlier, that the noise should not be audible from a distance bigger than 1m. Which means, some level of noise is normal with the TT2 when the screen is on. This 1m seems like a very relative distance. People with different hearing or a room with different level of background noise can alter this 1m.

Since my examinations, I have discovered my TT2 does emit some noise when the screen is on and it displays sampling frequency. When the display is showing something else, the slight noise drops to 10%. Of course after a few seconds when the screen goes off, the noise completely disappears.
My TT2 is usually within 1m when I use it, so this level of noise might be normal according to the designer. Perhaps it is normal for all TT2 owners who experience it?

Anyway, this is not a deal breaker for me as I still find the TT2 absolutely awesome and when I am listening to music and the screen pops up for a few seconds due to volume adjustment or anything else I can't hear the high-pitch noise even when sitting right next to the TT2. So it doesn't affect my user experience at all. Still I think it would be great to have a more elaborated and detailed explanation from @Rob Watts what we are experiencing and how relevant/irrelevant it is, just to put every Chord customer's mind to peace.

Maybe they should use an small oled screen next time? Similar to this style https://www.hembiobutiken.se/images/prod/264460_2.jpg

I dont know what they use now. Probebly lcd. Maybe what type of screen they use is not the problem?

 

[GreenBow]

Some folk have been mentioning Miles Davis. I just noticed he has a current release album called Rubberband. It reviewed very well. Am checking out the two tracks on Amazon UK which are included with streaming. Really nice stuff.

 

[musickid]

Just tested for noise with both brightnesses and dbnc and other settings showing and still not a squeak. Sample rate was mentioned so could the noise be only emanating when sample rates other than dual bnc are showing with max brightness? Just a theory.

 

[GreenBow]

The WAVE cables got a mention in the news part of HiFi News this month; November issue. It was article on the North West Audio Show.

 

[JTbbb]

Just tested for noise with both brightnesses and dbnc and other settings showing and still not a squeak. Sample rate was mentioned so could the noise be only emanating when sample rates other than dual bnc are showing with max brightness? Just a theory.

Mine does not emit any noise either. However, it has been mentioned that it is high pitched, maybe some of us just can’t hear it?

 

[ZappaMan]

Mine does not emit any noise either. However, it has been mentioned that it is high pitched, maybe some of us just can’t hear it?

How very dare you! Music kid played the violin (in school) and has extremely sensitive (if somewhat oversized) ears. I’ve never been so offended for another audiophile like I am right now.

 

[musickid]

I played in the CBSO youth section one of the best in the world as 1st violin.

 

[rkt31]

After seeing comments of tt2 being brighter than tt and m scaler sounding thin , I wanted to share my experiences. Since I have been using chord line dacs since 2014 from Hugo onwards, I can tell that there have been continuous improvement in chord dac line. Now when I go back to Hugo and Hugo 2 the treble is splashier but the music seems to be slower at the same time. So with improvement in taps and filtering the treble is lot cleaner and transients are more 'incisive'. The effect of cleaner treble is that vocals are lot more warmer and clean to the extent that vocals may sound dry ( specially with HMS is in the mix) . This is not a fault of HMS as vocals are lot more solidly locked at centre at the same time. The effect of 'tightening' and 'fastening' of sound by HMS is that no flaw can remain hidden, even of down the chain equipments and of power supply also. This is true for any ultra transparent system not only tt2 and HMS. In my case I got enormous improvement by 5 numbers of ifi ac purifiers in 'reverse' polarity. The improvement was obviously for power amp as both tt2 and HMS use 15v SMPS. Though using 2 ifi dc purifier one each for HMS and tt2 also yielded very positive results. Besides that I did some cheap tweaks by shielding of usb cable and dual BNC cables by copper tape cheaply available on Amazon which also improved the things further. So the key is to reduce noise in the chain which improves on the flaws in the rest of the chain from reflecting in a ultra transparent system. ( I use ahb2 power amp ) now system is extremely clean and it is like a open 'window' to live performance.