Its unfortunate for Simon that this is an unplanned exercise in trying a new dac, let alone the added cost of a scaler.
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Gaza, indeed, I could hire you as my press secretary 
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One of the delights of hifi is some research into products, saving up, the anticipation, the demo and finally the purchase. Being dumped into a quick purchase is unfortunate…
but the Signals guys are great to deal with.
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So in your opinion it is better to get a Hugo 1 rather then a Qutest for a Naim system to your ear?
And I meant M Scaler
For detailed comparison I would, if your system and ears are like mine, definitely recommend Hugo Original over Hugo2 and its equivalents… really the differences were surprisingly marked.
Now I will be comparing the TT2 which is quite different from the Hugo2 series… looking forward to it…apparently closer to DAVE
@Simon-in-Suffolk
TT2 + Mscaler is shockingly good to my ears. probably the best I have listened recently…
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Hi Simon
I bought a TT2 last weekend, I hooked it up Sunday morning, mine is acting as a Preamp and DAC. The digital is coming from my NDS using a Naim DC1 cable, Core and NDS are connected to a 2960 switch with Cat5e Ethernet cable. My amp is an Anthem MCA 50 power amp, the TT2 is directly connected to the amp with RCA Nordost Heimdall 2 analog cables, speakers are Dynaudio excite 12’s. First listen was a real wow moment, the speakers sounded twice as big, and the detail coming through was a bit overwhelming at first, 3d width and depth was very impressive. If I had any complaints, I would say it leaned a little towards the bright side, so I added ten clip on ferrites to the DC1.This really helped tame the slight edge I was getting, and right now it sounds wonderful. I plan on swapping things around after a week, and inserting my Cary Audio Preamp back in, between the Dac and Amp, so using the TT2 as a DAC only. So far, I am really loving the TT2, I also demoed the Dave last year, and used it the same way, but it is simply too expensive for me. My next upgrade, hopefully by the end of the year will be the Mscaler. Really curious as to what you end up doing/keeping. A friend of mine bought my old Hugo 1, and earlier in the year he replaced the batteries in it, he installed them himself, and it is now good as new. Last night I tried headphones with the TT2, really nice, so I urge you to try them with the Dave, although it takes a few minutes to settle in to the sound, so I suggest giving them a good hour before making any conclusions.
Good luck, and enjoy.
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With the choice of topic name, “Dave came round”, I would say that your skills as press secretary are pretty good! Its far more pc than the usual “My Hugo Died”, which is what we are used to seeing on these forums. Interested to hear your journey, impressions, and conclusions.
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How do Hugo usually die? Do they die in large number?!
I now have a HUGO TT2 (replaced a Hugo2) between my ND5XS2 (and superb Melco N1ZH/2) as a DAC & Pre-Amp straight into TAGMcLaren mono-blocs (145wpc, via Entreq RCA interconnect) that are biamped to my ATC SCM 11. This sounds good to my ears, the Entreq lowers the noise floor and I am also using RJ45 Entreq from the router to the Melco. I had a MScaler(“HMS”) for a while with the Hugo2, but after home demo of the TT2 I chopped in both the H2 and the HMS for this, and spent the HMS type money on the Melco and the Entreq bits for more consistency from Tidal and ripped CD’s in the library.
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Thanks Bart, good memories.
I have M-Scaler within my Blu2 transport. I would say it’s the best piece of hifi kit I have bought in 40 years. It took DAVE to another level and I think DAVE is excellent. I was able to sell my pre-amp to fund the combo and have never regretted it.
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Tells a lot about the age of dudes hanging around here!
Did you get a chance to try the Mscaler with the TT2? Can you explain what you thought was better about the TT2 over the Mscaler/H2 ?
Ok Magadino, If I understand you correctly, I could trash my 282; HCDR, CDX2, and replace it with the following:
Then plug that into a Snaxo 362 and have one of the finest front ends known to man.
I know nothing, please tell me what I’m missing???
Blasphemy! LOL☺
Dave
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Perfect!
Now you guys know I’m from across the pond, but at least read da article!
" Want to know the best CD player we’ve heard? The answer is depressingly expensive. It’s Chord’s Blu Mk II transport combined with its range topping digital-to-analogue converter, the DAVE. Quality costs - and in this case the price is a hefty £16,000 for the pair."