Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

Of course!

In about 2000, when my girls were getting old enough to consider buying them computers, I put in a firewall (IPCOP) which allowed me to time when they got access to the internet and banned certain classes of site. By pure serendipity I caught them both on sites that I would rather they weren’t on and weren’t covered by the firewall lists. From then in they both thought that I had some divine technical ability to just know when they were up to no good :wink: .

When you have finished playing I’ll be interested in your thoughts.

M

:joy::joy::joy::+1:t2:

Will do. I remember playing with it before but it was with a USB cable straight from the laptop into the DAC. It sounded far brighter than the M Scaler did… this time it sounds very different. Very full, textured sound, very low noise floor but a lot of energy to it. Bit like going from 9v to 12/15v with the M Scaler. It looks like an interesting weekend of listening anyway!

When I was about to purchase my Mscaler, Dmance (Dan) noticed my post on headfi. He PM’d me and asked if I had purchased it yet, I had. He suggested HQPlayer with his Opto-DX would be cheaper, and probably as good as the Mscaler. I am not very computer savvy, so I could see fiddling with this software causing me stress, and a few more gray hairs. Dan is the owner of Opto -dx by the way. In the end, I am happy with the Mscaler.

It’s not that hard to setup when combined with Roon… previously, with direct connection, it just didn’t sound as good as the m scaler. I think this time round it’s going to be a closer fight.

I nearly bought the Opto DX. There’s one on eBay in the UK but I didn’t want all the extra boxes… it would end up with too many small bits and bobs.

Yeah, that is why i

Yeah, that is why I have not bothered with Battery power yet. Back in the day (the eightees) my first car had a decent stereo in it, with an (I think) 11 band equalizer. I was forever changing settings on every song, which was a pain in da butt. Once I changed to just a power amp I was much happier, with only the volume dial to mess with.
I think you get my point.

Hi Toon,

I played with it a few years ago into a very different setup. Ultimately I felt its effect was similar to other computer based upscaling I had used, that is the effect was to make it sound smoother but to lose the PRAT. There was some music I preferred it with.

I am very happy with my current digital front end and am VERY pleased to get away from additional complication.

BUT, I am always interested in others finding, the world does move on!

M

Thanks for the advice. I think the M-Scaler will definitely need to be taken home for a demo but I’d rather buy a used one as they hover around the £2,900 mark which is a good saving.

I found the post that @MrUnderhill wrote on another forum and think that the SBooster will be next to introduce into the chain. There is used one at the moment on PFM but it’s not 5v which is a shame.

I have looked at the Sonore products and like the idea of fibre. But that looks like another whole new rabbit whole to go down.

Will keep you posted on what I do and when.

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Fwiw, I had some extended (very) demos last year with the mscalar and TT2 and mscalar with Dave.
I found the TT2 was quite sensitive on the DX connections, and I actually purchased a set of Wave Audio connections which seemed to be positive.
I later settled on the Dave… and although incredible on its own, does go the extra mile in reality and spatial awareness on some recordings with the mscalar, especially with the Empyreans headphones. However with the Dave, I find the included Chord DX coax leads with my now brand new mscalar preferable. Whether there has been mscalar design modification or not, I don’t know.

Final setup, Naim NDX2 into mscalar with Naim DC1, mscalar DX coax into Dave. Dave drives Etude using unbalanced gold plated silver twisted pair interconnects, and Meze Empyrean planar headphones via Meze silver plated copper unbalanced headphone leads…
All in all performs pretty damn well for me.

Hi Gav,

I definitely found a synergy between the SBooster & Qutest, further extended by the Ultra II.

M

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Well… plenty of time with it yesterday.

TT2 on it’s own.
It’s been a while since I used the TT2 on its own and it surprised me how good it sounded. It sounded a bit fuller, deeper bass compared to when the MScaler is connected, very dynamic. I enjoyed listening to it on it’s own with speakers… missed the M Scaler more with headphones. Not sure why that was. I don’t think I could go back to TT2 on it’s own long term though, just not as real, analogue if you see what I mean.

TT2 with the M Scaler
I think it’s all been covered above really… many times :joy:

TT2 with HQPlayer (Direct)
I still couldn’t get away with this as a direct connection (laptop using battery). I guess you do need other USB cleaning to tame some of the noise. I just didn’t get the same feel as you do from the MScaler, the smooth real sound with terrific soundstage and imaging. HQPlayer direct just felt a little rough around the edges and lacked the feeling of being there.

TT2 with HQPlayer (OpticalRendu and Laptop connected to switch via Optical)
This was certainly a lot better than direct… it certainly benefited from the optical network. I also connected the laptop to the switch via optical as well. I used Sinc-M and NS9. LNS15 was too thick / heavy with this combo even at max upscaling.

The imaging was impressive and you had that feeling that the sound filled the room without coming from the speakers… like the M Scaler. Tight bass and very good detail and texture. Is it better than the MScaler?!? I wouldn’t say better, dam close and it is very good… not as much in it as we’d probably like given the prices difference.

The MScaler is still safe for now… although I think I’ll buy the HQPlayer for when I’m traveling around or in the studio using the laptop to feed the DAC. It did sound very good over headphones.

I think for most though, the extra mucking around with laptops and network setup to make it sound it’s best will put them off. The MScaler is so much easier to use!

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I find this interesting. I love my nearfield via LS3/5a with the TT1. Being SO close to the speakers is like wearing giant headphones without the inconvenience of having something clamped to your hrad, This makes subtle intonations and details readily apparent that aren’t so easily heard via speakers. But, similar to a Constable painting, the increased distance perspective of the speakers makes other things more available, not to mention the larger dynamic swings.

I do enjoy the different perspective of Sennheiser/Mojo vs TT1/LS3/5a vs HMS/Qobuz/SBL; and there are different albums I prefer listening to through each.

SOOOOO important. After all mp3 beat ADVD and SACD!

Anyway, back to the LP12 :wink:

M

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I’d imagine it has more to do with the Empyrean being more revealing compared to the 25.22’s. I’m with you on the nearfield listening. I really love the feel of being surrounded by the sound without having to wear headphones. But, I have grown very found of the Empy… they are like speakers for your ears.

Yes, sometimes the best things aren’t always the most convenient :blush:

I’ll be playing around with the HQPlayer again tonight!

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Indeed, and the wide bandwidth feel… it’s nice to feel the base with the Empyreans… and that spooky someone else in the room with you effect… got to be the definition of total immersion… sadly only works on certain recordings due to I assume on how they are mastered.

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There’s a jazz tracks I listen too that has someone in the audience that calls out from the back of room behind… must be behind the mic. When I’m working I forget all about it until I look over my shoulder to see who just called out and realise it’s that bl**dy track again!

I really appreciated them at work as I can experience the soundstage properly compared to speakers as I’m not sat between them.

Have you ever tried solid silver cables with them compared to the Meze silver upgrade cable?

No I haven’t… what have you tried?

I haven’t tried any myself yet. The two that interest me are Lavricables Grand 20 Core and Norn Audio Silvergarde S4.

The problem with both is being able to listen to them before buying given they are made to order. I last looked at these before I bought the Meze Silver upgrade cable. At some point, after I’ve sorted out a decent usb cable, I’ll take a look to see if there are any other options that are easier to demo!

To be honest I find it pretty effective as is… so not really motivated to do anything else other than get a slightly longer lead

That’s why after 9 months I haven’t bothered.

Maybe, if I see one heavily reduced on eBay otherwise I’m happy with the Meze Silver. I’d still like to hear the difference… but just not enough to spend that amount on a blind buy!

I’ve been working on finalizing my cabling for my system over the last week. Settling on the offers of True Signal Audio.

A wonderful resolving cable in its many forms.

I have been switching between Balanced XLR’s and Single Ended RCA’s. Both resolving, and trying to decide on which way I am leaning.

The XLR’s seem very punchy, which perhaps can be attributed to the increase in gain and the rca’s feel a bit more relaxed.

Has anyone else had any observations using balanced vs unbalanced in the TT2

I will continue with my journey over the next few days

Chord’s internal design is unbalanced, they add a transformer to their circuit to provide XLR interfaces. RCA seems the better choice from a technical point of view.

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