Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

The perfect scenario would be a head to head demo of a Laptop with Phoenix against a DCS network bridge, but that ain’t happening around here.

Snap, just taken delivery - Hugo TT2 /MSCALER/Ultima6…happy days …

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Great combo, don’t try a linear power supply on your TT 2 though unless your re ready to buy it. Mine delights me every day

Which one are you using? Have you tried your Phoenix with a laptop DayJay?

Chord give loads of warning not to use third party power supplies and that was reinforced by the dealer. I trust the manufacturer to provide an appropriate PSU with their equipment so won’t be jumping on that “bandwagon.” :+1:t3:

I’ve got an MCRU one on the TT 2, made a significant improvement and I’ve got one on order for the MScaler. The improvement was not subtle. I haven’t tried the phoenix on a laptop yet. Next time I get a day off I’ll try my Mac mini and audirvana through it

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That one I can answer. The zenith 3 usb into the TT 2 is excellent, with the phoenix it’s superb. I’ve tested it against a number of streamers and have got back to the zenith every time.

Very interesting… have you been able to measure the output of the LPS? is it bang on 15v or is it a bit over?

I haven’t measured it. It is designed specifically for the TT 2, has a different price to the MScaler one for example, so I would be astonished if it measured higher. I did a fair bit of online research before buying and they have a good reputation producing power supplies for lots of different hifi components

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It what way would you say it’s changed the TT2… I’m not bothered in change of tone etc but as I’m very happy with how mine is sounding in that way but, alway welcome even more depth in sound stage… like the surround sound feeling!

It improved mainly soundstage, far more separation between instruments, not in a clinical way but a realistic way. Realism was improved and so much transparency allowing music to be heard that wasn’t immediately obvious before hand

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Hmmm if you say so…

You know the TT2 has supercapacitors which are the power supply

Might have to try out a spare LPS I have on the TT2. Didn’t do anything with the power bank but maybe an LPS will be different.

I’m waiting on the last of my GIK bass traps to replace temp foam panels so don’t want to add anything new to the mix at the moment.

The other thing, now that I’ve moved on the M Scaler after adding HQPlayer on a headless unit connected to the new home router / switch etc at it’s new location, I need to decide whether the TT2 or Dave is going to be the long term solution before spending anything else on the TT2. I thought I would just get the Dave since the money is there but to be honest, I really like the balance of everything since adding the TQ Silver Diamond USB so reluctant to change it. I’ll probably just sit tight for now.

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I couldn’t care less, I have ears that work. There are many many people on all of the forums who will tell you the same

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I tried a.power bank on my MScaler, can’t say I heard a great deal of difference and it was a pain to use

Wow, so HQplayer is a keeper then, kind of surprising you chose it over the Mscaler. I wonder how long before Dave 2 appears?
Not that I can afford it, but a lot of the big shooters on audiophile style appear to be going to the Taiko Extreme into Dave. I am still hoping for a Dacless streamer from Naim some time soon.

It surprised me as well to be fair. About a year ago I tried it direct to the DAC via USB and didn’t like it… I tried it again this time round and still didn’t. However, keep it away from the DAC by connecting it to the switch via optical and then to the OpticalRendu via a good quality FMC and it really came to life. The TQ SD USB just finished it off perfectly. Really like Closed-Form-M with NS9.

I’ve also just upgraded the router and switch to an Ubiquiti UDM Pro and PoE switch and WiFi access point and that is now in a room on the other side of the house away from the HiFi. The HQPlayer, Roon & all the networking is now there so only the OR + LPS, TT2 & Etude are in my music room now.

One unexpected surprise was when I setup various vLANs, IGMP Snooping and firewall rules on the new setup to isolate IoT from Work systems and the Audio network, it gave a definite improvement in sound quality. A reduction in brightness and more texture in the bass. I was only doing it originally to isolate the IoT hardware for security reasons but it had a positive impact on SQ as well.

I’ve read a lot of positive reviews of the Taiko Extreme… bit out of my league at this point but an interesting concept. I could fancy building a specific Music server at some point which would make a good project!

You are way more accomplished than me with computers, that is obvious. I have been reading up on a Raspberry Pi, and they basically have a walk through with photos to get it set up…but my mind get boggled just figuring out what some of the terms mean. For instance, you have to have DHCP on your network, I had to Google what that means, and I have no clue if I have it still.:weary:

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Good you are enjoying… now that everything has fully burned in, the Mscalar is definitely in here… strangely the Dave and Etude did seem to take quite a time to burn in from new which is perhaps why I wasn’t sure about mscalar at first… and now that they have, the mscalar has really come into its own… the music just sounds more together, real and flowing , with greater sense of bounce and timing than without… but without is pretty agreeable anyway.

I can say I am really pleased how things have turned out… it’s nice to have a replay system that gives so much pleasure without taking significant real estate, wires and gadgets.

I wired my Hugo 1 into the Etude the other day to see how that comparedfor a bit of fun … it was very good… but unsurprisingly rather curtailed and filtered compared to the presence and reality of Dave… and shows how expectations have moved on over recent years.

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Great to hear you’re enjoying the Mscaler