Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

I was working in my studio and the reception isn’t as good… I just recall it coming up on the screen “Streaming CD Quality”… instead of the Hi Def.

Your post about degradation just reminded me of it.

It maybe that they store all information at it’s highest quality and then downsample depending on what is requested / capable of handling. Storing 3 or more versions would take up a lot of server space… but disk space is a lot cheaper these days so who knows!

A separate server for each?!? MP3, CD & High Def?!? It would reduce processing power required and each selection you make in app will point it to a different server. But in short… no idea :joy:

OK, now that IS a nice thick pipe!

Yes, it would be nice to know though.

I was testing my Lexicon MC-10 using Kazoo. Kazoo was telling my 16/44.1 / 9624 / 24-192, but the MC-10 was reporting much lower data rates; but again, how do these apps/devices determine what they report?

OK, maybe I need to actually do some digging rather than cogitating …but it cuts into my listening time.

Haha… I’d rather have 100mbs download and 100mbs upload! I don’t think I ever used 250mbs fully.

Now, what I would say is that there are a couple of albums on Qobuz that seem to be labeled incorrectly. I know of one recently that said 24/96 on the app indicator but when playing, it reported 16/44.1. That could be purely a metadata issue.

What I do know, is the sound quality at Qobuz is fantastic and a good range of tracks. I was never really happy with Tidal, with the selection and SQ.

Oh, by the way, that XT Power Bank (20100ma) arrived the other day. I was going to send it back given I wasn’t going to be getting the M Scaler at the moment. However, decided to try it out on the Qutest and for some reason, it sounds better. The other power banks are getting on a bit… that might be it or, it has something to do with the QC3 tech in this new one. Either way, there feels more attack, pace when music changes direction from quiet to loud or change in speed from slow to fast. Never thought that different power banks would sound different?!? Or I just going crazy :thinking:

I agree that Q is very good.

I do NOT think you are crazy. I have a range of PSUs and find they all effect the SQ - which is better can be a bit more subtle. I am certainly enjoying the R-Core over the SBooster.

Review of the SBooster + Qutest here:

There is a link at the top of the page to download the English version. Interestingly they found the Ultra gives the best bang for buck with the MkI - although mine won’t be arriving for 7-12 days.

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That’s a very interesting (possibly expensive for a few?) read… :rofl:
Thanks for sharing @MrUnderhill!
:grinning:

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Sure 20:30 BST?

Hi Simon,

Yes please, 1730 and 2030 BST.

M

Daft question maybe, but is it only on the streaming service you notice the degradation at these particular times ?

Hi James,

It is the only one I use for music, so the most important to me :wink:

In the house we also use Amazon & Netflix. Occasionally the quality of a streamed film will start lower than usual and then bump up, no consistency in the issue.

M

Ah I see - you mentioned listening from a NAS so I thought you had a local music collection too.

Hi James,

My misunderstanding, I do but I don’t think of that as a service in the same sense as Qobuz.

I have Minimserver installed on:

  • A Prestige II server, with the flacs on USB sticks powered by 2 x LPSUs; and
  • A Synology NAS.

The SQ from these is constant, which was why when Q fell off I tested what I was getting from Minimserver.

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Understood. I’ll be interested in Simon’s findings :slightly_smiling_face:

Hi James,

@Simon-in-Suffolk kindly checked last night and all was fine from his end.

I don’t have any issue every night, it has happened about five times in the past six months. Simon has posted what he checks so I am working out how I can replicate that so that the next time I have a quality fall I can check the same things.

I have had a look at Bubbleupnp logging this morning, and how to up the logging level. I am just having a play with tcpdump and reminding myself how it works …been a few years since I last used it in anger!

Cheers,

M

If you really want to look on the line then WireShark is the tool to use… but that won’t show what’s happening at the application layer per se, but you can see the TCP timings which as you’ll see are pretty consistent.
If you saw a whole load of tcp segment resends then that can point to issues at either end… on the first gen streamers it was a sign of latency buffer issues on the Naim streamer, but you shouldn’t see on the new streamers…and if being starved at the sender end you would see breaks in the tcp flow… but again on the new streamers or using a proxy that shouldn’t be noticeable unless major and buffers Memory are exhausted.

You have two levels… network and application. If the application loses data the file is by definition corrupted and you would hear Loud potentially speaker damaging digital garbage or play out stops.

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hi all,

futher update on my testing of TT2/MScaler

took receipt of the sarum array USB cable and have hooked that up, gave a noticeable uplift in terms of detail but taken a few days for things to settle in again and i think gives a more comparable comparison with the NDS now have similar level of cables in use

again stuck with filter 1 consistently and definitely lost that slight digital harshness experienced in some tracks, like the sound of the TT2 in terms of that natural instrument and voice sound but not sure is enough of an upgrade over my current set up as a DAC when running just HiRES music , the MScaler however i love. What a great bit of kit that does wonders to your 16 bit CD rips i have never heard them sound so good the TT2/MScaler combo wins hands down vs my current setup for 16 bit CD rips and i would recommend giving it a go if you have a large CD rip collection.

Over weekend i am planning on doing another A/B comparison, quickly trying out NDS in BNC mode feeding the TT2/MScaler, then a couple of Days with the TT2 in pre-amp mode straight into the 250 before the DAVE arrives next tue to try out (having forked out another substantial deposit to home demo it :frowning: )

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I ran my NDS in BNC mode as you put it, into my Mscaler/TT2…and it worked really well. I also have a Core, so in the end I moved my NDS/XPSDR on, and run the Core in BNC mode to the Chord gear. It just seemed like a waste, the way I used the NDS, and I am now looking at streamers only, with no DAC, specifically the Auralic G1.

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if i do change i too would move the NDS/XPS DR on (be using this as a good chunk of the deposit) and plan to use the zenith mk3 i have via USB (maybe the phoenix reclocker thing down the line if i like demo of it)

heard good stuff about the auralic too, noticed one reviewed in this months HiFi+

Well… today took a bit of a twist… I went to
Listen to the m scaler and qutest setup, I explained that the end goal would be a tt2 with an m scaler but couldn’t do the two together!

That did sound good but, they gave me a listen to the TT2 and it just seemed to give bit more in terms of soundstage and instrument seperation than the Qutest + m scaler… which mainly benefited the 16/44.1 content.

Then the evil man said he had a lightly used TT2 for just over 3k :woozy_face: it just needed checking out etc but I could have it next week! It would still have 2 years warranty as well.

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Nice deal there,were you using a G1 to feed the TT2?