Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

Well… I’ve contacted Chord to see if they can arrange a home demo of the Etude & TToby or, recommend a dealer that can. We’ll see what they say.

I’d love the size of the TToby but only if the difference in sound quality isn’t too big. Otherwise I’ll juggle stuff around to make the Etude fit.

Are you using balance XLR cables or RCA? and which ones?.. cheers

Phoenix collected and installed, just playing my second song. This change is not subtle, far more improvement than I got from the m scaler for example. More timbre, clarity and realism across the board. Apart from some better mains cables this finishes my digital art up after a lot of expense over the last week or two. Will report back inore detail in a day or to but wow for now

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There are a few on Head Fi that have added it to an M Scaler setup with excellent results as well. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences with it!

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I may be coming into this a bit late, but I was wondering are you using a pre with the Etude , TT2 and Mscaler? I am intrigued and considering trying out the Etude and compare it against my 250.2 . Currently I also use a 282 as my pre.

XLR Cables - True Signal Audio

S

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I emailed Chord to ask their view on XLR or RCA, between Dave and Etude. They recommended XLR for the benefit of the Etude, the said it would make no difference in respect of the Dave.

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TT2 via XLR into the Etude - no pre with the TT2.

The Etude is a very different amp to the 250.2 … and with my ATC 19s if I am honest seems to work better in the bass grip and resolution area than my 250.2. Looking at the impedance curve of the 19s - it lis quite smooth between 6 and 10 ohms across the audio band so is easy to drive - apart from there is a sharp peak at 56Hz of 50 ohms (perhaps a box resonance point?) . Interesting this is where I thought there was a room node with my 250.2 - where the sound went softer / slower, boomier and less distinct - but I was curious with the Etude this apparent room node completely disappeared and the bass remained tight and gripped throughout,

Both seem to time well in the mids and highs, but the bass timing and dynamics is ahead on the Etude.
I wonder if the 250DR behaves differently here and might be more like the Etude?

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Simon,

You could try the Krisdonia battery with the MScaler, has the effect I think you are looking for.

M

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It may sound crazy but it does work… and, at the end of the day… you have a power supply that can help make your TT2 mobile at the fraction of the price :+1:t2:

I’m curious about your choice of XLR over single ended. Up till now, you’ve been fairly committed to a preference for single ended over balanced connections for short runs under 1.5m and taken care to explain why.

Is there a reason for this or is it just that these XLR cables are what your dealer gave you to play with?

I think it depends on equipment … the Etude is happier with balanced according to Chord so I understand, possibly because it may be a balanced design . I have tried unbalanced… and well, I prefer balanced…
If the devices were all things equal then for short runs then unbalanced would most likely be preferable, but that is not the case with the Etude.
Yes the dealer gave me the XLRs, but obviously I tried my unbalanced leads as well of various constructs and metals.

hmmm think it def needs a demo for me on my DAVE/innuos zenith mk3 front end soon :slight_smile:
heard a few say made more of a difference than an mscaler and also read good reports when you combo it with an mscaler/dave too… argghhh it never ends does it :woozy_face:

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I have an MScaler heading my way for demo soon, also interested in the Phoenix, unfortunately my Chord dealer is not my Innuos dealer. I spoke to my Innuos dealer and Innuos when the Phoenix came out, both agreed it would be an improvement but suggested adding the Statement, not really that helpful !
It will be good to get some actual feedback, I find reading the forums/reviews is inconclusive in determining my priority, perhaps santa will be nice and get me both.

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So true :pleading_face:

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It is indeed having just bought an mcru lvl3 lps for my ER, hoping I take delivery before wife sees another box of things arrive for the hifi :crazy_face:

Still feels like digital front ends evolving all the time

I do wonder whether will see a mscaler in a matching dave box a blue mk2.5 as it were with better rf management

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Yes an MScaler in Choral range guise would be neat, however the current model seems very popular and Chord will need to be confident there is sufficient demand.

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Ok I have decided to give these a try…

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I hope they work out for you like they did for me Simon. Maybe remind Nick that Bluesfan is still waiting for his pair, he may of somehow forgotten his order. Mine only took about a month between ordering and receiving them, and I am in Canada.

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Thanks, Simon, I’ve spoken with my dealer to see if I can get my hands on an Etude to try with my Neat XLS’s along with my TT2 and Mscaler. Intrigued by your findings and interested to see how it works in my system.

Well… spoke to my dealer and he has a demo silver Etude I can borrow with a pair of XLR cables… not sure which he’ll send as he’s going to take a look as to what they have available. Should be with me tomorrow.

He’s not sure how it will compare with TT2 directly powering the PMC speakers. He’d like to think there would be an improvement but he hadn’t used the Etude in a near field setup or compared it to the TT2 directly powering the speakers. At least this way I’ll know for sure and if it doesn’t offer a good improvement then I’ll focus on other parts of the system.