Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

Agreed about Furutech products. When I had my dedicated room finished, I took out the cheap outlets that my electrician had to use to meet code and installed Furutech GTX-D®s throughout (and a couple of the Oyaide R0s for good measure). They sounded painfully bright and ‘off’ somehow for a bit, but are long-since troubled by that now.

Yes, same experience as the burn in period of the GTX-D NCF outlet is awfully long. There was a thread on another forum and users reported similar experience up to 500 hours. In my case it only started to sound really good around 400 hours. Between 50-300 hours the sound quality was terribly poor, and it caused a major worry at that time. Fortunately it’s all joy now.

That wouldn’t surprise me hours-wise. I had somewhat of a double-whammy in terms of having to endure burn-in in some form from go, first with the outlets, then once that had settled continually running my new Spendor D7s for another 500 hours or so. I had them do tweeter and mid-bass/bass driver exercises with psytrance/electronica Internet radio stations 24/7. I’m not a huge proponent of ‘burn-in’ necessarily, but this was a clear case of something needed changing, otherwise I was in jeopardy of falling victim to the dreaded buyer’s remorse unlike anything I’ve ever gone through. That is a thing of the past, gladly; and it certainly isn’t due to me ‘getting used to’ the sound in either scenario.
Together, now the D7s (and system) and Furutech outlets just sing. It really is something.

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I’ve found the dual Furutech silver cable and Rhodium BNC connectors on the M Scaler to be harsh, etched, lacking bass and soundstage when i first used them. I knew I wasn’t / couldn’t listen to them until they were burned in. I’ve checked them again at about 28hrs and the bass has improved a lot but still no where near as smooth as the Wireworld copper BNC. They do say they need at least 100hrs burn in and I think I’d agree with that.

They’re still playing 24/7 while I’m not listening to music. Just set the TT2 to mute and let them get on with it. I’ll check them again later today… should have about 50hrs on them by then.

Are you sure that is ‘burn in’ on a digital lead… I suspect it’s more likely the mechanical socket connections settling in, and the contact connection breaking through any minute film of crud or oxidisation.

Could well be… I’ve just set up a couple of test tracks and listen to them every 24 hours or so. Just so it’s not a case of getting used to the sound. I’ve been putting the old cables back on when I want to sit down to listen to anything for now.

To begin with they were very harsh, holographic but not pleasant. Whatever is going on it has eased somewhat after 24hrs. It’ll be interesting to hear how they’re getting on later today!

I am currently marooned near Slough. My father is entering his seventh age and so I have cancelled the carers for a couple of weeks while assess how he is. Just as that was drawing to a close the NHS Track & Trace app popped up to tell me I had been near someone who is Covid +ve, so I have had to isolate myself for ten days.

My father caught Covid in hospital over Christmas and has had the jab as well, so best I remained with him rather than returning to my own home …so NO HiFi!!!

I had considered taking the TT with me, and had done so once before. However, my father compulsively ‘tidies’, which mean he moves things and cannot remember what he has done with them. I decided to leave it behind. However as time has stretched I decided to get something a tad more transportable. Today a second hand Mojo was delivered.

The Mojo is a very neat little box. I am currently using my laptop as a source running the Qobuz app. Got some more cables arriving tomorrow when I will try it from my phone.

No judgement as I am just using my cheap Sony headphones. Will try it with the Sennheisers when I get home. BUT, I am enjoying this much more!!

Keep well.

M

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@MrUnderhill Sounds like you’ve had an… interesting time :astonished: hope you continue to enjoy your mojo! But most importantly, make sure you both stay safe!! Take care!

Thx Toon,

My eldest was in tears on Thursday when she & my wife popped over to see us from a distance, my father didn’t recognise her. He did brilliantly and was in full control until a year ago, things have been going more quickly downhill over the last six months. I am happy to spend a bit more time with him over the coming months, while he is still mentally with us.

Definitely need the music during times like this!

ATB,

M

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Hard to follow a post like that @MrUnderhill. All the best to you over the coming months.

If I could ask a question of those in this thread… after a glass or two of wine have just pressed ‘buy’ on a second hand chord Dave. Was using a Hugo 2 + 2Go into a 300DR … now with Dave coming around I need a different streamer (unless I obtain a 2Yu for my 2Go…) for the people with TT2s … many of you have NDX2’s, but what else are people using?

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I’ve used a Auralic Aries G1… it was very good. Screen, plenty of options in terms of digital outs and you can utilise existing Naim remotes to control it.

Before that I had a ND5 XS2. This didn’t have a screen or the options for digital outs but it was a good streamer. I didn’t use the Naim app as I use Roon.

In the end after testing and comparing against the Aries G1, I now rely on a Roon NUC on it’s own (previously the NUC fed into the G1). Basically I built a fanless Roon Nucleus by taking an Intel NUC and fitting it into a fanless case with 8gb ram, 256gb internal PCIe hard drive for the OS (Roon Rock) and a 1TB Samsung SSD drive for my music. I’ve separated the USB power from the NUC to a power bank so M Scaler receives clean power supply separate from the data from the Roon NUC.

I opted for the latter purely because I like to keep the numbers of boxes (and size) to a minimum. My system is in my office so I don’t have the room for multiple full size boxes.

I also like to take the TT2 & M Scaler with me on holiday or when working away (with my Empyrean headphones)… the NUC is a small box that is easy to take and just connects to the router of where I’m staying. It all fits into an aluminium photographers case… the ones that you can cutout the foam to pop gear in etc.

That said, my recommendation would probably be either the Aries G1 or, the ND5 XS2 if you don’t need the screen. If you want to spend the extra on the NDX2 then you certainly can’t go wrong there either.

Hi @anon23154165 I built a fanless roon nucleus using a NUC also, and that is what is feeding my 2Go+Hugo2… but I am confused by your comment “…I now rely on a Roon NUC on its own…” you need a streamer between your NUC and your TT2 … did I misunderstand your post?

I have no streamer between the NUC and TT2. The NUC is core and player for me.

When I had the G1 I was using optical to the M Scaler but it was mentioned to me a couple of times about getting rid of it and just using the NUC. So, I decided to give it a try.

To begin with it sounded a bit edgy when using a normal USB straight into the TT2 from the NUC. So, taking advantage of the ability to return stuff to Amazon really easy, I tried a iFi Mercury USB 3 cable and a iFi USB Purifier 3. This made a big difference and was near as dammit the same sound quality.

I then took a USB Y splitter, one side is USB 2 for power and the other USB 3. The USB 3 side also has a power wire in it though. But, a quick bit of tinkering and I cut the red power wire in the USB3 side cable side… you have to leave the black ground cable though, and I now had the option from taking the data from the NUC and using a Anker 20100 power bank as the power feed. The power bank lasts about a week or so between charges.

At that point I couldn’t make out the difference between the G1 (optical) and the NUC USB. Sold the G1 and used it to part fund the Etude… best move I ever made!

The NUC is still attached to the Cisco switch so all my files are available to other players around the house.

I believe ifi make something similar to what I made but in one cable.

All the best to you and your father over this difficult period of time.

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Why not try a Raspberry Pi? I found mine to be astonishing good as a streamer.

Congratulations excellent purchase. I use an Innuos Zen with Chord Dave/MScaler, very pleased with the result.

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I’m using the Project Stream Ultra, which for me falls in to the excellent value camp. Whilst it is based on a Raspberry Pi, for those looking for an off the shelf solution, I highly recommend trying one out. It is better in my system compared to direct connections to PC’s but also better than connecting directly to my NUC.

EDIT: the user interface needs some work though…

I use the NDX 2 BNC output into my M Scaler / TT2 combination as well as a Zen Mini Mk3 via USB, these feeding a Naim 252 / SC /300 system and both sound excellent to be honest, positive using the NDX2 is that you have a screen showing album artwork and the positives for the Zen is that you can rip CD’s and use it as a Roon core or endpoint machine, so take your pick. Of course with the TT2 or DAVE you have a headphone out which is great if you don’t want to be moaned at by your partner or children whilst listening to your devices via loudspeakers because they don’t like your taste in music LOL. :grinning:

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Thanks yes will likely bring my Ropiee back into service in the short term while I look for something else that is a little less agricultural :slight_smile:

Yes an mscaler is on the shopping list … how can one have a chord dac and not get up to 768!