Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

I am using a Naim Core to feed my Mscaler/TT2 with a DC1 cable. I have 2200 albums on the Core, right now I have no streamer in the chain. Sometimes I connect my I-pad to the Mscaler with USB from a camera connection kit to listen to Radio paradise channels. I want to demo a Simaudio Mind2 soon, but have not got around to that yet. My hours at work fluctuate a lot because of COVID-19, so spending money right now is on the back burner.

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Well I am really enjoying the Mojo.

To broaden my music I grab albums used in reviews or included in lists in Stereophile et al as Qobuz favourites and then have a listen in due course. When listening on my main system this means selecting the album via Kazoo and then removing them is they are not enjoyable to me. When they are removed the screen refreshes and then I spend time returning to where I was, a minor irritant.

Using my laptop (Qobuz app) > Mojo this is MORE then good enough to decide whether I will enjoy the album, and the app is much more convenient to use. This means my favourites are rapidly being pruned as many albums I have not got to are winnowed.

Currently listening to Bitch Epic, Deborah Conway - rather good!

The Mojo is really small. Currently charging it as I use it.

tried it with my Xperia using WAV files - a step up …unsurprisingly.

I have enjoyed reading everyone’s enthusiasm for the new Chord amps. Fortunately this is a temptation I can easily put to bed as there is a nice synergy between the 300DR and the SBLs; makes the comments even more enjoyable as there is NO upgraditus itch to accompany them!

M

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My wife kindly bought my Sennheisers out to me the other day, and this shows just how good the little Mojo is. BUT, this morning I made it home and I fired up the main system and listened to Posterity from the Tenet soundtrack, which I have been listening to via the Mojo all week. Well, via the 210/Mscaler/Qutest/Icon4/300DR is shows what this can REALLY sound like!

Glad to be home!!

M

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Hi @MrUnderhill Is see from your system description you have the Icon4 in the place of the Townshend.

I gather the Icon4 has remote control which is nice, but I would be interested to know how it has affected the sound?

Hi Roog,

To my ears - no difference. Martin Colloms says he needs to get the two in a £100k system to pick them apart.

I not only get the remote but also the line level AV input.

M

Thanks that’s good to know.

I don’t think the Icon4 is still available, it has been replaced by the Icon4 pro which may be a tad better AND is very flexible …good review on 6moons.

M

Of course, it has been a while since I made enquiries, they will be jacking the price up next.

I am still in limbo over the whole thing, I have been tempted to make big changes.

Well, if you fancy a jog up to the smoke when all THIS is over you are welcome to come and have a listen.

M

That’s most kind, thank you, so many things seem to hinge around this thing being over!

One plan is a big integrated!

A friend has just bought the Vitus R101, that’s an airship isn’t it, which he is really enjoying having been non-plused by the R100.

Nice!

It’s a big step and I will need to be convinced that I can hear the difference between it and my hodgepodge system!

I do like the idea of the D’Agostino integrated, but the cost is shocking.

In a recent article in Audiophile Style it states:
“the stock Chord DAVE DAC (>$10,000, so no slouch on the available budget for power supplies) uses the XP Power ECM40UT33 (~$40 part) for its internal power supply. I’ve read reports that more recent DAVEs use the EOS Power LFWLT40-3002 (a ~$18 part).”
That must give pause for thought for some!

The article is actually about the claimed astounding benefits to be derived from fitting Sean Jacobs’s DC4 power supply to the Dave. This involves opening the casework and invalidating the warranty.

I guess the change was either based on availability, but the replacement tested by Chord and found not to have a negative effect on sound quality, or that they had found the cheaper one was better. (N.B. These are not individual components, but modules.)

I read that excellent article by Ray-dude, what I like about his reviews is the honesty he always comes across as having. I am not aware of anyone that goes to the depths he does to tweak his setup. There was one other guy ( Romaz), but I think he stepped away from forums for a while. Nick, (four legs on here) uses the DC4 power supply on his Dave and Mscaler too, but he is a little less in depth of his praises of the benefits of the DC4.
I wonder if anyone has tried the DC4 with a TT2, not that I can afford one.

What struck me was that such an up-market product should use such cheap power supplies (I have no idea if they are any good). Clearly, Chord does not adopt the same approach as Naim.

I’ve stuck with the original PSU for both Qutest and MScaler, I trust Chord to supply what they think is the best for their products not some guy with a multi-meter in his garage who thinks they have found the holy grail.

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:+1:

Yeah, who’d trust that.

“From its humble back-room-in-a-back-street beginnings, where Vereker worked single-handed for much of the time”

I don’t think the cost of an individual component is particularly relevant here. I dare say those machined aluminium cases cost a fair bit, but many interal components will be relatively cheap. I would bet the cost of a DAC chip, for example, is also negligible compared, say, to the price of an NDAC or an ND555. The real costs will be the R&D, design, hand building, certification etc etc.