Chords New M -Scaler

[kennyb123]

11 minutes ago, incus said:

 Great to get this feedback from the front lines as I await my HMS and TT2 combo as well. Thank you. Could you perhaps describe in a little more detail what the Shunyata brought to the table, besides "minutiae" (which I assume means detail retrieval?)? What is the "goodness" you are hearing, if you don't mind sharing? It would be very helpful to me personally as I contemplate which BNC cables to get for my combo. Cheers (Also has your dealer given you a firm date for the TT2 to arrive?)

 

First off, no firm date yet on the TT2.  Apparently Chord has still not fulfilled some orders placed in Nov/Dec.

 

I'll respond to your question about the Shunyata products later.

[incus]

3 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

First off, no firm date yet on the TT2.  Apparently Chord has still not fulfilled some orders placed in Nov/Dec.

Oi.

 

3 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

I'll respond to your question about the Shunyata products later.

Thanks . Much appreciated.

[Always.Learning]

Ken (@kennyb123) is absolutely right about the importance of upgrading your BNC cables with the HMS. Please note I am not complaining about the Chord-supplied cables. I have been happily enjoying them for the last six weeks or so and Chord deserves some credit for including these with the HMS -- it helps get people up and listening quickly. Not many manufacturers include a pair of cables with their product. 

 

In any event, I was motivated to try a new pair of cables by Ken's experience (we are friends) and by another mutual friends' positive report on a pair of very affordable BNC cables. These are the Geistnote Apogee Wyde Eye cables, available direct from Geistnote or on Amazon. They will not break the bank -- $40 for a well-manufactured 3 foot BNC to BNC cable. Under $100 for a pair including tax and fast shipping here in the USA. 

 

The difference between these cables and the Chord cables is plain as day. There is more precision, less smearing and splashing, and just a more controlled, organized, disciplined, and tightly focused presentation. Tonality seems very, very slightly different — a little more accurate I would say. These cables really enhance the HMS strengths of a calming effect and precise transient timing. A ridiculous and musically significant bargain at under $100. 

 

I have little doubt that the Geistnote cables, good as they are, can be bettered by more expensive cables, including the different flavors of Shunyata. In fact, I will likely upgrade again at some point, though I'm not in a hurry. The same friend who recommended the Geistnote replaced them with Shunyata Sigma cables and found another very significant, musically important upgrade. But I'm not sure you are going to find another pair of cables for under $100 that will provide this sort of upgrade. 

[Always.Learning]

This thread has been strangely quiet for about six months. Where are all the M Scaler users? Maybe they are all posting on head-fi (I'll be making this same post on head-fi.)

 

This is a comparative review of four different digital cables that can be used to connect the Hugo M Scaler and your DAC, which is DAVE in my case. The other major focus of the review is the Farad Super3 Power Supply, which is now my reference power supply for the M Scaler.

Background

About six weeks after buying an M Scaler, I replaced the stock Chord-supplied BNC cables with Geistnote Apogee Wyde Eye cables, available direct from Geistnote or on Amazon. These cost under $100 for a pair including tax and fast shipping here in the USA. My review of the Geistnote cables is in the post just above this one in this thread. As you can see, I thought they made a great improvement and are a tremendous bargain. But I always intended to audition other BNC cables and that brings us to this review. For a period of several weeks in September/October, I had the following cables in house: Phasure’s Blaxius^2, Shunyata Alpha, WAVE Stream Premium, and OPTO DX.

 

The cost of each of these cables, including shipping to Seattle, was:

Blaxius^2: $716
Shunyata Alpha: these were borrowed from a friend but retail for $2000/pair
WAVE Stream Premium: $1100
OPTO DX: $787.70

Each pair of cables was burned in for hundreds of hours.

The impressions that follow are purely subjective. Other than to touch on how easily (or not) each cable is to physically place in your system, I will not focus on the technologies employed, the materials used, or anything other than sonic quality. I will not speculate on whether a cable reduced RF or by how much. Without measuring, how do I know? I am confident in reporting what I hear, however, so that's what this review is about. In terms of music I used to assess the gear, I am a musical omnivore. About a third of my collection is classical, a third jazz, and a third everything else.

System Topology

To help you better assess my impressions, here is the system used for this review:

Devore Gibbon X loudspeakers
HiFiMan HE1000 headphones (plugged into DAVE)

Chord DAVE with Shunyata Alpha HC power cord plugged into Audience power conditioner
Chord Hugo M-Scaler powered by Farad Super3 power supply with Audience AU24 SE MP plugged into Audience power conditioner

Roon/Tidal/Qobuz
Mac Mini modified by Uptone Audio in bridged mode serving as Roon Core server (powered by Uptone Audio JS-2 power supply on different circuit than DAVE and other analog gear)

Blue Jeans Cable 6a ethernet
Paul Pang ethernet switch with TXCO clock (powered by Uptone Audio LPS-1 on different circuit than DAVE and other analog gear)
SOtM dCBL-Cat7 ethernet
SOtM sMS-200 Ultra (powered by Uptone Audio LPS-1 with custom Zenwave UPOCC copper cable on different circuit than DAVE and other analog gear)
Uptone Audio Iso Regen (powered by Uptone Audio LPS-1 and custom DC cable on different circuit than DAVE and other analog gear)
SOtM tX-USB Ultra (powered by Uptone Audio LPS-2 with custom Zenwave UPOCC copper cable on different circuit than DAVE and other analog gear)

Audience AU24 SE USB cable
Phasure Lush USB cable
Phasure Lush^2 USB cable in “TANF” configuration

Crayon CFA 1.2 integrated amp with Synergistic Research Blue Fuses with Shunyata Alpha HC power cord going direct-to-wall on its own separate dedicated circuit
Gutwire Ultimate Ground attached to unused RCA input on Crayon amp

High Fidelity CT-1 Enhanced interconnect between DAVE and amp
Daedalus/WyWires speaker cable

Two 20 amp dedicated circuits with 10-gauge wire and FIM 888 AC outlets
Audience aR6 TSSOX power conditioner on one of these dedicated circuits

Stillpoints Ultra SS and Ultra Mini under most components including speakers
Finite Elemente rack with Cerabase footers
Equipment Vibration Protectors from A/V Roomservice under other components
Finite Elemente Ceraballs under other components
Stillpoints Aperture acoustic room treatment (2)
A/V Roomservice acoustic room treatment (4)
Acustica Applicata Diffusion Absorption Audio Device
Acoustic Revive Schumann resonator powered by Jameco LPS
ZSleeves
High Fidelity Cables MC 0.5 Wave Guide

General Advice

I was grateful that Chord gets you up and running with a pair of their own stock cables when you purchase an M Scaler. If you are happy with that pair and don't want to spend any more money, then don’t. But, as noted above, you can spend under $100 and get a significant improvement. This review is for people who are curious what more money might buy. The short answer is: much better sound. Note also that you can spend a lot more on BNC cables than what is discussed herein.

Phasure Blaxius^2

I ordered a pair of 1.2m cables and they are quite thick but not super heavy. They have a natural curvature that should be taken into account when figuring out the distance between and placement of your M Scaler and DAC. My pair of 1.2m cables allowed me to place the M Scaler on a different shelf of my rack, about three feet away from my DAVE. Because of the M Scaler’s RF radiation, this physical separation from the DAC is a good thing.

Right out of the gate, these cables impressed with a vivid and colorful presentation. You sit up and take notice while listening through these cables, as they have a meaty, visceral, alive presentation. Bass is pleasingly “phat” when on the recording. They are not overly smooth or dark. They were a clear step up from the Geistnote cables and, for a little over $700 shipped from Holland, a really good deal. Peter of Phasure is also a wealth of information, accessible, and responsive. PM me if you are interested in purchasing these cables for a very good price, as I will be selling them.

Shunyata Alpha

These cables provided an interesting contrast to the Blaxius^2. Images are tightly focused, a little smaller and more distant, and very transparent. Small details emerge, there is great separation of voices and instruments, and tonality is a bit on the cool side. Transient fidelity is excellent. The feeling when listening to the Shunyata is one of suave sophistication; the sonic picture is quiet and composed. This sound is more about drawing you in rather than impressing you with exciting sound.

Overall, I preferred the Shunyata to the Blaxius^2, but I could see different listeners favoring one over the other. The Shunyata, of course, are more than twice as expensive, and they are not even the top of the line Shunyata (Sigma), which cost $4000/pair. The Shunyata cables are relatively thin and pliable and easy to work with.

WAVE Stream Premium

Nick Bacon’s mid-priced offering is laden with ferrites and thus heavier than other cables. You will need to be very careful about supporting these cables as they could put undue stress on the connectors on your HMS or DAC. (I took extra care in this regard as my DAVE’s USB port had to be repaired after a particularly heavy USB cable twisted it out of position. Fortunately, the repair was covered by warranty. Unfortunately, I was without DAVE for seven weeks.)

Immediately with the WAVE, you notice a different tonality: warmer and somewhat darker. With WAVE, I heard a “browner” or golden sound; with Shunyata, a “bluer” or cooler sound. There is more texture and a tad more sweetness with the WAVE; the sound is a little more fleshed out. In contrast, Shunyata sounded more wiry and lean; WAVE sounded more robust. With some music, the WAVE could be a little thick. Still, I did not feel cheated in terms of transparency or clarity. I did notice that you could play the music quite loudly with the WAVE and avoid the cringe factor. Overall, the relaxed, warm sound of the WAVE was inviting and I preferred it to the Shunyata. For about $1100, this is another cable that gives outstanding value and Nick has an excellent return policy and is very professional in his customer relations.

OPTO DX

Dan Mance’s innovative OPTO DX converts the signal to optical and then back again with the aid of two small boxes and short BNC jumper cables. The boxes need 12v of power. Dan is a big proponent of battery power and I powered each of the boxes with a POWERADD Pilot Pro2 battery, which cost $90 each on Amazon. I eventually ended up buying two short, shielded DC cables from Ghent (JSSG360) to connect the batteries to the OPTO boxes. This cost about another $150, so the total cost of the OPTO set-up was about $1137.

I was initially concerned that the OPTO system would add more boxes and wires and contribute to my “spaghetti” problem. The boxes, however, are quite small. The batteries are bigger but pretty thin and easy to place. The boxes need to be placed close to your DAVE and HMS as the BNC jumper cables are quite short. But those cables are super thin and very flexible. I ordered a 1.5m optical cable, which allowed me to keep the DAVE and HMS physically separate. You can order a longer cable for even greater separation. All in all, my worries about too much spaghetti and not enough real estate on my rack turned out to be overblown. In fact, I preferred dealing with the OPTO system vs the heavy WAVE cables that required careful support.

So how did the OPTO sound? It just sounded “right.” The biggest impression was that I simply heard more music – a LOT more music. With almost everything I played, I heard details, layers, and textures that I had not heard before. The level of transparency is something to behold.

Harshness and glare are reduced and, as with the WAVE cables, music can be played louder without cringing. Tonally, the OPTO seems to be dead neutral. It just feels like pure, crystal clear water. There is also more substance to the sound, more color and timbre that come through.

The magnitude of difference I heard with the OPTO was greater than with any of the cables discussed above. It is a game changer.

I did not try different power sources on the OPTO boxes – only the batteries. When I replaced the generic DC cables I had been using with the Ghent DC cables, I noticed more recovery of low level information. I think this is money well spent. With respect to whether the sound changed depending on whether the batteries were plugged into their SMPS charging units or not, I could not reliably detect a difference (a friend with an OPTO and the same batteries also struggles to hear a difference). Others have reported different results.

What is the effect of the OPTO on upstream components?

I normally run a Lush^2 USB cable from my tX-USB Ultra to the HMS. What would happen if I switched that cable out for a Shunyata Alpha USB ($1000)? Before trying this comparison, I had switched the Shunyata and Lush^2 cables in and out of the system with both the Shunyata BNC cables and the WAVE Stream Premium cables. In general, I found that the Shunyata USB cable shared some of the same strengths as their BNC cable: it was incisive, focused, and transparent. The Lush^2 put more meat on the bones and tended to sound more analog. The differences were fairly easy to hear and I could prefer one over the other depending on the music.

With the OPTO in the chain, these differences were still apparent with attentive, critical listening but significantly smaller in magnitude. It would appear that the OPTO lessened the USB cable’s impact on the sound and that’s a good thing.

What about other components? I employ an Uptone Audio ISO REGEN between my SOtM sMS-200 Ultra and my SOtM tX-USB Ultra. When I first bought all these components two years ago, I found that the ISO REGEN made a rather big, important difference. As I wrote at the time:

There are times when the [SOtM] products alone sound a little too analytical or lacking in color, tonal density, and body. The IR adds body, liquidity, flow, weight, and greater mid-bass and bass impact. When combined with the Ultra trifecta's refinement, detail, clarity, airiness, ambience retrieval, and precision, you've got a winning combination.

Alas, I will not be getting rid of the ISO REGEN. It still makes a difference, in these exact same ways, even with the OPTO in the system. That difference is smaller, however.

I also tried removing the tX-USB Ultra from my system, going straight from the ISO REGEN into the HMS. That change was not as subtle as removing the ISO REGEN. I will definitely not be removing the tX-USB Ultra as the music fell flat upon doing so. As Ray-dude and others have concluded, the OPTO is not a cure-all and will not necessarily allow you to radically change or simplify your upstream system topology.

Can the OPTO DX be improved by substituting different BNC cables?

Some people have reported that they hear positive differences when substituting different BNC cables for the short jumper cables that are provided as part of the OPTO system. I did some fairly brief testing and found that neither the insertion of the Geistnote nor the Blaxius^2 on the “clean” side of the OPTO (the side feeding DAVE) made an appreciable difference.

I did hear a difference when substituting the WAVE Stream cables. Specifically, I heard a thicker, weightier sound that was also warmer. The OPTO cables were more transparent, I thought, with more zing on top and a more neutral tonality overall. The WAVE was more mid-range centric; the OPTO had silkier highs and greater finesse, with more resolution and separation. I also questioned some of the timbres I heard with the WAVE. For example, Rachel Podger’s baroque violin sounded a little off with the WAVE in the chain. Nick Bacon contends that the “zing” and extension I heard with the OPTO are RF artifacts and that my brain would adjust to the WAVE sound over time. He might be right. Others have reported in this forum that the WAVE cables improve the OPTO system. In the end, you have to go with your ears and I preferred the OPTO system alone.

I have to add a caveat, however. The friend (@kennyb123) who let me borrow the Shunyata BNC cables for this review has a Hugo TT2 and HMS and has also found the OPTO to be a superior connection between the two. But he has found that adding the Shunyata Alpha BNC cables to the clean side made for a musically significant improvement. I had a chance to listen to his system with and without the Shunyata cables and I have to agree. In the context of his system, the Shunyata brought focus and clarity and a slightly different, more convincing timbre. Then he added some previous generation Wireworld Gold Starlight BNC cables to the dirty side and timbre became a little more colorful and robust. This was quite subtle, more so than inserting the Shunyata cables on the clean side. For more details, see post #8850 by @kennyb123.

FWIW, Dan Mance believes that any changes made by inserting different BNC cables with the OPTO will diminish if the HMS and other purely digital components are moved physically away from the DAC.

The upshot is: if you are interested in squeezing out the last bit of improvement from the OPTO system, you might want to experiment. When I get a chance, I will be borrowing my friend Ken’s Shunyata cables again and seeing what, if any, difference they make on the clean side of my OPTO system. I’m not keen on adding a $2000 pair of cables to my plate of spaghetti, but I’m willing to listen.

The Farad Super3 Power Supply: Another Game Changer

Based on consistently positive reviews of this relatively new 3 amp supercapacitor power supply from Holland, which can be configured to anywhere between 3.3v and 19v (it’s not variable; you have to choose a specific voltage when ordering), I decided to take the plunge and ordered a 15v version to power my M Scaler. I also decided to opt for the more expensive Furutech fuse, a Furutech Rhodium AC inlet, and Farad’s most expensive silver Level 2 DC cable. All of these options pushed the price up to about $850 including shipping. Shipping from Holland was fast, by the way.

Prior to this, I had been using Chord’s stock SMPS to power my M Scaler with a Shunyata Venom power cord plugged into my Audience power conditioner. You will need a decent quality power cord with the Farad. I used an Audience AU24 SE MP power cord plugged into my Audience power conditioner.

Note that the Farad Super3 is currently plugged into the same Audience power conditioner that DAVE is plugged into – my Audience power cord is not long enough to plug into a separate circuit. The outlets on the power conditioner are isolated from each other, but I’m pretty sure Dan Mance would not approve of the current setup. As noted below, however, the results are superlative. In the future, I may try a different, longer power cord plugged into a separate circuit.

You might be a skeptic when it comes to improving upon Chord’s stock power supply for the M Scaler. Once you hear the Farad Super3, you will no longer be a skeptic. This is what I said in an email to various audio friends:

This is a special power supply. It doesn’t increase transparency, which I don’t think is the job of a power supply anyway (unless it replaces a much noisier supply). The OPTO DX really did the heavy lifting in that area, and so I’m not sure there will be big further gains, absent improvements to the server and endpoint. But the Farad does things that are really important for musical enjoyment:

- bass is big, physical, but not overblown; the word “authority” keeps coming to mind

- the sound is considerably richer and more colorful and has an attractive darker quality, especially from the mid-range on down; this is my favorite improvement and something my system needed (to my ears)

- the presentation is calm, smooth, and easeful

- the music is more vibrant and alive with more forceful dynamics

- jump factor has increased; transients have greater impact

I want to emphasize that these differences were immediately apparent, even though Farad suggests that full burn-in occurs at 200 hours. This is one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck changes I have made to my digital front end.

I did not compare a Pilot Pro2 with the Farad Super3 on the HMS (I would need to buy another Pilot Pro2 for this test). I realize that Dan M. and others are proponents of battery power and getting the HMS on a different circuit from DAVE. At the same time, I have read multiple reports from trusted sources that either the Farad Super3 or a Paul Hynes power supply are clearly superior to the battery solution. Elimination of RF is important, but the efficacy of a power supply depends on many factors. I would be very, very surprised if a battery could produce the rich tone, bass response, and dynamics of the Farad supply.

If I knew that I would not be changing my upstream digital components (server, SOtM gear, and ISO REGEN) in the next two or three years, I would invest, right now, in additional Farad Super3 power supplies to power this gear. But I have made a conscious decision to sit on the sidelines and see what develops in this rapidly evolving space. We all know the world will look different a year from now. I am also curious to see whether and how the EtherRegen or one of its competitors in the ethernet switch category will reorder the digital landscape. With the M Scaler, I was confident in taking the power supply plunge because I am confident that the M Scaler will remain a lynchpin of my system for years to come.

[atxkyle]

Trying to decide on my direction for upsampling streamed music. Poll responses appreciated. 

[semente]

Watts defends the MScaler design.

 

 

 

 

[chrille]

On 7/18/2022 at 4:34 PM, semente said:

Watts defends the MScaler design.

 

 

 

 

Interesting post. I use an Mscaler with my Qutest dac and to me  with it sounds better and more relaxed and less "digitally sharp" than without the Mscaler. But I have questions regarding the Mscaler and Qutest which I am running via older macs with standard usb 2 ports. Is Mscaler also easily  compabile with the newer Macbook Airs M1 and M2 which only have two thunderbolt connection ports but no  older standard USB 2 in?

Are there a cables that have standard  USB 2 out from the dac and Mscaler but thunderbolt in at the laptop end? 

Or would I have to get some kind of adapter/ docking box  to make things work as on my older very  soon to be retired mbp 2011 with Snowleopard?

This is one of the few online sites that still works via Snowleopard so I desperately need to upgrade to a newer more modern computer both for the Web in general  and possibly for  PGGB or HQP.  Grateful for informed responses to  my queries.