Article: My Quest for a New DAC, Part 5: Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler & Hugo TT 2

[kennyb123]

Cool to see this review and the conclusion reached  I should be receiving my HMS next week and my TT2 next month.  😊

 

Really excellent job @austinpop!!

[kennyb123]

I received my TT2 a week ago.  It replaced a TT, which was being brought up to a half-million taps with the HMS.  Substituting the TT2 at a million taps brought a tremendous upgrade.  I’m still in disbelief over how much more lifelike the music sounds.  

[kennyb123]

1 hour ago, ray-dude said:

I’ve found that DSD content Sounds pretty good with Chord DACs, but that mScaler elevates PCM content much higher still. Rob Watts has written about the reasons why, but I think it is less about DSD not sounding good (it is the best I’ve heard in my room) but PCM sounding astonishingly good when put through the mScaler.  

 

This has been my observation as well.  I’ve occasionally found myself preferring the PCM layer of hybrid SACDs over the DSD layer.  I’ve been pulling the discs out again to rip the PCM as I had previously only ripped the DSD layer assuming it would always be superior.  

[kennyb123]

16 hours ago, ted_b said:

The PCM layer of an SACD is red book only. What discs have better redbook layers than their 64x DSD masters?  Those must be a mess (assuming a credible DSD converter). 

One example would be the MoFi reissue of “The Cars”.  I thought the cymbal on “All Mixed Up” was more realistically reproduced from a timing perspective on the PCM layer.  
 

Per what ray-dude wrote, this is more about M-Scaler elevating PCM.  I would take it even further by saying that redbook is elevated to the point where I no longer feel the need to find a high res versions.  It’s much more about mastering now than resolution when the choice is strictly PCM.
 

DSD can sound fantastic though for sure.  I preferred the DSD layer of MoFi’s “Abraxas” to the CD layer.  They did a really good job on that one.

[kennyb123]

On 3/30/2020 at 6:50 PM, AbsolutK said:

I posted this over in the official TT2 thread at Head-Fi, but since the inspiration for much of this came from @ray-dude here, it's more fitting to share here also:

 

Thanks for posting this here.  I stopped monitoring that thread over there.

 

On 3/30/2020 at 6:50 PM, AbsolutK said:

 

I created a pair of RCA<>binding post adapters (can post the tutorial if someone is interested) using the extra Furutech FT-867 binding posts I had from my DIY days and hooked up the IDEAs using a pair of Sablon Audio Panatela cables.

Yes please!

 

 

On 3/30/2020 at 6:50 PM, AbsolutK said:

 

 Yes, I am using just the 7wpc available through the RCA. Rated nominally at 4 ohms, and a sensitivity of a lowly 88 db/w/m, I wasn't expecting much from the IDEAs plugged into the TT2 directly, but BOY was I wrong.

 

Wow.  My 10Ts have a sensitivity around 86 dB if I remember correctly.  I should give this a try anyway.

 

On 3/30/2020 at 6:50 PM, AbsolutK said:

Against Chord's recommendation, I decided to try a pair of 15v Farad Super3 on the TT2 and M Scaler. They got delivered today. While the TT2 sees a marginal benefit (I will report back when the Farads have broken in a little), the HMS steps into a different league. There is far more channel separation with instruments and vocals finding their place and staying solidly there. I also received my ferrites today and will be clamping them on to the Silver Dragons. By the way, the Chord units sit side by side on an HRS M3x.

 

I’m surprised you found the benefit marginal as a friend brought over his Super3 and I heard a significant improvement - but that was relative to the Poweradd battery (which was better than the power supply Chord provided).  We also tried powering my HMS with the Super3 and the improvement was significant there too.  We didn’t take the time to figure out which delivered the bigger improvement because what I heard was enough to convince me that I will need to eventually buy two of these.  I would welcome your thoughts once the Super3s have broken in.

 

On 3/30/2020 at 6:50 PM, AbsolutK said:

Just some anecdotal info for anyone thinking of trying this route based on this thread's info!

 

Thanks again for sharing!