CHORD M-Scaler Review (Upsampler)

[voodooless]

Does anyone care to hypothesize about why the Topping DAC was so much worse? Is that due to the massive jitter that the SPDIF receiver just can’t deal with?

 

[firedog]

If someone wants to upsample with lots of taps, just buy HQ Player and install. It will also do it, and it costs a tiny fraction of this HW.

 

[gvl]

Does anyone care to hypothesize about why the Topping DAC was so much worse? Is that due to the massive jitter that the SPDIF receiver just can’t deal with?

Very likely, especially considering high sampling rate. There’s no ESS chip with its jitter fighting gizmos in the D70s

 

[amirm]

For these devices, must use an external linear adapter that costs at least $3,000 or more for a BNC cable (x2) and a similar price.

I hope you are sitting down as the cost of the Nordost TYR 2 coax cables I used for testing is US $1,750 each! So that requirement was more than met.

 

[amirm]

@amirm apologies if you’ve stated this and I’ve missed it. Did you test this using dual BNC into the Hugo 2 RCAs in any of the tests?

Yes of course. See this graph in the review:

As you see, it was the "Dual Coax" configuration at 16X upsampling. The input by the way is 3.5mm! Owner kindly provided a special dual BNC to this 3.5 mm connector.

 

[Geert]

Strange product coming from an engineering-focused company.

Not really. The rationale is performance of a redundant device isn't important.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I hope you are sitting down as the cost of the Nordost TYR 2 coax cables I used for testing is US $1,750 each! So that requirement was more than met.

So kind of on the low end for Nordost right?

Would have gotten good results with Nordost Odin 2 Reference. 1.25 meter for $12,999. Remember you will need two of them.

Nordost Odin 2 Digital Coax Cable (available to demo)

Items marked (available to demo) are available in our store for audition. Please give us a call or email in advance for an appointment. PRICED AS EACH. ADDITIONAL LENGTHS AVAILABLE. COMES WITH BNC TO RCA ADAPTORS. The precision and intricacy needed to produce a truly superb digital cable are out...

audio-vision-sf.myshopify.com

So the cable would cost near 5 times the device tested here. Always put the most money on the most important part. People always try and low ball it and well you see what happens.




/sarc

 

[amirm]

Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler upsampling digital processor Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

Is this the same model?

Yes.

 

[Geert]

It is core to Rob Watts' marketing talk on these products. Just watch any of his videos.

Before we start the 300dB discussion all over again, check

Distortion down to -300 dB, what exactly does that mean physically?

As some of you guys might know, the famous Rob Watts has mentioned on more than one occasion that he can hear and measure distortion down to -300 dB. Cited by @amirm here for instance. He also says something similar in this video: Staring at roughly the 17min mark. Now I was thinking about a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[amirm]

Very likely, especially considering high sampling rate.

The problem occurred even when M-scaler was in pass-through mode with sample rate then being 44.1 kHz. See bottom of the screen snapshot for sample rate:

It is very strange as bypassing M-Scaler completely removed the issue. Maybe its voltage swings are different or something that is causing some problem.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Before we start the 300dB discussion all over again, check

Distortion down to -300 dB, what exactly does that mean physically?

As some of you guys might know, the famous Rob Watts has mentioned on more than one occasion that he can hear and measure distortion down to -300 dB. Cited by @amirm here for instance. He also says something similar in this video: Staring at roughly the 17min mark. Now I was thinking about a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I mentioned it earlier and maybe Solderdude did too. He is claiming to hear differences in filters that seem to only differ from each other at levels of -300 db. Not saying he can hear at those levels.

 

[voodooless]

He is claiming to hear differences in filters that seem to only differ from each other at levels of -300 db. Not saying he can hear at those levels.

So what’s the difference? He either can hear content down there or he can’t… the rest is just semantics.

 

[Blumlein 88]

So what’s the difference? He either can hear content down there or he can’t… the rest is just semantics.

Well yes, but you need the magic and the mystery. So he has filters he claims (without proper controlled listening I assume) he can hear as different. The only measurable or even theoretical differences are at -300 db. So he isn't claiming to hear that, he is sort of leaving the door open for a God of the gaps argument that something more is involved so his incredible taste in hearing music can hear a difference that we cannot measure. When of course a rational person says, "if the only differences are -300 db, even in theory, and they sound different you either hear -300 db or you aren't hearing what you claim."

 

[voodooless]

When of course a rational person says, "if the only differences are -300 db, even in theory, and they sound different you either hear -300 db or you aren't hearing what you claim."

That is indeed all we need Move along, nothing to see hear…

 

[vkvedam]

Wow! Still three people voted for great

 

[amirm]

We have a few troublemakers who vote that way on everything.

 

[pma]

"What is this?" Groundloop! "This" and noise floor elevation, both are products of the groundloop.

 

[oppie]

A sad day to be a head-fi user

 

[xaviescacs]

My question is, there was really a chance for this device? What's the theoretical benefit of upsampling? Is this just a digital filter for 5k?

 

[Blumlein 88]

"What is this?" Groundloop! "This" and noise floor elevation, both are products of the groundloop.

View attachment 216747

At 325 hz? Not likely. I know it is a log scale, but it looks short of 360 hz.