CHORD M-Scaler Review (Upsampler)

[solderdude]

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

What is weird about that particular plot is that there appear to be no 1kHz harmonics. All of the harmonics appear not to be 1kHz multiples.
All other plots show expected harmonics. Something is fishy there.

 

[poopy]

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?

That's the key question of this thread and left unanswered after 5 pages of comments.

 

[xaviescacs]

Wow! Still three people voted for great

The poll just says "Rate this product", not "Rate this product according to its measured performance".

 

[Blumlein 88]

The poll just says "Rate this product", not "Rate this product according to its measured performance".

Maybe we need a special category: I rated this product in an altered state of mind.

 

[Purité Audio]

Enlightening as always, despite dubious integrity Rob Watts’ designs are usually competent, clearly not in this case.
Keith

 

[sq225917]

Surely there must be something on the underside of that pcb? Like fantastic thermally controlled clock circuits, digital out buffers that are immune to PS noise, thighs of sun tanned virgins for rolling the cigars that Rob Watt is smoking when he's not on crack?

It's almost as if ZF are given about the quality of the digital outputs.

 

[xaviescacs]

Maybe we need a special category: I rated this product in an altered state of mind.

Actually, I voted "Not terrible" . If it does nothing, it can't be poor. There is always room for different opinions, states of mind and purposes.

 

[BeerBear]

What's the theoretical benefit of upsampling?

Better anti-imaging filtering compared to your DAC (at the cost of some extra latency).
But you can upsample for free in software, so I don't really see the point of devices like these. Well, I guess it could make sense if you're not using a computer for playback...

 

[chris719]

Simple 2 layer board with non audio grade caps .....

How can you tell? You don’t even know what you’re looking at. It’s almost certainly a 4 or 6 layer board because on the bottom side is a Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA. You can’t route one on a 2 layer board, period. Audio grade caps are a scam and I see appropriate components here.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Actually, I voted "Not terrible" . If it does nothing, it can't be poor. There is always room for different opinions, states of mind and purposes.

Different opinions for sure. If it does nothing for $1 million, I'd rate it poor. I mean $5k can treat your room really well, or buy lots of music or concert tickets, or a really good speaker upgrade, etc., etc.

 

[xaviescacs]

Better anti-imaging filtering compared to your DAC (at the cost of some extra latency).
But you can upsample for free in software, so I don't really see the point of devices like these.

That looks like a marketing claim from the company. What about a difference in the final analog output?

 

[Blumlein 88]

That looks like a marketing claim from the company. What about a difference in the final analog output?

No it really gives better steeper anti-imaging, but so can software upsamplers. So yes, they do change the analog output.

 

[Sokel]

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?

Isn't the jitter rejection one of the virtues of a good DAC?
Something is very wrong here.

 

[BeerBear]

What about a difference in the final analog output?

The difference is there. You can also see it in this review.
But the real question is whether it provides an audible improvement or not. And that's not something we can answer definitely. Every person can answer it for themselves with a blind test.

EDIT: Of all the things to "worry about" in an audio setup this one ranks very very low, to the point that IMO you can safely ignore it. But I remain open-minded in case someone eventually proves that there is an audible benefit.

 

[xaviescacs]

Different opinions for sure. If it does nothing for $1 million, I'd rate it poor. I mean $5k can treat your room really well, or buy lots of music or concert tickets, or a really good speaker upgrade, etc., etc.

I'm always unsure about taking cost into account when answering this polls. For the majority of people, if cost is a variable, almost everything tested on this forum is too expensive and useless. I'm inclined towards not taking price into consideration (when voting xD), it's a relative thing. Some homeless bankrupted audio enthusiast living below a bridge and reading this forum will always vote poor then, no matter the performance...

 

[xaviescacs]

Isn't the jitter rejection one of the virtues of a good DAC?
Something is very wrong here.

I vote for doing the same test with the RME.

 

[solderdude]

How can you tell? You don’t even know what you’re looking at. It’s almost certainly a 4 or 6 layer board because on the bottom side is a Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA. You can’t route one on a 2 layer board, period. Audio grade caps are a scam and I see appropriate components here.

There will have to be a lot of buried vias to accomodate for a BGA on the bottom side so lots of layers would be needed.

 

[anphex]

Uuh...

 

[chris719]

There will have to be a lot of buried vias to accomodate for a BGA on the bottom side so lots of layers would be needed.

You can do an Artix 7 without blind or buried vias if you choose the largest pitch package (0.8mm I think). Not sure what he’s using. Either way I agree with you, it’s definitely not some simple 2 layer board.

 

[amirm]

The difference is there. You can also see it in this review.
But the real question is whether it provides an audible improvement or not. And that's not something we can answer definitely. Every person can answer it for themselves with a blind test.

EDIT: Of all the things to "worry about" in an audio setup this one ranks very very low, to the point that IMO you can safely ignore it. But I remain open-minded in case someone eventually proves that there is an audible benefit.

I included audio samples. Can you tell the difference between them?