Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler best  

I have an m scaler (still waiting for adding it to my 'better setup') but did not hear the difference as clearly as on your set with a forking mic in front of it. Amazing difference. Great mics by the way. I assume you're using microphones to record the speakers? Great little DAC too!

Nice vid Terry. I’m with you 100% on this, got my m scaler last Thursday. Pulled the trigger after borrowing one for a single night, it’s an amazing bit of kit.

i bought the mscaler after watching this to accompany my qutest. just sold the qutest and got the hugo tt2 to go with my new focal utopia cans. point being, this guy has set me back $14,000.

Thanks so much for doing this, Terry!

Sounds more lush with the MScaler. More depth to the music. Great vid Terry! You work really hard!!! Thanks

It's amazing that I can hear a difference at all, considering this audio would be re-encoded for RU-vid theoretically It should yank the bits that give an advantage to the sound out. But there is no denying it, this thing is impressive. Nice video!

Wow, it takes the glare off. Nice!

Big improvement. Will the M Scaler add something that PS Audio DAC FPGA PCM to DSD do not already do internally?

I too could easily hear the differences. As a Qutest owner myself, I would love to hear you repeat this experiment using that dac so we can get the FULL 100% benefit of M-Scaler

I can hear the difference, suprising coming from a RU-vid video. Impressive

Sound is much smoother with the M scaler. Sounds clearer and closer too.

Have you tried using miniDSP SHD Studio (for room correction) into a mscaler? If so anything to look out for?

What loudspeakers are you using in this demo. It would be nice if you also included the music equipment you used

OK, Qutest and M-Scaler together or go straight to the TT2 by itself? Thanks.

Good video because I've got both chord mojo and Hugo 2 dac and I thinking of get a chord M. What rating do you give if you connect Chord M with Chord Hugo 2?

Nice video Terry. I have the Chord Qutest connected to an SoTM SMS-200 Ultra NEO streamer and was wondering which would be the best upgrade - M-Scaler or an external MasterClock? Both are around the same price.

The other strange thing about this video is: why we should be able to hear any difference at all from upsampling? We're all listening to this on audio sampled back to more consumer sample rates, plus RU-vid's own MP3 audio compression. I don't understand, if this really is an issue of audio waveform reproduction timing, that it wouldn't be entirely undone by playing back out through consumer devices. If the upsampler is also manipulating the waveform to increase the stereo image, that would definitely survive through being "downsampled." I don't understand how that could be attributed to upsampling though.

It sounds like it's adding a mild smile curve EQ, and waveform manipulation to make a slightly wider stereo image. Both of these attributes means the signal is being distorted, something a DAC should NEVER do. How are we supposed to know if there's some unexplainable "magic" in upsampling that does this, vs internal/secret manipulation of the signal just to increase the stereo image and add an EQ pass?

How about a demo like this with, switching the mscaler in an out, but with a Chord DAC and the full 705.6 or 768 capability?

Just a quickie Terry (oooer) can you update with the tracks that you used? That section is empty above!

Mojo2 with M-Scaler is my plan. That sounds fantastic.

The real question is, how does upsampling with chord m-scaler compare to Audirvana 3+ direct mode upsampling ? 3500GBP vs Free 0 GPB???? From what I can pick up from this y-Tube vid, both upsampling tools have the same effect on the performance of connected DAC. The advantages of Audirvana upsampling is, you can choose the amount (2x, 4x, Max, and for each freq. individually)) to your liking (where your DAC seems to perform best). Upsampling effects the filtering in the DAC and therefore is noticeable. If one likes it, is an other question. Generally sound becomes more „airy“ but could be too much for some records. This is, why I restrict upsampling, I.e. Redbook max 4x to 176 kHz. 44 kHz to 768kHz upsampling does too much for me. Can you choose the upsampling in the m-scaler as in Audirvana? Should be possible in a unit for this amount of money???

Can i ask what pair of digital BNC cables did you use to connect the M Scaler to the TT2? I own a TT2 and intend to get an M Scaler. The thing is, i'm using a £1700 digital cable to connect my transport to my TT2. That would be impossible for me to do with another two cables. Do Chord bundle a couple of BNC's in to get you started? Stuart, C.Down.

Thanks for demo this amazing gear

Amazing Combination !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any experience with a Chord 64 DAC (MK2) dual BNC inputs and the Hugo M Scaler, do you think it would be a game changer.

Definitely more depth with the m-scaler. Without the m-scaler the music loses a lot of reverb, decay, echo and other details that are important to the music sounding live and engaging.

Regarding the 16bit 44 comments you made: If I out a 24-bit 96khz file into it, will it still be able to upsample it to its max capacity? Genuinely interested.

Another great video Terry. It was easy to hear the difference. I had the RU-vid window hidden behind an email I was writing and I could hear the change unsighted each time. Was that one of my WAVE High Fidelity cables connecting the Mscaler to the DAC? Nick

Great review Terry, would be great to see a review of Mscaler with Dave have you rid of your luxman, i have just bought a pair of luxman 9000M using as mono blocks into my Kef ref 3 and i got their 900U preamp its sounding the nuts.

Does the same up-scaling apply if the digital source is FLAC streamed from Tidal?

very interesting.. even thru my samsung note 3 phone i could ear the difference.. implementation of these akm dac is fiddly in the chinese market can you try with mytek lyberty dac or xdsd or quality cheap es9038 or new cirrus dac flagship also did you compare with other type of digital upsampling who doesnt of course have chord implementation. i would be very interested if the m scaler would be in the range of 1k$ their pricing is a little ridiculous in my opinion more so considering the number of hardware component in tha box

are those maggies in the background?

A year later, it's finally proven the m-scaler does nothing except add some noise and jitter due to shoddy engineering ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Zrqe2XFZtMU.html. If you heard a difference in this video, make of it what you will

There IS a difference. Is audible even though RU-vid... Is it a $5000 difference? Not sure...

Another excellent video

for a hugo m scaler at £ 3500 ,is it not better just to go and buy one of the best dac's out there instead?

I have to confess, even though I pride myself in having a good ear I found it very difficult to hear a difference at first. As the video went on I guess my ears acclimated a bit to the effect and I was able to notice it more easily. It was way more noticeable for me in the second track by The Aristocrats and the third one where the female vocal had greater emphasis. If I had to describe it, I would say that the upscaling being performed by the M-Scaler makes the sound "fuller" (wider gamut of frequencies) and "softer" (less ringing, sort of like playing .dsd file format vs PCM). I couldn't hear much, if any, of a difference in the first and last tracks. All in all, I find it very hard to justify the outrageous pricing they have put on the unit - maybe if you have nothing else to spend your money on. Regardless, I'd like to thank you for taking the time and effort to make this comparison, even if you didn't show the full potential of the upscaling. I've been very curious to hear the effects of the M-Scaler but there is practically no one doing these practical comparisons like you did, so thanks!

that was a big disappointment. i wanted one but price can't justify the Sound Difference. Also when i A,B i play one track 25 seconds then make the B change play for 25 seconds But you're the re viewer Another thing you used a POS DAC Q. at what price will the DAC outperform the Hugo ??

DAVE+M Scaler is very different from TT2+M Scaler but M Scaler brings TT2 close to DAVE alone

I had similar reaction to adding an Audio Alchemy DTI PRO32, that combines signal jitter control and DSP. To my Esoteric K03Xs. Much more noticeable and striking impact than the Esoteric GOrb master clock. The latter makes a minor noticeable improvement. It would be interesting for you to try an AA. You can find them on eBay for $500-700. They made the single biggest impact of any upgrade in my digital system.

C’mon Tel, what’s that old tosh! Bet when the camera’s off you’re Stone Roses all the way!

If I have the hugo tt why do I need the m sclaer ???

Super 👍

could be a good comparison whit a upscaled comparison via optical. Optical from you pc upscaled by the pc to 176.4/24 to dac vs 44.1/16(via optcal) from the pc upscaled via tha mscaler to176.4/24 to the dac.

There isn't enough of an improvement to justify the cost based upon this video. Perhaps the differences, if any, may be more impressive in person.

Without Hugo M Scaler sound is clearer for me !!!

Clearly an enhancement but not one I’d be prepared to part with a shade under $5K for. Arguably would be better just upgrading one’s DAC. Clever stuff though.

Hmm, the more transparent my system gets, the less enjoyable it becomes!

When I compare this video with one of your Qutest videos I'd say, the Qutest standalone offers better sound than the SMSL + MScaler. I guess I'm just not a delta sigma guy.

I am late to the party as just bought the M300 mkii the MScaler seems more to the music but sounds unnaturally enhanced. Almost a processed sound like Dolby NR. Just how I hear it. My Yamaha RX a3060 has an enhancer that changes the sound. Perfection is what is what is enjoyable to listen to.

Better to replay same thing. Most can not hear any diff. It’s on RU-vid! Diff sound passages so it will sound diff. Waste of time

Wish the M scaler was more affordable....way out of this audiophile's budget unless I sell a kidney!!!

Correct me if im wrong but this upsamples the sound of a allready upsampled dac/sound,it inproves the sound of the dac,dude buy a better dac instead so you dont need the M Scaler,you dont need all this gear to get great sound.The sound of the Chord sounds a tinny bit smoother,almost the same as my CEC/DSD CD player.Get a proper cd player and you are good to go.

Hook it up to a nice DAC tell us what happens

I cannot stand, and do not like upsampling full stop. Standard red book 16 / 44 done absolutely properly does the job perfectly well. It all depends on the absolute quality of the made 16 / 44 digital audio component and its ability to retrieve detail, along with the quality of the whole audio system chain the way it is made and designed. the way recordings are recorded and mastered cannot be improved with Upsampling. Upsampling does not give you improved detail, or more detail resolution of what is or is not there on a 16 / 44 digital recording. The whole audio chains ability to relay all that is on a 16 / 44 recording for good or for worse is the ultimate goal. It is not the goal to make a 16 / 44 digital recording and then make the digital decoding retrieveval process even harder, by making it longer, more complicated, along with worse timing defects along with other unbenificial decoding problems. Chords upsampling does not make 16 bit recordings sound less digital or more analogue, or more detailed, or with higher resolution. You Piggy backing one cheap digital audio component to a second second digital component in the chain is ludicrous and stupid. The signal chain should be the shortest possible, what you are doing here is no way to attain true audio quality with better audio quality performance, especially when the first digital component is totally compromised in design quality and build. All you are doing he is is making a pigs ear of the whole signal quality chain. And one last point, none of these chord electronics upsampling components are used by any of the big respected recording studios. All this is just chord electronics gimmick in a bid to make you part with your cash, to make you think you have far better performing quality audio products, which certainly is not the case or even true.

That is the worst room I have ever seen on any audio reviewers video 😖what a joke,you can’t tell what anything sounds like in that room 👎🏼