Guest wusplay Posted June 15, 2019 Posted June 15, 2019 Trying out mojo...can't figure out how to use poly yet, now using USB cable instead.
InnocentBlood Posted June 15, 2019 Posted June 15, 2019 Trying out mojo...can't figure out how to use poly yet, now using USB cable instead. You would need to download and install the GoFigure app on your mobile device first. Then you would need to update the firmware of your Poly. Depending on the current version of the firmware that is already installed on your Poly, updating to the latest version - 2.0.3 - can be quite complicated. If you bought this from a store in SG, perhaps they can help you install the firmware. If you want to do it yourself, the Chord website has instructions to walk you through the steps. Chord’s customer support is also very helpful in this matter. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
InnocentBlood Posted June 16, 2019 Posted June 16, 2019 AVOne has an upcoming workshop for the Poly on 29 June. You can signup via their Facebook page.
Guest wusplay Posted June 16, 2019 Posted June 16, 2019 Thank for the tips. I put poly aside first. anyway I plugged Mojo into my active desktop speakers Kef LSX, Oh man, can't imagine it could make such a difference, so this is just a Chord entry level portable dac.. amazing
Guest AndrewC Posted June 16, 2019 Posted June 16, 2019 ...anyway I plugged Mojo... Welcome to the club ;D
demogoblin Posted June 29, 2019 Posted June 29, 2019 How is mojo compared to qutest? Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
InnocentBlood Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 for those of us still married to Poly, there is an upcoming firmware update version 2.04 that is meant for those of us who are having trouble getting the Poly to work with Roon. if you cannot wait for it, you can send an email to betatest@chordelectronics.co.uk with your Poly wifi number and request to be included in the test.
HumanMedia Posted August 5, 2019 Posted August 5, 2019 Anyone try this tweak on their HMS stock power supply? Any audible improvement? https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/37034-smps-and-grounding/
ikhuong Posted August 17, 2019 Posted August 17, 2019 (edited) After reading so much discussion and positive feedback, I borrowed the M-scaller home to pair with TT2. The impression is not a "wow" and the improvement is subtle, especially for High-res albums. It would make sense if someone has a lot CDRip but if someone already owns a Highres library, I do not see much value. I have a big question with the price tags of 7.5k rrp which is close to TT2 price tag. In headphone world, it might be the missing piece to perfect the system but in hifi/high-end stereo, there are so many options to put your 7.5k elsewhere such as upgrading speakers. Considering this is a piece of technology which including a very impressive chip system and a bunch of custom coding/filters to do the upsampling work, this is a purely overpriced product from Chord comparing the best consumer computer powerhouse you can buy such as Core i9 + 16Gb + others (around 2k including HQplayer) to do similar jobs. Of course I agree WTA secret filters are decent and lots of salt/pepper of the tap things but once computer audio can catch up or there are equivalent upscaling devices on the market, this should be around 4k rrp to be considered as a good buy. My system: OpticalRendu --> Hugo TT2 --> McIntosh MA252 --> PCM Twenty 24 Edited August 17, 2019 by ikhuong 4
Guest Posted August 17, 2019 Posted August 17, 2019 (edited) People can and will spend whatever they want on any device that benefits their individual system. And yes, it’s specifically designed for red book. Don’t like it? Dont buy it. And we are all aware of what one can buy to improve systems elsewhere. Edited August 17, 2019 by Sime V2
Guest Posted August 17, 2019 Posted August 17, 2019 By the way, there’s a huge difference between plugging in an M Scaler compared to hooking up a PC and software to do an equivalent job. One box, specifically designed piece of hardware that won’t ever crash.
ikhuong Posted August 17, 2019 Posted August 17, 2019 (edited) 22 hours ago, Sime V2 said: People can and will spend whatever they want on any device that benefits their individual system. And yes, it’s specifically designed for red book. Don’t like it? Dont buy it. And we are all aware of what one can buy to improve systems elsewhere. Of course your money your decision but what feedback here is 7.5k price tag which is close to a Chord tt2 is overpriced for 10% improvement of Redbook via a DAC system. Most people who decide to purchase DAC nowadays are high-res adopters. If not high-res adopters/believers, they definitely own very decent CD player/vinyl systems. (When money is no object, nothing to feedback or debate here) The gold ratio of Audiophile recommendation over many generations like 50% speakers, 30% amp/pre and 20% source+else are compromised here. Of course someone can say you can put money anywhere you like such as 70% in electronic and 30% in speakers. (Make sense in headphone world when you have the very best headphones you can buy as around 5k and need to tweak upstream) I am a Chord fan too with Chord Hugo and Chord TT2 ownership but I disagree with a product called digital revolution with lots of glorious overrated reviews which is actually an additional tweak layers. I can be wrong if M Scaler has been sold as hot cake or I might find out if lots M Scaler for sell as secondhand in the next one/two years. The M Scaler still needs to hook up to a computer anyway and the system does not immune to computer noise by any mean. It functions are upscaling and "advertised" as to add another Chord WTA's filters (which they should already do it at best in Chord TT2 DAC or similar). The computer solutions are to do all upscalling on server ends (Roon/HQplayer servers) and DAC to connect to low-noise renderer (Roon endpoints)source such as SOTM Stm-200 ultra or Sonore ultrarendu. So purely upscaling+filtering, 1k5 for a very best computer server vs 7.5k for a single unit is hard to justify for me. I will do if it is at 50% of the current price tag. Edited August 18, 2019 by ikhuong 3
Guest rmpfyf Posted August 18, 2019 Posted August 18, 2019 23 hours ago, Sime said: By the way, there’s a huge difference between plugging in an M Scaler compared to hooking up a PC and software to do an equivalent job. One box, specifically designed piece of hardware that won’t ever crash. Don't assume it'll never crash... Just less likely. It's not hard to replicate what Chord has done but it says a lot that no one has seriously tried (yes there are intermediate stages for use in DACs etc but none quite so extreme or external). You could market something around the $2k mark and most audiophiles/fools would immediately assume it inferior to the Chord. I think Chord has knocked this one out of the park - price, functionality, packaging - all a good fit to audience and market. Well played.
Ittaku Posted August 18, 2019 Posted August 18, 2019 21 minutes ago, rmpfyf said: You could market something around the $2k mark and most audiophiles/fools would immediately assume it inferior to the Chord. I think Chord has knocked this one out of the park - price, functionality, packaging - all a good fit to audience and market. Well played. Shame it only works fully into Chord DACs with their proprietary dual coax connection and not into USB. I started work on a generic solution at that $2k mark you mentioned but lost interest due to hearing loss issues.
rossb Posted August 18, 2019 Posted August 18, 2019 On 18/08/2019 at 8:45 AM, Sime said: By the way, there’s a huge difference between plugging in an M Scaler compared to hooking up a PC and software to do an equivalent job. One box, specifically designed piece of hardware that won’t ever crash. Having lived with three M Scalers (okay, two M Scalers and a Blu 2) with four chord DACs, the DAVE, TT2, Hugo 2 and Qutest, and having compared the M Scaler to PC upscaling via Roon, I don't agree. It is true that the M Scaler sounds a bit better than PC upscaling. Rob Watts clearly tweaked it to produce a warmer sound than conventional upscaling. But it still sounds bright, brittle and etched to me - the same as software upscaling - just a bit less so. In other words, not an improvement at all and in my opinion, a significant downgrade in sound. The effect of the M Scaler is to remove the natural warmth, fullness and texture of the music, and replace it with an artificial sense of detail that people seem to hear as an improvement. For a couple of years I drank the Chord Kool Aid and convinced myself that the Blu 2 improved my DAVE, and that the M Scaler improved my TT2. I posted gushing reviews of which I am now embarrassed. When I briefly listened to the DACs without the M SCaler and found that it sounded warmer, fuller and more natural, I convinced myself that I was mistaken. The M Scaler made a remarkable difference, so of course it must be an improvement. Except that it wasn't. Try making a digital recording from a known and repeatable audio source - eg from an LP - play it back over a Chord DAC without the M Scaler. And then play it again with the M Scaler, compare it to the source, and you will find that it becomes a bleached, etched replica of the original. The first time I heard the DAVE and Blu 2 at a dealer a couple of years ago we swapped back and forth with another well-known, reputable high end DAC. The DAVE/Blu 2 sounded so radically different that I thought Rob Watts had discovered some hitherto unknown principle of digital playback and that what I was hearing was a revolution. I wasn't sure I liked it but it sounded so radical that I ordered the DAVE on the spot. But I know now that most of what I heard that day was the Blu 2 upscaler. In that unfamiliar system, it was the Blu 2 producing the massive difference between the DACs, and if I had heard it in my own system that day I would probably have recognised the bright, colourless, forensically lean sound it was producing as grossly unnatural. Unfortunately, like many others, I interpreted difference as improvement, and strangeness as innovation. Of course, I am in a minority. Most people do seem to like the M Scaler, and believe that it is in an improvement. But I know I am not alone, there are quite a few others who have similar views of the M Scaler to mine. But if you own a Chord DAC, definitely listen to the M Scaler before buying one and be sure that the difference you are hearing is a worthwhile one before spending big money on one. 7
Guest rmpfyf Posted August 19, 2019 Posted August 19, 2019 2 hours ago, Ittaku said: Shame it only works fully into Chord DACs with their proprietary dual coax connection and not into USB. I started work on a generic solution at that $2k mark you mentioned but lost interest due to hearing loss issues. I'd think you've an audience. If you want help getting it to market, reach out.
ikhuong Posted August 19, 2019 Posted August 19, 2019 (edited) On 19/08/2019 at 8:39 AM, rmpfyf said: I think Chord has knocked this one out of the park - price, functionality, packaging - all a good fit to audience and market. Well played. True, great marketing strategy I have to agree. Chord definitely has their own market. a current suggested hifi chain/demo of from Chord around $22,200 rrp like: Chord M-scaller (rrp: 7500) --> Chord Hugo TT2 (rrp: 8500) --> Chord Chord TToby amp ( rrp: 6200) This looks like a good chain, flexible/upgradable with some improvement but the price portion shifting too much upstream which might not mean the biggest improvement/best bang for your buck. Is this chain comparable with a very best Integrated amplifier with built-in DAC at $22.220? (Such as McIntosh MA9000 2 x 300 Watt Integrated Amplifier at $21,995) Hope someone with real experience can tell me if the latest Chord chain blow the McIntosh MA9000 away by many miles in term of system synergy or budget as a whole? Of course integrated is not as fun as dedicated components but I only care about the most I can get for a same budget investment before considering innovation In this instance, Chord DAC with upscaling vs McIntosh built-in DAC and 50W/channel vs 300w/channel in 8 ohm. Can the Chord chain make a resolution as a whole with those upstream innovation? If someone has AB demo a system chain in a similar manner and confirm Chord is weight better, I will hands down to agree a revolution in hifi happened on the upstream end rather than a tweak for Chord system itself. Edited August 19, 2019 by ikhuong
Ittaku Posted August 19, 2019 Posted August 19, 2019 (edited) 37 minutes ago, ikhuong said: Hope someone with real experience can tell me if the latest Chord chain blow the McIntosh MA9000 away by many miles in term of system synergy or budget as a whole? Of course integrated is not as fun as dedicated components but I only care about the most I can get for a same budget investment before considering innovation That's an impossible question to get an answer to. You are asking for peoples' opinions. I'm sure they'll be divided into two distinct groups - one would tell you the Chord chain is lightyears ahead of the Mc chain, and the other will tell you exactly the opposite. I've not done a direct comparison, but I've heard parts of the comparison and I can tell you I don't like the Chord DAC sound at all so it's my gut feeling the Mc chain sounds better. The irony of it is, I do like what the MScaler does, enough to try to emulate it myself in some fashion. Edited August 19, 2019 by Ittaku 1
Guest rmpfyf Posted August 20, 2019 Posted August 20, 2019 2 hours ago, ikhuong said: Hope someone with real experience can tell me if the latest Chord chain blow the McIntosh MA9000 away by many miles in term of system synergy or budget as a whole? Of course integrated is not as fun as dedicated components but I only care about the most I can get for a same budget investment before considering innovation I'm with @Ittaku here, I'm not a Chord freak (don't like the sound, the design, the ecosystem etc) but if you like what they do they're a bargain at any price. We have people on this forum that are Chord freaks to the point of intransigence. If you close your eyes, listen and it leaves you smiling more than any other solution at what price you can stretch to... then its a winner. No it probably won'y beat a solution that you have to do a lot of the legwork in though if you're buying an MScaler you're probably doing so because you have little interest in DIY'ing something else that might bork itself once in a while. Without taking away from their technical achievements... whoever runs Chord's marketing is a genius.
Ittaku Posted August 20, 2019 Posted August 20, 2019 17 minutes ago, rmpfyf said: No it probably won'y beat a solution that you have to do a lot of the legwork in though if you're buying an MScaler you're probably doing so because you have little interest in DIY'ing something else that might bork itself once in a while. For what it's worth, I'm looking to completely revamp my layout such that I can do DSP at any sample rate (instead of my current 96/88 limits) so that I can upscale all my existing music to 705/768 offline/in advance. That's how much I've learned from the MScaler experience. Although my upsampled files sound different to the MScaler since they have their proprietary WTA whereas I just use a (much much longer) pure sinc filter.
Guest rmpfyf Posted August 20, 2019 Posted August 20, 2019 9 minutes ago, Ittaku said: For what it's worth, I'm looking to completely revamp my layout such that I can do DSP at any sample rate (instead of my current 96/88 limits) so that I can upscale all my existing music to 705/768 offline/in advance. That's how much I've learned from the MScaler experience. Although my upsampled files sound different to the MScaler since they have their proprietary WTA whereas I just use a (much much longer) pure sinc filter. I want to do this on a multichannel setup, trying to work through a DAC design that's good for 10 channels with DSP.... argh. 384kHz much easier. The mission continues.
CN211276 Posted August 23, 2019 Posted August 23, 2019 I believe that what the Mscaler brings is system dependent, particulary concerning speakers. I was not greatly impressed when I heard it at a dealer, but when I loaned one it was a different matter. It totally transformed my system and I made the purchase. The improvement the Mscaler brings mainly concerns the sound stage and the speakers need to be responsive. I am yet to read of anyone with PCM speakers being all that impressed with the Mscaler.
markm1111 Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 I'm hoping another M-Scaler owner might be able to help me out here with a bit of an issue. Firstly, some background. My M-Scaler runs into a Chord Dave via twin Analysis Plus BNC cables. Source is an Innuos Zenith connected to M-Scaler via Curious USB. Previous source was an Aurender N100. When playing 16 bit 44.1kz files, the system works perfectly. I accept others may have different opinions, but I love the sound, the level of detail. It is the best my system has ever sounded. The issue arises when playing higher resolution files Anything over cd quality results in irregular pauses/silences in the music. Not long, maybe a second, but incredibly annoying. It has happened with both sources, and from locally hosted high res files and Tidal MQA files (first unfold on the Aurender). I tried reducing the level of upscaling but that didn't make a difference. I have searched for this issue but haven't found other references to it. Has anybody else come across this problem, or read about it somewhere? Any feedback would be appreciated
Guest Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 @markm1111 is this at the beginning of a track when the M-Scaler goes from 44.1 to a higher Bitrate? If so, that’s normal, I’ve had conversations with Rob Watts about it and it’s just basically the m-scaler and the dac combined deal with bit rate changes. It’s not ideal, but how it is. ive got a whole conversation with Rob Watts you can read if your interested.
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