[Christer]

Well, then I don’t feel so bad. I’ve had the thought before that Chord could use a good tech writer to make their manuals more complete, rather than leave the end-users to figure it out for themselves. I’m reminded of the old joke about the software engineer who, when he was confronted by a user having a problem with his program exclaimed, “That’s not a bug, it’s a feature!”

Thanks again for the assist.

Steve

I certainly agree with your comments.
Imo they could really do with someone to write CLEAR and concise instructions for them in their manual for M Scaler as well.
As the one now online stands, it is anything but clear and concise.
And there isn't even a printed version.
There are several photos of different lights lit on MScaler in the manual. But no explanations at all what settings they represent in connection to the actual photos.

This morning when I as usual wanted to listen to fully mscaled hi res music via Audirvana I had left wifi still connected and all sorts of lights that in order to get back to full mscaling via usb had to be turned off.
One BNC was not on at all and video had been engaged!
For no obvious reason other than possibly wifi being on?

Obviously some automatic function not clearly described in the manual had been engaged although I had initiated Audirvana.
IMO the default setting FULL M SCALING should NOT EVER be disconnected automatically.

There is ONLY ONE reason why I have an M Scaler and that is to benefit from ALL the 1M taps.

I also wish Chord had packed a better fitting,higher quality USB cable than the one supplied.
I have already exchanged the supplied USB cable with one that does not loose connection with my laptop randomly.
Cheers Controversial Christer

 

[analogmusic]

Man goes to Oxford street. Enjoys a great meal
Does nice shopping.

But can’t stop complaining about the rain on the way home
Somethings never change

 

[musickid]

white=1m taps. that's it.

 

[Beolab]

I have now compared the Habst BNC cables (700 Euros each) to the stock 1m RG-59 cables that came with Blu2 to another inexpensive shorter pair (0.5m) of RG-59 BNC cables by Pasternack (about $40) to a 0.5m pair of RG-6 BNC cables by Blue Jeans Cables (<$20). I found these cheap cables to essentially sound the same with the less expensive Blue Jeans cable perhaps sounding a little better (although with blind testing, I could not pick it out from the other cheap cables). I also tried a pair of BNC cables from Black Cat that sell for about $250 each and unfortunately, these did not sound much better than the cheap cables. Adding 5 ferrites to the Blue Jeans cable improved it considerably making it darker (less glare) just like Rob said, however, despite the addition of 5 ferrites, these cables do not come close to the 0.5m Habst cables. The Habst cables are darker yet (almost no perceptible glare), the soundstage is larger and detail clarity is improved. The difference is not subtle. If you are happy with the cheap cables that you have, then there's no need to do anything more but I can assure you that your Blu2 can sound so much better.

Rob has suggested that there won't be much difference between 4 and 5 ferrites. You have to go to 8 ferrites and then 16 ferrites to appreciate differences. He also still believes 2m length is better than a shorter length. When I expressed concern about signal attenuation with longer cable length, he said that would be favorable since it should result in even less glare. I will wait for him to tell us how this sounds since I have no plans at this time to buy any really long BNC cables.

I have a few other short cables coming in including a custom set of cables that are being made for me that will sell for about $250 each as well as a new cable from SOtM that incorporates their filter block that I regard so highly (about $700 each) but regardless of how they sound, I know that at a minimum, I have the Habst cables that are very good.

Pretty nice bump

Hi Roy

Just interested to hear your verdic after 1,5 years time what BNC cable did came out on the top?

Did you try the Sotm BNC etc, or did you settled on Habst ?

I ordered the Habst in 0,75 m length ( not burned in yet, just about 100 h ) , and compare it just for fun to a AQ Diamond 72v BNC 1,5 m with 8 ferrits attached, and i have to say my old AQ Diamond actually sound more warm , calm , richer and got slight more depth, wheras the Habst do come pretty close, but is slighty “dryer” and less weight overall, it may be the length that keep away reflections that causing jitter in the conversation , or it is just the actual voicing of the cable, it’s hard to say.

In comparrison to my other BNC cables like
MIT Oracle MA-X 1m , and Nordost Valhalla 2 . 1m , Oyaide 1,3 m etc i find the AQ got the most weight and richness. The Valhalla 2 is very relaxed / composed and refined in the sound, no frequency taking over on another.
The Oracle MA-X got a very high precision with extreme micro detail and quite musical if you set the Articulation knob on MAX , but it can also sound more fluid and rich if you set the articulation knob on Less. ( -5 steps )

The Oyaide ( silver )sounds the most clinical and got som metallic glare in the higher band what makes it lacking musicality in the end.
The word that it should have a tubey sound signature i find very hard to hear.

Just some notes and thoughts..

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

I’m close to pulling the trigger on a streaming unit to feed into my Blu MkII M Scaler. What USB cables are you guys using?

 

[Triode User]

I’m close to pulling the trigger on a streaming unit to feed into my Blu MkII M Scaler. What USB cables are you guys using?

Supra USB 2.0. I tried various other expensive ones but couldn't hear any difference. I am streaming from a Zenith SE to my Blu2 using Roon and utilising the play from RAM squeezebox feature.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

Thanks TU. I will probably go the innuos route too. Possibly The Statement. For the uninitiated, what is the benefit of using the RAM squeezebox feature?

tia

 

[BallisticGT3]

Another vote here for the Supra USB 2.0, which I use to connect my Innuos Statement to a Blu2. I prefer the characteristics of the Supra to the Chord Signature usb cable that I was using before.

 

[Whazzzup]

Thanks TU. I will probably go the innuos route too. Possibly The Statement. For the uninitiated, what is the benefit of using the RAM squeezebox feature?

tia

Can someone try antipodes audio DX , usb is preferred delivery. It would seem to be better but other than myself, no one at head fi has offered feedback. The chord company Sarum t super array USB provided some sonic benefits in this chain, but again, you should try for yourself. There are threads on both

 

[musickid]

Are you actively searching all the chord threads for any mention or discussion of servers?

 

[jonstatt]

Supra USB 2.0. I tried various other expensive ones but couldn't hear any difference. I am streaming from a Zenith SE to my Blu2 using Roon and utilising the play from RAM squeezebox feature.

I could hear the difference between usb cables with the Auralic Aries but not at all with the G2 which has galvanic isolation on its USB output

 

[musickid]

Why all the expenditure on servers? a bit perfect optical stream results in identical results irrespective of source/streamer cost or type. bit perfect being the key here. in this case chromecast google £30 would give results that are identical to a multi £K server as chord dacs use DPLL to eliminate jitter on optical inputs.

 

[Whazzzup]

They are not identical

 

[Triode User]

.

Why all the expenditure on servers? a bit perfect optical stream results in identical results irrespective of source/streamer cost or type. bit perfect being the key here. in this case chromecast google £30 would give results that are identical to a multi £K server as chord dacs use DPLL to eliminate jitter on optical inputs.

What do you base the 'identical results' on?

 

[musickid]

Rob's opinion on bit perfect optical sources sounding identical.