Reactcore
1000+ Head-Fier
Update: read the second part of installing the optical link in Mscaler and Dave Here
Update 4-12-2022: See the design of a boxed optic receiver for Dave Here
See also my Dave's PSU amp upgrade Here
Dear readers,
By request i started this thread to discuss and update the progress of my project of the Choral housed Mscaler.
To give context to how i came to this idea of creating one i tell the history of my findings along the way.
In 2015 i started with a Chord Mojo portable DAC-AMP which had let me hear the benefits of Rob Watts transient reconstruction techniques using so called taps to probe the original sampled signal. For the ones not familiar to this i give the Mscaler official thread link here: Official Mscaler thread
Then going up the ladder i aquired myself a Qutest. This is a compact DAC only unit without a built in amp and has multible digital inputs, among them being two Spdif BNC inputs which could accept a dual data input coming from a Mscaler device. This unit really gave a easily hearable boost in transient reconstruction using one million taps.
From 2 available colours i chose the black version instead of the silver cause the Qutest is only available in black.
Because the Mscaler is housed in a TT2 (Table Top) style housing my pair stacked together did'nt look like they are made for each other.
My Qutest on Mscaler
But the Qutest appeared to suffer a tiny bit of sound degradation caused by RF interferrence seeping over the dual coaxial cables. which manifested itself by giving a bit of grain to the high frequencies of the sound masking a bit of the tiny details of the sound. but as the Qutest is a bit softer sounding i was'nt too much bothered by it.
Later when my funds allowed i went for my next upgrade. While the TT2 was appealing as the perfect unit to supplement the Mscaler i knew i would eventualy wanted to go for the final step.. the Dave. So i skipped TT2 and and got the Dave which is housed in a different style named the Choral line.
And also this time.. although i chose the Dave in black.. the two units are totally different shaped not fitting each other esthetically.
Dave on top of Mscaler
I am aware of the Blu2 CD transport which is in the Choral style from which the Mscaler inherited its upsampling tech but Blu2 cant be stacked up or under Dave without special stands or other cabinet. Also it misses an optical toslink input which i find a must have for rejecting RF and lastly i never spin CD's anyway as i have my music ripped on a server.
So there i was listening to my stacked units, as Dave is more resolving than Qutest i realized the RF problem is easier perceivable than before even giving me listening fatigue on some tracks.
There are several treatments available like ferrite dampened coax cables (Wave) and even an optical bridge (Opto DX). This last one caught my attention the most as this completely eliminates the electrical connection rather than suppressing the RF noise. But it still has coax cables running outside the DAC acting as antennas and the units need batteries to be away from mains noise.
So being an engineer myself i came to the idea of creating an optical dual data link myself using two sets of 820nm Avago LED and receiver units which i built in Dave and Mscaler wired internally to both device's BNC connectors.
Both sides taking the power from within so only a fiber will be running outside.
Since Dave has 4 BNC inputs i can swap two out by Avago ST type receivers. for this i can place a L shaped metal strip on its PCB letting the plastic ST barrels stick outside Dave's housing.
But in the case of the Mscaler i will loose the BNC connection option then. And looking in its housing there is no room to place them aside the existing connectors on the back.
Then it occurred to me.. what if i design a new Mscaler housing in the Choral style that can be placed under Dave?
i openend up my Mscaler, measured the PCB and found that it easily fits the choral housing measurements of 333x140mm
So i grabbed my measurement tools, started up my Autocad program and began to draw the PCB in detail.
i found that the Mscaler's back side consisted of a removable plate through which the connectors stick out.
This simplifies my design as i dont have to precisely line up the holes.
Mscaler main and button PCB with mounting holes and backplate, on underside the FPGA is located
Next up is measuring exactly the Choral housing of Dave to create the basic shape
Choral box, i noticed the curved sides are actually a cutout from a 333mm diameter circle
After having drawed the basic box i positioned the Mscaler's main PCB slightly out of the middle so aside of it theres room for my optic link units. also i positioned the button PCB on a 20° angle tilted forwards so the buttons come closer to the front edge. this is needed so i can access them easily when Dave is on top.
Bottom part out of one solid piece, backpanel fitting in caving, heatsink block for FPGA cooling
Then it was time to design the top part with the buttons.
I made the top plate out of 20mm thick block and had to draw the button balls which are actually coned cylinders
I went for a squared 20° angled caving with chamfered edges just like the rest of the housing.
The caving i kept small so that Dave's feet wont float above it but keep solid ground to stand on.
Side view of device, blue is top part with bolt holes
To be able to CNC this housing it must consist of solid forms. i created only 2 parts to manufacture keeping in mind that its round drills that will cut out the material so creating round shaped inner corners.
To get an impression in advance i fired up my Navisworks program and did some rendering on the Choral Mscaler.
I also have drawn Dave to place it on top to see how they look stacked up.
Back side:
Choral Mscaler alone:
After tweaking and finetuning its time to select a manufacturer so i went searching for capable places.
I ended up up with a Chinese company which i send my 2 files in IGES format. I also send pictures of Dave and discussed for brushed and black anodized aluminium but the caving cant be brushed cause the round rolls cant reach into the corners. Dave's caving and round portholes are sandblasted. so my unit will get this treatment.
Now its fingers crossed if my measurements are right and the finnishing is as i noted.
First pictures of the parts being CNCed, theyre made out of solid blocks of aluminium
just like Dave.
Its closing finnishing with black annodizing:
The caving misses the right treatment still
Now this is more like it, sandblasted in caving:
Ok this is the end of my post sofar..
I keep updating this thread as i get more to show.
After i get the pieces i will post the assembling.
Cheers everyone
Continue reading the installing of the optical link in Mscaler and Dave Here
Update 4-12-2022: See the design of a boxed optic receiver for Dave Here
See also my Dave's PSU amp upgrade Here
Dear readers,
By request i started this thread to discuss and update the progress of my project of the Choral housed Mscaler.
To give context to how i came to this idea of creating one i tell the history of my findings along the way.
In 2015 i started with a Chord Mojo portable DAC-AMP which had let me hear the benefits of Rob Watts transient reconstruction techniques using so called taps to probe the original sampled signal. For the ones not familiar to this i give the Mscaler official thread link here: Official Mscaler thread
Then going up the ladder i aquired myself a Qutest. This is a compact DAC only unit without a built in amp and has multible digital inputs, among them being two Spdif BNC inputs which could accept a dual data input coming from a Mscaler device. This unit really gave a easily hearable boost in transient reconstruction using one million taps.
From 2 available colours i chose the black version instead of the silver cause the Qutest is only available in black.
Because the Mscaler is housed in a TT2 (Table Top) style housing my pair stacked together did'nt look like they are made for each other.
My Qutest on Mscaler
But the Qutest appeared to suffer a tiny bit of sound degradation caused by RF interferrence seeping over the dual coaxial cables. which manifested itself by giving a bit of grain to the high frequencies of the sound masking a bit of the tiny details of the sound. but as the Qutest is a bit softer sounding i was'nt too much bothered by it.
Later when my funds allowed i went for my next upgrade. While the TT2 was appealing as the perfect unit to supplement the Mscaler i knew i would eventualy wanted to go for the final step.. the Dave. So i skipped TT2 and and got the Dave which is housed in a different style named the Choral line.
And also this time.. although i chose the Dave in black.. the two units are totally different shaped not fitting each other esthetically.
Dave on top of Mscaler
I am aware of the Blu2 CD transport which is in the Choral style from which the Mscaler inherited its upsampling tech but Blu2 cant be stacked up or under Dave without special stands or other cabinet. Also it misses an optical toslink input which i find a must have for rejecting RF and lastly i never spin CD's anyway as i have my music ripped on a server.
So there i was listening to my stacked units, as Dave is more resolving than Qutest i realized the RF problem is easier perceivable than before even giving me listening fatigue on some tracks.
There are several treatments available like ferrite dampened coax cables (Wave) and even an optical bridge (Opto DX). This last one caught my attention the most as this completely eliminates the electrical connection rather than suppressing the RF noise. But it still has coax cables running outside the DAC acting as antennas and the units need batteries to be away from mains noise.
So being an engineer myself i came to the idea of creating an optical dual data link myself using two sets of 820nm Avago LED and receiver units which i built in Dave and Mscaler wired internally to both device's BNC connectors.
Both sides taking the power from within so only a fiber will be running outside.
Since Dave has 4 BNC inputs i can swap two out by Avago ST type receivers. for this i can place a L shaped metal strip on its PCB letting the plastic ST barrels stick outside Dave's housing.
But in the case of the Mscaler i will loose the BNC connection option then. And looking in its housing there is no room to place them aside the existing connectors on the back.
Then it occurred to me.. what if i design a new Mscaler housing in the Choral style that can be placed under Dave?
i openend up my Mscaler, measured the PCB and found that it easily fits the choral housing measurements of 333x140mm
So i grabbed my measurement tools, started up my Autocad program and began to draw the PCB in detail.
i found that the Mscaler's back side consisted of a removable plate through which the connectors stick out.
This simplifies my design as i dont have to precisely line up the holes.
Mscaler main and button PCB with mounting holes and backplate, on underside the FPGA is located
Next up is measuring exactly the Choral housing of Dave to create the basic shape
Choral box, i noticed the curved sides are actually a cutout from a 333mm diameter circle
After having drawed the basic box i positioned the Mscaler's main PCB slightly out of the middle so aside of it theres room for my optic link units. also i positioned the button PCB on a 20° angle tilted forwards so the buttons come closer to the front edge. this is needed so i can access them easily when Dave is on top.
Bottom part out of one solid piece, backpanel fitting in caving, heatsink block for FPGA cooling
Then it was time to design the top part with the buttons.
I made the top plate out of 20mm thick block and had to draw the button balls which are actually coned cylinders
I went for a squared 20° angled caving with chamfered edges just like the rest of the housing.
The caving i kept small so that Dave's feet wont float above it but keep solid ground to stand on.
Side view of device, blue is top part with bolt holes
To be able to CNC this housing it must consist of solid forms. i created only 2 parts to manufacture keeping in mind that its round drills that will cut out the material so creating round shaped inner corners.
To get an impression in advance i fired up my Navisworks program and did some rendering on the Choral Mscaler.
I also have drawn Dave to place it on top to see how they look stacked up.
Back side:
Choral Mscaler alone:
After tweaking and finetuning its time to select a manufacturer so i went searching for capable places.
I ended up up with a Chinese company which i send my 2 files in IGES format. I also send pictures of Dave and discussed for brushed and black anodized aluminium but the caving cant be brushed cause the round rolls cant reach into the corners. Dave's caving and round portholes are sandblasted. so my unit will get this treatment.
Now its fingers crossed if my measurements are right and the finnishing is as i noted.
First pictures of the parts being CNCed, theyre made out of solid blocks of aluminium
just like Dave.
Its closing finnishing with black annodizing:
The caving misses the right treatment still
Now this is more like it, sandblasted in caving:
Ok this is the end of my post sofar..
I keep updating this thread as i get more to show.
After i get the pieces i will post the assembling.
Cheers everyone
Continue reading the installing of the optical link in Mscaler and Dave Here
Last edited:
more waiting for arrivals
