It was a bit of s play on words relating to clothes...synthetic can irritate the skin and the ear ;-)
If you still spin CDs, this may be the best option.
- Thread starter thomask
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On 28th, May, I visited Esotar"s listening room.
He had moved just 5 days ago, to new place.
Thus it had not been fully settled yet.
But with combination of SGM Extreme and Trinity Dac, music flows natural and dynamic.
The only missing thing is that it was hard to judge depth of soundstage due to reflection from the windows.
Host plan to drape the windows pretty soon.
Nevertheless it was quite enjoyable.
When I switched to Formular XHD Dac, pristine texture remains same but dynamic slam falls short of Trinity Dac.
Overall Formular XHD Dac is good for the money but not for bass freak.
Because of my dental appointment, I could stay just over one hour.
But it was a quite experience of SGM Extreme server with natural music flow.
It would be very nice to compare top music server like SGM and gorgeous Kalista transport side by side in the future.
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After being back to my home, I felt sigh of relief after listening to my system with EMMLab Dac2.
It still sound good enough to beat most of system that I had heard in Korea.
I had listened to Chord Dave and Blue II transport in Korea.
Dave without upsampling was just good not extarordinary.
But with upsampler, its details, nuanced texture, focus and deep 3D soundstage impressed me.
I found a good deal on used Dave and M Scaler and it got delivered this morning.
I heard that Dave and Mscaler is sensitive to power supply.
I plan to use LI ion battery pack to power M scaler.
Also I have 4 isolation transformers.
Although Pacific of Lampi was also impressive n Korea , it could be too creamy in my system since I already have tube SET amplifier.
I plan to set up Dave and M scaler up this afternoon.
I will update the progress.
Thomas
It still sound good enough to beat most of system that I had heard in Korea.
I had listened to Chord Dave and Blue II transport in Korea.
Dave without upsampling was just good not extarordinary.
But with upsampler, its details, nuanced texture, focus and deep 3D soundstage impressed me.
I found a good deal on used Dave and M Scaler and it got delivered this morning.
I heard that Dave and Mscaler is sensitive to power supply.
I plan to use LI ion battery pack to power M scaler.
Also I have 4 isolation transformers.
Although Pacific of Lampi was also impressive n Korea , it could be too creamy in my system since I already have tube SET amplifier.
I plan to set up Dave and M scaler up this afternoon.
I will update the progress.
Thomas
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Lampi is not too creamy at all. It depends on the tube you use. Also Pacific and Golden gate are different
Ir would be interesting to have a chance to audition Lampi in my system.
But after finding good deal on used Dave and M scaler, I pulled the trigger not to lose it.
Actually, my 10 years old EMMLab Dac2 still sounds pretty decent.
I will find out how much Dave and MScaler sound better this afternoon.
Congratulations Thomas on the dave and m scaler... I’d suggest you hold off on the Li-ion supply (especially if it’s 12 volt) as the m scaler sounds better at its 15 volt rating.Ir would be interesting to have a chance to audition Lampi in my system.
But after finding good deal on used Dave and M scaler, I pulled the trigger not to lose it.
Actually, my 10 years old EMMLab Dac2 still sounds pretty decent.
I will find out how much Dave and MScaler sound better this afternoon.
There is a 15 volt Vinshine linear psu at 4 amp (from the same guy who does the kinki integrated amp in Singapore).
I use this linear supply (the 12 volt model) on my microzotl and may still get one for my m scaler... but I did just do some wire and connector mods on the stock chord supply (which is the first stock switching supply of its kind I’ve found to be not noisy) which included replacing the dc wire and connector with furutech and oyaide and using an adaptor to put a Shunyata python pc from wall to the psu. This upgrade was excellent and in the realm of typical improvements from upgrading to a better psu... but my audiophile nervosa may still see me getting in another Vinshine psu to try for the m scaler.
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Thanks a lot for your kind input.
I got the Li Ion pack which can put out 16V since I had read that MScaler sounds better with 16V rather than 12 V.
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That’s great, I’ve been hesitating simply because Chord have included a void on warranty if there is damage from a dc regulation that shows greater than 15 volt to the unit so please be aware of that... I always prefer a better supply so struggle with the Chord anti psu upgrade stance. Happy listening with the Dave/mscaler... looking forwards to your thoughts.
I had set up Dave and M scaler one hour ago.
Initial impression is very good with 768 KHZ upsampling using double BNC cables, it sound very transparent with clean details.
I am using supplied power supply with M Scaler.
Tomorrow, I will try Li battery with M Scaler and do also some comparison with several options of digital cables.
I started with pair of Blackcat Silverstar II BNC cables.
Jay’s Audio CDT2 Mk2 is being used now which give bang for the money.
I think Jay's CDT2 approach 80% of the performance of CEC TL0X at less than 1/5 price.
CEC TLOx is the best transport that I had used for 5 years at my home.
Of course Kalista could be better than Jay's by 30% or more.
But I can not tell since I had not used Kalista at my home.
Initial impression is very good with 768 KHZ upsampling using double BNC cables, it sound very transparent with clean details.
I am using supplied power supply with M Scaler.
Tomorrow, I will try Li battery with M Scaler and do also some comparison with several options of digital cables.
I started with pair of Blackcat Silverstar II BNC cables.
Jay’s Audio CDT2 Mk2 is being used now which give bang for the money.
I think Jay's CDT2 approach 80% of the performance of CEC TL0X at less than 1/5 price.
CEC TLOx is the best transport that I had used for 5 years at my home.
Of course Kalista could be better than Jay's by 30% or more.
But I can not tell since I had not used Kalista at my home.
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Please let us know on your progress with the battery power, BNC cables. I also heard someone mod the Dave to have external PSU but cant find information anywhere.
Please let us know on your progress with the battery power, BNC cables. I also heard someone mod the Dave to have external PSU but cant find information anywhere.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0791WDZTW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I had tried above Li ion Battery pack on Mscaler.
It sounds slightly more transparent than included power supply.
But the difference was minor than I had expected.
It may be because included power supply had been connected to separate isolation transformer.
I have no plan to modify Dave.
But Dave had been connected to separate isolation transformer.
That may be the way to go.
Although I have three different pairs of BNC digital cables, it will take time to give opinion on them.
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That was made by Mark Levinson himself (not Mark Levinson brand).
But I do not have more specific information on it.
That doesn’t matter at all unless the speakers are too close, then everything is negative but pure absorption. The reflected rear wave is what gives sound the 3D effect. Problems come from poor quality reflections on the backside. And in general reflections are destructive if they are within a bad enveloped of timing. If they are then they are often appreciated for adding qualities.
The issue with single pane and double/triple is it sounds like shit. It’s very irritating in nature, very harsh, so it’s distracting. When you swap it out for something that is basically like putting thick plywood, then it’s nice.
The issue with single pane and double/triple is it sounds like shit. It’s very irritating in nature, very harsh, so it’s distracting. When you swap it out for something that is basically like putting thick plywood, then it’s nice.
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