Chord HUGO M SCALER

CHORD ELECTRONICS recently introduced the HUGO M SCALER, which now makes the upscaling technology introduced with the BLU 2 CD drive available as a standalone device. Based on the WTA filter technology developed by Rob Watts, which has already made CHORD's D/A converters world famous, the HUGO M SCALER uses a powerful FPGA chip to analyze digital music signals before D/A conversion and to scale them to a higher sampling frequency. For example, the standard CD resolution of 44.1 kHz is increased to 16 times the resolution of 705.6 kHz. The sampling frequencies of 48 or 96 kHz that are common in the download sector are even scaled up to 768 kHz.

The HUGO M SCALER then makes the signal processed in this way available to compatible D/A converters via a dual data output designed as a double BNC connection, such as the reference converter DAVE, the compact QUTEST or the also new HUGO TT 2. In particular, with the HUGO TT 2 and the matching stereo power amplifier TTOBY, the HUGO M SCALER forms a very compact but extremely powerful system.

HUGO M SCALER at a glance:

• FPGA chip XILINX XC7A200T with 740 DSP cores
• WTA filter with 1,015,808 taps
• Upscaling up to 768 kHz (DualData BNC; S/PDIF up to 384 kHz, TOSLink up to 192 kHz)
• input signals up to 384 kHz/DSD256 (via USB)
• Unibody housing made of solid aluminum (235 x 40.5 x 236 mm; 2.5 kg)
• Entirely designed and manufactured in the UK.

The culmination of 35 years of development_ Rob Watts has been developing his groundbreaking WTA filter technology ('Watts Transient Aligned') for more than three decades; for more than 20 years it has been the basis for the outstanding sound quality of CHORD ELECTRONICS' D/A converters. However, it was only the most recent developments in the available FPGA chips that made it possible to realize the enormous computing effort of the M SCALER technology. For comparison: The DAVE, introduced in 2015, which many experts consider to be the best D/A converter in the world, works with a filter length of 164,000 taps. The upscaling filter in the HUGO M SCALER, on the other hand, achieves an incredible 1,015,808 taps. This brings it closer to the theoretical ideal of an infinitely long filter (with which the analog signal could be completely correctly restored) than any other technology to date.

Flexibility_ Every digital source can benefit from the enormous sound update of the HUGO M SCALER. Two coaxial (BNC) and two optical inputs as well as a USB input are available for this. So that other D/A converters can also be connected, the device has another coaxial (up to 384 kHz) and an optical digital output (up to 192 kHz) in addition to the DualData output.

As is typical for CHORD, the source selection and output resolution settings are made using illuminated buttons on the front of the device. For certain applications, the low-latency VIDEO mode can also be activated here, and there are also controls for the 'DX' function, which will be used with future CHORD products.