The right settings for the best sound

Have you actually heard a Nucleus connected via USB to a HMS/TT2?

I doubt it, from your ill-informed opinion.

Have you actually heard something like the ARIES G1 in front of your MScalar and found that it sounded worse?

I could almost understand your argument if the OP had not already purchased the ARIES G1, but he has and is just looking for suggestions on how to optimize settings.

At best, a direct connection to the NUC will sound the same, but he would then have a noisy Intel i7 NUC within a few meters of his listening space. How is that better than running the NUC in another room and using a purpose-built audio component as a bridge?

No, but as I’ve questioned above, have you ever heard HMS/TT2 connected to a NUC/Nucleus via USB? We’re obviously looking at this conundrum from opposite ends.

Apart from the Chord stack, I run a Linn Klimax DS/3 in the same system. The Chord stack can sound almost as good as the Linn with certain material.

In the UK, the Aires G1 retails at ÂŁ2k. Why would I spend another ÂŁ2k to see if this impeccable stack could be improved?

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Again, the OP has already purchased the ARIES G1 and seems to be satisfied with his purchase.

What if a Chord TT2 DAC owner joined this thread advised you and the OP to get rid of your MScalars…asserting that the TT2’s sound was impeccable and could not possibly be improved. Yet, when pressed, this person admits that they have never tried the TT2 with the MScalar?

I don’t think it’s fair to claim that the ARIES G1 has no benefit when you’ve never tried it. Furthermore, claiming that it is redundant is insulting to the OP, who only came here asking for help with settings.

I once had a computer in my listening room, but my system sounds significantly better since removing it. The presence of a computer, even if it’s not connected to anything but a power outlet, can have a negative impact to listening experience. I therefore applaud folks like @Nikos_Tegopoulos who leverage Roon’s distributed architecture to eliminate computer noise (RFI/EMI, ground plane contamination, fan noise, and mechanical vibrations) from their listening environments. The inverse-square law is a beautiful thing.

While I have not tried connecting the MScalar to a NUC, I know from experience that a NUC running Core is a low quality USB transport. Based on your comments, the MScalar + TT2 sounds fantastic in spite of their direct connection to your Core, not because of it. Further, I assert that listening engagement of nearly any room with a NUC or similar computer humming away can be improved by removing it.

Apart from setting the MScalar to “Fixed Volume”, do you have any other Roon settings suggestions for the OP?

First of all I would like to thank you for your participation in the thread. I really get a lot of useful information!

The following screenshots show the settings I currently have on roon. Do you think that with them I achieve flat reproduction? This is what I ask roon, everything else will be done by MScaler.

The photo shows the layout of my system. Do you think it can be affected by RF in any way? The devices are close, but I can not place them any other way.

PS: How should the roon clock master priority setting be?

I would have thought it would be:

Roon core
Ethernet
Auralic streamer
Usb
Mscaler
Dual bnc
Hugo tt2
And then either use tt2 headphone out or xlr out to an amp/preamp and so forth…

That’s exactly how I am, with the only difference in the output of the tt2 dac to the integrated amplifier I use rca cables …

Wow. That’s quite a system! Your settings look fine to me.

If you have a TIDAL subscription, I’d experiment with enabling Roon’s MQA Core Decoder. It’s only active when you are streaming MQA tracks and should do no harm.

Although purists may disagree, I’d also look into enabling volume leveling (under Zone Settings):

This will require you to increase the gain on your amplifier by a few ticks, but your gear is very fine, so this will not harm S/N ratio. What it will do is give you a much nicer listening experience as you will no longer find frequent need to adjust volume level between tracks and albums. This is one of Roon’s best features, and I feel too few subscribers take advantage of it.

If you were running ROCK on the NUC, I would suggest moving it to another room. But I imagine you use the NUC as a “Theater PC” for streaming videos, etc.; if so, moving it is practical. Plus, RFI/EMI from the NUC is likely inconsequential compared to what’s entering room and system from that lovely wall-mounted display. :slight_smile:

Keep playing with your settings and report back on what you find. Mostly, enjoy the sound of music on that gorgeous system!

Dave thank you very much for your kind words.

I will see the arrangements you propose, but let me do it tomorrow because it is too late in my country now. We’ll talk tomorrow…

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Delete the Filters under DSP and be surprised at how much better that sounds :wink:

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Delete the filters that are already disabled? What would that do?

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Try it.
It will cost you 30 seconds and about 10 clicks, depending on where you start :wink:

Christoph you mean me? I have them all turned off on roon.

Nikos
Please delete the filters as well and then listen how it sounds.
I you don’t like what you hear, you can easily add the filters again.

This seems like very strange advice. What is the thinking behind it?

I would also like to know…you are suggesting deleting filters which are disabled will significantly improve sound quality. What would cause that?

Try it if you are curious…

It takes only about 10 seconds to delete the filters.
And if you don’t like what you are hearing, resume the filters is another 15 seconds.

…or don’t

Yes, my suggestion is that deleting the already disabled filters sounds a little bit better.
At least in all the systems I tried that.
Not significantly night an day but IME noticeable.

Try it, it doesn’t cost you anything but a few minutes :wink:

Still not clear to me what you are talking about. Do you mean removing disabled in DSP settings?

If they are disabled, why would it matter?

Out of curiosity I deleted the disabled filters as Christoph suggested, but didn’t notice any diff in sound quality on my 2 systems.