Hugo M Scaler Upscaler by Chord Electronics

The Hugo M Scaler is a highly advanced standalone upscaler capable of dramatically redefining sound quality from digital audio. It uses Rob Watts’ (Chord Digital Design Engineer) unique filter technology, the most advanced in the world, to upscale standard 44.1kHz digital audio up to 705.6kHz (16x CD’s 44.1kHz native resolution), ready to be passed to a suitable DAC; Hugo M Scaler extends its upscaling performance to 768kHz (from 96kHz input data) for dual-BNC-input DACs: Qutest, Hugo 2, Hugo TT 2 and DAVE.

The Hugo M Scaler brings the unrivaled advantages of Chord’s ground-breaking FPGA-based WTA (Watts Transient Alignment) filtering technology to digitally connected audio devices, dramatically improving sound quality. Although optimized for use with selected Chord Electronics DACs (for the maximum 768kHz upscaling/decoding benefit), the Hugo M Scaler can be used with other DACs with suitable inputs, subject to their decoding capability.

The Hugo M Scaler’s compact form factor aligns with the TT (Table Top) series and has been designed to be stackable with other units in the range, including the TToby stereo power amp and the Hugo TT 2, to form a highly advanced yet space-saving system. In line with other models in the Hugo and Hugo TT series, the device features a number of illuminable fascia-mounted spherical controls, governing input selection, output sample rate, and video mode for lower latency. The control spheres display data visually including the input source and the incoming sample rate, using a polychromatic scale.

When partnered with either of Chord Electronics’ 768kHz-capable dual-BNC-input DACs, the Hugo M Scaler sets an astonishing technical benchmark for digital audio performance at its price point, redefining sound quality from digital audio.

Features:

• Chord Custom Coded FPGA
• Over 1 million Taps
• Upsampling to 768kHz
• USB Input
• IR Remote Control Included
• Convection Cooled
• Solid Aluminum chassis
• Optical input and output
• 2x BNC S/PDIF Input
• Dual DAta Mode BNC O/P
• BNC S/PDIF Output

Headfonics
“The Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler is a unique high-end upsampling component capable of upsampling digital streams from 44.1k up to 705.6kHZ (maximum of 768kHz). It ”

https://headfonics.com/chord-electronics-hugo-m-scaler-review/
The absolute sound
“the M Scaler makes substantial, across-the-board improvements to almost every qualitative aspect of the sound—so much so that you might feel like you are either listening through an altogether different and better headphone amp/DAC, or listening to delightfully re-mastered and/or much higher-resolution versions of your favorite recordings. Once you hear the M Scaler in action, there’s no going back.”

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/chord-electronics-hugo-tt-2-dacpreampheadphone-amp-and-hugo-m-scaler
Stereophile
“The M Scaler offers a video mode, as the upsampling introduces a latency up to 600ms, too long for synchronizing audio with video. In video mode, the M Scaler uses an interpolation filter with lower latency. For audio use, a pass-through option, with the output sample rate the same as the input rate, is provided to allow comparison to upsampled output. However, as the upsampling can introduce digital “overs”—interpolated sample values exceeding 0dBFS—both the passthrough and upsampled signals are reduced in gain by about 2.8dB, which complicates such direct comparisons. ”

https://www.stereophile.com/content/chord-electronics-hugo-m-scaler-upsampling-digital-processor

• FPGA: Xilinx XC7A200T
• Filter tap length: 1,015,808 WTA taps (16FS filter)
• Dimensions: 4cm (H) 23.5cm (W) 23.8cm (D)
• Weight: 2.55kg
• Connectivity (input): 1x Galvanically isolated Type-B USB, 2x Coax BNC and 2x Optical
• Connectivity (output): 1x Galvanically isolated dual BNC (enables upscaling to the maximum 768kHz), 1x BNC S/PDIF, and 1x Optical
• PCM support: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 358.8kHz, 384kHz, 705.6 and 768kHz – 16 to 32bit
• Driver support: Driverless with Mac OS X and Linux, driver required for Windows OS

Hugo-M-Scaler User Manual