Chord Electronics - Hugo 2 - The Official Thread

[Deftone]

  I have the ave and the Mojo and will be getting the HUgo 2...I am quite sure it will be closer to the Mojo than the Dave

 
im interested in the comparisons as well but id like to see these tests for example
 
Hugo 2 with Mojo filter vs Mojo
 
Hugo 2 with reference filter vs mojo
 
also considering the law of diminishing returns, imo hugo2 should be closer to dave

 

[514077]

Hugo 2 looks very nice indeed

Now I need to sell a kidney, anyone feel free to pm me about a potential buyers in the black market.

Sorry, got mine 2013.  Let you know, in case.

 

[tamsaiming2003]

im interested in the comparisons as well but id like to see these tests for example

Hugo 2 with Mojo filter vs Mojo

Hugo 2 with reference filter vs mojo

also considering the law of diminishing returns, imo hugo2 should be closer to dave

Excuse me, would you mind explaining the relationship between LDMR and Hugo 2 sound signature? Confused here.

 

[Christer]

performance of any digital recording be it native or made from analog master depends upon the adc. even the best dacs like Dave can't rectify the anomalies created during the analog to digital conversion by an adc. so in that way lps cut directly from analog master have some advantage . may be chord Davina is able to change all that. so analog master/ live feed to Davina to Dave is the closest you get to the live performance ( better than LPs cut from analog master or even playback of analog master itself )

I  hope you are correct regarding DAVINA. But I often wish digital had not been launched prematurely, when  more and more  labels were already releasing absolutely superb recordings on direct cut LPs.
At the end of the 70s even some of the major classical labels were considering releasing  direct cuts,and had done direct cut  test recordings with some  major conductors and orchestras.
Direct cut LP  is in some respects still the most realistic sounding of all recording formats imho.
As you say the analogue wave form is basically  intact and  has not been chopped to little pieces. And does not need guesswork  heavy filtering  and  interpolation to be reconstructed from "minced meat hamburger to  full live cow again" Nor has it been compromised by the limitations of most tape recorders and tape itself. 
If rbcd had not ruined the party we would have had  many more direct cuts.
I treasure the ones I own and even have multiple copies of some of them.

 

[Christer]

  Hello again, Christer.  Question: is it the consensus view that Chord DACs aren't as outstanding on DSD as they are on PCM?  I know RW advocates 16/44.1 and feels the Mojo will make up for the difference and so far I tend to agree. Don't have very many DSD files, though.  There was a voucher in my Mojo box for a free sampler download at NativeDSD and it left me unimpressed.  So I downloaded some more but remain unimpressed, even with the quad-DSD test tracks they offer.  The best I found sofar have been by Opus3 Records (available at DSDfile.com) and by Proprius Records/Naxos 2xHD (available at NativeDSD.com) and a few tracks by a fellow named David Elias (courtesy of Oppo Digital).  Incidentally, I can hear no difference btw DoP 2.8 and 11.2, guess I just have tin ears - or is it tinnitus from listening on earphones?  Do you think converting to PCM would improve the sound (I believe 24-88.2 would occupy similar disk space as DSD64)?

I can´t really answer all your questions in detail more than saying that both OPUS 3 and Proprius in the 70s and 80s especially made some of the most realistic  quite simply mic´d analogue  recordings of Jazz and classical music of all labels in those days.
My only complaint really is that they did not do more recordings.
I attended some of their live recording concert sessions and have the LP versions of those and they are still after all these years superb recordings.
And although MOJO is very good for its price, it is not quite SOTA.
Even HUGO 1 beats it in some ways with well recorded classical music.
MOJO has got even more of the "planes, trains and automobiles" flavour to it than HUGO imho.Its  "warmth" comes a bit at the expense of lacking air and space for example.
What I am  really hoping for, is that HUGO 2  will sound closer to SOTA than both previous portables from Chord, with demanding large scale  and densely scored dynamic classical music.

 

[Jalo]

John or Rob, can you explain if Hugo 2 has the same design as the Hugo in terms of output stage or the lack of it as in the original Hugo? But at 1025 mw at 8 ohm, I assume you will have to add a discrete output stage?

 

[JaZZ]

  And although MOJO is very good for its price, it is not quite SOTA.
Even HUGO 1 beats it in some ways with well recorded classical music.
MOJO has got even more of the "planes, trains and automobiles" flavour to it than HUGO imho.Its  "warmth" comes a bit at the expense of lacking air and space for example.
What I am  really hoping for, is that HUGO 2  will sound closer to SOTA than both previous portables from Chord, with demanding large scale and densely scored dynamic classical music.

 
I'm quite optimistic that it will offer exactly that. There's a reason why Rob has increased the tap count and accepted shorter battery duration by doing so, and the change at the output stage will also make for a sonic improvement, not just (slightly) higher power.

 

[JaZZ]

John or Rob, can you explain if Hugo 2 has the same design as the Hugo in terms of output stage or the lack of it as in the original Hugo? But at 1025 mw at 8 ohm, I assume you will have to add a discrete output stage?

 
See this slide: «Hugo has a discrete class A output stage integrated into the DAC output amplifier and filters» – which is the same as in the original Hugo.

 

[Jalo]

See this slide: «Hugo has a discrete class A output stage integrated into the DAC output amplifier and filters» – which is the same as in the original Hugo.

Well it is either the same or not the same and in this case it is not the same as in the original Hugo. In the original, it really doesn't have an amp stage for the sake of not adding additional capacitors into the signal path. That is why the line out is the same as the headphone out in the Hugo 1. If they now add a discrete class A stage into the out put stage that is a big difference and departure from the original design philosophy. That is why when I listened at CES, my first impression is that there is a full amp in there as it sounds like there is a powerful force pushing from behind. My second impression is that there is a lot of power causing the sound feels warmer than Hugo 1. I am not say it is bad, just saying it is different. Even different from DAVE.

 

[JaZZ]

 

See this slide: «Hugo has a discrete class A output stage integrated into the DAC output amplifier and filters» – which is the same as in the original Hugo.

Well it is either the same or not the same and in this case it is not the same as in the original Hugo. In the original, it really doesn't have an amp stage for the sake of not adding additional capacitors into the signal path. That is why the line out is the same as the headphone out in the Hugo 1. If they now add a discrete class A stage into the out put stage that is a big difference and departure from the original design philosophy. That is why when I listened at CES, my first impression is that there is a full amp in there as it sounds like there is a powerful force pushing from behind. My second impression is that there is a lot of power causing the sound feels warmer than Hugo 1. I am not say it is bad, just saying it is different. Even different from DAVE.

 
There's also an amplification stage in the original Hugo – the line-out amplifier with integrated output stage. The same with Hugo 2. There are some DACs even renouncing an amp for the line-out stage, but Chord's Mojo, Hugo & DAVE don't belong to them.

 

[jwbrent]

   
I'm quite optimistic that it will offer exactly that. There's a reason why Rob has increased the tap count and accepted shorter battery duration by doing so, and the change at the output stage will also make for a sonic improvement, not just (slightly) higher power.

I agree.

 

[Mojo ideas]

John or Rob, can you explain if Hugo 2 has the same design as the Hugo in terms of output stage or the lack of it as in the original Hugo? But at 1025 mw at 8 ohm, I assume you will have to add a discrete output stage?

Actually Hugo 2 is more like our Dave Dac than the original Hugo Rob wanted to increase the power curve on Hugo giving more selected power throughout and decrease Hugo's already very low distortion.

 

[highfell]

Actually Hugo 2 is more like our Dave Dac than the original Hugo Rob wanted to increase the power curve on Hugo giving more selected power throughout and decrease Hugo's already very low distortion.

 

[x RELIC x]

Well it is either the same or not the same and in this case it is not the same as in the original Hugo. In the original, it really doesn't have an amp stage for the sake of not adding additional capacitors into the signal path. That is why the line out is the same as the headphone out in the Hugo 1. If they now add a discrete class A stage into the out put stage that is a big difference and departure from the original design philosophy. That is why when I listened at CES, my first impression is that there is a full amp in there as it sounds like there is a powerful force pushing from behind. My second impression is that there is a lot of power causing the sound feels warmer than Hugo 1. I am not say it is bad, just saying it is different. Even different from DAVE.

The output of all current Chord DACs is already discrete Class A including Mojo, Hugo1, HugoTT, DAVE.

 

[TG04]

I too am very familiar with this music, in fact Marianne Mellnas (the soprano voice on Cantate Domino) was my teacher in primary school and I was in love with Kabi Laretei long before Ingmar Bergman...   Anyway, make sure you check out the Proprious / Naxos 2xHD sampler available on NativeDSD - at $13 or so it is a great bargain and the sound is simply way far beyond those musty old LPs! If you are Swedish I am sure you'll enjoy "Fäbodpsalm från Älvdalen" my home town! // TG