[Tanalasta]

No Maserati level dacs or amps here. Just Hugo2

I pair my Hugo 2 with the oriolus trailli. And it’s magnificent. Just saying.

The hugo2 will adequately drive almost any IEM. Full sized headphones are a different matter. You may need a 4.4mm adapter as many top end IEM’s are terminated in 4.4

I’d suggest exploring the second hand market and finding an IEM that appeals to your music taste.

Hugo2 will also drive the Focal Utopia 2022 if you need a full sized suggestion.

 

[Patswalker]

Do you consider Hugo 2 a big step forward from Mojo 2, or is it just marginal?

To me, no it is not a big step forward. It is different for sure but when I hear "A big step forward" to me, what is being left is no longer needed and that is NOT the case here. Here are the differneces I have found thus far aside from the differences in headphone power and DAC curcuits between the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2. There is a full EQ option on Mojo 2, not on Hugo 2 but there are a few good sound profile options on the Hugo 2. On Hugo 2 there is a dedicated line out option, on Mojo 2 there is not. Hugo 2 has a remote and is built to have the option of being a two channel dac, Mojo 2 is not. I have used the Mojo 2 as a two channel DAC and it works but it does not have a dedicated design to do so like the Hugo 2 does. I just got the Hugo 2 about a week ago from the used market so it's still new to me, there are most likely some other differences I will find as I use it more. If that is all you needed answer wise you're good but I do feel that the differnces are more complex than just the side by side comparison. The summary is that in a lot of ways the Mojo 2 is so vastly underpriced that it is hard to compare with the Hugo 2 and really most other products in my opinion.

I teach, and I'm a student. I have a tight budget and I'm on campuses a lot so I need transportable music. That's why I originally got the Mojo 2. I could afford it. I have a few other dongle DACs like the Questyle M15 which is super good for the price and size and a few others I can't remember. The Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 are infinately better than any dongle DACs I have ever used. The great thing is that they to not totally replace the dongle dacs, they just do something different. That difference is the same difference I feel between the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2. Hugo 2 does not replace Mojo 2. They're different. Quite literally a perfect example of apples vs oranges.

I have been using the Mojo 2 with my laptop basically since it came out. It's my go to for IEMs and some headphones. It's my personal benchmark music player for IEMs. It works for a lot of headphones but after hearing the same headphones on other desktop amps and dacs I am not in love with what Mojo 2 does with them. It's good and the fact that it's so small and affordable for what it does, is incredible. And the full EQ it has that the Hugo 2 does not helps but does not totally fix the headphones I don't like on the Mojo 2.

I got the Hugo 2 used for about $1400 with shipping in hopes that it would be to me what the Mojo 2 is for IEMs but just for full size headphones. It is exactly that so I am happy for sure. It's still wildly amazing with IEMs too but to me it takes the Mojo 2 IEM magic and sprinkes it on all my headphones. I think it is a great companion to pair with the Mojo 2 and at that size with all the other options it has the Hugo 2 is probaly in its own world. Just like the Mojo 2 is.

Here's the one issue, and I preface this by saying that this is not an issue for everyone but it is for me personally with my budget it is an issue so this is a subjective issue. The Mojo 2 is $650 new and in my opinion worth every penny. I can afford that. Lots of people can afford that. It's incredible for that price. Unbeatable. Honestly worth 2x more at least considering what it does at its size. Nothing I have heard in the $650 range portable or desktop world comes even close to being able to do what the Mojo 2 does. The Hugo 2 is $2500. I cannot afford that and so far for me I do not think it is worth that price tag specifically when the Mojo 2 is SO brilliant for just under 4x less inexpensive. I do not think the Hugo 2 is anywhere close to 4x better than the Mojo 2 and Sound wise only at the $2500 price point these days in 2024 there are many products these that can match or surpass the Hugo 2. So if you're looking for a desktop only option the $2500 market is full of great competition for the Hugo 2. Again, that is sound wise only. That said, back in 2017 when the Hugo 2 came out it was totally untouchable. Nothing existed that could come close. Still in 2024 the size of the Hugo 2 is what makes it SO special, even at the $2500 price point. I cannot think of anything that does what the Hugo 2 does at its size. The Mojo 2 though, at close to 1/4 the price of the Hugo 2, is even smaller and amazing amazing so it shares the one thing that really sets the Hugo 2 apart from everything else I can think of in the market outside of DAPs which I have zero experience with so I will not talk about. The great thing though is the fact that the Hugo 2 came out in 2017 and we all know that upgradeitus is a thing within the Chord family so the used market for the Hugo 2 is ripe with options that can, in my opinion, bring the price difference between the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2 to a more rational difference, even if the Mojo 2 is used. Even though on a teacher/student sallary I cannot afford it, do think the Hugo 2 is worth $2500 new but the Mojo 2 is worh WAY MORE than $650 for what it does. So no I do not think the Hugo 2 is a big step forward in that respect.

Going back to the entirety of the current $2500 market, the combination of the Hugo 2's size, wildly incredible sound, and ability to drive full sized headphones + IEMs with the same untouchable brilliance I have heard with the Mojo 2 driving IEMs is totally insane to me. Nothing at any price point I can think of has the size + sound that the Hugo 2 has. I felt the same when I first got Mojo 2. Not to get too repetitive but I do not have any DAPs. I want to say that because I have zero experince in the DAP world so there could be some DAPs at that price point that do match the Hugo 2 and are smaller, I just have no idea so I am not going to talk about that. The other brilliant thing the Hugo 2 has that the Mojo 2 does not have is the remote and the dedicated option to be a DAC in a 2 channel setup. I have done two channel listening with the Mojo 2 and it works but the Hugo 2 is actually set up to do that. It has a dedicated line out option for that which the Mojo 2 does not. And in many many many ways the Hugo 2 and Qutest are the same DAC output wise. There are tons of threads confirming this and I inhereted a used Qutest which I did not keep but when I emailed Chord and asked they did confirm that. They are not the exact same of course and assumiing the rest of the two channel set up is gord enough to hear this, there have been reports that there is a bit of a sonic difference between the Hugo 2 and Qutest as a dedicted DAC only which should be obvious as they are different machines, but in a lot of ways the Hugo 2 could and I think should be looked at as being a close to a transportable Qutest with an amazing headphone amp that also runs off battery power than being in competition with the Mojo 2. So that in inself in a lot of ways throws a wrench into the claims I am making about the $2500 price point being too steep.

The Mojo 2 is about $650 new, the Qutest is about $1600 new and the Mojo 2 is about $2500 new. The Qutest is AMAZING and in my opinion, taking into comarison other DACs in the under $2000 market, well worth the $1600 assuming you have other equipment that lets it shine. The Hugo 2, in a lot of ways seeing that it shares so much about it's DAC output with the Qutest is insane and could be worth the +$1000 jump from the Qutest seeing as how it also has an incredible headphone amplifier. I have yet to connect it line out to my two channel set up and I do not have the Qutest here to compare, but that to me if that's what in fact is happening, is bananas crazy. I think the issue is that the Mojo so is just SO good and underpriced at $650 it's throwing my pricing comparison off. That's the outlier. Being in hifi as long as I have been and knowing the garbage that is out there in these price catagories, and also finding the diamonds in these proce catagories makese me feel that I would say that the Mojo 2 is about 2x underpriced when I compare it to other priducts. The Mojo 2 is totally untouchable in its own universe at $650, the Qutest has some good competition in the dac only market but is still totally amazing and top tier in $1600ish world, and the Hugo 2 these days has some good competiton in the DAC+amp market in the $2500 world but to me totally dominates that price point because it is just so mobile. The issue is that the gap between the quality of the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 is so close that the close that the 4x price difference seems off. They are not in totally different worlds. If anything, assuming the reason you are picking the Hugo 2 over other $2500ish DAC+amp combos is because of the transportablity factor, the Mojo 2 is a far better value proposition because it is so much smaller and does a LOT of what the Hugo 2 does and is a fraction of the price new. To me sound wise the Hugo 2 to me is a better machine for sure, there is no doubt about that. Is it close to 4x better? Not for me.

Two other factors to consider when thinking about the price points of the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2. The Poly and 2go. These turn the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2 into streamers and music servers with SD cards. That market is ON FIRE right now. Taking that into comparison and seeing the over blown prices of streamers that have garbace DACs in them, and the fact that both the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2 with the Poly and 2go can do this as well is incredible.

Mojo 2 - New $650 + Poly $650 = $1300 making it a streaming server Mojo2. Worth it? Abolutely 100%. There's nothing in the transportable streaming world I can think of that is even in the same univers2 at that point.
Hugo 2 - New $2500 - 2go $1500 = $4000. Now taking into consideration that the Hugo 2 could in a lot of ways be looked at as a transportalbe Qutest with all the wild streaming music server capabilites that the 2go has and comparing that to what else is in the $4000ish price point in the streaming server world right now, that absolutely makes sense and is problay untouchable.

To close out my overcaffinated rant, I do think the Hugo 2 is better than the Mojo 2 in almost all aspects but not in the ways that reflect the close to 4x price difference. I got my Hugo 2 off the used market for about $1400 and I do think it is worth that price difference from the Mojo 2. I just think the Mojo 2 is vastly underpriced. Persoanlly I still am not sure that I persoanlly would even save up to pay the $2500 price point for the Hugo 2 new but that's just because as a teacher and student $2500 is much harder to get than $1400 is and I know that there are many used Hugo 2s avaliable around the price I paid. If I had a much higher paying job though and $2500 was easier to get than I would for sure pay for a new Hugo 2, it is worth it. I don't feel like that's a factor people pull into price comparisons, personal price points. A $1000 price difference between the same amazing product new and used means a lot to me persoanlly and to other it does't. My sister, for example, is a realitor here in LA. Super good at her job, makes lots of money. She's actually the reason I got into Chord. She takes the Mojo 2 with her and keeps it in her pocket while she cleans houses for the showings. In her office her one computer desktop product is the Hugo 2 and she takes it traveling. She got it new, no problem. $$$ for a great realitor here in LA is no problem.

All that said, to me Hugo 2 is not a big step forward from the Mojo 2 because it does not replace the Mojo 2, it does not leave the Mojo 2 in the dust. It is for sure is better in a lot of ways but it is more of a great partner to pair with the Mojo 2. I absolutely love love love the Hugo 2 but the issue with comparing the two and calling it a big step forward is that the Mojo 2 is just SO incredibly good at such a tiny size and such an affordable price point it is just impossible to best that.

 

[Mr X]

The Sennheiser IE 900 is fantastic with the H2, and a sizeable step up from the SE846 (I have both IEMs). Also have the KSE1200, which is even another step up but in detail, it can come off as a bit sterile with the H2 (I prefer the Mojo 2 with it). Ultimately recommend the IE 900, it pairs superbly with the H2.

That's good to know. I have theSE 846 and have always been happy with them but had considered trying the IE900 with my Mojo2 and Hugo 2, so thanks for your thoughts.

 

[111MilesToGo]

It seems I have forgotten a bit about how to operate the H2 … … or - hope not - it doesn‘t work no longer as before.

Three operational aspects:

1. Long-pressing the ON and X-PHD balls for power-up puts the H2 into the "fixed (read as a certain) output voltage mode" at 3 Vrms. Chord calls it Line-Level Mode. (Remark: A bit high IMHO, 2 Vrms would be more common.)
2. Usually, the H2 shuts down automatically after 15 minutes of inactivity.
3. From the manual: After 24 hours on constant charge Hugo 2 will enter into Intelligent Desktop Mode where the battery is neither charged nor discharged. Hugo’s auto-shutdown feature is now disabled. I read elsewhere that this is a "trickle-charge mode" with the battery remaining at 80%.

My questions are:

• Feature no. 1 is unrelated to the others. Correct? In particular, it is not required to activate no. 1 in order to get into no. 3. Correct?
• I spent a day without getting into Intelligent Desktop Mode, i.e. having the stock charger connected all the time but seeing it automatically shut down 15 minutes after stopping the music. (My digital input device feeding the H2 goes into a stand-by of its own.)

I am asking myself and you: Is it required to be on constant charge AND have a digital input signal coming in for 24 hours in order to keep the H2 awake and finally let it enter Desktop Mode after 24 hours?​

Thanks in advance for clarifications and helping me out.

 

[technobear]

It seems I have forgotten a bit about how to operate the H2 … … or - hope not - it doesn‘t work no longer as before.

Three operational aspects:

1. Long-pressing the ON and X-PHD balls for power-up puts the H2 into the "fixed (read as a certain) output voltage mode" at 3 Vrms. Chord calls it Line-Level Mode. (Remark: A bit high IMHO, 2 Vrms would be more common.)
2. Usually, the H2 shuts down automatically after 15 minutes of inactivity.
3. From the manual: After 24 hours on constant charge Hugo 2 will enter into Intelligent Desktop Mode where the battery is neither charged nor discharged. Hugo’s auto-shutdown feature is now disabled. I read elsewhere that this is a "trickle-charge mode" with the battery remaining at 80%.

My questions are:

• Feature no. 1 is unrelated to the others. Correct? In particular, it is not required to activate no. 1 in order to get into no. 3. Correct?
• I spent a day without getting into Intelligent Desktop Mode, i.e. having the stock charger connected all the time but seeing it automatically shut down 15 minutes after stopping the music. (My digital input device feeding the H2 goes into a stand-by of its own.)

I am asking myself and you: Is it required to be on constant charge AND have a digital input signal coming in for 24 hours in order to keep the H2 awake and finally let it enter Desktop Mode after 24 hours?​

Thanks in advance for clarifications and helping me out.

1. A long press of the said buttons sets the output level to 3V. It is not in any sense 'fixed'. If you require 2V, simply back off by I think 5 clicks (or it might be 3) using the remote control. Note the colour of the orb for future reference.

2. Yes, if there is genuinely no signal and not in desktop mode.

3. Yes. It will remain in desktop mode so long as you leave it ON. If you turn it OFF, it will still remember desktop mode (so long as power is applied) but will charge the battery to 100% (hence why the white light shows for a time after you turn it OFF).


Feature 1 is unrelated to the others and as noted, doesn't do much. It's not a 'mode' and it's not 'fixed'.

A day means at least 24 hours.

No, you don't need to play music for 24 hours to achieve desktop mode.

Desktop mode can be achieved with Hugo2 turned OFF so long as power is continuously applied.

I have done all this many times.

 

[111MilesToGo]

…

No, you don't need to play music for 24 hours to achieve desktop mode.

Desktop mode can be achieved with Hugo2 turned OFF so long as power is continuously applied.

I have done all this many times.

Thanks, that helps a lot. Just to get the last sentence on Desktop Mode as clearly as possible: When switched OFF but with power applied continuously, the white battery/charging light will eventually go off, at least after a few hours depending on the initial battery status. But then, 24 hours later, H2 will turn itself ON and be in Desktop Mode. Am I getting this correctly?

Sorry for bothering, but an answer of yours is much faster than another 24hrs "experiment" of mine.

Thanks again in advance.

 

[technobear]

Thanks, that helps a lot. Just to get the last sentence on Desktop Mode as clearly as possible: When switched OFF but with power applied continuously, the white battery/charging light will eventually go off, at least after a few hours depending on the initial battery status. But then, 24 hours later, H2 will turn itself ON and be in Desktop Mode. Am I getting this correctly?

If the power supply was continuously on, then Hugo2 will remember it is in desktop mode no matter how short or long a time before you turn it back on.

However, to get the 80% battery level with no charging or discharging, you need to leave Hugo2 on all the time.

As best I can recall, Qutest uses 5V and 0.6A giving 3 Watts consumption. I would expect Hugo2 to be similar when not actually playing through headphones.

 

[111MilesToGo]

If the power supply was continuously on, then Hugo2 will remember it is in desktop mode no matter how short or long a time before you turn it back on.

However, to get the 80% battery level with no charging or discharging, you need to leave Hugo2 on all the time.

As best I can recall, Qutest uses 5V and 0.6A giving 3 Watts consumption. I would expect Hugo2 to be similar when not actually playing through headphones.

Thanks for clarifying this, fast and precisely.

 

[marcus2704]

How am I best going about using IEMs such as the Annihilator 2023 and RN6 with 4.4mm terminations with the Hugo 2? Is there a preferred adaptor? I am in the UK, which probably isn't ideal.

I did find this, a 4.4MM TRRRS FEMALE TO 6.35MM TRS MALE adaptor:
https://oidiosound.co.uk/dj65b-al

 

[Tanalasta]

I use the RCA to 4.4 adapter by PW audio.

 

[111MilesToGo]

How am I best going about using IEMs such as the Annihilator 2023 and RN6 with 4.4mm terminations with the Hugo 2? Is there a preferred adaptor? I am in the UK, which probably isn't ideal.

I did find this, a 4.4MM TRRRS FEMALE TO 6.35MM TRS MALE adaptor:
https://oidiosound.co.uk/dj65b-al

ddHifi adaptors come to mind; I have some. Not sure about 4.4 to 6.35 mm, but sure about 4.4 to 3.5 mm. But I know only about the German importer (NT Global Distribution, their HiFi Passion online shop).

 

[FunkyBassMan]

To me, no it is not a big step forward. It is different for sure but when I hear "A big step forward" to me, what is being left is no longer needed and that is NOT the case here. Here are the differneces I have found thus far aside from the differences in headphone power and DAC curcuits between the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2. There is a full EQ option on Mojo 2, not on Hugo 2 but there are a few good sound profile options on the Hugo 2. On Hugo 2 there is a dedicated line out option, on Mojo 2 there is not. Hugo 2 has a remote and is built to have the option of being a two channel dac, Mojo 2 is not. I have used the Mojo 2 as a two channel DAC and it works but it does not have a dedicated design to do so like the Hugo 2 does. I just got the Hugo 2 about a week ago from the used market so it's still new to me, there are most likely some other differences I will find as I use it more. If that is all you needed answer wise you're good but I do feel that the differnces are more complex than just the side by side comparison. The summary is that in a lot of ways the Mojo 2 is so vastly underpriced that it is hard to compare with the Hugo 2 and really most other products in my opinion.

I teach, and I'm a student. I have a tight budget and I'm on campuses a lot so I need transportable music. That's why I originally got the Mojo 2. I could afford it. I have a few other dongle DACs like the Questyle M15 which is super good for the price and size and a few others I can't remember. The Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 are infinately better than any dongle DACs I have ever used. The great thing is that they to not totally replace the dongle dacs, they just do something different. That difference is the same difference I feel between the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2. Hugo 2 does not replace Mojo 2. They're different. Quite literally a perfect example of apples vs oranges.

I have been using the Mojo 2 with my laptop basically since it came out. It's my go to for IEMs and some headphones. It's my personal benchmark music player for IEMs. It works for a lot of headphones but after hearing the same headphones on other desktop amps and dacs I am not in love with what Mojo 2 does with them. It's good and the fact that it's so small and affordable for what it does, is incredible. And the full EQ it has that the Hugo 2 does not helps but does not totally fix the headphones I don't like on the Mojo 2.

I got the Hugo 2 used for about $1400 with shipping in hopes that it would be to me what the Mojo 2 is for IEMs but just for full size headphones. It is exactly that so I am happy for sure. It's still wildly amazing with IEMs too but to me it takes the Mojo 2 IEM magic and sprinkes it on all my headphones. I think it is a great companion to pair with the Mojo 2 and at that size with all the other options it has the Hugo 2 is probaly in its own world. Just like the Mojo 2 is.

Here's the one issue, and I preface this by saying that this is not an issue for everyone but it is for me personally with my budget it is an issue so this is a subjective issue. The Mojo 2 is $650 new and in my opinion worth every penny. I can afford that. Lots of people can afford that. It's incredible for that price. Unbeatable. Honestly worth 2x more at least considering what it does at its size. Nothing I have heard in the $650 range portable or desktop world comes even close to being able to do what the Mojo 2 does. The Hugo 2 is $2500. I cannot afford that and so far for me I do not think it is worth that price tag specifically when the Mojo 2 is SO brilliant for just under 4x less inexpensive. I do not think the Hugo 2 is anywhere close to 4x better than the Mojo 2 and Sound wise only at the $2500 price point these days in 2024 there are many products these that can match or surpass the Hugo 2. So if you're looking for a desktop only option the $2500 market is full of great competition for the Hugo 2. Again, that is sound wise only. That said, back in 2017 when the Hugo 2 came out it was totally untouchable. Nothing existed that could come close. Still in 2024 the size of the Hugo 2 is what makes it SO special, even at the $2500 price point. I cannot think of anything that does what the Hugo 2 does at its size. The Mojo 2 though, at close to 1/4 the price of the Hugo 2, is even smaller and amazing amazing so it shares the one thing that really sets the Hugo 2 apart from everything else I can think of in the market outside of DAPs which I have zero experience with so I will not talk about. The great thing though is the fact that the Hugo 2 came out in 2017 and we all know that upgradeitus is a thing within the Chord family so the used market for the Hugo 2 is ripe with options that can, in my opinion, bring the price difference between the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2 to a more rational difference, even if the Mojo 2 is used. Even though on a teacher/student sallary I cannot afford it, do think the Hugo 2 is worth $2500 new but the Mojo 2 is worh WAY MORE than $650 for what it does. So no I do not think the Hugo 2 is a big step forward in that respect.

Going back to the entirety of the current $2500 market, the combination of the Hugo 2's size, wildly incredible sound, and ability to drive full sized headphones + IEMs with the same untouchable brilliance I have heard with the Mojo 2 driving IEMs is totally insane to me. Nothing at any price point I can think of has the size + sound that the Hugo 2 has. I felt the same when I first got Mojo 2. Not to get too repetitive but I do not have any DAPs. I want to say that because I have zero experince in the DAP world so there could be some DAPs at that price point that do match the Hugo 2 and are smaller, I just have no idea so I am not going to talk about that. The other brilliant thing the Hugo 2 has that the Mojo 2 does not have is the remote and the dedicated option to be a DAC in a 2 channel setup. I have done two channel listening with the Mojo 2 and it works but the Hugo 2 is actually set up to do that. It has a dedicated line out option for that which the Mojo 2 does not. And in many many many ways the Hugo 2 and Qutest are the same DAC output wise. There are tons of threads confirming this and I inhereted a used Qutest which I did not keep but when I emailed Chord and asked they did confirm that. They are not the exact same of course and assumiing the rest of the two channel set up is gord enough to hear this, there have been reports that there is a bit of a sonic difference between the Hugo 2 and Qutest as a dedicted DAC only which should be obvious as they are different machines, but in a lot of ways the Hugo 2 could and I think should be looked at as being a close to a transportable Qutest with an amazing headphone amp that also runs off battery power than being in competition with the Mojo 2. So that in inself in a lot of ways throws a wrench into the claims I am making about the $2500 price point being too steep.

The Mojo 2 is about $650 new, the Qutest is about $1600 new and the Mojo 2 is about $2500 new. The Qutest is AMAZING and in my opinion, taking into comarison other DACs in the under $2000 market, well worth the $1600 assuming you have other equipment that lets it shine. The Hugo 2, in a lot of ways seeing that it shares so much about it's DAC output with the Qutest is insane and could be worth the +$1000 jump from the Qutest seeing as how it also has an incredible headphone amplifier. I have yet to connect it line out to my two channel set up and I do not have the Qutest here to compare, but that to me if that's what in fact is happening, is bananas crazy. I think the issue is that the Mojo so is just SO good and underpriced at $650 it's throwing my pricing comparison off. That's the outlier. Being in hifi as long as I have been and knowing the garbage that is out there in these price catagories, and also finding the diamonds in these proce catagories makese me feel that I would say that the Mojo 2 is about 2x underpriced when I compare it to other priducts. The Mojo 2 is totally untouchable in its own universe at $650, the Qutest has some good competition in the dac only market but is still totally amazing and top tier in $1600ish world, and the Hugo 2 these days has some good competiton in the DAC+amp market in the $2500 world but to me totally dominates that price point because it is just so mobile. The issue is that the gap between the quality of the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 is so close that the close that the 4x price difference seems off. They are not in totally different worlds. If anything, assuming the reason you are picking the Hugo 2 over other $2500ish DAC+amp combos is because of the transportablity factor, the Mojo 2 is a far better value proposition because it is so much smaller and does a LOT of what the Hugo 2 does and is a fraction of the price new. To me sound wise the Hugo 2 to me is a better machine for sure, there is no doubt about that. Is it close to 4x better? Not for me.

Two other factors to consider when thinking about the price points of the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2. The Poly and 2go. These turn the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2 into streamers and music servers with SD cards. That market is ON FIRE right now. Taking that into comparison and seeing the over blown prices of streamers that have garbace DACs in them, and the fact that both the Hugo 2 and Mojo 2 with the Poly and 2go can do this as well is incredible.

Mojo 2 - New $650 + Poly $650 = $1300 making it a streaming server Mojo2. Worth it? Abolutely 100%. There's nothing in the transportable streaming world I can think of that is even in the same univers2 at that point.
Hugo 2 - New $2500 - 2go $1500 = $4000. Now taking into consideration that the Hugo 2 could in a lot of ways be looked at as a transportalbe Qutest with all the wild streaming music server capabilites that the 2go has and comparing that to what else is in the $4000ish price point in the streaming server world right now, that absolutely makes sense and is problay untouchable.

To close out my overcaffinated rant, I do think the Hugo 2 is better than the Mojo 2 in almost all aspects but not in the ways that reflect the close to 4x price difference. I got my Hugo 2 off the used market for about $1400 and I do think it is worth that price difference from the Mojo 2. I just think the Mojo 2 is vastly underpriced. Persoanlly I still am not sure that I persoanlly would even save up to pay the $2500 price point for the Hugo 2 new but that's just because as a teacher and student $2500 is much harder to get than $1400 is and I know that there are many used Hugo 2s avaliable around the price I paid. If I had a much higher paying job though and $2500 was easier to get than I would for sure pay for a new Hugo 2, it is worth it. I don't feel like that's a factor people pull into price comparisons, personal price points. A $1000 price difference between the same amazing product new and used means a lot to me persoanlly and to other it does't. My sister, for example, is a realitor here in LA. Super good at her job, makes lots of money. She's actually the reason I got into Chord. She takes the Mojo 2 with her and keeps it in her pocket while she cleans houses for the showings. In her office her one computer desktop product is the Hugo 2 and she takes it traveling. She got it new, no problem. $$$ for a great realitor here in LA is no problem.

All that said, to me Hugo 2 is not a big step forward from the Mojo 2 because it does not replace the Mojo 2, it does not leave the Mojo 2 in the dust. It is for sure is better in a lot of ways but it is more of a great partner to pair with the Mojo 2. I absolutely love love love the Hugo 2 but the issue with comparing the two and calling it a big step forward is that the Mojo 2 is just SO incredibly good at such a tiny size and such an affordable price point it is just impossible to best that.

Fantastic post.

But in audio (as in so many things we buy), it's a fallacy to think 4x the price should bring 4x the quality. It doesn't work that way hardly anywhere. Returns diminish quickly, as economists would say: each new marginal dollar spent brings less and less added return in quality. It's cheap to make it sound good. It's expensive to make it sound great. It's very, very expensive to make it sound incredible.

That said, I agree: the Hugo2 sounds nowhere near 4x as good as the Mojo2.

But that's the wrong way to look at it. Because all Chord products already sound fantastic (except the Anni headphone amp, imho). So you don't really need to go up the price ladder to have a great experience as everyone who has the Mojo2 knows.

But what you do get when you go up that price ladder is a different sound: smoother, more accurate, more convincing transients, better sense of physical space, instruments are individually more coherent and less smeared. Technically this is a "better" sound because the higher tap levels increase the accuracy of the reconstructed waveform.

But so what? If you just want to hear slamming music that really punches hard, the Mojo2 is fantastic for that. In fact, I sometimes like it better for certain kinds of music (like groove-based stuff: early Herbie Hancock, say) than even M-Dave. And don't even get me started about how great that EQ is.

Indeed, one thing I've found to be true is that certain musical experiences are even better on audio gear with less fidelity. Bass-heavy stuff on turntables, for example. 80s early digital tracks on tubes is another example.

So, imo, don't worry about the crazy high end, unless you're into that particular flavor of audiophilia which is looking for the best reproduced sonic approximations to real-world spaces and sounds. Which, I must admit, can be super cool and mesmerizing. Those of us fortunate enough to be well-placed financially can play in that particular space.

So plug in your cheap and amazing Mojo2 and live your life!

But for people who live in the real world, 5 figures can be FAR more productively spent than chasing the diminishing returns of the highest fidelity.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Fantastic post.

But in audio (as in so many things we buy), it's a fallacy to think 4x the price should bring 4x the quality. It doesn't work that way hardly anywhere. Returns diminish quickly, as economists would say: each new marginal dollar spent brings less and less added return in quality. It's cheap to make it sound good. It's expensive to make it sound great. It's very, very expensive to make it sound incredible.

That said, I agree: the Hugo2 sounds nowhere near 4x as good as the Mojo2.

But that's the wrong way to look at it. Because all Chord products already sound fantastic (except the Anni headphone amp, imho). So you don't really need to go up the price ladder to have a great experience as everyone who has the Mojo2 knows.

But what you do get when you go up that price ladder is a different sound: smoother, more accurate, more convincing transients, better sense of physical space, instruments are individually more coherent and less smeared. Technically this is a "better" sound because the higher tap levels increase the accuracy of the reconstructed waveform.

But so what? If you just want to hear slamming music that really punches hard, the Mojo2 is fantastic for that. In fact, I sometimes like it better for certain kinds of music (like groove-based stuff: early Herbie Hancock, say) than even M-Dave. And don't even get me started about how great that EQ is.

Indeed, one thing I've found to be true is that certain musical experiences are even better on audio gear with less fidelity. Bass-heavy stuff on turntables, for example. 80s early digital tracks on tubes is another example.

So, imo, don't worry about the crazy high end, unless you're into that particular flavor of audiophilia which is looking for the best reproduced sonic approximations to real-world spaces and sounds. Which, I must admit, can be super cool and mesmerizing. Those of us fortunate enough to be well-placed financially can play in that particular space.

So plug in your cheap and amazing Mojo2 and live your life!

But for people who live in the real world, 5 figures can be FAR more productively spent than chasing the diminishing returns of the highest fidelity.

The fact is that I love my Mojo 2 Poly with my IEMs but it doesn't fully satisfy me with my LCD-X, actually the sound is fantastic, the imaging is great and the depth too, but I feel like something is missing in the low mids, I mostly listen to EDM.

Maybe I should have been more specific with my question asking if with full size headphones the Hugo 2 was definitely better and more suitable than the Mojo 2

 

[marcus2704]

Hugo 2 was a great pairing with my D8000 Pros. Now they are gone, I am hoping it will do a good job with ZMF Calderas, or Atrium Closed which are next on my list.

 

[Patswalker]

The fact is that I love my Mojo 2 Poly with my IEMs but it doesn't fully satisfy me with my LCD-X, actually the sound is fantastic, the imaging is great and the depth too, but I feel like something is missing in the low mids, I mostly listen to EDM.

Maybe I should have been more specific with my question asking if with full size headphones the Hugo 2 was definitely better and more suitable than the Mojo 2

Good question. This in my opinion is a yes. Even better, the Hugo 2 is great for IEMs as well but great in a way than the Mojo 2 so for IEMs they’re not really in competition with each other. Even with full size. I hope that makes sense. The Hugo 2 does not replace the Mojo 2 for me. If I were constantly mobile and did not have a big living space or office and only had room for the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 I could see myself being totally happy for years and years and years.

I got the Mojo 2 when it came out and very quickly started using it as my go to for IEMs. I would pop around to other devices from time to time just to hear a different IEM presentation but the Mojo 2 was almost always what I went to for IEMs. It impressed me so much that I got the Hugo 2 in hopes that it would be the same experience just for headphones. I got the Hugo 2 used so I could just sell it back into the used market for close to the same price if it did not give me what I wanted. Was the Hugo 2 the same experience just for headphones? In a lot of ways yes it was. So if that’s what you’re looking for I found exactly that and I highly recommend the Hugo 2 to pair with the Mojo 2. The Hugo 2 also gives a different presentation for IEMs than the mojo 2 does and that makes me super happy. They do different things so I see no reason one would replace the other. This is a very very good thing.

I have never been blown away by the Mojo 2 with full sized headphones after experiencing what it can do with IEMs. It’s great with headphones, don’t misunderstand me, but I am almost constantly blown away with what it does IEMs.

I also do not think either the Mojo 2 or Hugo 2 are perfect do all make everything sound amazing devices. There are some IEMs that totally shine on the Mojo 2 better than I’ve heard on any other devices and there are some that do not. It does not make any IEMs lose anything. Some headphones on it though do fall short from what they are on other devices. Also, there are some headphones that sound better on the Hugo 2 than I’ve heard on any other set ups and there are headphones that don’t.

The field of dacs and amps and set ups designed for full sized headphones is just so so so much more vast and expensive that even as amazing as the Hugo 2 is its just not going to be able to get close to some of the things I’ve experienced with full sized headphones on some of my friends wild set ups. Tube amps are a great example. Headphones like the Sennheisers and ZMFs are very good on Hugo 2 but out them on tube amps and other higher current amps and they just do things sound wise that the Hugo 2 isn’t designed to do.

The field of devices build specifically for IEMs though is so much smaller and to me in my experience the Mojo 2 is very much the best I have ever experienced in that field. For the price of the Mojo 2 I seriously doubt anything can come anywhere close.

What I love about the Mojo 2 is that to me it has come to be in my collection a device specifically for IEMs that can be very good fir headphones when needed. I don’t have a lot of devices that are that. I have a few dongles, very well reviewed ones, that are amazing tor IEMs but in comparison nir nearly as good for full sized headphones.

I do have a wildly great but giant headphone amplifier and wildly great but giant dac that constantly blows my mind for all headphones. That set up is huge though. It needs 2 shelves.

The Hugo 2 is like the bridge between the Mojo 2 and that set up. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I got the Hugo 2. The Mojo 2, Hugo 2, and my big set up all sound different and do different things and this is exactly what I want. The Hugo 2 is as close to a sonic Swiss Army knife as anything I’ve come across thus far. It’s not perfect but it parties super hard in both the IEM world and full sized headphone world.

I hope that helps! End of the day if I had had had to get rid if all my audio gear except for two pieces I would probably chose the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 because the two of them together can bring so much awesomeness to so many headphones and two channed set ups as stand alone DACs at such wildly small sized. That’s what in my eyes makes them in my eyes a totally unbeatable pair.

I would like to one day hear a Hugo TT2 or Dave but those are most likely never going to be in my price bracket.

Lastly I’ll say this. The Mojo 2 does SO much so well at its price that in my eyes it makes the full price MSRP Hugo 2 over priced but about $1000. To me the awesomeness of the Mojo 2 makes the Hugo 2 only worth it in the used market around $1500ish. Yes the Mojo 2 is that good. It’s no insult to Chord. The Hugo 2 has been around much longer than the Mojo 2 and at the time the full MSRP of the Hugo 2 was probably great for what it did at its size. But the problem is that they made the Mojo 2 SO DAMN GOOD at such a low price that the full price difference between the two is not not worth it in my eyes.