Nice to see the Hugoโ still going strong. It is a timeless device. Maybe premature at this time, but it should be another Chord Legend over time when all is said and done.
It's great to see also so many Mastering Professionals use the Hugoโ and DAVE as their workhorses. No HugoTTโ as that is more consumer-oriented. It seems the Hugoโ is still the closest thing to a DAVE in 2024.
https://chordelectronics.co.uk/professional
My Summer Project goal this year is to finally attempt my hand at a HugoโTT. The HugoTT and Hugoโ was before my time but I started researching those threads and didn't realise their was another life before the Hugoโ. It seems worthwhile as even the official Chord stance was a 10% improvement in the HugoTT by adding Supercapacitors to the Hugoโ. I don't expect anything major because of PSU improvements learned from the HugoTT was likely applied to the Hugoโ. I use Supercapacitors out of convenience as I can leave them on 24/7 without worries and have about a million cycles. So it's a durable, dependable, of great value and offers super super low impedance for dynamic currents. It's like having a Nuclear Power Plant (Super Clean) 24/7 at your disposal so why go back to a Coal Plant (Semi Clean) where you have to manually manage Coal?
So I'm going to take the Battery replacement route to the extreme. I want nothing to do with 5V and desktop mode anymore so I'm forever bypassing the 5V charging circuit default route. I happened to unintentionally unlocked a higher level Galvanic Isolation for my Hugoโ which gave me inspiration to scale the Power Supply. Regular Galvanic Isolation has leaks in their game, my Galvanic Isolation is 100% isolated. I didn't know the impact Galvanic Isolation made in my chain until it unlocked Soundstage Depth. It has that 10th row effect versus 1st row Rob Watts mentions every now and then, but these impressions are based solely on the Chord Summit-Fi products. But by applying Galvanic Isolation to the Hugoโ, you can get close the Soundstage Depth offered in those other Chord Summit-Fi products. Because their were compromises to be made for portability, Hugoโ was excluded from Galvanic Isolation because it draws power and of course Supercacitors on the go doesn't make sense. There are some Supercapcitor hacks out there, but they are not clean implementations. For example, supercaps need balancing otherwise the voltage will fluctuate all over the place. I don't use any one-off hack solutions, only battle-tested solutions. Now that I'm exclusively Table Top and it's time to fulfill my Battery Replacement Arc, I'm pursuing a Table Top Hugoโ. Pure Galvanic Isolation has got to be top 2 in pure enjoyment since procuring the Hugoโ at launch. It allows me to be one of the few in the world to Game with Soundstage Depth.
Basically, HugoTT used the same Hugoโ PCB but with Supercacitor power, a better reference PSU chain, double the battery power and had Galvanic isolation. For these extra features, HugoTT was priced at about 4800 bucks while Hugoโ was around 2500 bucks. The range of impressions differ, but most consider the HugoTT a big improvement over the Hugoโ. I can see that now after experiencing Galvanic Isolation. Price-wise, I value Galvanic Isolation at about +1500 bucks for my Hugoโ. It's that much of a improvement and I highly value. So much that I will never go to a Mojoโ after experiencing this level of stage. Like Rob Watts mentions, you get use to a certain performance level it's difficult to downgrade. Supercaps remains to be seen, but I don't expect dramatic improvements in SQ especially since I only run highly-efficient Professional Reference CIEMs. It may make a bigger difference in headphones and speakers since dynamic current draws will now draw directly from Supercaps super super low impedance. But it's nice to know the dynamic power is there if things work out.
As for Hugoโ, I'll pass. By that time I can pick up a used Hugoโ for less than a 1000 bucks instead for 4-5 dimes for a Hugoโ. I can mod the Hugoโ to my heart's content and allocate separate Hugoโ for Gaming tasks, next to bed tasks, office tasks and outdoor smoke break tasks. The Hugoโ is already a dream with Galvanic Isolation. As the rational ones say, diminishing returns. But I have seen many that don't know how to optimise their Hugoโ chain end up going to the Mojoโ or upgrade to Summit-Fi or wish for a Hugoโ or even leave Chord. Their sources are super weak so the grass it not going to be greener with other brands if you can't even source or chain properly. It makes sense for those that don't know to optimise to keep chasing or to downgrade to Mojoโ which is more align to their weak sources or chains. But Hugoโ is Goldilocks of price performance where I respect chain choices and their is an open-mindness here not found in the other Chord threads where you are bombarded by shills. I don't respect any Summit-Fi chains as they are full of RFI and 75% of Mojoโ don't even seem to be running bit-perfect. They don't apply much logic in those other threads. I'm heavily disappointed in Chord Summit-Fi as they are suppose to lead the way, but they configure their chains like a Mojo user. I expect Summit-Fi chains to be fundamentally sound, but their chains are all hype. Their chains are configured for $4 Off-the-shelf OEM DAC chips. They don't adjust to the modern subtlety that is needed. I'm happy to be in the Goldilocks middle ground where I can experiment and don't have to get in a spending contest in order to gain clout. For many, getting in a spending contest with themselves or others is their only way of fulfillment.
Right now, I'm using quadruple the battery power of the Hugoโ so I get about 30 hours of play between charges. I'm hoping the Hugoโ inherited the reference PSU chain of the HugoTT. I crossed off Galvanic isolation already so this Summer I just have to add Supercapacitors to make this a reality. I'm 3/4 of the way there, just need to plan for the Summer Project.
I'm hoping to phase out the Hugoโ (R.I.P. 2017-2024) and unlock HugoโTT. That is the plan, but not guaranteed it will happen or even work. I unlocked quadruple the Battery Power so that is a decent step thus far. Unlocking Galvanic Isolation was core, supercaps icing.
Crossing fingers it will become a 10-element, 49K Taps HugoโTT this Summer without the Mojo warmness of the HugoTT. Super Transparent with the ability to handle super dynamic swings.