Sometimes balanced is better, sometimes not; sometimes balanced can add brightness or glare.
It's strange and this is based on 20 years of fooling around with what feels like a ton of equipment (amps, dacs, cd players, headphones, speakers; all with digital though-- no turntables).
Just an update on my Hugo TT experience here:
FWIW, the TT after a few months is an absolute keeper. It's just pure enjoyment. I'm sure there is more resolution to be had out there, but for me, chasing a Holy Grail for my desktop system is not worth it,
especially since that extra resolution could come with greater fatigue or shrillness.
With the TT I get speed, good transparent bass, listenable vocals without glare (even on older pop/rock like the Beatles or modern sort-of hyped-up stuff like Meghan Trainor),
speed (like percussion on old CDs where I can hear each beat pretty clearly in rapid drum sequences),
and nice rounded image delineation.
It's a nice balance of precision and detail without too much sharpness. And the bass is not soft, which is often a problem when trying to avoid fatiguing sound.