[Somphon]

   
Doing the crossfeed button only set the RCA output level to 3v which is higher than the usual cd player output level which is around 2v. If the input sensitivity of the integrated amplifier is not great, it would result in clipping.
 
I find there are 2 methods two connect hugo to integrated amplifier: 
 
1. connecting hugo to line level input of the int. amplifier but reduce the volume of hugo so it will output at a level which more less match the line level input sensitivity of your int. amp. In this case, you are not using hugo preamp, and you can use the volume control of your int. amplifier. This is similar to connecting a CD player to Int. Amp. But reduce the volume of Hugo to avoid clipping.
 
2. connecting hugo to line level input of the int. amp., but set that input as home theather bypass (if your int. amp has this function). this will result in bypassing the preamp function of the int. amp. and using the hugo as dac and preamp. volume control of the int. amp. will be disabled hence you need to adjust volume on the hugo for listening.
 
My int. amp has the home theatre bypass function and i can compare the sound quality using each of the above method. In my case and IMO, sound quality is better using Hugo as preamp.

Hi Alubis,
 
My Hugo's manual say RCA output is at 2V by holding Crossfeed button while turning the unit on, not 3V.

 

[Rob Watts]

   
Strange I don't listen loud, at most moderate level only, but I am almost always at red volume with my SE846. I wonder if our Shure's have different sensitivity. I hear hiss with the Hugo, but very slight and not an issue. When I was using iqube as amp the hiss was stronger and noticeable. I recall post of Rob regards the SE846 he confirmed that based on specs there will be hiss.

The Shure SE846 is very sensitive, the most sensitive I have seen, and Hugo's residual noise at 5uV A wt. would be just audible. You could use the SE846 attenuator, but that may upset SQ. Hugo has a very big dynamic range of 120dB, but it can also supply a lot of voltage - 5v RMS and a lot of current - 0.5A RMS, so it will drive difficult headphones too. Having a lot of voltage gain has the downside of bigger residual voltage unfortunately! Having said that, the best I have seen on residual voltage is 3.5uV, and I have seen a lot of headphone amps or DAC's with a lot more than 5uV!
 
Rob 

 

[Currawong]

It is probably going to be mostly of interest to people in Europe, but I found that the sockets on the Hugo will take the plugs that fit up to a 9mm Van Den Hul cable. That is, any VDH cable with an outer dimension up to 9mm will fit the Hugo. That means it wont fit the 3T The Mountain or The Cliff (which are 11mm) but will fit any that are smaller. 

 

[kkcc]

Hi Alubis,

My Hugo's manual say RCA output is at 2V by holding Crossfeed button while turning the unit on, not 3V.

Chord had confirmed, and even on this thread, that the preset output is indeed 3V [edit: "instead of 2V as stated in the manual" is wrong, it didn't state but I guess most just assumed 2V].

Really enjoying the Hugo a lot everywhere lately....

 

[SearchOfSub]

Black and red would look better

 

[Rob Watts]

I spoke to Matt at Chord, he wrote Chord's Hugo manual, and it's not specified, just says line level. But it is indeed 0dBFS = 3V RMS for the pre-set level.
 
People have been asking me what the colours actually are, so here are the actual colours with dB levels from my spec spreadsheet:
 

Volume		vol[8:2] >=	COL[3:0]
-70 to -43			0	DARK BROWN
-42	-40	35	1	BROWN
-39	-37	38	2	MAROON
-36	-34	41	3	RED
-33	-31	44	4	ORANGE
-30	-28	47	5	YELLOW
-27	-25	50	6	CHARTEUSE GREEN
-24	-22	53	7	GREEN
-21	-19	56	8	SPRING GREEN
-18	-16	59	9	CYAN
-15	-13	62	10	AZURE
-12	-10	65	11	BLUE
-9	-7	68	12	INDIGO
-6	-4	71	13	VIOLET
-3	-1	74	14	ULTRA VIOLET
0	+18	77	15	WHITE

 
So each colour typically has 3 dB levels - green for example, is -24, -23 and -22 dB. The bottom colour dark brown covers range from -70dB to -43 dB. The top, white, is 0dB to +18dB, so you have some digital gain.
 
When you start normally, it is set to -24dB, which is 0.3v RMS for 0dBFS . With pre-set its -4dB, and this has been trimmed to exactly match Qute, which is 3v RMS for 0dBFS.
Setting it to white, 0dB, gives 4.75v - Hugo will deliver just over 5v RMS before it goes into clipping
 
Rob

 

[Klonk]

Thank you Rob for this information. 

 

[delrosa81]

   
Strange I don't listen loud, at most moderate level only, but I am almost always at red volume with my SE846. I wonder if our Shure's have different sensitivity. I hear hiss with the Hugo, but very slight and not an issue. When I was using iqube as amp the hiss was stronger and noticeable. I recall post of Rob regards the SE846 he confirmed that based on specs there will be hiss.

Hmm strange, it might be because our Shure's have different sensitivity or our hearing is hugely different. I am never able to go to Red as it would be near bursting the drivers in my opinion. Its very very loud and its near to red and not entirely red yet. For me there is minimal to no hiss while using the chord hugo with the se846. But when Im using my NAD HP50, in Yellow or green volume level, there will be hiss, noticeable but not overly loud. I find it still acceptable.

 

[estreeter]

The only way I'll even stay in Green is with the HD800 - anything else needs to see me hooked securely into the mighty Taurus, I know its wrong to have feelings for a lump of metal, particularly one as homely as the Auralic, but there's something about this amp that makes it hard to ignore. 

 

[Somphon]

Chord had confirmed, and even on this thread, that the preset output is indeed 3V [edit: "instead of 2V as stated in the manual" is wrong, it didn't state but I guess most just assumed 2V].

Really enjoying the Hugo a lot everywhere lately....

 

 
I don't know about your manual, but mine state clearly 2V line level. If its wrong, Hugo should announce it, not post it in a forum.
 
 

 

[PhilW]

AFAIK when in CROSSFADE/ON mode it runs at just a smidge over 2.0v output. Max output is closer to 3.0v

 

[kkcc]

I don't know about your manual, but mine state clearly 2V line level. If its wrong, Hugo should announce it, not post it in a forum.

I took Robs word for the edit but seems I was right all along. Agreed they should make a correction announcement. Tbh tho it never bothered me enough to read up the manual. I just set as high a volume where my amp don't clip and sounds good and I have fine enough volume adjustment with the DACT attenuator (slightly less than the preset level).

I spoke to Matt at Chord, he wrote Chord's Hugo manual, and it's not specified, just says line level. But it is indeed 0dBFS = 3V RMS for the pre-set level.

Rob

 

[Rob Watts]

Ooops! The 2v RMS when pre-set will get changed in the manual to 3v RMS in the next print run.
Thanks for spotting this.
 
Rob 

 

[ted_b]

KKCC, thanks for the idea of putting the manual picture up.  I have been talking about the 3V vs the documented 2V since May, and specifically mentioned it several times starting back 3 months ago.  A picture, though, is worth a thousand posts.       The 2V is important to me cuz that's where my preamp input max is, so I start at 3V and turn down to near blue.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/702787/chord-hugo/4275#post_10620484
 
Rob, while you are at it, have them fix the Qute manuals too.  They say 2V, at least mine does (which is where all the confusion started, since that was your reference).

 

[alubis]

  KKCC, thanks for the idea of putting the manual picture up.  I have been talking about the 3V vs the documented 2V since May, and specifically mentioned it several times starting back 3 months ago.  A picture, though, is worth a thousand posts.       The 2V is important to me cuz that's where my preamp input max is, so I start at 3V and turn down to near blue.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/702787/chord-hugo/4275#post_10620484
 
Rob, while you are at it, have them fix the Qute manuals too.  They say 2V, at least mine does (which is where all the confusion started, since that was your reference).

 
Try connecting the hugo directly to your power amp rather than preamp. I prefer the sound of hugo directly to power amp and the logic I think because connecting the hugo to a preamp (using RCA) is the same as preamping the hugo preamp.