[howdy]

The eagle has landed
I received the Hugo2 today from @Hansotek and I will PM next in line soon.

 

[canali]

.sorry wrong thread

 

[turbo87]

Howdy, PMed you. Would really like a brief listen. Thanks.

 

[ExpiredLabel]

Pmed

 

[Sonic Defender]

Hugo2 has landed!

 

[ruthieandjohn]

The eagle has landed
I received the Hugo2 today from @Hansotek and I will PM next in line soon.

Hey, according to the list on p.1 of this thread, I am the "Next In Line!" YAYY!!!!!


Question for all planning to try the Hugo 2... do you plan to compare it to other DACs? If so, using what source and music?

Thanks!

 

[Allanmarcus]

The only music allowed to be played on the Hugo 2 is the soundtrack to the Sound of Music. It will not play any other music.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

The only music allowed to be played on the Hugo 2 is the soundtrack to the Sound of Music. It will not play any other music.

I'm READY!

 

[canali]

I'm READY!

and guys, let's all admit that Julie was pretty hot in her prime...add in that lovely voice, too

 

[Allanmarcus]

all joking aside, it's got some good songs to test male and female vocals.

And yes, many of us will test the H2 as a DAC and as a DAC/Amp against what we have. Since it doesn't have Line-in (I think), we cannot test it as an Amp only.

I will compare it to a Bimby/Tuarus Mk2 and a Bimby/Mjolnir 2, as well as using it in line mode with these two amps.

Also, I hate that it only has BT in. I want BT out! I want to be able to use good BT headphones with it (occasionally). Oh well. I imagine very very few people will use BT in to a $2000 DAC.

 

[x RELIC x]

all joking aside, it's got some good songs to test male and female vocals.

And yes, many of us will test the H2 as a DAC and as a DAC/Amp against what we have. Since it doesn't have Line-in (I think), we cannot test it as an Amp only.

I will compare it to a Bimby/Tuarus Mk2 and a Bimby/Mjolnir 2, as well as using it in line mode with these two amps.

Also, I hate that it only has BT in. I want BT out! I want to be able to use good BT headphones with it (occasionally). Oh well. I imagine very very few people will use BT in to a $2000 DAC.

So everyone on the tour is aware, the Hugo2 does not have a traditional separate amp so you can never separate the sound of the DAC from the 'amp'. I just PM'd Rob about this last night and he confirmed.

Line-out mode is nothing more than a digital volume preset to output 3Vrms. Nothing internally is bypassed in line-out mode.

BT out would completely negate the need for the Hugo2 as BT would completely bypass everything inside the Hugo2. Just use your source's BT to the BT headphone as you'll be hearing the DAC/amp in the headphone, not the Hugo2.

Also, for clarity, Chord doesn't really want a 'shootout' type of review. Of course the tour members can compare to their other gear they have but the main focus should be about the Hugo2, not just a small blurb about it.

Edit: Removed the 'fluff' in the post. Apologies.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Comments that the 'amp' is the weak link really confound him to be honest

The assumption is if you use the Hugo (or mojo) as a DAC into a dedicated amp and compare to the Hugo (or Mojo) with headphones plugged directly into the Chord unit, then you are comparing a dedicated amp and a Chord DAC to the combined Chord DAC/Amp. That's the theory of how to test the "amp" section.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I have been reading a number of items on how hard it is to determine ANY difference that a DAC (or DAC/amp) makes! This started when I was determined to rank order my 7 portable DAC/amps by how much they improved the sound out of my iPhone 5S, from a little improvement to a lot. Well... I chose my best DAC (Hugo 1), and found that for the widest variety of headphones and source material and bit rates (CD lossless vs. high-res), I could hear NO difference! That's right... headphone straight from iPhone 5S vs. digital from iPhone 5S and into Hugo. I even did instantaneous A/B comparisons with a switch, and had my wife (the Ruthie of ruthieandjohn), who hears headphone differences better than I do, listen.

I am not alone in my inability to distinguish DACs. Head-fier Skamp in 2013 posted a thread Blind Test: 6 DACs Compared, in which he posted files from 6 DACs, as well as the original, listed the DACs, and invited folks to listen and tell him which was which. Lots of objective measurements of waveforms, peaks, valleys, and subjective comments on how similar or different the various versions sounded, but near as I can tell, no one actually posted a rank ordering of the quality of the 6, nor did he reveal which was which.

My recent travails are reported here. There, I relate how hard I have tried to distinguish my iPhone vs. my iPhone plus Hugo, as well as helpful advice from myself and others (e.g., use drums, no use vocals, no, use the songs that have appeared in other reviews of DACs,...)

Now I have reviewed DACs, and I have reported differences. There are two cases... the MHDT Stockholm 2 DAC, which I found indistinguishable from my Schiit Bifrost Multibit with any of my headphones except the HiFiMAN HE1000, with which I could tell a difference. The other case is the V-MODA M-100 either direct from iPod or from V-MODO VAMP VERZA DAC, where there was an improvement.

Another view is that one should NOT do A/B comparisons in quick succession with one vs. the other, but instead "live" with one or the other for an hour, a day, or a week to become fully accustomed to its sound, then switch. I'll try that next.

 

[EagleWings]

The assumption is if you use the Hugo (or mojo) as a DAC into a dedicated amp and compare to the Hugo (or Mojo) with headphones plugged directly into the Chord unit, then you are comparing a dedicated amp and a Chord DAC to the combined Chord DAC/Amp. That's the theory of how to test the "amp" section.

Actually, Relic's point was to address that exact misconception. Hugo2, like most Chord DACs, do not have a separate amplifier section between the DAC section and Headphone out. If you look at typical DAC/Amps like the ALO Continental Dual Mono or WooAudio WA8, they have a DAC section and a separate Amp section.

Hugo2 does NOT have a conventional/traditional internal amp. Period. If you are comparing Hugo2 vs Hugo2+Amp, you are comparing No Amp vs Amp.

 

[x RELIC x]

The assumption is if you use the Hugo (or mojo) as a DAC into a dedicated amp and compare to the Hugo (or Mojo) with headphones plugged directly into the Chord unit, then you are comparing a dedicated amp and a Chord DAC to the combined Chord DAC/Amp. That's the theory of how to test the "amp" section.

The part in bold is all I'm trying to clarify. You can't separate the DAC from the 'amp' in the Chord DAC's as they are one in the same. Like saying testing Yggy's line-out vs it's DAC. You can't do it. Chord DACs essentially drive headphones from their line-out stage without a separate traditional 'amp section'.

Sure, add an amp to the mix if you like and let us know how you like it, but technically you aren't bypassing anything with the Chord DACs by doing so, even when setting the volume shortcut in line-out mode. All you'll be reporting on is the synergy of the amp added to the mix.