The last time I bought a product from ALO Audio was 4 years ago. It was the National. Before that, I had also bought a Continental V2, which was a very popular portable tube amp back in the days, often stacked together with a Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo and an iPod Classic.
To be honest, I didn't like them that much. Looking back now the reason is even more obvious: ALO's products back in the days either sound too harsh in their solid state amps or too "meh" in their tube amps. Paired with the AlgoRhythm Solo, they were even worse, as the Solo wasn't a very musical portable DAC back in the days. So I didn't expect much from ALO Audio for the last 4 years, even going as far as ignoring their products from my wish list.
The Continental Dual-Mono (CDM) changed my mind though.
First things first, this piece of brick is definitely overpriced as *explicit*. 200,000+ Yen for a new CDM here in Japan. That's Chord Hugo-level expensive. I would expect a portable product to be around the level of the 100,000 ~ 150,000 Yen price range, so this was a shocker. It's not to say this is so much worse than the Hugo that I'm deeming CDM unworthy of its price point, but with Hugo being so revolutionary in its FPGA technology, it's almost impossible for me to justify CDM's asking price.
Price aside and the well-documented heat issue aside, this is a winner, IMO. To simply put it, the CDM is an average DAC paired with a very good amp. I'm very disappointed that it does not do anything beyond DSD 64, rendering most of my SACD-rips useless unless down-sampled. I'm also disappointed in the DAC's lack of transparency and musicality in comparison to Chord's Hugo (and even the Mojo). The Wolfson chip inside does its job alright, though, sounding well balanced without being harsh to my ears. I don't have the most accurate ears, but I'm guessing it was designed along with the amp to be rolled-off in the highs. I would have liked a little bit more treble detail and extension, but that's nitpicking. Again, it does it job as a DAC.
CDM's amp section is where it really shines. As a hybrid amp, it doesn't have the stone-cold harshness of a solid-state but certianly retains a solid-state's neutrality. Nothing is really distorted beyond crazy levels, but I can definitely hear the tube-ness of it in its gentle highs and that natural yet authoritative bass response.
In comparison to Hugo and Mojo's amp, CDM is more powerful in the sense that it drives my Focal Elear and HiFiMAN Edition X V2 with much better dynamics and punch. On paper the CDM is weaker than both the Hugo and the Mojo in terms of measured output, but trust me here, you'll hear a wider sound stage and a livelier sound with the CDM. I'll also add this is without sounding "fake" or harsh, too.
Hugo, on the other than, is more transparent, more detailed, and retains more of that sparkle-goodness in the treble department.
Quite surprisingly, I would not consider the CDM as having a "warm" sound. This is an amp with a neutral sound signature to my ears. I would only characterize it being south of neutral when being compared to Chord's products, but again, nothing is too distorted or too warm.
Funny thing is, remember how I said the CDM drives my headphones better than my Hugo? Well after extended period of time listening and cross-pairing, I do find that the CDM have better synergy with low-impedence headphones and IEMs (JH Audio Michelle, Sony MDR-EX1000 etc.) than the Hugo. But when it comes to mid-to-high level impedence headphones such as the Sennheiser HD600/HD650 or even some planar magnetic headphones, Hugo comes out as sounding more natural, driving them with better ease.
After moving away from iPods and into other DAPs in the past two years, I have become a supporter of high resolution music formats. Listening 24/96kHz and DSDis the way to go, IMO. So I must say, again, I'm super disappointed in that the CDM only supports as hi-res a format as DSD 64.
FIX IT IN YOUR NEXT MODEL, KEN. PLEASE.
(Note: DoP or Native doesn't really matter to me)
[size=15.2px]Overall, I think it's a heck of a [size=15.2px]DAC[/size]/AMP combo. Not quite Hugo-level high-end-like sound quality, but certainly a winner among the others I have compared it to.[/size]
[size=15.2px]I actually prefer the CDM over the Hugo when I'm listening to larger orchestral works or pop music. Also, I would like to add that CDM sounds smoother to my ears when used as a [size=15.2px]DAC[/size]/AMP instead of just an amp. Granted, it will get very hot quickly as a [size=15.2px]DAC[/size]/AMP, but in order to get the sound I like, I'm willing to deal with some annoying quirks
[/size]
To be honest, I didn't like them that much. Looking back now the reason is even more obvious: ALO's products back in the days either sound too harsh in their solid state amps or too "meh" in their tube amps. Paired with the AlgoRhythm Solo, they were even worse, as the Solo wasn't a very musical portable DAC back in the days. So I didn't expect much from ALO Audio for the last 4 years, even going as far as ignoring their products from my wish list.
The Continental Dual-Mono (CDM) changed my mind though.
First things first, this piece of brick is definitely overpriced as *explicit*. 200,000+ Yen for a new CDM here in Japan. That's Chord Hugo-level expensive. I would expect a portable product to be around the level of the 100,000 ~ 150,000 Yen price range, so this was a shocker. It's not to say this is so much worse than the Hugo that I'm deeming CDM unworthy of its price point, but with Hugo being so revolutionary in its FPGA technology, it's almost impossible for me to justify CDM's asking price.
Price aside and the well-documented heat issue aside, this is a winner, IMO. To simply put it, the CDM is an average DAC paired with a very good amp. I'm very disappointed that it does not do anything beyond DSD 64, rendering most of my SACD-rips useless unless down-sampled. I'm also disappointed in the DAC's lack of transparency and musicality in comparison to Chord's Hugo (and even the Mojo). The Wolfson chip inside does its job alright, though, sounding well balanced without being harsh to my ears. I don't have the most accurate ears, but I'm guessing it was designed along with the amp to be rolled-off in the highs. I would have liked a little bit more treble detail and extension, but that's nitpicking. Again, it does it job as a DAC.
CDM's amp section is where it really shines. As a hybrid amp, it doesn't have the stone-cold harshness of a solid-state but certianly retains a solid-state's neutrality. Nothing is really distorted beyond crazy levels, but I can definitely hear the tube-ness of it in its gentle highs and that natural yet authoritative bass response.
In comparison to Hugo and Mojo's amp, CDM is more powerful in the sense that it drives my Focal Elear and HiFiMAN Edition X V2 with much better dynamics and punch. On paper the CDM is weaker than both the Hugo and the Mojo in terms of measured output, but trust me here, you'll hear a wider sound stage and a livelier sound with the CDM. I'll also add this is without sounding "fake" or harsh, too.
Hugo, on the other than, is more transparent, more detailed, and retains more of that sparkle-goodness in the treble department.
Quite surprisingly, I would not consider the CDM as having a "warm" sound. This is an amp with a neutral sound signature to my ears. I would only characterize it being south of neutral when being compared to Chord's products, but again, nothing is too distorted or too warm.
Funny thing is, remember how I said the CDM drives my headphones better than my Hugo? Well after extended period of time listening and cross-pairing, I do find that the CDM have better synergy with low-impedence headphones and IEMs (JH Audio Michelle, Sony MDR-EX1000 etc.) than the Hugo. But when it comes to mid-to-high level impedence headphones such as the Sennheiser HD600/HD650 or even some planar magnetic headphones, Hugo comes out as sounding more natural, driving them with better ease.
After moving away from iPods and into other DAPs in the past two years, I have become a supporter of high resolution music formats. Listening 24/96kHz and DSDis the way to go, IMO. So I must say, again, I'm super disappointed in that the CDM only supports as hi-res a format as DSD 64.
FIX IT IN YOUR NEXT MODEL, KEN. PLEASE.
(Note: DoP or Native doesn't really matter to me)
[size=15.2px]Overall, I think it's a heck of a [size=15.2px]DAC[/size]/AMP combo. Not quite Hugo-level high-end-like sound quality, but certainly a winner among the others I have compared it to.[/size]
[size=15.2px]I actually prefer the CDM over the Hugo when I'm listening to larger orchestral works or pop music. Also, I would like to add that CDM sounds smoother to my ears when used as a [size=15.2px]DAC[/size]/AMP instead of just an amp. Granted, it will get very hot quickly as a [size=15.2px]DAC[/size]/AMP, but in order to get the sound I like, I'm willing to deal with some annoying quirks
[/size]
