I agree. Chord DACs are hard if not impossible to beat. The only thing I would argue with is that the Mojo is the best DAC under 1000. That title belongs to the 2Qute at the moment.

2Qute below $1,000? If so then I stand corrected.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/l...s-ltd-2qute-da-converters?refsource=hifishark

Used 2Qute---750$

Thank you for review. Just one curiosity: i presume that kgsshv is a balanced amp. So how you connect the hugo 2?

Thanks for the detailed review and comparisons with Mojo. I had a Mojo for about a year but eventually yearned for something without the smooth treble roll-off on the Mojo and sold it. Sounds like Hugo 2 has exactly what I’m after, but damn I’ll have to save some $

alota - Most if not all amps for Stax headphones convert single ended signal into balanced, so you just need RCA interconnects with XLR adapters.

Currently though I am actually using Kimber Kable Silver Streak Balanced interconnects with RCA on one side and XLR on the other; I requested this directly from Kimber who happily obliged, but thecableco will also do this.

https://i.imgur.com/Klm6RTv.jpg