CHORD HUGO-TT REVIEW guest starring... Grado GS1000e & Beyer Dynamic T90.
Equipment been reviewed:
Chord Hugo-TT
Headphones used in review:
Grado GS1000e open back(32ohms)
Beyer Dynamic T90 open back (250ohms)
Sources used:
Sony ZX1 Walkman
Tag Mclaren DVD32R cd player & Naim CDX2 cd player.
HP X360 Spectre with MS Win 8.1 laptop
Speaker Hi-Fi set ups used:
1
ST speaker set up:
Tag Mclaren DVD32R à Chord Hugo-TT (using Chord Indigo plus coax) àTag Mclaren 250XR mono bloc amps (*using Atlas Mavrox XLR-XLR balanced cables) à B&W CDM7SE floorstading speakers (using Chord Signature cable)
2
nd speaker set up:
Naim CDX2 cd player à Chord Hugo-TT (using Chord Indigo plus coax) à Naim Nac 282 pre amp (using Chord Anthem analog rca’s) à Naim Nap 200 stereo power amp à Pro-AC Response 2S speakers (using Van Den Hul Teatrack cable)
*A big thanks goes out to Damien @ Chord Electronics for the loan of the Atlas Mavros XLR balanced cables which has been a long pending desire of mine to be able to try XLR balanced but was missing the link in the chain in needing a XLR balanced cable for trying this and finally got my chance all in thanks to Damien for making that happen and opened my eyes up to running XLR balanced as can be read below in this review….
This is part of the Hugo-TT tour which I am fortunate enough to be part of thanks to OK-Guy and will be reviewing it with the Grado GS1000 open back headphones and the Beyer Dynamic T90 open back headphones. The Hugo-TT is been used in both a head-fi and speaker Hi-Fi environment as one of the Hugo-TT’s new additions is been able to use XLR balanced out as well as RCA out to an amplifier in a Hi-Fi speaker set up.
I am already lucky enough in that I own the original Chord Hugo for the last year and have been fortunate enough to of listened to the Grado GS1000 & PS1000 in the last couple of years at different shows & events so Grado have been on my shortlist of TOTL headphone for a while now (still saving unfortunately otherwise would already own a pair!) and then the Beyer Dynamic’s was my first pair of headphones purchased way back in 1990 which was the DT-770 600ohm which I only let go a few years back and was one of those regrets as it was a very good sounding headphone for the money even back then if memory serves me right £120 of the Queens finest pounds.
So when the chance came up courtesy of OK-Guy who was doing a Hugo-TT tour with these headphones I could not resist already owning a Hugo and been a previous Beyer owner and already one eye on a pair of Grado’s to one see if the what the difference in sound the Hugo-TT has to the original Hugo which is what many Hugo owners like myself are all wanting to know and find out how it also performs in a speaker set up as this is designed even more than the original Hugo to really sit in the heart of a speaker Hi-Fi set up with the added addition of XLR balanced outputs as well as the traditional analog RCA connectors.
In addition of course I will be able to report on the two starring headphones on how they sound with both Hugo’s with the Grado’s been a fairly efficient 32 ohms to drive whilst the Beyer T90’s weigh in @250 ohms so will be harder to drive which is where hopefully be able to compare the difference with the amp section for those Hugo owners who were craving a bit more power for their higher impendence headphones to drive.
Hugo-TT
Design & Ergonomics:
To start with the Hugo-TT retains the Spartan 6 FPGA DAC with 26K tap length filter (26,368 to be precise) which made the Hugo receive acclaim for its natural free flowing highly detailed transient analog sound properties has been turned into a desktop hence the TT is for Table Top so an eye to detail has been set for the amp section to have some spit and polish and has had super capacitors fitted as well as full galvanic isolation on the HD USB port with the connector been able to be a type B USB connection on the TT. The headphone jack ports are reversed on the TT which been a table top model it now has two ¼ jacks instead of the one the original Hugo has and now only has one 3.5mm jack whereas the Hugo had two of these which makes logical sense in the scheme of things all though you will need to ideally both have near matched headphones impendence wise if you want a listening buddy at the helm for a Hugo-TT ride with you as it could get deafening for one of you!
After the original portable Hugo weighing in at only 0.4kg the new TT comes in at 3KG should be renamed Table Tank not just for its weight but due to the robust build once again using the usual preference of Aircraft graded aluminium for its chassis & cover so just to clarify TT here is not some fast sports coupe by a German motor manufacturer although this is no slouch in its own right it must be said once the listener put’s their headphones on.
This Table top model which is a bigger foot print equivalent to approximately three Hugo’s which is to house a bigger battery which gives twice as much juice to run on than the portable Hugo and sports USB-B standard & HD connection’s on the back inputs as well as optical input and Coax which uses a BNC connection. The outputs now have the addition of XLR Balanced outputs to the normal RCA analog output which is handy if your Hi-Fi amp has these connections as it means you can connect directly to the amp from the Hugo and miss out an additional pre amp as well as XLR balanced improving sound staging and imaging to conventional RCA out/in. Lest we forget the Hugo-TT also has Bluetooth which uses the APT-X codec again and always held it’s communication with the Hugo when I used my Sony ZX1 from 15 feet away no problems at all.
The TT also has a new addition in a remote control and have to say this is one of the best looking remotes I have seen as it keeps the theme running by making it out of graded aircraft aluminium and having the rubber buttons recessed into their round holes housings. The overall design of the TT is just right from the dimensions, weight and keeping the main portal window and volume wheel design and love the addition of the green LED input/filter display window which turns off after a while until pressed again which is a nice touch.
Hugo-TT Sound:
The first impressions upon listening to the Hugo-TT will be the sense of expansiveness in the soundstage and it been so open yet very precise where everything is and the canvass is so black it feels like something Prof Hawking’s would describe if his theories of space were translated to sound as after experiencing the original Hugo it really opens up and feels like the sound field barriers have been removed and so imaging & placement of sounds travel further out or come from further afield depending where the note comes from to start with so is even more immersive experience in respect to soundstage with the new Hugo-TT.
The addition of a bigger better amp section has also brought along a deeper bass that is tight and has plenty of rendering in detail and losses no transparency at all which is what the Hugo portrays well in the first place. Listening to tracks from AC-DC Rock or Bust album the bass is deeper more hard hitting with the detail in the mid & sub bass notes which are more distinguishable as well as the high end where those Zildjian cymbals crash clearer & faster with good attack then followed with better decay and more sparkle in detail to each time it is struck which makes listening to the Australian rockers sound more lively & energetic than ever!
The other dimension the TT benefits from is the mid’s with there been slightly more detail and definition improvement to the edges in notes than previously resulting in a slightly more fuller bodied sound due to the amp been able to drive more efficiently and adds more weight to the music with the TT which just adds to the already slick open transparent expansive experience to the listener.
Vocals with the likes of Tori Amos or Taiga have more tonal realism with the range of vocals having more height with there been more feeling of headroom. The lead vocals always feel focused and always audible and never feel too far back so never get lost in the rest of the haze and confusion of hectic sessions with bands like Arcade Fire Reflektor or Paolo Nutini’s Caustic Love album which manage to still keep clarity and depth even during their hectic passages in some of the songs they have on those albums.
The Hugo-TT sounds awesome when you have good mastered High/ DSD files going through it but what I was really starting to love about the TT was albums like Fleetwood Macs remastered Rumours or the first two Dire Straits remastered albums all just standard 16 bit 44.1 khz the TT make them feel with all the improvements with the extra internal hardware is it sounds more analog and naturally smooth than before and can feel like you are listening to the vinyl version of them which is what I think makes the Hugo DAC so special in that regard but the TT’s bigger engine under the hood helps with the speed, transparency and smoothness to provide albums like Fleetwood Mac & Dire Straits to retain that analog seductiveness we all crave in the new digital domain we live in today.
Hugo-TT in a speaker Hi-Fi set up.
Firstly I was brought up on listening to music through my Dads Hi-Fi back in the day (so hats off to him for giving me this die hard habit that has cost me £heaven knows how much down the years!) and when I was old enough to acquire my first bit of new kit to replace my Dads hand me down 30 year old separates that had been sleeping in the loft it was a speaker set up first of all and the Headphone inquisitiveness did not come for a few more years and even then it was just to do late night listening for recording without waking up the neighbourhood so I was just stoked to try the TT in my Speaker Hi-Fi which currently consist of Tag Mclaren separates with a pair of B&W floor standers (see speaker set up No.1 at top of page for exact specs) for stereo listening so was able to make the most of the TT’s XLR outputs as my Tag 250 watt amps have XLR inputs so could by pass the Tag processor I have to plumb the Hugo-TT in direct to get best possible sound with this connection set up. (Thanks again to Damien @Chord Electronics as those XLR cables made my day been able to hook it up in this configuration)
Using my Tag DVD32R top loading cd player through the Hugo-TT using a Chord Indigo plus digital coax (which is by a separate company for those not aware “The Chord Company” which is another fine British Hi-Fi company which specialises in design & manufacturer of Hi-Fi interconnects only) helps extract that fine detail to the Hugo. From there I was about to go on another magical journey as I was about to find out the benefits of going XLR balanced and with one of the only unfortunate down sides with my original Hugo was I could not hook up the Coax digital to the Hugo so was never able to use in my speaker set up with my Tag cd player until the arrival of the TT so was now my moment of truth running the TT with my Hi-Fi speaker set up.
The additional appearance of the suave & sophisticated looking extruded metal remote control which will never shatter if you drop it as it is rugged as a Land Rover is what the TT will need with it been designed to be hooked up to speakers as much as it is headphones so becomes imperative to have a remote for when you are sitting ‘X’ amount of feet away from it. Not all the buttons on the remote are active buttons with the TT as they are designed for other units they have designed but the important buttons are all there for the TT so you never need to get off your comfy sofa to change anything (apart from maybe line out!)
The remote is something I would still really love to see with technology evolving that Chord can still incorporate this into a Hugo 2 portable somehow when that day or year arrives. (I do like to hint now and then…)
Another advantage which is a nice relief the TT will remember last volume and input selection when turned back on with the addition of a separate chip for the program that runs that to go on as the original Hugo did not have any programming room left on the chip so one now does not accidentally blow up their higher sensitive earphones/headphones when plugged in to start a session.
Next step is to turn on the Hugo-TT whilst holding the filter button setting and once the volume wheel turns a solid white colour you know it is set to line out to use with your speaker system so much as I do not like dispensing H&S notices please do not connect your headphones or even worse your IEM's to it at this time as you will likely blow them up and maybe your hearing all in one go which would be a double whammy if one goes there; not to mention you will cry with regret afterwards like a kid who had his candy taken away!.
So now already to Rock N’ Roll with line out set is selected….
From the start of pressing play on the cd player the impact and the tightness of the bass notes was immediate and the clarity and control of the highs was not like I had heard before with more room and separation between the highs and mid’s than ever before. Peter Gabriel’s Hits or Bruce Springsteen has nice extended smooth highs which are so clear and crystal yet feel the tight control of the punch in the low end in the sub bass gives you a nice kick to your guts as you feel the sub frequency as well as hearing it resonate through the floor towards you.
The mid’s tempo is fluid and are again so detailed as usual with the Hugo but I was still hearing some information come through on songs I had not quite heard in the way that I have listening to it on loud speakers as opposed to headphones, yet again it is because of the black backdrop the Hugo-TT naturally provides plenty of room between each instrument to breath and come through in such a clean delivery of each note it made listening to some older cd test tracks like Madonna Ray of Light album, notably Frozen & Power of Goodbye & Yello – “The Race” plus the “light speed remix” of this track (both remastered) have even more depth, contrast, speed and clarity than I’ve heard trough my system to date. It just has a natural flow to the music and having that extra weight and punch that can come through a set of loud speakers is where I don’t think any flagship headphone can ever replicate that feeling.
The thing a device as technically able as the TT in what it can do is been able to appreciate music that is not normally in my every day playlist and playing something like the Inception OST has such passages of subtleness building up to powerful crescendos with great depth & height to this soundtrack the Hugo is able to handle the vast range this music is written and played to with very extended highs and sub bass smashes and rumbles it conveys the raw emotion brings back the experience of when hearing the music with the picture when watching the film at the cinema for that first time.
Another one to send a chill down the spine is listening to the St. Petersburg Chamber choir where it is just spot on at capturing the reverberations and echoes of the choir which fills the room all around you and you actually feel like you are in a cathedral experiencing this and the highs of the female voices alongside the low baritone voices towards the low end is something to be heard on the Hugo-TT through speakers.
Then to sober up from the relaxing chill session of choir music put on some Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways and the Hugo can give hard hit of the bass drum with lovely full bodied upper mid’s with nice smooth fast precise naturalness about the timing with this album is like listening to an old 70’s rock band on vinyl type of feeling.
Another artist that has consistent good recordings is some Brad Paisley and the guitar sounds slick, fast and responsive notes with a nice tonally balanced sound to any guitar he happens to be playing which is reminiscent to listening to Joe Bonamassa or Kaki King’s guitars all sound tonally just right without any colouration with the TT.
Vocals sound even coarser, gritty, smooth or sharp depending on who’s singing and present/forward in presentation than with my Tag DAC and that is still a fairly good DAC considering it’s age but with the advancement in technology the Rob Watt’s design just adds all round that more solidity & cohesion with the TT with the extra detail and natural smoothness, control & speed which is not too attacking or either is it too laid back to proceedings making it a very lucid with great dynamics yet organic to listen with the TT plumbed into my Tag amps direct as they have a perfect partnership as the Tag like the Hugo has always had the philosophy of making digital source sound pure as can be analog sound.
I was also able to try this for a day in my Dad’s set up which is speaker set up two on the above equipment listing at top of review and consist of Naim separates with a pair of Pro-Ac speakers.
Although with the way Naim use propriety connections meant we could not try it direct to the amps so just hooked up to the Naim pre-amp to loop through and the Hugo brought a calming zen to the Naim’s natural trait of wanting to attack with pace and merged the natural smoothness of the Hugo was a surprisingly good pairing with the Naim set up.
Once again everything was so expansive, deep and precise with placement of instruments and imaging like it was on my Tag set up yet it was the same level of detail and separation just with a different flavour to the signature as the Naim amps sound more warmer and attacking still taken into account the Hugo already subduing that side of the Naims inherent nature yet for first time from my time listening to his Naim set up felt the Hugo-TT had opened up the Naim and made it more airy and transparent without losing the ability or Naim traits of it’s attacking warmth to deliver nice low controlled bass notes and vocals are projected more than before with intervention of the TT. The end result was the best of the Naim still inherent but with Hugo-TT just been a positive addition in every aspect which would be a good pairing for the Naim set up just for the TT’s DAC alone.
I also tried my Sony Walkman ZX1 via USB which works well as a transport and is a nice way to play a few thousand songs back to back, just a shame the battery does not last that long! So if you already have a media streamer or Media player in your racks you will be in for a treat using with the Hugo whether using it via USB or Digital coax/optical in.
I did try to see or shall I say hear the difference between the optical sound and digital coax but it was never going to be a fair comparison as the optical was a Wireworld SuperNova 5+ optical cable due to never really needing optical in the past for exception of Sky & PS3 hook up’s and my Coax was the Chord Company Indigo Plus so this was not able to give a real level pegging comparison between Optical & Coax although from previous comparison experiences with similar rated cables I have personally lent towards coax cables to optical anyway.
Another feature I had to try was using my ZX1 via Bluetooth to the TT and was A; pleasantly surprised in the many hours I used it connected via Bluetooth it only cut out for one second and this was using it 17 feet away from my sofa to the Hugo TT so was 99% relative music free listening and B; the sound quality was another pleasant surprise as I was not keeping my expectations high in this department but it tends to make a good fist at been resolving and dynamic but at the end of the day it just lacks some control and definition as well as transparency and loses some detail becoming a bit fuzzy in the mid’s and looser in the bass tightness although can still go bottom end no problem (as I found out) compared to when it is connected via interconnects so is okay for casual listening in the background but would not quite class it good enough for those serious listening sessions when you want to soak up the best the Hugo-TT can dish up in the highest quality playback performance possible. Still a good way to show off at house party’s getting everyone to hook up their phone or dap to play their songs without having to touch your beloved Hugo musical tool though!
Grado GS1000e Open back headphones:
Having already been able to listen to the original GS1000’s twice and the newer ‘e’ model once at different events so I already knew the potential these mahogany wooden cups could deliver but to hear it for three weeks in the nice quite environment of one’s own dwellings (well, for exception of the wife in one’s ear) with the Hugo TT was something I was looking forward to already having heard them on my portable Hugo previously.
The GS1000e looks like a refined and reserved retro pair of headphones that are fairly light and stable on the head with large foam cups that never sweat like other normal man made material pads can and the sound follows this path been a very open sounding highly detailed pair of open backs that like to always sound different in its timbres to each album that is thrown at it.
The Hugo TT lets the GS1000e breath and stretch it’s nice big wide… in fact combined with the TT I would say Huge soundstage and the mid’s which stay nice and focused with vocals in the centre stage of proceedings with a nice sense of rich, deep liquid yet natural overtones make these sound quite energetic yet very easy to listen to with highs that are very detailed and easy on the ears, never going to be piercing or harsh.
At times with music that is more mellow it will feel like you are listening to this in a bigger space than you are due to the way these massive foam cups give plenty of room for the sound to circulate, only thing I noticed as comfortable as they are to wear was just getting them in the sweet spot with that extra room in the cups for your ears to sit but once you find it unless your one for air guitar around the room you should be okay. It can be frustrating getting them just in the right spot but maybe this is the trade of for the results you get back from this design with the nice big natural open sounding stage presence.
The vocals on these are really stand out and faithfully replicate the tonal accuracy of vocals really gives me a rush with any vocals I hear but I have been known to be susceptible to the female gender especially with vocals like Sarah Mclachlan, Vera Lynn, Lana Del Ray, Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos & Birdy to name a few can make the hairs stand on your back with the GS1000’s.
Listening to The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow album is an example of vocals making aural experience blow a gasket with both female & male vocals in harmony whilst the Acoustic guitar is so clear to hear and pick out where it is almost is if the GS1000e has placed the guitar in his hands it sounds that accurate in the soundstage to where the singer and instrument is.
I was surprised how good these can be with dance orientated music although it has good bass extension which hits the ground it is not seismic by any means, the GS1000e does not have the thump and bass slam as maybe other bass hungry headphones out there for those hard core dance fans but renders micro details so well you get a bass that gives you so much more information back in a more balanced manner that compliments the mid-range as it never over dominates them and the Grados have a good rhythmic timing combined with good dynamics with the nice smooth extended highs as well you get with the big soundstage quite deep as well as wide sound field and these are quite nimble in terms of speed on the bottom end all adds up to dance music like Rob D’s Furious Angels, Nero, Daft Punk, Chemical Bros or Will I Am have a snap to their pace with energy and clarity that is addictive to listen to as it is using the Grados for Rock, pop, blues, jazz & classical music and anything else in between.
I found the GS1000e to have an immersive evolving almost 3D sound that can tonally sound very different due to the recording so they do tend to evolve in their signature as they reflect how that recording does sound than just the same headphone house sound with every different song or genre you hear with the Grados which guess these might be down to the natural wood timbre effect of the cups doing their work here perhaps.
Only down side I have noticed it is another one of these highly engineered products that if you feed it crap it will throw it right back at you and can sound brittle and not very forgiving with poor recordings but anything that is done fairly well to outstanding recordings like the Eric Clapton Slowhand & 461 Ocean Boulevard Gold discs from the original master recordings (thanks go out to Barolo for lending me these discs which opened my eyes up to Gold discs) which really do allow the Hugo TT to pull the best detail and let the GS1000e really play full tilt to their potential as more recordings should be done like this as it just has so much accuracy tonally yet dynamic and uncompressed and seems to be so much headroom with these recordings it is tempting to just turn that volume knob a little bit more!
An album I have rediscovered which sound sublime trough the GS1000e was Ocean Colour Scene’s Mosely Shoales which was a perfect blend for the warm tones yet able to layer the music clearly with a nice rhythmic mellow warm, still lucid & clean mid bass to the kick drum extending those lows that the Grado reminds you it can go there if the recording has it in the tank yet does it in such a nice tight controlled manner with great timing and attack.
The Grados are a tonally well balanced headphone with a touch of warmth that has that wide open soundstage with pin point accurate placement of instruments and insanely rich detailed mid’s with those second to none vocal reproductions and the able transient tempo make these sound agile and fast with most genres especially stand out memory of listening to Michael Jackson Bad and Thriller remastered albums but it will excel into another dimension with anything that is jazz, blues, live music, acoustical, classical as I found with the Mahler Symphony No.5 in 24 bit 192khz has so much depth and space and imaging is amazing as it is so cohesive with the orchestra set out in front of you with sounds panning from side to side you can pick out where certain players are in your head as the GS1000e’s are so accurate and delicate in where it images sounds from and then the quite passages are painted on such a black background you experience that perception that you are In a big concert hall listening to this.
With Joe Bonamassa playing his way through the GS1000’s is great to listen to as he uses so many different Guitars is a good test for them and you can feel the energy from his playing as the GS1000e’s wooden cups really get the timbre of the strings just right it makes for a good ride with his powerful slightly grainy vocals and the fast hitting mid bass and very fine harmonics the Grado’s have made time go fast going through his back catalogue.
Another blues experience to behold on the Grados was Sea Sick Steve, not all his songs are great to my ears but the ones he does when he is in up tempo form are golden and his style of being all over the place in a jamming style could really work some cans in terms of speed and decay but the Grado enjoys rendering the mad drumming by Dan Magnusson & the third addition of John Paul Jones with the bass guitar adding another dimension the Grados manage to separate all these so well it has a way of layering the music that you can still pick out the strings been played even with Magnussons drums going full tilt and hearing the vocals so clear at the front the GS1000e just sound easy to listen to even with all the detail it is capable of showing.
The TT really does make these GS1000e’s sing to their full potential although one thing they probably do lack for some will be a seismic type of bottom end sub bass with any big impact but I think the wooden models characteristics have been designed for other genres like a suit-er would tailor a suit to fit then Grado made this wooden suit to fit blues, jazz, acoustic & vocals like no other headphone in Grado’s own special touch.
…But anyone who is a die hard rock fan who primarily listens to that genre might want to audition the PS1000’s if you can stretch another £700 notes that is, not that the GS1000 is not able to handle rock, far from it but it is more laid back and articulate in the detail department with how the bass is presented as the PS1000 just have that little bit more attack and slam from my experience (I keep thinking grit also) as I think the metal chamber on the PS1000’s just add that yet if you want a can that excels with those above genres as mentioned and still capable with rock but not looking for earthquake level of bass then GS1000 will not disappoint as I found out with Muse Dead Inside 24 bit 96khz from their Drones album, the tempo and natural tones and striking nature of the drums and bass guitar with Matt Bellamy’s vocals coming through sound so life like feels he is signing right in front of you as there Is just this black background with no veil, that’s how forward these vocals can be, I wish vocals were like this on all headphones.
The Grados do things a lot differently to other headphones out there but yet they strike the chord (yes, pun intended) just right in so many places it becomes addictive to listen to these as they are so good with the accuracy, natural tonality with some richness and balance with this amount of detail added in makes these a very good pairing with the Hugo TT as it compliment the Grado’s providing the space and speed to synergize with ample power to drive these efficient headphones.
The only downsides if any would be more ergonomically with the positioning of the cups just right for optimal sound firing in the right spot as the cup area is so big and I’m sure the cable as I have heard for a stock cable sounds fine but it does not match the quality of the rest of the headphone and then there will be many who would of just wanted that option of it been detachable, I’m sure Grado will say this is for optimum quality but at least give the listener/ consumer that choice to be able to swap out if they want.
It would be nice to have maybe packing to match the status of been second in line to its flagship brother as it is still in the traditional Pizza box but can understand this if it is due to most of cost going towards making them sound good as they do. Just would be nice if there was a premium packaged version even if it meant paying the extra, at least the choice is there as another headphone company has used this approach and I’ll be honest here I’m a sucker for that type of thing anyway so to Grado… I would love to see a GS1000 presented in a wooden matching mahogany Grado box with nice plush velvet lining inside!
The GS1000e comes with an extension cable and 3.5 jack adaptor.
Apart from that trivial, maybe not for some on the ergonomics I cannot fault these headphones on the sound and comfort as I love the sound of these with anything I listen to these with and has totally blown away the old conjecture I kept hearing about Grado’s are good if you are after rock music as if it was pigeon holed to doing one thing well only but as I found out anything these sound with is very good. Rock & dance is very accomplished and enjoyable on these and downright outstanding with anything else I have heard it with regardless of the genre playing.
I am quite smitten after three weeks listening to the GS1000e’s sound now with them been so resolving, dynamic and harmonically perfect with the magical way it layers the music with the huge sound-stage and pin point accuracy of sounds and it’s second to none vocal reproduction which is just uncanny is in a nutshell an absolute joy and just want to listen to them all night going through my collection so endeavour to make these the flagship headphones I have been looking for to partner my Hugo sooner rather than later.
Beyer Dynamic T90 open back headphones:
Already a Beyer admirer from my days with the old DT770 Pro (600ohm) model I had only heard the T1’s and T5p’s briefly but could gauge that Beyer have stayed true to their house sound down the years and has always felt like a pair of Beyers do not pull any punches or try to be something else they are not and really focus on delivering a balanced clean cut sounding pair of headphones that are easy to listen to as well as pay attention to making a comfortable pair of headphones to wear. The T90 comes in a nice leather looking type of zipper case with foam protection to store it but would not say this is exactly ideal to use as a transport case for them as it is a bit on the big side but nice to see on a pair of sub £400 cans anyway. Also comes with a cable which is quite long and feeds to one channel only, again this is hard wired in a cannot be detached which is a shame and comes with a 3.5 jack fitted with a 1/4 jack adaptor which screws on to the 3.5 jack so keeps a low profile whilst attached. The cable does tend to get tangled easily though I found which did become a bit frustrating at times when going to use each time for a session.
The T90 is no different here been quite able to deliver a clean transparent balanced sound which is tonally accurate with instruments yet can have a nice elegant sounding mid’s with a plucky textured mid bass and can extend effortlessly low and transition from mid to sub bass is rendered really well as the pace and timing of the DT90’s is nice and fast and does not struggle with busy or complex passages when there is a lot of different instruments fighting for space at the same time the Beyer’s take it in its stride and make it sound musical whilst still been able to give you a fair bit of detail like a studio monitor is capable of.
Actually I think the T90 thrives on fast complex loud music as it feels effortless from note to note and this is made more enjoyable by the fact you forget you are wearing these as they are not overly heavy and combined with the comfortable velour pads and padded headband as well as not clamping the head to tight the physical aspect of these cans melt away in the background allowing me to concentrate on enjoying the T90’s to sing. The Beyer's strong point which the Hugo-TT is capable of getting the most out of is the wide soundstage and fast stereo imaging excels here yet the mid’s feel present without been sucked out due to this, or are they ever to forward or intrusive at any time although I feel I would like my vocals a bit closer up front than they are personally the vocal tones are rendered well and the way it blends with the rest of the mid-range is a without disappearing is done well by the Beyer’s here.
The High’s on the T90’s are also interesting in that they are fairly forward and present all the time to the point they almost give the impression it is a bright headphone due to this but at the same time it is never harsh and the roll off on the treble seems to be just right and has a good sense of timing with the rest of the mix.
The more I listen to these I forget they are in the sub £400 bracket and have heard some £1K open backs struggle to be as cohesive with synergy as a complete sound and deal with fast passages of music like the T90’s enjoy producing. Listening to Gregory Porter’s Liquid spirit album with his low to high range and the spaciousness feeling between instruments you can clearly hear range of each note and the decay of the notes and sounds very dynamic been able to hear the bass notes of the bass been plucked to the piano been hammered to the high hats sizzling away his slightly gritty vocals are very easy on the ear and the Hugo-TT again complements another pair of headphones in the T90 in sharing a naturally tonal sound help the T90 give this balanced presentation.
Trombone Shorty is lively, dynamic and the saxophone is projected forward to the listener with energetic vibrancy and the percussion has a nice tempo with a punch to the mid bass which makes this album like the T90 a lot as it brings everything to live is like having a New Orleans carnival going on in your head with the T90.
Playing the T90’s from a wide eclectic range of music it seems anything I have played from Jaime-T to Rodrigo & Gabrielle to some classical with Dvorak in high res has been equally as scintillatingly good and really copes with any genre in an accomplished manner as it is quite hard to pick out its weak link with any type of music.
The T90 highs are crisp and the bass has a heavy weight feel behind it giving it a very present bass which with rock music can feel quite visceral when listening to the low end come in and the mid bass has a good attacking edge to it which makes it sound forward in its presentation. This makes it perfect for live music as well as it has that punch behind the T90’s delivery. Not also are lead vocals sounding solid I found backing singers or harmony sections very infectious as it images them well in the stereo mix and adds great layering to a song been able to too hear the backing vocals as clear as the lead singer.
Listening to Jessie Wares Tough Love album as liquid smooth vocals with a nice dark earthy sub bass which is very atmospheric to listen to and the clear crystalline highs give contrast to her songs and Ryan Adams self-titled album has a grit in the midrange with been quite good separation In the hectic mid’s like on the opening track “Gimme Something Good”.
With some jazz like the very well recorded Fourplay album 4 it has a good clean precise imaging with a nice amount of warmth in the midrange with the strings sounding life like and the piano having a natural timbre to its notes. Percussion is also very dynamic with nice feeling of space around every instrument been played.
The T90’s can also show warmth as well like with the Fourplay album if the recording has it then the Beyer’s show they can have a more mellow side to them rather than direct hard hitting punchy not messing around type of presentation the T90’s like to thrive on.
The T90’s have definitely brought back what I loved about my old DT770’s back in the day as they are a no nonsense straight forward clean dynamic balanced pair of headphones that have got weight and punch with the bass into the proceedings and unlike my old DT770’s there is so much detail and expansiveness in the soundstage been open backs Beyer has won a place back in my heart and may very well look at these as a pair of cans to have regardless if I end up with a pair of TOTL headphones later on.
For the money they really do perform with hardly any negatives to pick up on with the sound only other than some may still find it a tad bright if your that way inclined with sensitivity but I will be sad to let these tour set go as it was a surprise factor for sure experiencing the T90’s.
I have to say with the GS1000e & Beyer T90 I both had with the TT for open back headphone listening was the surprise how enjoyable it was still to listen to the cheaper T90 after hearing the very capable detailed Grados which is in a class of its own there but the T90’s ability to draw me back again and again was due to the synergy it had with the Hugo-TT that has drawn every cylinder these headphones have to offer so is running like a thoroughbred TT T90 horse so all in all they are a very good exciting pairing for sure. as it could just sound good with any type of genre which goes to show the Hugo-TT is not just for flagship headphones, it can be just as addictive with the T90’s which cost less than £400 notes.
Other listening apparatus used:
JH16pro CIEM
& Sony MDR-7520 with Whiplash hybrid cable mod to both cups.
The JH16’s which paired really well with the portable Hugo already and as usual scaled well with the TT and which benefitted from the more expansive soundstage to operate from and the JH16’s bass which has already tuned a few db above flat on the bass loves the extra depth and controlled focus the TT bass has to offer and the improvement in the highs is more present out there on its own thanks in part to the TT having that big black canvas to just sound as if it is in space almost yet the extra detail can be heard in the treble notes which make my 16’s highs sound more crisp but at the same time without sounding any brighter. The JH16’s were a treat on the original Hugo and this experience is just elevated using the TT and from my experience there was no hiss which just added to a pleasurable listen.
Still loving my JH16’s four years on and the Hugo-TT just helps maintain this fix!
With my Sony 7520’s which has modded Whiplash Audio Hybrid cable to both cups for better balanced channels is helped again by the Hugo’s sense of space as my Sony’s are fairly narrow sounding on sound-stage despite the Whiplash cable helping immensely in this area to the stock cable but end of the day they are closed backs and this helped feel like they were let of a leash a little more and the upper mid’s were the clearest I’ve heard them sounding and the lower mid’s good full punch with impact but not hard or harsh at the top end is again just a bit more crispness overall with high hats sounding nice and sharp and with the 7520’s been closed backs the Hugo’s extra bass presence can have a nice resonance and reverberation whilst still staying controlled and tight with bass heavy tracks as the Sony’s are quite an efficient headphone to drive the Hugo-TT controls it with authority in the lower and sub bass region adding some weight behind driving rock tracks. Only down side was after hearing open backs like the Beyer Dynamic which is in the 7520’s price range despite the Hugo helping the soundstage on the Sony’s it became evident after hearing the Beyers how much the overall listening experience the sound can breath and have more natural openness & depth and wider field of sound.
Summary
It’s been a quick three weeks been able to use and appreciate this equipment and was coming into this with already admiring the Grado GS1000 & PS1000 models from previous listens at events but is nothing like been able to hear a pair of headphones in a quite environment over time and the GS1000e model was a joy to listen to with the Hugo-TT which matches the GS1000’s need to be feed detail in spades which the Hugo is primed to do with the Rob Watts 26K tap Pulse Array DAC chip and with the additional improvements with the amp section with the TT makes them such a good pairing.
The only thing with the GS1000 model is for anyone wanting a heavy bass response headphone that will shake & rattle your head then this is the only area where it is not light on bass at all but just quite lean, tight & tidy with all the emphasis on providing a rich textured detailed presentation where you can hear the continuation of every note so you can very clearly hear the changes in frequency changes going from upper to lower mid to sub bass as they happen.
The GS1000e are other than that masterful listen with warm and rich yet clean detailed – want to say analytical but these sound to musical at the same time for that. Prolonged listening to these and you melt into the details you have never heard before like the GS1000 present’s them thanks of course to the TT’s DAC helping with this.
The Beyer T90’s were a surprise as eyes were on the Grado’s for the above obvious stated reasons with them been a £1k reference can and all that, although I had a unfinished missed regrets in letting my old DT770’s go was still pleasantly surprised it still had that house sound after all these years that was familiar with yet this was a further detailed and better soundstage version of my old pair so was even bigger surprise was I got hooked to how they were able to handle any genre with ease and enjoyed spending as much time with these as any other headphone going.
I was fortunate to hear both these headphones as well as my own iem’s/headphones to probably their full potential due to the Hugo-TT which going bigger with hardware upgrades in the amp section has made a difference which has just improved on a more expansive vast deep sounding soundstage with more control and extension in the low end with more resolution to the bass notes then the Highs have a certain amount of added clarity and detail with the mid-range notes in instruments sounding more coherently detailed due to more space for the music to breath and is more precise to pick out those instruments which was no more apparent than when I finally got to hear how a a Hugo DAC sounded like through my Speaker set up whilst been able to utilize the full potential of the Hugo-TT’s XLR balanced outputs to my XLR Tag amp’s which like the Headphones was the same improvements but just been able to feel the Hugo’s bass extension through a pair of floorstander speakers was jaw dropping yet retain so much control and resolution of the mid’s was breath taking and really did not want to unplug this from my system.
The Hugo if it was a V8 engine has essentially just had a V12 dropped into the Hugo-TT which has brought along more performance in its amp section to feed those hungrier ohm headphones and at same time has added sonically refinement to the sound quality but let’s not forget this is just not a Hugo designed for portability, this has been purposely designed to be implemented to be a pre-amp DAC into a Hi-Fi system with the addition of XLR balanced connections as well as just be a table top headphone amp/DAC which has to be taken into account where the extra greens go into laying out for a Hugo-TT not to mention the cost of three times the amount of aircraft aluminium needed to make the footprint for this, bigger battery, XLR balanced outputs, remote made of metal, the added amp upgrades with super capping and USB isolation as well as the small matter the sound quality is expanded on the original Hugo does justify where the extra costs come from although stil eye watering for my wallet at the moment unfortunately hence I now have a Hugo-TT box fund a home as a hint to the wife!
My only negative (or two) with the TT would really be the decision to have the Coax digital input as a BNC connection which was a strange call as most people will have phono RCA Coax plugs and do not really see the need for a BNC on the Hugo and the volume wheel on the TT just seemed to be a tad too easy to turn compared to my portable Hugo so ability to accidently make contact with it or turn up to fast if not taking care with sensitive cans or IEM’s is possible so always just need to approach with due diligence.
But apart from that it is hard to fault this machine after using it for three weeks and thoroughly enjoying the sound improvements I heard with been able to run this with two open back cans one showing the TT can still sound good and enjoyable with mid-price tier cans in the Beyer’s as well as sound stunning with a pair of flagship Grado’s (I still class them as Flagship anyway at £1K) as well as been able to run this in my Speaker set up was a revelation and does look cool sitting in my rack with the rest of my separates so am obviously having withdrawal symptoms now, although my only caveat is here I am lucky to still have the portable Hugo which after a few hours of ear resetting find I am enjoying very much still in its own right so will thank my lucky stars I still have this capable machine to enjoy until day arrives to acquire a TT one day.... Sweet Dreams are made of these…
great review mate!