[HiFiHawaii808]

Thanks so much all. I appreciate the advice and will give this a shot tonight. I'm eager to see how the Utopia, Stellia, and Traillii sound with this setup.

I'm also going to pair the H2 with the Woo WA8 to see how they sound together.

Please let us know how the C9 comparesto the WA8. I am interested in that device.

 

[aaf evo]

So with the C9 arriving hopefully within the next week or two, should I be looking into interconnects? I use the Traillii 99% of the time which uses a customized version of the PW Audio 1960s 4 wire, would getting a 1960s 4 wire interconnect be the wise thing to do here or does that not really matter? I have been keeping an eye on Eletech’s interconnects also.

 

[bluestorm1992]

So with the C9 arriving hopefully within the next week or two, should I be looking into interconnects? I use the Traillii 99% of the time which uses a customized version of the PW Audio 1960s 4 wire, would getting a 1960s 4 wire interconnect be the wise thing to do here or does that not really matter? I have been keeping an eye on Eletech’s interconnects also.

I would say stick with the stock IC first, although if you do want an upgrade/slightly different sound signature, Eletech's IC is definitely worth considering. I would personally choose their Plato 4.4mm IC as I find it to bring further clarity to the sound and adds a slight touch of sweet to the mids.

 

[aaf evo]

I would say stick with the stock IC first, although if you do want an upgrade/slightly different sound signature, Eletech's IC is definitely worth considering. I would personally choose their Plato 4.4mm IC as I find it to bring further clarity to the sound and adds a slight touch of sweet to the mids.

Okay noted, yay, another rabbit hole to fall into. Lol.

 

[bluestorm1992]

Okay noted, yay, another rabbit hole to fall into. Lol.

Indeed! Fortunately, Eletech’s ICs are priced quite fairly IMO. Their Plato IC is like $229.

 

[aaf evo]

Indeed! Fortunately, Eletech’s ICs are priced quite fairly IMO. Their Plato IC is like $229.

Yeah I was just looking at that, doesn’t seem too crazy. I will wait first and see how I like the C9 and then go from there. Fully expecting to love it, will come more down to how much I use it since I think I prefer just a DAP instead.

 

[bluestorm1992]

Yeah I was just looking at that, doesn’t seem too crazy. I will wait first and see how I like the C9 and then go from there. Fully expecting to love it, will come more down to how much I use it since I think I prefer just a DAP instead.

I think this is ultimately driven by how much of the difference you experience with and without C9 for the IEM you use (Traillii in your case). In my own use case, Sultan is now my favorite and my daily driver, and I find SP2000 alone to be a perfect match with it. Before I get the Sultan, I mostly use MEST. Because the performance difference with and without C9 is so big, I cannot really listen to my MEST for a long period of time before I go back and re-attach C9 to my SP2000.

 

[aaf evo]

I think this is ultimately driven by how much of the difference you experience with and without C9 for the IEM you use (Traillii in your case). In my own use case, Sultan is now my favorite and my daily driver, and I find SP2000 alone to be a perfect match with it. Before I get the Sultan, I mostly use MEST. Because the performance difference with and without C9 is so big, I cannot really listen to my MEST for a long period of time before I go back and re-attach C9 to my SP2000.

For sure, Traillii seems to scale very well but it also sounds fantastic from literally anything I have tried to use as a source. So I guess time will tell, haha.

 

[Currawong]

Hi, I am hoping someone can give me advice on paring the Hugo 2 with the C9. I've had the C9 for a while and love it, I just received the Hugo 2. Comparing the two (sound quality wise) I find them in the same league as each other, just with different sound signatures. I was hoping adding the H2 to the C9 would give a nice leap in sound quality but was a bit disappointed in my first listen.

I've put the H2 in 3v RMS line level mode and connected to the C9 via a cheap RCA to 3.5mm cable. I had one of these $5 cables and know I should get something better but wanted to give it a try. I was using Tube A mode to listen to a few songs on the Utopia's, that is the only HP I have tried so far because I was pressed for time. Things sounded fine but I didn't notice a significant improvement in SQ from just using the C9 or the H2 on their own.

I see from some posts a few people are very impressed with the H2 and C9. Can you share with me what cables you are using and how you have that stack setup? Maybe the cheap RCA cable was limiting things more than I thought it would. The H2 has so many connection options that I'm not sure which I should be using to get the very best SQ when paired with the C9. I'm happy to purchase high quality cables, I just want to be sure I'm getting the right ones.

Thanks for any advice you can give me. I'm fairly new to this hobby and still have a lot to learn.

You don't need to put the Hugo 2 in 3v output mode -- just adjust the volume to whatever level is suitable for the C9. With some devices that don't use a volume control on the input (but after a gain stage) you can overload them sending out 3V and you'll get worse sound quality.

With high-end IEMs and headphones, you'll start to notice differences in interconnects. I tend to say that something better than basic made by one of the cable companies/people here will do the job nicely.

I must stop........... should stay here for a while...............hopefully.

This is why my account image says "Sorry about your wallet" in Latin.

how can you tell the difference between real pre-out and fake pre-out vs. real line out vs. fake line out? Some times the jacks are the same.

There's no such thing as a "fake pre-out". Line level and normal headphone driving level are pretty close. Line level is 2V SE, and 4V balanced and headphone amps tend to go higher than that. Headphone amps tend to have a low output impedance and both a current and voltage gain stage, whereas the output impedance from a dedicated line out from a stereo hi-fi component would be a great deal higher, at 100 Ohms or more. A line out is simpler as they are only driving a simple load, usually 100 kOhms or so and don't require a high current. The Chord Hugo 2 is an exception to this as it has a completely different DAC/amp set-up compared to everything else, allowing it to work perfectly for most headphones as well as a line out.

 

[bluestorm1992]

You don't need to put the Hugo 2 in 3v output mode -- just adjust the volume to whatever level is suitable for the C9. With some devices that don't use a volume control on the input (but after a gain stage) you can overload them sending out 3V and you'll get worse sound quality.

With high-end IEMs and headphones, you'll start to notice differences in interconnects. I tend to say that something better than basic made by one of the cable companies/people here will do the job nicely.



This is why my account image says "Sorry about your wallet" in Latin.



There's no such thing as a "fake pre-out". Line level and normal headphone driving level are pretty close. Line level is 2V SE, and 4V balanced and headphone amps tend to go higher than that. Headphone amps tend to have a low output impedance and both a current and voltage gain stage, whereas a dedicated line out from a stereo hi-fi component would be a great deal higher, at 100 Ohms or more and be simpler (IIRC). The Chord Hugo 2 is an exception to this as it has a completely different DAC/amp set-up compared to everything else, allowing it to work perfectly for most headphones as well as a line out.

Hi Currawong,

Thanks for your thorough explanations! Any plan to do a C9 review on your channel?

 

[kwilkins]

Please let us know how the C9 comparesto the WA8. I am interested in that device.

I was able to spend some time pairing the H2 to the C9 in pre-mode and as suggested it improved things a lot, thanks again for the recommendations.

To my ears adding the C9 to the H2 improves sound quality over just using the H2, somewhat and usually but not always. For some perspective on my background and experience with this hobby please see Post #1,592 of this thread.

I have learned a bit more about describing my impressions on SQ, but just a bit, I’m still a novice and learning. With the C9 added to the H2 in pre-mode using Tube A I hear the C9 advantages as:

Stronger and deeper base
Wider soundstage
Vocals a bit more forward
A bit warmer sound overall

The advantages I hear with just the H2 are:

Crisper and tighter base
More separation and defined layering of instruments
Blacker background – The C9 has a slight hiss when activating pre-mode

I tested with Utopia and Traillii

I mostly preferred the sound with the C9 added but with some complex songs the separation and tight-cleanness of the H2 on its own was preferable. As I’m exploring more gear and music I am learning that the type of music/song and quality of recording really influence which gear it sounds better on.

Just after comparing the H2 with and without the C9 I switched over to using the Hugo TT2 with M Scaler (headphones directly into the TT2) and listen to the same songs comparing them with the Headonia 2A3, being fed by the TT2 M Scaler. In this case everything I listened to sounded notably better connected to the Headonia versus straight to the TT2. I didn’t have to listen closely or think about which I preferred, it was clear and obvious. The C9 did not add THAT kind of improvement to the H2, but overall, I did prefer it most of the time.

I didn’t get a chance to use the H2 with the Woo WA8 but will try to over the weekend. I did provide my thoughts on the C9 and the WA8 without the H2 in post #1,592.

 

[lumdicks]

I was able to spend some time pairing the H2 to the C9 in pre-mode and as suggested it improved things a lot, thanks again for the recommendations.

To my ears adding the C9 to the H2 improves sound quality over just using the H2, somewhat and usually but not always. For some perspective on my background and experience with this hobby please see Post #1,592 of this thread.

I have learned a bit more about describing my impressions on SQ, but just a bit, I’m still a novice and learning. With the C9 added to the H2 in pre-mode using Tube A I hear the C9 advantages as:

Stronger and deeper base
Wider soundstage
Vocals a bit more forward
A bit warmer sound overall

The advantages I hear with just the H2 are:

Crisper and tighter base
More separation and defined layering of instruments
Blacker background – The C9 has a slight hiss when activating pre-mode

I tested with Utopia and Traillii

I mostly preferred the sound with the C9 added but with some complex songs the separation and tight-cleanness of the H2 on its own was preferable. As I’m exploring more gear and music I am learning that the type of music/song and quality of recording really influence which gear it sounds better on.

Just after comparing the H2 with and without the C9 I switched over to using the Hugo TT2 with M Scaler (headphones directly into the TT2) and listen to the same songs comparing them with the Headonia 2A3, being fed by the TT2 M Scaler. In this case everything I listened to sounded notably better connected to the Headonia versus straight to the TT2. I didn’t have to listen closely or think about which I preferred, it was clear and obvious. The C9 did not add THAT kind of improvement to the H2, but overall, I did prefer it most of the time.

I didn’t get a chance to use the H2 with the Woo WA8 but will try to over the weekend. I did provide my thoughts on the C9 and the WA8 without the H2 in post #1,592.

Thanks for the impression. You may try to keep apart the H2 and the C9 by a bit (with a longer interconnect of course) and the hiss should be much improved.

For those complex songs, try using SS mode with Class AB of your C9. It may surprise you again.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I was able to spend some time pairing the H2 to the C9 in pre-mode and as suggested it improved things a lot, thanks again for the recommendations.

To my ears adding the C9 to the H2 improves sound quality over just using the H2, somewhat and usually but not always. For some perspective on my background and experience with this hobby please see Post #1,592 of this thread.

I have learned a bit more about describing my impressions on SQ, but just a bit, I’m still a novice and learning. With the C9 added to the H2 in pre-mode using Tube A I hear the C9 advantages as:

Stronger and deeper base
Wider soundstage
Vocals a bit more forward
A bit warmer sound overall

The advantages I hear with just the H2 are:

Crisper and tighter base
More separation and defined layering of instruments
Blacker background – The C9 has a slight hiss when activating pre-mode

I tested with Utopia and Traillii

I mostly preferred the sound with the C9 added but with some complex songs the separation and tight-cleanness of the H2 on its own was preferable. As I’m exploring more gear and music I am learning that the type of music/song and quality of recording really influence which gear it sounds better on.

Just after comparing the H2 with and without the C9 I switched over to using the Hugo TT2 with M Scaler (headphones directly into the TT2) and listen to the same songs comparing them with the Headonia 2A3, being fed by the TT2 M Scaler. In this case everything I listened to sounded notably better connected to the Headonia versus straight to the TT2. I didn’t have to listen closely or think about which I preferred, it was clear and obvious. The C9 did not add THAT kind of improvement to the H2, but overall, I did prefer it most of the time.

I didn’t get a chance to use the H2 with the Woo WA8 but will try to over the weekend. I did provide my thoughts on the C9 and the WA8 without the H2 in post #1,592.

Outstanding overview! Don't underestimate your own hearing. You did great. Also, you tested everything I own or want to own. I love it.

 

[kwilkins]

Thanks for the impression. You may try to keep apart the H2 and the C9 by a bit (with a longer interconnect of course) and the hiss should be much improved.

For those complex songs, try using SS mode with Class AB of your C9. It may surprise you again.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try both.

 

[DarginMahkum]

If anyone is looking for a Cayin A02 board, they have 3 pieces here and they send worldwide:

https://www.myheadfi.com/product/cayin-n6ii-a02-replaceable-audio-motherboard/