Chord 2Go & 2Yu Wired/Wireless Network streamer and S/PDIF adaptor - Official thread

[miketlse]

That's a great little system. I'm shooting a review of it right now. I recommend getting a basic linear PSU for it. I rigged one up and the sound is even better.

That will be an interesting read.

 

[pjw241142]

I concur. Building this control capability into GF wouldn't be rocket science. For simple folks like myself who almost exclusively navigate their SD cards by folder and then hit play on the track they want to play (with whatever follows following), the UI is straightforward (and MConnect nails it, when it's working reliably).

Where it gets messier, I'm guessing, is when people start wanting more creative solutions: playlists, shuffles, casting to, casting from, etc. etc.

In theory, by supporting these standard/open protocols Chord gets access to a broad ecosystem of app developers and other devices it wouldn't if it went proprietary. That said, IMHO the apps aren't up to snuff (and it hasn't changed much since Poly - this isn't a new lesson), so they're hitching their cart to a jalopy when they were hoping to have hitched it to a robust pickup truck. Not their fault that all the other apps are lame. But they probably should support a "painfully simplistic" solution within GoFifugre that bypasses all the bells and whistles BS.

Doody

I concur. Building this control capability into GF wouldn't be rocket science. For simple folks like myself who almost exclusively navigate their SD cards by folder and then hit play on the track they want to play (with whatever follows following), the UI is straightforward (and MConnect nails it, when it's working reliably).

Where it gets messier, I'm guessing, is when people start wanting more creative solutions: playlists, shuffles, casting to, casting from, etc. etc.

In theory, by supporting these standard/open protocols Chord gets access to a broad ecosystem of app developers and other devices it wouldn't if it went proprietary. That said, IMHO the apps aren't up to snuff (and it hasn't changed much since Poly - this isn't a new lesson), so they're hitching their cart to a jalopy when they were hoping to have hitched it to a robust pickup truck. Not their fault that all the other apps are lame. But they probably should support a "painfully simplistic" solution within GoFifugre that bypasses all the bells and whistles BS.

Doody

Hi Doody - I was on the chord bus once Hugo and Mojo were released.

The simple play straight from the App or DAP like capability without needing 3rd party ones was a suggestion that pre-dated the Poly when we heard that Chord were contemplating some sort of transport. It would be great if Chord could provide that capability. I‘m semi lucky as I use Apple but although Rigelian is ok it occasionally misses a beat. Glider was good but isn’t maintained and can have indexing issues.

So I completely agree - come on Chord and please give some basic capability in Go-Figure

 

[MSXX]

So I completely agree - come on Chord and please give some basic capability in Go-Figure

I agree! And lets us stream tidal from the app as well

I have spend the weekend buying and fiddling with different apps to find a solid and stable one which is also easy to use. I can't find a one good app that lets me play an artist on my SD card and if I wish stream another album from that same artist via Tidal. With the money I spend on apps I would rather have giving them all to someone that Chord had partnered with and thereby guaranteeing that it just worked - as intended. I would even have payed extra...

My hopes was that my wife and kids could use the 2go when its connect to our stereo. My wife gave up on it today because of issues with connection and because it is impossible to stream tidal tracks without it just randomly stopping after 3-12 tracks - that's trying with 3 different iPhones and with 3 different apps.

I think you are spot on doody when questioning how a 1280€ product can/dare outsource the user experience to third party app developers. I really want the UI and user experience to match the hardware - which is great by the way.

 

[jlbrach]

as an owner of a ton of chord products and one who loves the chord sound I had pre ordered and planned to own the 2go to use with my 2 SD cards worth of music...when I first saw the product at canjam I was told it was as simple as loading the cards and playing them without fuss....the idea of a chord based DAP without having to take anything else along with me was and is very attractive to me...when I started to read of all the various issues and complications involving the process...ie...only reading 1 card...indexing, the difficulting using 3rd party apps to complete the process it became far less attractive to me...presently I connect my old astell kern 120 with 2 SD card slots to my H2 via optical and use it like that....sadly that seems easier than all the complications involving 3rd party apps etc so I cancelled my order...if and when I read that chord has simplified the process so that I can turn on my H2/2GO and see the 2 cards and play without all sorts of aggravations I am in ...and hopefully that would be on the chord app itself....until then I will stick with my current setup

 

[rmsanger]

I am using my 2go and Beyer t1.2 with the RebelAmp - its really great! Highly recommendable!

What are your thoughts on the RebelAmp? I've seen the Z review but other people are just starting to trickle in with confirmations that they have them. Does it live up to the hype and worth $500? Do you think it compares well with the THX stuff and the Robert Neve RNHP?

 

[ubs28]

I pretty much bought all the apps in the Apple Store because Chord did not make a real app for the Chord Poly / 2GO.

It is a great way to stimulate the economy I suppose

 

[ubs28]

IMO, Chord should focus on sound quality first rather than developing a real app. I actually noticed some pops this weekend with DLNA / SD playback (it is very rare so it is quite difficult to notice it) For an audiophile device, this is the number 1 priority.

(I don’t care what What-hifi says, you cannot give a product a 5 star rating on sound if the output is not even good. You don’t give a TV a 5 star rating when the screen distorts and strange artifacts are popping up)

 

[Doody]

IMO, Chord should focus on sound quality first rather than developing a real app. I actually noticed some pops this weekend with DLNA / SD playback (it is very rare so it is quite difficult to notice it) For an audiophile device, this is the number 1 priority.

TBF, Chord is kinda between a rock and a hard place here.

The guys who create successful DAPs have material staffs of firmware engineers and os engineers and application engineers. The customers clamor for streaming Tidal and Qobuz; for multiple SD cards; for casting those SD cards to other devices; for casting other devices to 2go; for playlists and blah blah blah. This is a bunch of work. Their hope was to use open protocols to make it all easy - but that ecosystem appears to be geek-heavy, so the results are not something my mother could use. It's possible they have some bugs too with 2go and GoFigure, but those are almost certainly fixable.

It's a messy spot. They could do something ultra simplistic, and half the customers will argue "my $250 DAP does ALL this stuff!" and they could do something wildly complex, and they'd have to hire a load of people and probably raise prices. They tried the middle ground and it's "working most of the time" which is something, albeit not optimal, as has been pointed out.

I know they learned a lot from Poly, and it appears 2go is less of a release mess than Poly, so that's something. I don't envy them their task here. Let's try to be patient!

Doody

 

[MSXX]

What are your thoughts on the RebelAmp? I've seen the Z review but other people are just starting to trickle in with confirmations that they have them. Does it live up to the hype and worth $500? Do you think it compares well with the THX stuff and the Robert Neve RNHP?

I like it. And I think it is well worth its price. Do I think it is the best amp ever - I do not. I haven't heard THX or Neve, so can't comment on that. The reason why I bought it was that I was going for a different sound signature than the THX. Interestingly the difference when using my Beyerdynamic t1.2 straight out of the hugo2go or hugo2go feeding the rebel amp isn't that big, which is maybe saying something about the rebel amp. I definitely get more background noise when using the hugo2go with the rebelamp but I also get a more meatier low end and a little warmth which I prefer.

The 2go has me trying out a lot of stuff and just ordered some new cables to test out because the 2go is doing something to my stereo system. The music has blackest and quietest back ground but also can sound a bit thin, uninvolving and not as "musical" as before. Maybe it is just my brain adjusting to the new sound but it is harder for me adjusting to the 2go/Hugo combi then it was with the mojo/poly combi.

 

[MSXX]

They tried the middle ground and it's "working most of the time" which is something, albeit not optimal, as has been pointed out.

I take your point on being patient. And this may sound truly naive as I know nothing about app development or software engineering, but I can't figure out why Chord didn't partner with one of third party apps out there. If needed even take 50dollar more for each 2go and give it to that app firm. Imagine something looking and acting decent like Rigelian (which is working solid playing from the SD-card) but with the integrated ability to stream tidal and Qobuz - that would be all I need.

And If I can dream make it possible for Roon to see and play from the SD-cards on the 2go when used as a Roon-endpoint.

 

[DaddyWhale]

@Peter Hyatt I finally got around to using a 1tb SanDisk microsd in the 2go. The card was 80% full. The 2go indexed and played the card without a hitch. I was pleasantly surprised that it "only" took about an hour to do the indexing.

 

[Peter Hyatt]

@Peter Hyatt I finally got around to using a 1tb SanDisk microsd in the 2go. The card was 80% full. The 2go indexed and played the card without a hitch. I was pleasantly surprised that it "only" took about an hour to do the indexing.

with 2Go now working smoothly, I think it would be easier for me to use a 1TB than 2 512’s.

Both cards are near capacity but...
I told myself I wouldn’t purchase any new music.

I lied.

 

[DaddyWhale]

with 2Go now working smoothly, I think it would be easier for me to use a 1TB than 2 512’s.

Both cards are near capacity but...
I told myself I wouldn’t purchase any new music.

I lied.

Purely my opinion: buying music is way better than constantly buying new audio gear!

 

[supervisor]

Purely my opinion: buying music is way better than constantly buying new audio gear!

really? music streams for free. new audio gear does not.

 

[Widell]

I pretty much bought all the apps in the Apple Store because Chord did not make a real app for the Chord Poly / 2GO.

It is a great way to stimulate the economy I suppose

So which app is best? Which can stream high rez Tidal and Qobuz on the go?