[JWahl]

Yes, It's just that Chord happen to win multiple awards from different audio professional reviewing companies year after year vs. Schiit barely having won 1 award in the past 10 years or so. So you know it's a Head-fi hype.

In all fairness, a lot of people don't put too much weight in professional review awards. Also, Schiit doesn't send gear to professional reviewers as often.

Both make good products in their respective categories. Chord has a dominance in transportable Dacs at the moment, resulting in inflated prices (except Mojo) due to lack of competition. Schiit products tend to offer excellent value with the absence of distributer/dealer markups.

For me at least, the main allure of the Chord products is the sound quality in a small footprint. Some times I just like to sit on the couch with my laptop and listen straight out of the Mojo, even though it sounds better out of my amp.

The Hugo 2 would be tempting for the same reason if it were more affordable. For now I either wait to see a 2qute successor and use my amp, or sell my amp and Mojo toward a Hugo 2, if the price comes down a bit. I was really bummed when it went up higher after the launch.

 

[Music Alchemist]

I was really bummed when it went up higher after the launch.

Never mind. The dealer I linked to does not ship outside the UK. But in case they let you buy online and then pick it up there, here's the link anyway:

http://www.analogueseduction.net/category-1630/hugo2.html

 

[Kalavere]

I'm still holding on for a 2Qute, successor. It'll no doubt be vastly more expensive than the 2Qute, but it is a lovely little thing.

 

[Music Alchemist]

I'm still holding on for a 2Qute, successor. It'll no doubt be vastly more expensive than the 2Qute, but it is a lovely little thing.

If it follows the pattern of the original Hugo and 2Qute, it should be more affordable than the Hugo 2. Even now that the Hugo 2 is out, the Hugo is still sold for $2,000 in the US. Also notice how the 2Qute went from $1,795 to $1,295 in the US. Since the Hugo 2 is selling at a price that is actually lower than the original price the Hugo was at, perhaps the 2Qute successor's price won't differ too much from the original, and could even end up costing less if we're lucky.

 

[Triode User]

If it follows the pattern of the original Hugo and 2Qute, it should be more affordable than the Hugo 2. Even now that the Hugo 2 is out, the Hugo is still sold for $2,000 in the US. Also notice how the 2Qute went from $1,795 to $1,295 in the US. Since the Hugo 2 is selling at a price that is actually lower than the original price the Hugo was at, perhaps the 2Qute successor's price won't differ too much from the original, and could even end up costing less if we're lucky.

I suspect that these pricing patterns owe more to the large recent currency swings than to any Chord pricing policy.

 

[Music Alchemist]

I suspect that these pricing patterns owe more to the large recent currency swings than to any Chord pricing policy.

Then consider the UK prices. (Listed in GBP with VAT.)

Hugo 2: 1,799
Hugo: 1,499
2Qute: 995

Unless the 2Qute successor gets new features (beside the better tech) that up the price, it should be well below $2,000 USD.

 

[claud W]

Ordered my 2Qute last night from my neighbor Drew @ Moon. I'll get it in a day or two. I have been wondering if I made a mistake in replacing my Schiit ModiMultibit. Some posts in this thread say I did not. This will be my end game puter system with my Liquid Carbon V2 amp and my Wywires USB and ICs.

 

[sotto123]

Ordered my 2Qute last night from my neighbor Drew @ Moon. I'll get it in a day or two. I have been wondering if I made a mistake in replacing my Schiit ModiMultibit. Some posts in this thread say I did not. This will be my end game puter system with my Liquid Carbon V2 amp and my Wywires USB and ICs.

I upgraded from the Modi Multibit. The comparison isn't close. While I doubt you can beat the Mumby for the money, the 2Qute outshines it. The mumby sounded quite digital, it presented lots of detail but in a way that called attention to itself as if it was trying to impress you. The 2Qute is a lot more musical, natural, and never sounds congested. Everything just flows. You can also use it straight from USB with nothing in between just fine too.

 

[Kalavere]

The mumby sounded quite digital, it presented lots of detail but in a way that called attention to itself as if it was trying to impress you. The 2Qute is a lot more musical, natural, and never sounds congested. Everything just flows.

This is the exact same way I'd describe Schiit vs Chord. Bifrost Vs 2Qute is exactly the same.

 

[Dvdlucena]

This is the exact same way I'd describe Schiit vs Chord. Bifrost Vs 2Qute is exactly the same.

I have bimby, yggdrasil, Mojo and 2 qute and IMHO, chord can be in SOME tracks more musical, but i would choose bimby any day for a serious listen and acoustic music. just my 2 cents

My first DAC was a 2qute, although i'm a noob in electronics, i play the trumpet professionally since 1982. I enjoyed 2qute a lot, but the first time that a heard a trumpet piece in the BIMBY I thought: man... this is how a trumpet and a orchestra should sound!!!

this is a simple example. But indeed, with electronic music sometimes a prefer 2qute over yggdrasil.

 

[sotto123]

I have bimby, yggdrasil, Mojo and 2 qute and IMHO, chord can be in SOME tracks more musical, but i would choose bimby any day for a serious listen and acoustic music. just my 2 cents

I suppose which one is more musical is subjective depending on what you're looking for. Musical to me is how well the music flows. For me, the 2Qute wins.

I was going ask you if you think the 2Qute or Mimby is clearer sounding. For me there was no contest between the two. The Mimby sounded congested whereas the 2Qute didn't with better separation. I see you were really talking about the Bimby as you've edited your post though. How does the Bimby compare to the 2Qute in this aspect? What about the Yggy?

 

[Kalavere]

I find the Bifrost Multibit more sterile than the 2Qute, I listen to a lot of jazz and the 2Qute is just more organic, it's more fun to listen to, it has a very pleasing character to my ear, far more so than the Bifrost Multibit.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Ordered my 2Qute last night from my neighbor Drew @ Moon. I'll get it in a day or two. I have been wondering if I made a mistake in replacing my Schiit ModiMultibit. Some posts in this thread say I did not. This will be my end game puter system with my Liquid Carbon V2 amp and my Wywires USB and ICs.

I had both DACs at the same time. The 2Qute is a worthy upgrade as long as you can easily afford it.

I have bimby, yggdrasil, Mojo and 2 qute and IMHO, chord can be in SOME tracks more musical, but i would choose bimby any day for a serious listen and acoustic music. just my 2 cents

My first DAC was a 2qute, although i'm a noob in electronics, i play the trumpet professionally since 1982. I enjoyed 2qute a lot, but the first time that a heard a trumpet piece in the BIMBY I thought: man... this is how a trumpet and a orchestra should sound!!!

this is a simple example. But indeed, with electronic music sometimes a prefer 2qute over yggdrasil.

Ah, I didn't know you were a fellow musician. (Or maybe I just forgot. I think I did come across one or two of your posts about that.)

I've done vocals and piano since the early '90s and guitar and trombone since the late '90s. Although I'm a mere amateur, I have experience performing in orchestras, wind ensembles, marching bands, a jazz band, metal band, etc. and have even performed alongside famous artists.

Anyway... I'm curious about a handful of DACs and stopped caring about any others. It's no secret that I'm a huge Chord fan, so the Hugo 2, DAVE, and Blu Mk2 are of prime interest to me. I'd like to get to know R2R DACs as well, namely, the Schiit Yggdrasil, Holo Spring DAC Level 3, and Audio-gd R2R 7. The only R2R I've had so far is the Modi Multibit, and Schiit's multibit DACs are hybrid R2R. Can't recall how it works.

During my DAC research, I came across many of the technical posts about how Chord DACs perform/measure better than most or even all DACs regardless of price in seemingly every area. (Timing accuracy, noise floor modulation, noise shaping, distortion, jitter, dynamic range, etc.) Despite this, there are plenty of people who think certain R2R DACs are better...so I want to find out which objective aspects of sound correlate to this. Are they actually higher fidelity? If so, in which areas? And if not, I guess it just comes down to preference.

 

[SearchOfSub]

In all fairness, a lot of people don't put too much weight in professional review awards. Also, Schiit doesn't send gear to professional reviewers as often.

Both make good products in their respective categories. Chord has a dominance in transportable Dacs at the moment, resulting in inflated prices (except Mojo) due to lack of competition. Schiit products tend to offer excellent value with the absence of distributer/dealer markups.

For me at least, the main allure of the Chord products is the sound quality in a small footprint. Some times I just like to sit on the couch with my laptop and listen straight out of the Mojo, even though it sounds better out of my amp.

The Hugo 2 would be tempting for the same reason if it were more affordable. For now I either wait to see a 2qute successor and use my amp, or sell my amp and Mojo toward a Hugo 2, if the price comes down a bit. I was really bummed when it went up higher after the launch.

Schiit does send their products to professional reviewers in the past. Its just that they are not wining awards because there are others products far superior. You may not think about other peoples money because its not your money. But please dont say stuff like this.

 

[claud W]

I like my Schiit stack. Ragg and Yiggy are my high end system. I do not expect the same out of my puter system that will soon have the 2Qute. Thank you for the opinions guys. I may just keep the ModiMultibit for later comparison. What is a good breakin period for the 2Qute? Do I leave ir powered on like Schiit DACS?