[yakaway]

I think I acknowledged that we are talking about hugo 2 plus blu 2 giving a better result than blue plus dave, but only in that instance.

 

[zimzim2001]

I think I acknowledged that we are talking about hugo 2 plus blu 2 giving a better result than blue plus dave, but only in that instance.

Ah, OK. The key component is the Blu2.

 

[draytonklammer]

Is there any discussion of the dave being replaced by a new flagship chord product

I was worried about the same thing, especially spending this much money.
That being said, the Dave is one of the best purchases I have made in my lifetime thus far.

 

[etnt]

But to go back to this idea that Blu 2 and Hugo 2 have a better sound than Blu 2 and Dave is just mind blowing. And, yes I will likely be purchasing a Blu 2 at some point soon.

I think I acknowledged that we are talking about hugo 2 plus blu 2 giving a better result than blue plus dave, but only in that instance.

I'm confused, are you talking about blu2+dave or blu1+dave? And if it's the former, I don't know where you got the above conclusion.

 

[yakaway]

Correct me if im wrong but I've been clear that we are talking about blu 2 with dave and hugo 2

 

[etnt]

Correct me if im wrong but I've been clear that we are talking about blu 2 with dave and hugo 2

Then nope, bluh2 does not sound better than bludave

 

[x RELIC x]

Correct me if im wrong but I've been clear that we are talking about blu 2 with dave and hugo 2

Could you please point to where you’ve read the Blu mk2+Hugo2 is superior to Blu mk2+DAVE please. I’ve never read this... what I have read are impressions that put Blu mk2+Hugo2 ahead of DAVE alone, but the Blu mk2+DAVE is superior to Blu mk2+Hugo2.

 

[Triode User]

I actually own the Hugo 2.
Bought it for its great quality, versatility and also for its relative portability (and I do mean relative).
I understand the mojo has more coloration and is a good all arounder, but the price was right so I opted for the Hugo 2. I'm glad I did

I got into this hobby about a month ago and went from HE 560s, to tesla t1 gen 2's. When my Focal Utopias came, I knew the others have to go back! There was just no comparison.

Its been a busy month. Added the stax 009s with the SRM-7tII (which I am not happy with, but that'll have to be discussed elsewhere I suppose), and Abyss 1266's are on their way from Europe (on the list for Phi upgrade).

To keep this short, the Hugo 2 and Utopias are wonderful. I actually thought I was craazy for not being satisifed with the way I was hearing music... Until now.

But to go back to this idea that Blu 2 and Hugo 2 have a better sound than Blu 2 and Dave is just mind blowing. And, yes I will likely be purchasing a Blu 2 at some point soon.

Just bought a PS audio transport (price was right) and so I want to spend a minute with that configuration.

Can anyone offer an explanation to this notion? Are there multiple articles describing this. Any mention or input from Chord directly? Is this one person's impression or does this have merit?

If I were a DAVE owner, I'm not quite sure how I'd feel about this. Better performance for less money is great, unless you are the guy who spent more for a dave.

I suppose it will be better from every other source, so it's probably unjustifiable for the cost.

Where did you get the crazy and incorrect idea that Blu2 and Hugo2 sound better than Blu2 and Dave?

 

[simorag]

Is the Phi smoother than HD 800 S for sibilance?

Phi has a more extended and grain free treble compared to HD800S. That said, it is not smoother as long as sibilance is concerned IMO.

Yesterday I made another test.
I put the DAVE in DSD+ mode and played the playlist above with HQPlayer converting the PCM files to DSD256 (unfortunately my laptop can't handle DSD512). I am not sure whether PCM or DSD version sound better (need to spend more time on that, and don't want to re-open this old debate here), but for sure the sibilants were smoother with DSD.

 

[draytonklammer]

What's the difference between using PCM or DSD mode on this DAC with FLAC files? (if there's a difference)

 

[yakaway]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/chord-blu-mk-ii-digital-cd-transport.22848/reviews#review-19675

Except;
I will not be replacing my BluDAVE with a BluHugo2 (I am addicted to the BluDAVE sound), but the BluHugo2 is (remarkably) a huge step above the DAVE.

 

[etnt]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/chord-blu-mk-ii-digital-cd-transport.22848/reviews#review-19675

Which correspond to what the rest of us here are saying

 

[yakaway]

Really, you were saying that... interesting

 

[etnt]

As zimzim2001 summarized
Hugo2<Dave<Hugo2+Blu2<Dave+Blu2

 

[Jawed]

With all that talk about ferrites, made me wonder, is it possible to somehow add them to the next product? Let's say there is a standalone MScaler. Would it be possible to have a built in batch of ferrites, or whatever would offer good isolation right in the product itself?

DAVE is where the problem is, since RF noise affects the analogue circuitry (pulse array and output amplifier) causing sound quality problems.

Blu 2 has some filtering on its BNC outputs. It's just not enough at very high frequencies (10s of MHz to a few GHz seems to be the problem range).

The Canare 12G BNC cables (made for 4K video, which is why they're cheap!) appear to be the best naked BNC cables as people are finding it hard (impossible?) to improve the sound quality with yet more ferrites put on them.

Ferrites definitely make a difference on most BNC cables connecting Blu 2 and DAVE (according to reports on HeadFi) but I don't know of an explanation as to why the naked Canare cable is working so well, since in theory Blu 2 is putting common-mode noise into the cable, but apparently that noise isn't getting into DAVE.

There's still a sense that the Canare cables aren't able to remove all of the problems caused by a USB source feeding Blu 2. It may be that some of these problems aren't due to common-mode RF noise and so ferrites (or a good cable) cannot solve the problem.

Then we wouldn't have to make our cables look weird by putting them on the cables.

I don't know why people think the look of a cable is a problem: I have 66 covering the full length of my USB cable and 40 on the mains cable... If it was actually upsetting then you could put a jacket on the cable:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073RHL84X

Now playing: Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls - Propaganda