Chord Electronics - Hugo 2 - The Official Thread
Feb 28, 2019 at 5:01 PM Post #15,571 of 22,433
Been away from this thread for a bit - loving my Hugo2.

Question - has anyone used it with the new Ether 2 ? I have ordered the Ether 2 and a limited demo was rather promising but I would be interested to hear others views if they own both.

I tried the search feature but it threw up lots of other Ethers not the Ether 2.

This is my current set up and I love it. I didn’t demo the Ether 2 on anything else so I can’t compare it to anything. However, there is a ton of detail and plenty of power to drive the Ether 2s. I love them on the white (or green) filter and red (1) cross fade setting.

The Ether2s also have a fantastic presentation for vocals and the Hugo2 really has nice synergy if you are someone that wants to appreciate vocals.
 
Feb 28, 2019 at 5:03 PM Post #15,572 of 22,433
Yes I did. Converting to DSD allows HQPlayer 16M taps to have it’s affect like the mscaler. IMHO

All good. Some may not know this happens with Hugo2, so just wanted them to know that this is going from a PCM source file > to HQPlayer up-sampled DSD > then back to PCM after Hugo2's decimation filter.

What DSD sample rate can your Mac go up to, with that filter?
 
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Feb 28, 2019 at 6:25 PM Post #15,573 of 22,433
All good. Some may not know this happens with Hugo2, so just wanted them to know that this is going from a PCM source file > to HQPlayer up-sampled DSD > then back to PCM after Hugo2's decimation filter.

What DSD sample rate can your Mac go up to, with that filter?

With 96khz flac file I’m getting DSD 128x48. Not sure what the x48 means. Maybe someone can explain. My favorite filter is closed-form.
 
Mar 1, 2019 at 1:53 PM Post #15,575 of 22,433
This is my current set up and I love it. I didn’t demo the Ether 2 on anything else so I can’t compare it to anything. However, there is a ton of detail and plenty of power to drive the Ether 2s. I love them on the white (or green) filter and red (1) cross fade setting.

The Ether2s also have a fantastic presentation for vocals and the Hugo2 really has nice synergy if you are someone that wants to appreciate vocals.

I've got them plugged into the Hugo2 now and they are indeed superb !
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 7:08 AM Post #15,576 of 22,433
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Mar 2, 2019 at 7:13 AM Post #15,577 of 22,433
which u think is better to use with macbook pro 2018

the ifi otg adapter

https://www.ebay.com/itm/iFi-Audio-...h=item2ac25c34fd:g:oBkAAOSwEONcSAJc:rk:1:pf:1

or the audioquest usb A to usb c adapter

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01ND0BBN4/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

also what r ur thoughts on adding to the chain the audioquest jitterbug

i saw that John darko in his audeze 4z review using the ifi otg with audioquest jitterbug, at bout 7 minutes into the video



Definitely the AudioQuest. Simply because it provides the shortest path. It is just an adaptor whereas the iFi is a cable and its primary purpose is an OTG cable.

I too have considered the Jitterbug but I am not convinced it would do any good, and I understand it has the capacity to do the opposite if you already have a good USB implementation akin to adding loads of ferrite chokes to an already appropriately shielded cable. My advice is to save your money on that one.
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 8:48 AM Post #15,578 of 22,433
Definitely the AudioQuest. Simply because it provides the shortest path. It is just an adaptor whereas the iFi is a cable and its primary purpose is an OTG cable.

I too have considered the Jitterbug but I am not convinced it would do any good, and I understand it has the capacity to do the opposite if you already have a good USB implementation akin to adding loads of ferrite chokes to an already appropriately shielded cable. My advice is to save your money on that one.
Did rob say jitterbug helps when source (laptop) is connected to the mains.... or something ....
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 8:51 AM Post #15,579 of 22,433
Did rob say jitterbug helps when source (laptop) is connected to the mains.... or something ....

You mean this?

I have finally gotten round to listen to the AQ jitterbug, as a quest to understand where the RF noise problems from the source was coming from - via the mains or the USB.

Firstly - very much - YMWV as RF noise is a funny thing and source noise may affect other parts of the system, so the findings here may well be different in other circumstances.

So I did the tests with just a Win 10 lap-top (jRiver), Dave and pair of Nighthawks, in a hotel in Singapore. The idea was to try to evaluate whether the SQ improvements I heard when disconnecting the lap-top from mains and running off battery was from the USB connection or via the mains supply. Now Dave is galvanically isolated from LF and RF noise, and this makes a huge difference in SQ. But the galvanic isolation is not perfect as there exists a 2pF coupling capacitance. Now you may think 2pF is nothing to worry about; but at 1 GHz it is nearly 80 ohms impedance, so RF noise in the GHz will couple through - and I know that GHz noise is significant in causing noise floor modulation and hence changing the sound quality.

I used my design lap-top, an MSI Intel i7 machine, as it will be noisier than my music lap-top (HP Pavilion) which is very power efficient. This is so it would be easier to hear any changes.

So adding the Audioquest Jitter Bug did indeed improve SQ - it was fairly easy to hear it, with it sounding smoother, warmer, with less sibilance and glare. Instrument separation and focus was better. These are exactly the kind of change I hear with lower RF noise, so it was not unexpected.

Next was to do the listening test with the lap-top on batteries - and then it became impossible to reliably hear the effect of the jitter bug. Additionally, the improvements heard were much smaller with the jitter bug connected when you disconnect the lap-top power. Here is a rough assessment of SQ performance with 100% for best, 0% for worst:

Lap-top battery power, no jitter bug 100%
Lap-top battery power with jitter bug 100%
Lap-top mains power with jitter bug 75%
Lap-top mains power no jitter bug 0%

So what does this tell us? Basically the most significant path of RF is residual coupling via the USB, not via the mains supply as the jitterbug alone gets you most of the way.

Use the jitter bug for mains powered USB sources - it is worth the small cost.

The best sound is still with a Win 10 lap-top on battery and for critical listening that is what I do. Battery operation and Dave's galvanic isolation means effectively perfect RF noise isolation from the source.

Note also Win 10 is technically better than iOS xx, Android or Linux as these driver less USB's do not guarantee bit perfect data at the DAC; but Chord's Win driver does resend faulty packets, so we can guarantee bit perfect data for Dave. It would be interesting to do a listening test of driver less against Win.

Rob

The Audioquest Jitterbug is a small but worthwhile improvement - and that's down to lower RF noise levels not jitter. If you use ferrites in the USB gnd the benefits of using the jitterbug disappears; so you may already be good to go with the ferrite jacket QED cable.

Rob
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 9:39 AM Post #15,581 of 22,433
Interesting post. Thank you for re-posting it, that has almost made me rethink the Jitterbug...

But, that final quote seems to suggest that a well shielded cable gives you the same benefits? Or am I missing something?
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 9:52 AM Post #15,582 of 22,433
Interesting post. Thank you for re-posting it, that has almost made me rethink the Jitterbug...

But, that final quote seems to suggest that a well shielded cable gives you the same benefits? Or am I missing something?
For £30 - think if the piece of mind of double shielding !
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 10:34 AM Post #15,583 of 22,433
this sucks big time, my macbook pro 2018 has this issue, i can not believe that i bought a mac for playback of audio and now that glitch, yes i use it for all other work stuff but in my mind i had the audio playback as an important factor when i bought it

http://cdm.link/2019/02/apple-2018-glitch/
 
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Mar 2, 2019 at 10:39 AM Post #15,585 of 22,433
Does using exclusive mode help at all? I don't think I've entirely understood the issue but when I read "glitches" I always think exclusive mode...

i do not know what u mean by exclusive mode but this glitch or playback issue happens and you hear a cut off and a static noise every now and then, i tried with qutest, hugo2, burson, and so many others
 
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