[Scrum92]

It's nearly two weeks since I was kindly loaned a Jitterbug by @Triode User. With a very busy work schedule I often don't find the time to really relax into the music of an evening and with having my lounge decorated I've not had as much time as I'd have liked however I've now had enough time to at least provide impressions I think.

First impressions (and I mean literally the first track) were great, but because I often go days without listening to my home setup it's not unusual to wowed all over again. I've not roped my girlfriend into to help me do some (unscientific) blind testing, but I did a quick swap between Jitterbug/non-Jitterbug and didn't really, if I am honest, notice differences. Then again it was entirely sighted so that's almost certainly meaningless.

I sit here typing whilst listening to 'Third Eye (Demo)' from the How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful album by Florence + The Machine and Florence's voice is almost haunting, as if I am there in the studio. This is something I've experienced with and without the Jitterbug and so I suppose what I am trying to say is that the Jitterbug is seemingly not doing any harm, which I had previously suspected it might, but it's not necessarily doing any good either. At the very least my fears about the Jitterbug negatively impacting sound which put me off buying it before now have been put to be.

When I send back @Triode User his Jitterbug I'll return to listening without and see if I find myself wanting. At £40 it's almost in the sort of territory where I'd probably buy it "just in case".

 

[GreenBow]

It's nearly two weeks since I was kindly loaned a Jitterbug by @Triode User. With a very busy work schedule I often don't find the time to really relax into the music of an evening and with having my lounge decorated I've not had as much time as I'd have liked however I've now had enough time to at least provide impressions I think.

First impressions (and I mean literally the first track) were great, but because I often go days without listening to my home setup it's not unusual to wowed all over again. I've not roped my girlfriend into to help me do some (unscientific) blind testing, but I did a quick swap between Jitterbug/non-Jitterbug and didn't really, if I am honest, notice differences. Then again it was entirely sighted so that's almost certainly meaningless.

I sit here typing whilst listening to 'Third Eye (Demo)' from the How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful album by Florence + The Machine and Florence's voice is almost haunting, as if I am there in the studio. This is something I've experienced with and without the Jitterbug and so I suppose what I am trying to say is that the Jitterbug is seemingly not doing any harm, which I had previously suspected it might, but it's not necessarily doing any good either. At the very least my fears about the Jitterbug negatively impacting sound which put me off buying it before now have been put to be.

When I send back @Triode User his Jitterbug I'll return to listening without and see if I find myself wanting. At £40 it's almost in the sort of territory where I'd probably buy it "just in case".

If you have a Mojo, maybe try Jitterbug with that. The Hugo 2 is said to have RFI filtering on the USB input, and Mojo doesn't.

 

[514077]

It's nearly two weeks since I was kindly loaned a Jitterbug by @Triode User. With a very busy work schedule I often don't find the time to really relax into the music of an evening and with having my lounge decorated I've not had as much time as I'd have liked however I've now had enough time to at least provide impressions I think.

First impressions (and I mean literally the first track) were great, but because I often go days without listening to my home setup it's not unusual to wowed all over again. I've not roped my girlfriend into to help me do some (unscientific) blind testing, but I did a quick swap between Jitterbug/non-Jitterbug and didn't really, if I am honest, notice differences. Then again it was entirely sighted so that's almost certainly meaningless.

I sit here typing whilst listening to 'Third Eye (Demo)' from the How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful album by Florence + The Machine and Florence's voice is almost haunting, as if I am there in the studio. This is something I've experienced with and without the Jitterbug and so I suppose what I am trying to say is that the Jitterbug is seemingly not doing any harm, which I had previously suspected it might, but it's not necessarily doing any good either. At the very least my fears about the Jitterbug negatively impacting sound which put me off buying it before now have been put to be.

When I send back @Triode User his Jitterbug I'll return to listening without and see if I find myself wanting. At £40 it's almost in the sort of territory where I'd probably buy it "just in case".

When I do A/B testing, if I think I hear a difference, it's believable enough for me. So, if you discredit your sighted test, I don't.
And thanks.

 

[STR-1]

At £40 it's almost in the sort of territory where I'd probably buy it "just in case".

A bit less on ebay. There’s nothing much to go wrong with them, so safe to buy used. I sold mine more than a year ago for about £30.

 

[Scrum92]

If you have a Mojo, maybe try Jitterbug with that. The Hugo 2 is said to have RFI filtering on the USB input, and Mojo doesn't.

I sold my Mojo shortly after receiving Hugo 2. It became redundant.

For what it's worth, and I would be interested to hear other's views on this, I found Mojo to be like the brash and louder younger sibling of Hugo 2. Very engaging and exciting, in-your-face if you will, but lacking the finesse, refinement and control of Hugo 2.

 

[GreenBow]

I sold my Mojo shortly after receiving Hugo 2. It became redundant.

For what it's worth, and I would be interested to hear other's views on this, I found Mojo to be like the brash and louder younger sibling of Hugo 2. Very engaging and exciting, in-your-face if you will, but lacking the finesse, refinement and control of Hugo 2.

I couldn't part with my Mojo. I get an emotional response from just handling it, which would be down to the years of enjoyment it gave me. It's also back up in case my Hugo 2 ever goes down.

No-one would expect the Mojo to be able to compete with the Hugo 2. (Although there are those who prefer the Mojo.) However for quite some time, the Mojo was considered the best DAC under £1000, or rather under the 2Qute. Only price reduction of the 2Qute has altered that. I think there may be the possibility that the Audiolab M-DAC+ might have shout in that range, but no real idea. (It did win an award in its price range once, but that soon disappeared. If the M-DAC + is truly better than Mojo sonically, then it might offer a better desktop solution. As it's not battery powered anyway.)

I still use Mojo, even though I have Hugo 2. I use Mojo away from desktop use, because I don't like to be unplugging and re-plugging Hugo 2 back in. I would not criticise Mojo though, because it's beyond criticism, and secondly because it's all some can afford. (The Hugo 2 is substantially better for me though. I knew the moment it started playing music after I bought it. Although Hugo 2 took a month to adjust to completely.)

 

[Peter Hyatt]

I couldn't part with my Mojo. I get an emotional response from just handling it, which would be down to the years of enjoyment it gave me. .)

Refreshing honesty.

 

[Law87]

anyone using Audirvana Plus and get static when upsampling to DSD? if so anyway to stop it?

 

[Law87]

I couldn't part with my Mojo. I get an emotional response from just handling it, which would be down to the years of enjoyment it gave me. It's also back up in case my Hugo 2 ever goes down.

No-one would expect the Mojo to be able to compete with the Hugo 2. (Although there are those who prefer the Mojo.) However for quite some time, the Mojo was considered the best DAC under £1000, or rather under the 2Qute. Only price reduction of the 2Qute has altered that. I think there may be the possibility that the Audiolab M-DAC+ might have shout in that range, but no real idea. (It did win an award in its price range once, but that soon disappeared. If the M-DAC + is truly better than Mojo sonically, then it might offer a better desktop solution. As it's not battery powered anyway.)

I still use Mojo, even though I have Hugo 2. I use Mojo away from desktop use, because I don't like to be unplugging and re-plugging Hugo 2 back in. I would not criticise Mojo though, because it's beyond criticism, and secondly because it's all some can afford. (The Hugo 2 is substantially better for me though. I knew the moment it started playing music after I bought it. Although Hugo 2 took a month to adjust to completely.)

consider that the IFI Micro BL compete with the Mojo and some people say that it beat the mojo, I dont see how this is even possible in the slightest....my Hugo 1 just totally decimate the IFI. Did a blind test with a friend, and 9/10 time with the T1 and HD820 he pick the Hugo over IFI and hes not an audiophile and think I'm an idiot to spend so much money on audio gear. The only song that he felt more enjoyable was Jay-z because it pound harder.

His word:

it just sound bigger, larger more grand.
Andrea Bocelli - Amo toltanto te, he says the background while people cheering and clapping sound more realistic, the IFI just sound like artificial generated clapping sound, sound hollow. He does like the bass boost in the IFI though.

Havent done a blind test between the H1 and H2 though but I can probably tell he will like the H2 more because of the bass quality and quantity.

 

[Mikey99]

I have the same issue in the Netherlands with Hugo2 and Mojo. It also goes away when I touch them.

I also tried it with another Hugo2 at my dealer, same thing happened.

Humming Hugo 2 -- what to do?

When connected to the mains (I am based in the UK), I have a humming/buzzing through the headphones. When I touch the Hugo, the humming disappears. Also, I have no humming when the Hugo running on batteries. To add to my confusion, I have no humming when I have the Hugo connected to mains in South Korea. Does anybody have a clue what might be going on here? Any idea how to fix the problem? Apart from the headphones, I have only connected my Android phone. Actually, when I disconnect the phone, it doesn't make any difference -- the humming stays, and disappears when touching the Hugo...

In an earlier posting, @ecapsretliab reported a ground loop hum with his Hugo when connected to the mains. Is this what I am having too? In response to @ecapsretliab 's posting @Currawong wrote that one needed to identify the source of humming. How can I do this? My technical knowledge is very limited -- advice would be most appreciated? How do I stop my Hugo humming??

Many thanks!!

 

[CreditingKarma]

anyone using Audirvana Plus and get static when upsampling to DSD? if so anyway to stop it?

I am not getting any static but I use audirvana with the mscaler first then into the hugo. I will try the hugo alone later.

 

[Law87]

I am not getting any static but I use audirvana with the mscaler first then into the hugo. I will try the hugo alone later.

thank you, I'm upsampling from Tidal hifi 16/44 to dsd

 

[CreditingKarma]

consider that the IFI Micro BL compete with the Mojo and some people say that it beat the mojo, I dont see how this is even possible in the slightest....my Hugo 1 just totally decimate the IFI. Did a blind test with a friend, and 9/10 time with the T1 and HD820 he pick the Hugo over IFI and hes not an audiophile and think I'm an idiot to spend so much money on audio gear. The only song that he felt more enjoyable was Jay-z because it pound harder.

His word:

it just sound bigger, larger more grand.
Andrea Bocelli - Amo toltanto te, he says the background while people cheering and clapping sound more realistic, the IFI just sound like artificial generated clapping sound, sound hollow. He does like the bass boost in the IFI though.

Havent done a blind test between the H1 and H2 though but I can probably tell he will like the H2 more because of the bass quality and quantity.

I sold my black label after I got the mscaler and hugo2. I really didn't have a need for it all of my headphones are pretty easy to drive and I plan to upgrade to the tt2 a bit later. I use my sp1000cu when I need to be mobile.

 

[Law87]

I sold my black label after I got the mscaler and hugo2. I really didn't have a need for it all of my headphones are pretty easy to drive and I plan to upgrade to the tt2 a bit later. I use my sp1000cu when I need to be mobile.

I think thats where IFI got most consumer from their advertisement "power in a small package" I never had the problem of driving my T1 on H1 or H2, I know what under power amp sound like, I experience it driving my Mrspeaker Alpha Prime with JDS Lab C5D and you can clearly hear distortion when you crank the volume to a listening level. I never ever had to crank my H1 or H2 to max or in hugo case purple-white level, never had to, not on Ether 2, Alpha prime/dog, ZMF, Beyer T1, or Sennheiser HD800's.

People need to stop falling into the "power" advertisement traps, its almost as bad as most of the fuel cleaner additive. If your headphone is driving it without distortion then its fine.

 

[tekkster]

consider that the IFI Micro BL compete with the Mojo and some people say that it beat the mojo, I dont see how this is even possible in the slightest....my Hugo 1 just totally decimate the IFI. Did a blind test with a friend, and 9/10 time with the T1 and HD820 he pick the Hugo over IFI and hes not an audiophile and think I'm an idiot to spend so much money on audio gear. The only song that he felt more enjoyable was Jay-z because it pound harder.

His word:

it just sound bigger, larger more grand.
Andrea Bocelli - Amo toltanto te, he says the background while people cheering and clapping sound more realistic, the IFI just sound like artificial generated clapping sound, sound hollow. He does like the bass boost in the IFI though.

Havent done a blind test between the H1 and H2 though but I can probably tell he will like the H2 more because of the bass quality and quantity.

I don't really judge anyone who prefers the iFi iDSD Micro BL over the Mojo.

I think whether one is "better" or not really just depends on the sound profile each person is looking for. I have both, and really enjoy the iFi iDSD Micro BL for some types of music. It's true that most of the time, I prefer the Mojo, and beyond that, the H2 even more. But then again, most of the time I'm listening to classical or acoustic jazz, so the sound characteristics I seek are just not as good. Once in a while, though, I listen to other types of music, and during those times, sometimes I prefer the sheer "oomph" the iFi iDSD Micro BL pumps out to, say, the T1 or HD800, cuz sometimes "oomph" beats my normal love of transients and details.