[dbturbo2]

How does it compare sound wise to Tidal? It’s not available here in Canada as far as I know.

Former Tidal subscriber who switched to Qobuz for better sound quality. Just streamed some Elvis ultra hd 24/192 files on Amazon Music and the sound quality is fantastic and preliminarily seems at least on par with Qobuz.

 

[GreenBow]

I ordered a Hugo 2 case, and it dispatched today. However I am having doubts about needing it.

When I used my Hugo 2 on my desk, I managed to cause the tiniest amount of damage to it's paintwork. The damage is so small that you would not see it unless you were inspecting the case extremely carefully.

Since then though, I moved my Hugo 2 from my desk, and the chance of it getting damaged more is minimal. My heart was still saying buy a case.

To mix things up:

• I may end up with a 2Go, but that's only 50/50 likely. More likely I will use a phone or laptop for file source.
• I worry about the Hugo 2 getting warmer in the case, especially when charging the battery. I only use Hugo 2 on battery to play music. Very rare charge and play. (Often I switch to Mojo if I run out Hugo 2 battery.)
• A lot of money for a case if I end up deciding not to use it. Reason being that I often use Hugo 2 while legged out on a bed. Hugo 2 gets a bit warm when sat on bedding. It's going to get warmer in a case on bedding. I suppose I could use a small board under Hugo 2 though.

 

[Andyb90]

I ordered a Hugo 2 case, and it dispatched today. However I am having doubts about needing it.

When I used my Hugo 2 on my desk, I managed to cause the tiniest amount of damage to it's paintwork. The damage is so small that you would not see it unless you were inspecting the case extremely carefully.

Since then though, I moved my Hugo 2 from my desk, and the chance of it getting damaged more is minimal. My heart was still saying buy a case.

To mix things up:

• I may end up with a 2Go, but that's only 50/50 likely. More likely I will use a phone or laptop for file source.
• I worry about the Hugo 2 getting warmer in the case, especially when charging the battery. I only use Hugo 2 on battery to play music. Very rare charge and play. (Often I switch to Mojo if I run out Hugo 2 battery.)
• A lot of money for a case if I end up deciding not to use it. Reason being that I often use Hugo 2 while legged out on a bed. Hugo 2 gets a bit warm when sat on bedding. It's going to get warmer in a case on bedding. I suppose I could use a small board under Hugo 2 though.

Might be a good idea to put the H2 on a side table if possible. You could get a longer headphone cable if needed. Then you probably wouldn't need the case. You could use the remote for volume etc.

 

[Hooster]

I ordered a Hugo 2 case, and it dispatched today. However I am having doubts about needing it.

When I used my Hugo 2 on my desk, I managed to cause the tiniest amount of damage to it's paintwork. The damage is so small that you would not see it unless you were inspecting the case extremely carefully.

Since then though, I moved my Hugo 2 from my desk, and the chance of it getting damaged more is minimal. My heart was still saying buy a case.

To mix things up:

• I may end up with a 2Go, but that's only 50/50 likely. More likely I will use a phone or laptop for file source.
• I worry about the Hugo 2 getting warmer in the case, especially when charging the battery. I only use Hugo 2 on battery to play music. Very rare charge and play. (Often I switch to Mojo if I run out Hugo 2 battery.)
• A lot of money for a case if I end up deciding not to use it. Reason being that I often use Hugo 2 while legged out on a bed. Hugo 2 gets a bit warm when sat on bedding. It's going to get warmer in a case on bedding. I suppose I could use a small board under Hugo 2 though.

Place the unit on a soft clean cloth and no case is needed. The last thing you want is to damage the paintwork.

 

[Amberlamps]

Trust me, you'll love the case when it arrives.

The red and black chord & van nuys case is primo quality and even in a static setup, H2 needs to be in it's case. Like mojo and poly and their case, they need each other to be complete.

I just sold my H2 and case for £1300, the buyer got an excellent bargain as both H2 and the case were uber immaculate, the two go together and I wish I never sold them as they just looked so cool. But, I got H2 for £1500 new and the case for £125, I basically rented H2 & case for 18 months and it only cost me £325.

Magic bargain I got, but the case is a Must and you won't be disappoint.

 

[GreenBow]

The cable on my IEMs is just about long enough to have Hugo 2 on a unit next to me. It's better with Hugo 2 closer however.

The rubber feet protect the underneath, but accidentally dropping something on the Hugo 2 is the problem. I will do it one day. That's how it got the two tiny marks on it that it has. They are minute though and you really have to look for them.

As long as it stays cool enough in the case when playing, or charging (not playing), then all is good. I have seen close ups of folks H2 in cases on here, and it does look stunning. I think the H2 looks better, but protecting it is more important.

I think after just writing down my pros and cons, I worked out I should get the case. (I was contemplating letting the delivery people return it rather than accepting it.) Just got to hope I get a nice one, with straight line stitching. Have seen some quite wonky stitching making the case look dodgy, haha.

I wish that Chord had made the case though. The Mojo one that Chord made is way better than the Hugo 2 one, I think.

 

[Peter Hyatt]

Lengthy flights this week—I used Mojo though was hoping for 2Go announcement this month.

Qobuz offline worked well.

I watched a few concerts with Berliner Philharmoniker (cd quality audio) with the download offline option but would prefer SD card of 2Go.

Soon?

 

[GreenBow]

Hugo 2 case arrived. I think this one is not the Van Nuys case. I think Chord have produced their own which looks similar to the Van Nuys. I think I prefer the Chord one, so good result.

Chord Hugo 2 case although mine is black. (Can't seem to save pic of the black one.)




Van Nuys case.



The Van Nuys case has stitching on the front. Chord one doesn't. Van Nuys has separate cut-outs for the volume and port window, which is one cut-out on the Chord case.

 

[qboogie]

Cool there are others in here with the same experience. I have done a lot of A/B-ing this weekend, going back and forth between only CMA600i, Hugo2+600i, Mojo+600i and the Chord units all by themselves. Almost exclusively listening through the Ether Flow.
I find that there is a noticeable difference between the 600i DAC and the Chord DACs. The Chords sound more open and dynamic, the Hugo2 even more so than the Mojo obviously. That being said I also enjoy the slightly smoother DAC of the 600i.
But the biggest difference comes when running the Hugo2 or Mojo through the 600i amp. I would describe it as everything I love with the Chord DACs with added punch and energy. It sounds so clean and powerful. Listening to hard rock and metal it´s like feeling the kick drum in my head. Perfect for planar magnetic headphones. I have done some listening with the Focal Clear too, and while the effect is very much noticeable I found the real magic in the Ether Flows with this setup.
It also makes it possible to tune the sound quite effectively. I have found going between the default line level setting on the Chords and 4 clicks down has a big influence on how energetically the music is presented. Great fun

I keep coming back to this post. I have the mojo running through the cma600i and I love it. It is noticeably sharper and richer than the cma600i alone. I know people aren't really into feeding the Hugo through an external amp because of transparency loss, but the current mode amplification is really something special. To me, it augments the Chord flavor and am desperate to try the hugo 2 on it.

 

[betula]

I keep coming back to this post. I have the mojo running through the cma600i and I love it. It is noticeably sharper and richer than the cma600i alone. I know people aren't really into feeding the Hugo through an external amp because of transparency loss, but the current mode amplification is really something special. To me, it augments the Chord flavor and am desperate to try the hugo 2 on it.

If you don't need the transportability of Hugo2, consider Qutest too. Qutest is much cheaper with the same DAC chip as Hugo2; can be found around £900 used. Big step up to Mojo. I used to run Qutest/CMA600i until I upgraded the amp. Then sold off everything for a TT2.

 

[qboogie]

If you don't need the transportability of Hugo2, consider Qutest too. Qutest is much cheaper with the same DAC chip as Hugo2; can be found around £900 used. Big step up to Mojo. I used to run Qutest/CMA600i until I upgraded the amp. Then sold off everything for a TT2.

Well, I do anticipate I might actually use the Hugo 2's transportability now and again. I think I would get a kick out of walking in the park with a pair of LCD-X or HD-800s on my head looking silly (or sexy, depending on who you ask). I also want to have the potential to A/B the Hugo 2 by itself vs Hugo 2/CMA600i. It wasn't long ago when I read reviews of Grado headphones on CNET like 10 years ago thinking who the hell would buy $1000 headphones, and how much better could things possibly sound compared to my humble Sony MDR-V6? THIS MUCH, apparently.

 

[GreenBow]

If you don't need the transportability of Hugo2, consider Qutest too. Qutest is much cheaper with the same DAC chip as Hugo2; can be found around £900 used. Big step up to Mojo. I used to run Qutest/CMA600i until I upgraded the amp. Then sold off everything for a TT2.

Absolutely. If you don't need Hugo 2 portability, or Hugo 2 headphone port, then buy Qutest every day.

I imagine most folk on Head-Fi would opt for Hugo 2 for headphone port though. I think most Qutest users will be folk using a second DAC. Or folk using a headphone amp/intergrated amp with a DAC.


There is another difference between Qutest and Hugo 2. Rob Watts told me in the Hugo 2 thread, that the Qutest uses the Mojo output stage. Whereas Hugo 2 has its own. The reason being that the Hugo 2 output stage needed to have lower noise I think. Or it being more sensitive, as it runs much lower voltages with headphones and IEMs. Whether or not that would sway someone's decision to buy Hugo 2 over Qutest, I don't know.

I am sure it was in the Hugo 2 thread, so use the 'search this thread' function to try find Rob's post. If anyone wants to that is. If anyone wants to see Rob Watts' wording, since I may have remembered slightly off from what he said.

 

[qboogie]

Absolutely. If you don't need Hugo 2 portability, or Hugo 2 headphone port, then buy Qutest every day.

I imagine most folk on Head-Fi would opt for Hugo 2 for headphone port though. I think most Qutest users will be folk using a second DAC. Or folk using a headphone amp/intergrated amp, with a DAC.


There is another small difference between Qutest and Hugo 2. Rob Watts told me in the Hugo 2 thread, that the Qutest uses the Mojo output stage. Whereas Hugo 2 has its own. The reason being to with Hugo 2 output stage needing to have lower noise I think. Or it being more sensitive, as it runs much lower voltages. Whether or not that would sway someone's decision to buy Hugo 2 over Qutest, I don't know.

Speaking of headphone ports, I have 2 burning questions

1. I am seeing 2 outs on the Hugo 2 -- a 3.5mm and 1/4inch. Do you know if you can jack in 2 different headphones and get the same sound quality compared to one headphone only? They would not be 2 of the same headphone. I am aware of the differences in sensitivity and impedance. I have Hifiman HE-400i, Audeze LCD-X, Senn HD-800s, Sony WH1000-XM3 (BT but can be used in wired mode)

2. Do you think there would be much sound degradation to use an in-line volume slider for the 3.5mm jack, presuming not a cheap-o Radio Shack product. To my knowledge, I have never seen a 1/4 inch in-line volume slider.

Thanks!

 

[GreenBow]

Speaking of headphone ports, I have 2 burning questions

1. I am seeing 2 outs on the Hugo 2 -- a 3.5mm and 1/4inch. Do you know if you can jack in 2 different headphones and get the same sound quality compared to one headphone only? They would not be 2 of the same headphone. I am aware of the differences in sensitivity and impedance. I have Hifiman HE-400i, Audeze LCD-X, Senn HD-800s, Sony WH1000-XM3 (BT but can be used in wired mode)

2. Do you think there would be much sound degradation to use an in-line volume slider for the 3.5mm jack, presuming not a cheap-o Radio Shack product. To my knowledge, I have never seen a 1/4 inch in-line volume slider.

Thanks!

I can only tell you what I think, but only Rob Watts or someone who knows for sure can tell you right.

1. If you use two different headphones, then I believe it's OK. I remember it being said it was OK on the Mojo. However if your headphones are different statistically, then they will play at different volumes. I remember that also being said in the Mojo thread. Don't know why but I never heard of anyone using two headphones on the Hugo 2.

I am not sure if you would run out of overall power with two headphones. Best to address Rob Watts.

2. There will always be sound degradation across a connection. Quality will help as you know. If you use it balance out different specification headphone volumes, then it's up to you. I don't see any reason why you should not do it, but it's completely your choice.


I can't really help then. You need to hear from someone who knows, but I think I am right.

 

[qboogie]

@Rob Watts I know you are a busy man, producing the finest DACs on the planet, but care to weigh in? I hear the phrase "Hugo 2 will run ___ with power to spare" but what about 2 headphones, with power to spare?