[betula]

Sorry for late reply, missed your feedback......

How is the Empyrean in comparison? Also the LCD4 comes recommended but apparently darker sound signature and rolled off up top but perfect bottom end but maybe to hard to drive with CH2, whish there was a perfect match made in heaven.....

I thought my chiming in might be helpful.
Obviously sharing my own experience and preference which is clear bass and mostly modern music.

HD800S: surprisingly good, spacious and detailed. treble is still a little bit bright sometimes, bass is clean but not as satisfying as planar bass can be. medium body.
Utopia: detail monster. extremely clean, extremely detailed. bass is clean too, but doesn't have the planar authority. treble still can be bright for some. not a thick sounding hp either.
LCD4: thicker, more lush, but still very fast and detailed. has the perfect Audeze signature bass. very heavy though. also, upper mids and treble kind of lacks some air which takes away from a natural performance.
Empyrean: my choice, although not without compromise. bass is 'only' 9/10 compared to the 10/10 of Audeze. everything else however is more natural, more airy, more spacious. not to mention comfort.

ymmv

PS.:
3D space (soundstage): HD800S, Empy, LCD4, Utopia
Clarity, resolution: Utopia, LCD4, Empy, HD800S
Bass quality: LCD4, Empy, Utopia, HD800S
LIfelike vocals: Empy, LCD4, HD800S, Utopia
Natural treble: Empy, Utopia, HD800S, LCD4

PPS:
At this stage however we are talking about the best headphones available. It pretty much comes down to personal need, taste and preference.

 

[LindsyClumb]

I don't see the future for the portable devices. So you should be spending the money on the portable games the right way. And instead move to the mobile gaming. Because mobile games are doing much better from what I have seen so far.

 

[Widell]

I thought my chiming in might be helpful.
Obviously sharing my own experience and preference which is clear bass and mostly modern music.

HD800S: surprisingly good, spacious and detailed. treble is still a little bit bright sometimes, bass is clean but not as satisfying as planar bass can be. medium body.
Utopia: detail monster. extremely clean, extremely detailed. bass is clean too, but doesn't have the planar authority. treble still can be bright for some. not a thick sounding hp either.
LCD4: thicker, more lush, but still very fast and detailed. has the perfect Audeze signature bass. very heavy though. also, upper mids and treble kind of lacks some air which takes away from a natural performance.
Empyrean: my choice, although not without compromise. bass is 'only' 9/10 compared to the 10/10 of Audeze. everything else however is more natural, more airy, more spacious. not to mention comfort.

ymmv

PS.:
3D space (soundstage): HD800S, Empy, LCD4, Utopia
Clarity, resolution: Utopia, LCD4, Empy, HD800S
Bass quality: LCD4, Empy, Utopia, HD800S
LIfelike vocals: Empy, LCD4, HD800S, Utopia
Natural treble: Empy, Utopia, HD800S, LCD4

PPS:
At this stage however we are talking about the best headphones available. It pretty much comes down to personal need, taste and preference.

Many thanks, above will make my shortlist, willl have go down to the dealer and spend a day comparing!

Many thanks much appreciated

anyone else with feeedback and option?

 

[ecwl]

PPS:
At this stage however we are talking about the best headphones available. It pretty much comes down to personal need, taste and preference.

@Widell I have a small head so LCD4 and HD800S don’t fit my head. That’s why I own the Utopia. That’s another factor to consider which requires you to try the headphones for short term and long term comfort.

 

[musickid]

don't forget the excellent denon 9200 and sony mdr z1r. both easy to drive and great for H2. i'm saving for the sony flagship amazing comfort and soundstage for a closed back. the denon is also closed with stunning wooden outer cups. i demo'ed the sony for the second time at harrods a few days back. they were asking silly prices for it.

 

[Ta6ypeTka]

I tried to lower the footprint on my Raspberry Pi portable setup by changing cases, then I stumbled upon a Raspberry Pi Zero setup so I experimented with since the larger Raspberry Pi is a bit bulky for portable use. I de-soldered off the coaxial since coaxial is pointless in my use case. Functionally, it was beautiful as it's footprint was low. Unfortunately, it was a waste of money for the optical digital output board as it did not perform like the HiFiBerry digital output board.

The money spent was not wasted too much as I found a good compromise in using a Raspberry Pi Zero w/ the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro board. So now I can eliminate the larger Raspberry Pi and go with the lower footprint Raspberry Pi Zero. Both Raspberry Pis bring out the Chord magic with the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro board. I just need to figure out how to optimally case it as the digital board is larger than the Pi 0.

Lesson learned: Source makes a difference in my portable case. Even if similar optical digital boards. Both tested with the same Lifatec glass optical cable. Why spend $30 on a CCK cable when you can buy a optical digital board for $10 more? **Another $14 for a Pi 0. I'm so glad to be out of the USB circus. This setup (Pi 0 + HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro) helps achieve the Chord magic. I could not listen much to RBCD even with a premium USB cable or another optical digital board. Now most of my listening is RBCD.

Here is some marketing speak for the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro board:

* The digital interface for the audio enthusiast. Features a low-noise power regulator and dual-domain clock generator.
* Clock generation: Dual low-jitter oscillators
* Galvanic Isolation: Yes

Not sure if having dual clocks help, but with this product it's the difference of being able to enjoy or not enjoy RBCD so makes it work for I. Definitely worth the effort to put together. YMMV.

What other types of transport have you tested? I've heart on a grapevine, that AK320 does a very good job as a transport.

And is there such a board being covered in a 'box', so it can actually be used as a portable transport conveniently enough?

And what can you say about this stuff?

I'm now using Hiby R3 as a timely transport, looking forward finding the best sounding transport. It can even be arguably transportable; I can even agree on 15v power supply and comparable to Hugo 2 size. Doesn't matter if it's usb, coax or optical, and idc about streaming stuff. Only sound matters.

 

[Hooster]

What other types of transport have you tested? I've heart on a grapevine, that AK320 does a very good job as a transport.

And is there such a board being covered in a 'box', so it can actually be used as a portable transport conveniently enough?

And what can you say about this stuff?

I'm now using Hiby R3 as a timely transport, looking forward finding the best sounding transport. It can even be arguably transportable; I can even agree on 15v power supply and comparable to Hugo 2 size. Doesn't matter if it's usb, coax or optical, and idc about streaming stuff. Only sound matters.

Why not just use the AK320 as a player then? Why would you bother tacking a Hugo onto that? Do you like carrying piles of gear around? Using that as a transport sounds like utter overkill.

 

[Ta6ypeTka]

Why not just use the AK320 as a player then? Why would you bother tacking a Hugo onto that? Do you like carrying piles of gear around? Using that as a transport sounds like utter overkill.

Idc about the size n stuff, I have a specifically ordered bag for this, that is very convenient and doesnt bother me at all.

I only need the best possible portable sound. The whole setup is finished. I have compared numeroes devices, only several amplifiers, that I may be interested in, are left, but its hard to find them in Russia and I dont want to buy them blindfolded.

So, only the best transport is left.

 

[miketlse]

Idc about the size n stuff, I have a specifically ordered bag for this, that is very convenient and doesnt bother me at all.

I only need the best possible portable sound. The whole setup is finished. I have compared numeroes devices, only several amplifiers, that I may be interested in, are left, but its hard to find them in Russia and I dont want to buy them blindfolded.

So, only the best transport is left.

If you didn't use a bag, you could consider wearing all the devices in a belt-bag type of accessory, such as this. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cho...fficial-thread.831345/page-1158#post-15280228

 

[jlbrach]

Why not just use the AK320 as a player then? Why would you bother tacking a Hugo onto that? Do you like carrying piles of gear around? Using that as a transport sounds like utter overkill.

I use the old ak120 or 100 as a transport...it is small and easy to transport and most important from my perspective has 2 card slots...perfect

 

[Ike1985]

Does anyone else's hugo2 have a slight hairline gap at the back near the analog out port where the two halves of the case meet? I loosened the screws around the backside to see if I could press it down and it seems as though the analog out ports are exerting vertical pressure on the case, keeping it from closing all the way. I may be freaking out about nothing as this may be totally normal, just wondering.

 

[DaddyWhale]

Does anyone else's hugo2 have a slight hairline gap at the back near the analog out port where the two halves of the case meet? I loosened the screws around the backside to see if I could press it down and it seems as though the analog out ports are exerting vertical pressure on the case, keeping it from closing all the way. I may be freaking out about nothing as this may be totally normal, just wondering.

When I got my ch2 I was surprised by how noticeable the seam between the top and bottom chasses was. I put it out of my mind

 

[miketlse]

Does anyone else's hugo2 have a slight hairline gap at the back near the analog out port where the two halves of the case meet? I loosened the screws around the backside to see if I could press it down and it seems as though the analog out ports are exerting vertical pressure on the case, keeping it from closing all the way. I may be freaking out about nothing as this may be totally normal, just wondering.

There have been a few posts about hairline gaps between the two case halves. The Chord suggestion was to do the same as you, ie loosen the screws then jiggle the case slightly, then re-tighten the screws. My H2 has a hairline gap at the other end of the case, so that if my H2 is flat on my desk, and then I rest my head on my desk so that my eye is a couple of cm above the desk surface - I can then see the light from the balls through the hairline crack. Some posters quickly say 'return your H2 to Chord', but i have reasoned that when enjoying listening to music, I will not be resting my head in an uncomfortable position on my desk, so the hairline crack is not a showstopper issue for me.

Other owners such as yourself may feel differently. Ultimately the root cause is a combination of manufacturing/assembly tolerances, so technically/legally you are probably entitled to return your H2, and ask for the gap to be sorted.
This is just my personal view, but I suspect that Chord will continue to be happy from a warranty point of view for affected owners to loosen the screws a couple of turns, and then jiggle the case slightly, followed by tighten the screws again.
This simple solution avoids the hassle of returning your H2, and being without the ability to enjoy your H2 for maybe a few weeks.
I repeat this is just my personal view, so @Mojo ideas or @Matt Bartlett feel free to PM me, if you wish me to amend this advice.

 

[Ike1985]

Jiggling and loosening didn't help, I'm fine with it so long as it's normal. Also since I got my H2 back from repair, the repair shop replaced the batteries and one of them sort of jiggles, you can tilt the case over and feel it bump into the sidewall. Should I secure it with some electrical tape or something. Or is it fine like it is.

 

[miketlse]

Jiggling and loosening didn't help, I'm fine with it so long as it's normal.

Fair enough.