[LCMusicLover]

For those who think Hugo 2 is not able to drive more power hungry headphones (like Abyss Diana), and are thinking of pairing it with an amp that is still transportable (read battery powered), consider auditioning BX2-Plus. Mine just arrived today and I am impressed to say the least. I chose Hugo 2 over iFi Diablo because it sounded so much more natural, yet, I felt like for EDM it is missing drive. Happy to report that I do not think BX2-Plus is affecting the tonality of Hugo 2, just adding more power to the mix.

I read your posts over on the Romi thread -- thanks for doing that work for us.

I'm tempted to try BX2 for my Hugo2 ==> Hedd chain. Hedd has similar technical specifications as Diana V2 (same 42 Ohm impedance, 87 dB sensitivity vs 91 dB for Diana). Hedd is the most demanding of all my cans. I notice more improvement when moving Hedd from H2 to my full system than any of my other cans.

I had been concerned about 'double-amping' as the H2 doesn't have a true 'line-out' setting. I was amused by your report of increased distortion when H2 is taken 'above line-out' -- I heard the same thing when I tried running H2 out through a receiver. At the time, I suspected the receiver's headphone out was causing the issue. Your post makes me think the issue was H2's output being too hot, over-driving the inputs.

Of course I'm always eager to hear a new flavor of 'Auteur' -- sounds a bit different from every amp I've tried, and always wonderful!

 

[mammal]

@LCMusicLover what made me consider BX2 were reports it can drive Abyss AB-1266, which is just crazy if you consider how light the amp is (hugo feels much heavier). As far as input overdrive goes, I also suspect this to be the case. I think someone is selling his BX2 in classifieds, if you wanted to buy used.

 

[Infoseeker]

I ordered a FluxLab FA-10 classic (16watts @32) to run my planar He6se v2 (50ohm, 83.4db sensitivity) off my hugo2/2go.

But that Less BX2 Plus. Wow that seems really tempting for portable planar power. If I had an Aeon 2 closed, I would be tempted for that.

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Should be joining the hugo2 club end of this month. Got the deposit down at the local dealer! Works so well with my Sony ier z1r

 

[Mediahound]

Should be joining the hugo2 club end of this month. Got the deposit down at the local dealer! Works so well with my Sony ier z1r

You won't regret it!

 

[joshnor713]

Should be joining the hugo2 club end of this month. Got the deposit down at the local dealer! Works so well with my Sony ier z1r

Bet it's a great pairing with the ier-z1r. I only had the mojo at the time I had the z1r and didn't care for it (at least compared to my KSE1200) - too much bass, not enough treble detail. But bet the H2 evens it out.

 

[Kimiifrit]

Just got my Hugo2 this week! I was super excited but unfortunately I am hearing very noticeable amount of hiss/noises from my FiR M5 and QDC Anole VX on the Hugo2. Also tried with the AKG N5005, most of hiss went away but could still tell a little bit.

It seems like Hugo2 doesn't work well with high sensitivity iems? The M5 is super sensitive has low impedance, so I could hear the loudest hiss out of it; the Anole VX has similar impedance and sensitivity as the N5005 but works completely differently on the Hugo2, weird.

All my cables are terminated in 2.5mm so I have to use adapters from 2.5mm to 3.5mm SE or RCA SE, but I am pretty confident that the issue doesn't lie in the adapters as they work flawlessly with my other DAPs.

Did some search across this thread and found several similar posts complaining about the hiss. Wondering if this is a universal issue for Hugo2? Anyone knows a good solution to attenuate the hiss? Thanks guys.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Bet it's a great pairing with the ier-z1r. I only had the mojo at the time I had the z1r and didn't care for it (at least compared to my KSE1200) - too much bass, not enough treble detail. But bet the H2 evens it out.

I have the z1r, the Hugo 2 and a Mojo. So far, I am loving these pairings. I get 2 dramatically different sound signatures with one set of IEMs. The first issue I encountered is that the z1r has a v-shaped sound signature with recessed mids so male vocals don't sound good to my ear. I didn't like it at first since my preferred frequency response is bass boosted neutral. So, with my Hugo 2, I EQ'd them to Harman and it solved the problem. Now, I get great tonal balance and glorious bass, timbre and coherence. It sounds great with all genres of music I listen to including jazz, classical, modern pop, classic rock, 80s music.

The Mojo, with its warmer sound signature lifts the mids to an acceptable level and really boosts the bass to basshead levels for me. It's my guilty pleasure sound signature when I want to get that Club style bass.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Just got my Hugo2 this week! I was super excited but unfortunately I am hearing very noticeable amount of hiss/noises from my FiR M5 and QDC Anole VX on the Hugo2. Also tried with the AKG N5005, most of hiss went away but could still tell a little bit.

It seems like Hugo2 doesn't work well with high sensitivity iems? The M5 is super sensitive has low impedance, so I could hear the loudest hiss out of it; the Anole VX has similar impedance and sensitivity as the N5005 but works completely differently on the Hugo2, weird.

All my cables are terminated in 2.5mm so I have to use adapters from 2.5mm to 3.5mm SE or RCA SE, but I am pretty confident that the issue doesn't lie in the adapters as they work flawlessly with my other DAPs.

Did some search across this thread and found several similar posts complaining about the hiss. Wondering if this is a universal issue for Hugo2? Anyone knows a good solution to attenuate the hiss? Thanks guys.

Weird — was looking at the Headfonia M5 review, and they specifically mentioned listening via H2, but never say a word about noise/hiss from that pairing. In fact, the last sentence of that section says: “This combo will definitely make you happy, all day long.”

Also, no comment about hiss/noise from H2 in their Anole VX review, although no similar ringing endorsement in that case.

I don’t have any ‘super-sensitive’ IEMS, but didn’t hear any hiss from H2 ==> CA Andromeda when I had them, and that’s the most common source of ‘I hear hiss from this pairing’ complaints. Here’s another poster confirming no hiss from H2 ==> Andro:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-hugo-2-the-official-thread.831345/post-13602566

I’m certainly not disputing what you hear — they’re your ears man! Just saying what you report differs from others’ experiences.

But I totally get your frustration — spend big $$ for a great source to pair w/ outstanding IEMs and the pairings fail to satisfy. Like if after paying big $$ (and waiting 3 months) I would have plugged in my Utopia an thought the pairing sucked — not what happened, but I can imagine the frustration which would have ensued.

I guess I’d look up the chain. Also, what ‘color’ are you listening at? I listen at ‘barely red’ with all my IEMS. Any chance your source output is low voltage and H2 is amping a noisy signal? Also, is the hiss the same w/ both wired & wireless sources?

<edit>M5 has low-to-very low impedance — 7 Ohms up to 200 Hz, but dipping below 2 Ohms in the upper mids, and again, above 10 kHz. Might be some of the problem w/ that IEM.</edit>

 

[surfgeorge]

Just got my Hugo2 this week! I was super excited but unfortunately I am hearing very noticeable amount of hiss/noises from my FiR M5 and QDC Anole VX on the Hugo2. Also tried with the AKG N5005, most of hiss went away but could still tell a little bit.

It seems like Hugo2 doesn't work well with high sensitivity iems? The M5 is super sensitive has low impedance, so I could hear the loudest hiss out of it; the Anole VX has similar impedance and sensitivity as the N5005 but works completely differently on the Hugo2, weird.

All my cables are terminated in 2.5mm so I have to use adapters from 2.5mm to 3.5mm SE or RCA SE, but I am pretty confident that the issue doesn't lie in the adapters as they work flawlessly with my other DAPs.

Did some search across this thread and found several similar posts complaining about the hiss. Wondering if this is a universal issue for Hugo2? Anyone knows a good solution to attenuate the hiss? Thanks guys.

How are you feeding the digital signal to the Hugo 2? I found it to make quite a difference and maybe you are getting some noise in through the input?
I got the best quality with Toslink optical input, really smooth and deep black background.

 

[Kimiifrit]

Weird — was looking at the Headfonia M5 review, and they specifically mentioned listening via H2, but never say a word about noise/hiss from that pairing. In fact, the last sentence of that section says: “This combo will definitely make you happy, all day long.”

Also, no comment about hiss/noise from H2 in their Anole VX review, although no similar ringing endorsement in that case.

I don’t have any ‘super-sensitive’ IEMS, but didn’t hear any hiss from H2 ==> CA Andromeda when I had them, and that’s the most common source of ‘I hear hiss from this pairing’ complaints. Here’s another poster confirming no hiss from H2 ==> Andro:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-hugo-2-the-official-thread.831345/post-13602566

I’m certainly not disputing what you hear — they’re your ears man! Just saying what you report differs from others’ experiences.

But I totally get your frustration — spend big $$ for a great source to pair w/ outstanding IEMs and the pairings fail to satisfy. Like if after paying big $$ (and waiting 3 months) I would have plugged in my Utopia an thought the pairing sucked — not what happened, but I can imagine the frustration which would have ensued.

I guess I’d look up the chain. Also, what ‘color’ are you listening at? I listen at ‘barely red’ with all my IEMS. Any chance your source output is low voltage and H2 is amping a noisy signal? Also, is the hiss the same w/ both wired & wireless sources?

<edit>M5 has low-to-very low impedance — 7 Ohms up to 200 Hz, but dipping below 2 Ohms in the upper mids, and again, above 10 kHz. Might be some of the problem w/ that IEM.</edit>

Thanks for your insight. I am listening with the filter set to white, and X-PHD off.

Yeah, I understand that the M5 could bring out some hiss given the super low impedance and high sensitivity, but the amount is just too overwhelming. Actually I cannot hear any hiss out of M5 on my SP2K, so I believe M5 is not the main factor to be blame in this case.

The N5005 on Hugo2 provides a decent black and quiet background and negligible hiss, so it seems my Hugo2 is not defective either. Really have no idea what's going on now...

 

[Kimiifrit]

How are you feeding the digital signal to the Hugo 2? I found it to make quite a difference and maybe you are getting some noise in through the input?
I got the best quality with Toslink optical input, really smooth and deep black background.

I am using the stock USB cable to input from my laptop.

But I could still hear the hiss with the Hugo2 powered on only, no inputs, no power cord inserted...

 

[LCMusicLover]

Thanks for your insight. I am listening with the filter set to white, and X-PHD off.

Yeah, I understand that the M5 could bring out some hiss given the super low impedance and high sensitivity, but the amount is just too overwhelming. Actually I cannot hear any hiss out of M5 on my SP2K, so I believe M5 is not the main factor to be blame in this case.

The N5005 on Hugo2 provides a decent black and quiet background and negligible hiss, so it seems my Hugo2 is not defective either. Really have no idea what's going on now...

Hmmm...puzzling.

Does battery charge level make a difference? Same story with a non-wired source? Volume on H2 is very low, right?

I wasn’t suggesting a problem with your IEMs — just thinking about (lack of) synergy. Your AKGs are also very sensitive, but have more ‘normal’ impedance.

I’m gonna double down here ... puzzling!

 

[rwelles]

I also get hiss from the H2 (and Mojo) when using my EE Wraith (4 ohms) or Zeus XR (17 ohms).

 

[Kimiifrit]

Hmmm...puzzling.

Does battery charge level make a difference? Same story with a non-wired source? Volume on H2 is very low, right?

I wasn’t suggesting a problem with your IEMs — just thinking about (lack of) synergy. Your AKGs are also very sensitive, but have more ‘normal’ impedance.

I’m gonna double down here ... puzzling!

Right, puzzling!

No matter what source I was using, wired or bluetooth, or even no inputs; no matter whether or not it's charging, fully charged or in the intelligent desktop mode; the volume is either muted or maximized, I could always hear the hiss from M5 and the VX

I was also thinking about the same thing, maybe it's just the not so good synergy between these pair ups. It is what it is in the end...