[flyte3333]

I am telling everyone to be patient and wait for these 2 products, but I've been struggling to hold back these past couple weeks on ordering a JACT USB Isolator (Intona Industrial in a metal box) and an Uptone Regen for my desktop setup LOL
 
Holding back isn't easy but in this case I think it's best.
 
Of course this only relates to Hugo 2 users that want the best out of USB. 2Qute, Hugo TT and Dave owners already have this covered since Rob added excellent USB galvanic isolation for those Dacs.

 

[Neo Zuko]

No but I called a dealer and got a rumoured price. It's not too bad considering there's no need to add external power required. How it performs, who knows, but I've had several iFi products and they do a great job. USB galvanic isolation is new for them though so we'll have to wait.

The dealer told me to keep it hush but you can call your dealer. It may not even be the final figure. Full pricing comes out in 2 weeks anyway. But I certainly wasn't disappointed with the rumoured price considering the short list of high speed USB isolating devices out there and their prices and considering it has re-gen type features built in too.

Even when that's released (officially mid April) it might be worth waiting for Uptone's ISO REGEN.

It's nice to have options especially for Mojo, Hugo and now Hugo 2 users that will mainly use USB.

But if you want a one box solution (no power supply to add) iFI's looks promising indeed and they are quite experienced with USB conditioning, even if galvanic isolation is new for them. They've been working on it for a while they said.

First impression is I'd go with iFi. They seem passionate, the products seem ok, I've seen the name iFi around here before, and I've never heard of the other companies.

 

[flyte3333]

First impression is I'd go with iFi. They seem passionate, the products seem ok, I've seen the name iFi around here before, and I've never heard of the other companies.

 
In terms of passion, expertise and reputation you can certainly take your pick with either iFi or Uptone - both have fantastic reputations. You can't go wrong with either on reputation.
 
The performance and overall cost may be a big factor. The 2 box solution with Uptone might be pricey (especially since it essentially needs an LPS-1) compared to iFi's one box.
 
It will all unfold over the next 2 months though. Best to be patient.

 

[Neo Zuko]

In terms of reputation you can certainly take your pick with either iFi or Uptone - both have fantastic reputations. You can't go wrong with either on reputation.

The performance and overall cost may be a big factor. The 2 box solution with Uptone might be pricey (especially since it essentially needs an LPS-1) compared to iFi's one box.

It will all unfold over the next 2 months though. Best to be patient.

Thanks. Between these two products I feel more confident in buying the Hugo 2 as my main DAC. Even though I never really understood the issue fully to begin with!!

Internally it was like this for me... What?! There's a problem with USB noise isolation?! Damn!! No Worries... Buy this!! Great!!

A while ago, I was thinking of buying the Mytek Brooklyn, or some other product, but now I'm gunning for a Hugo 2. The excitement here just makes me too excited to try a Chord product. I've never had a world class DAC. The best DAC I've tried was the Oppo HA-2 with my PM-3s before I sold the set (originally recommended to me by another Head-Fi-er). The improvements where noticeable and I'm ready to step up my DAC and Headphone game. Head-Fi always comes through for me on buying advice. You guys are all awesome!! I'll start with the Hugo 2 and perhaps the MrSpeakers Ether Flow headphones. I can't wait to hear a real step up in Planar Magnetic headphones powered by a Chord DAC.

 

[flyte3333]

 What?! There's a problem with USB noise isolation?! Damn!! 

 
No worries. Happy to share the stuff I've learnt from fellow forum guru's. Just on this part I quoted, @Rob Watts did say the USB noise performance with the Hugo 2 performs really really well. And he was going to do some measurements for us with ground loops inserted, to compare with Toslink.
 
So galvanic isolation may not be needed with the Hugo 2... more reason to wait before committing to a USB galvanic isolation.device. That's not bad advice is it? I'm recommending you and others spend $0 on USB isolation for the next couple of months !

 

[flyte3333]

Hi @Rob Watts
 
Regarding remote control use, if I have a Toslink source and USB source both plugged into the Hugo 2 and I switch between the 2 using the remote, is there any need or advantage with unplugging the input not being use ? 
 
So if I use Toslink while the USB source stays plugged in, does the Hugo 2 automatically shut off all power for all non-Toslink inputs?
 
And vice versa, if using USB with a Toslink plugged in, does the same happen i.e. Hugo shuts off all power to all other inputs?
 
And when Bluetooth is not being used, is the bluetooth chip always switched completely off?
 
Cheers again

 

[musickid]

i cannot comment now on Uptone. i have however owned an intona industrial. it is the only device which reclocks the signal in the truest sense. i.e. it reclocks and reproduces the original signal by 100 percent. in addition to the galvanic isolation. no other device on the market can do this as they are just fancy usb hubs in my opinion. no wonder why the folks on computer audiophile rate it so highly. based on real world listening tests the improvements in sound quality are tried and tested . this is why a product like the intona made by a company that specialises in electronic signalling technology leads the market here. it is because of how it ultimately sounds. you cannot judge by any other standard.

 

[Neo Zuko]

i cannot comment now on Uptone. i have however owned an intona industrial. it is the only device which reclocks the signal in the truest sense. i.e. it reclocks and reproduces the original signal by 100 percent. in addition to the galvanic isolation. no other device on the market can do this as they are just fancy usb hubs in my opinion. no wonder why the folks on computer audiophile rate it so highly. based on real world listening tests the improvements in sound quality are tried and tested . this is why a product like the intona made by a company that specialises in electronic signalling technology leads the market here. it is because of how it ultimately sounds. you cannot judge by any other standard.

That product lacks USB 3.0 which seems like a deal breaker to me as we are all moving to USB C (AKA USB 3 with a new better plug).

 

[Hooster]

If people want to flush their money down the toilet by inserting this box and that box between their computer and the Hugo, so be it. I would recommend going through a powered USB hub, to isolate from the power component of the USB signal, but I expect anything else is huge overkill. (Powered USB hubs are cheap.)
 
To the people who are agonizing about bypassing the batteries, battery drive is much better/cleaner than what you are getting directly out of the wall. Just be happy about that.

 

[EVOLVIST]

In terms of passion, expertise and reputation you can certainly take your pick with either iFi or Uptone - both have fantastic reputations. You can't go wrong with either on reputation.

The performance and overall cost may be a big factor. The 2 box solution with Uptone might be pricey (especially since it essentially needs an LPS-1) compared to iFi's one box.

It will all unfold over the next 2 months though. Best to be patient.

I agree. I have owned, and still own, iFi and Uptone products and think the world of them.

Bang for your buck, I would roll with iFi. But that all depends on what you want to do, and since I haven't heard any of the new galvanic isolation devices from both companies, really I can't say much.

Just don't use the iFi iPower walwarts with any other product than iFi. In my experience they only synergize well with iFi stuff.

 

[rkt31]

@Hooster, exactly. I once powered my arcam irdac by a 12 v battery instead of wall wart and the improvement was enormous. imho even the best lps can't beat the batteries provided the batteries have enough current reserve, which rob has already confirmed. I remember a member tried to power hugo with two lps in parallel instead of inbuilt batteries and still the hugo did not power up. hugo TT is based on batteries for the similar reasons. Dave was designed to have AC power with lot of elaborate noise filtering at that price point. i doubt USB reclockers can provide asynchronous data transfer to DACs .

 

[Paul Bjernklo]

Happy to hear that the issue was solved. Did you find your HiFiMe (Full Speed, Not High Speed) affected your music in any negative way? Or it only did good things (remove the ground loop and anything else)?

I saw that they offer money back guarantee for their High Speed isolator. Worth a free try?

Thank you. No I can't say that it affected sound negatively so I am very happy, but I have nothing to compare to really. The Fiio sounds better than the NAS but I would expect that. Yes will probably try their High speed as in any case I now have some high resolution music to try out!

 

[Emerald Core]

Well I couldn't resist since I sold iDSD. Hugo 2 seems to take a while. So I went ahead and bought the used Hugo for $800 (from $650 then he got higher offers). 
Apparently he was kind enough to give me priority over people who offered $900+ because I called him first. Gotta love Italians. 
 
Oh and btw, this is the first Chord product I own and the 2nd best investment in my audiophile life.

 

[maxh22]

Well I couldn't resist since I sold iDSD. Hugo 2 seems to take a while. So I went ahead and bought the used Hugo for $800 (from $650 then he got higher offers). 
Apparently he was kind enough to give me priority over people who offered $900+ because I called him first. Gotta love Italians. 

Oh and btw, this is the first Chord product I own and the 2nd best investment in my audiophile life.

Whats the first? Congrats on the Hugo btw!

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Well I couldn't resist since I sold iDSD. Hugo 2 seems to take a while. So I went ahead and bought the used Hugo for $800 (from $650 then he got higher offers). 
Apparently he was kind enough to give me priority over people who offered $900+ because I called him first. Gotta love Italians. 
 
Oh and btw, this is the first Chord product I own and the 2nd best investment in my audiophile life.

 
Congrats! 

Hope you'll have lots of happy days with it!