[theoblue80]

Of course Chord is firmly against not receiving "over 300 euros for a replacement by Chord". Make your own mind up what that says about how much or little Chord cares about people who own their products.

The main idea is that someone who can buy a DAC that costs more than 2K euros wouldn't even mind to pay 300 euros to double its lifecycle

 

[galileaux]

Thank you very much

Can you may tell if there was any noticeable difference between the two and the stock Power supply?

Thanks for your help

No difference that I can tell! It sounds exactly the same to me. Even comparing to a cheap SMPS I got from Amazon, no discernible change in my experience. Maybe it has to go into Desktop mode to have any differences (which I can test, but will take some time), but I think it’s unlikely to change anything because of the batteries in the H2 - My understanding is that it gets its power from the batteries at all times, regardless of the power supply.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Does anyone know what the original price was in euros for the H2? I see that now it's €2299. Did the price increase along with the price of other Chord gear like the TT2 in the past few months or was this the original price?

 

[miketlse]

Does anyone know what the original price was in euros for the H2? I see that now it's €2299. Did the price increase along with the price of other Chord gear like the TT2 in the past few months or was this the original price?

From memory the original price for H2 was approx €2150.
Luckily the french dealer was advertising the silver H2 at the same price as the H, so I bought my H2 at €1850.
I was very lucky, because now, 4 years later, the price from the same dealer is €2495

 

[548184]

The Wayback Machine may have your retailer's website archived:

https://web.archive.org/web/2015021...chord-electronics-hugo-dac-headphone-amp.html

https://web.archive.org/web/2015011...plifiers/chord-hugo-tt-dac-headphone-amp.html

 

[theoblue80]

The main idea is that someone who can buy a DAC that costs more than 2K euros wouldn't even mind to pay 300 euros to double its lifecycle

Of course, to be honest, apart from the fun we may have when reading such ridiculously high prices, we must take into account (whether we agree or not) that these prices do not only reflect the cost of the service labor/parts being used.
Service/support is also for the companies a main source of income in order to finance their ongoing and costly R&D process that produces all these products that we come to admire afterwards.
On the other hand, this may be of no interest to a client that just wants to pay the cost of the replacement part + the actual work required for the replacement.

 

[548184]

Has anyone experienced any benefits from an upgraded power supply for the Hugo 2 in desktop mode? Maybe an ifi iPower (2 or X) or an Allo Nirvana SMPS?

Thanks for your help

This is a great question. It is a thing, so I'm going to build some ultra caps to power in desktop mode 24/7. Batteries were so 2021. Ultra Caps in 2022 going forward. I'm allergic to anything Mains.


https://www.head-fi.org/threads/watts-up.800264/page-185#post-16629088

 

[548184]

EDIT: NVM, just noticed you already made a decision. Forgive, just catching up...

 

[marcus2704]

Thank you, I am glad to know that my choice of termination will have little/no bearing on the sound.

On that subject, I am wondering if there is something amiss with my hearing (I am 46) but I simply cannot hear any discernible different between any of the filter options on the Hugo 2. I appreciate that the difference is meant to be subtle, but as I flick between them I cant detect any alteration to the sound.

 

[pkny]

Has anyone experienced any benefits from an upgraded power supply for the Hugo 2 in desktop mode? Maybe an ifi iPower (2 or X) or an Allo Nirvana SMPS?

Thanks for your help

I found SQ differences between stock SMPS, power banks, and internal batteries. Also, there are SQ differences when using power conditioner/AC noise filter with stock SMPS. Then, I asked Rob Watts about it, and he suggested to use a power bank that has a pass through to preserve SQ.

Second question - yes adding the charger to Hugo 2 can make it sound brighter. If you were using Hugo 2 in desktop mode, I recommend using a battery power bank, and charge the power bank overnight - then Hugo 2 is in desktop mode, but you preserve the SQ benefits of battery mode. I haven't heard a reduction in depth though.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Thank you, I am glad to know that my choice of termination will have little/no bearing on the sound.

On that subject, I am wondering if there is something amiss with my hearing (I am 46) but I simply cannot hear any discernible different between any of the filter options on the Hugo 2. I appreciate that the difference is meant to be subtle, but as I flick between them I cant detect any alteration to the sound.

The difference is there, it's a bit more than just subtle, but it depends on the track / genre of music in my experience.

 

[theoblue80]

Thank you, I am glad to know that my choice of termination will have little/no bearing on the sound.

On that subject, I am wondering if there is something amiss with my hearing (I am 46) but I simply cannot hear any discernible different between any of the filter options on the Hugo 2. I appreciate that the difference is meant to be subtle, but as I flick between them I cant detect any alteration to the sound.

The differences are indeed subtle in all DACs' filters I have heard up to now. Between some filters I have managed to hear a minor difference, while between some others this difference is completely insignificant to my ears.
But I have not spent much time testing the filters with different equipment/sources/music genres.
In any case don't expect to hear the impact which e.g. equalization has on sound.
And this should be the case. The purpose of a pure DAC should be to reproduce the original recording as close as possible without any colorization.
Then you can use DSP for example to tune the sound to your own needs.
Personally I almost pick a filter randomly or just keep the default one

 

[marcus2704]

Well I choose the red filter purely because I like the colour of the LED.

 

[MarkParity]

I have to agree, all the lights have to be different colours to sound the best.

I'm currently listening to a black Hugo 2 with Orange, White, Blue, Green, Red and Yellow. Its a great combo.

The orange does look similar to the yellow in this picture though.

 

[marcus2704]

Being someone who appreciates the impact that the number of flashy lights has on sound quality, I feel it only right to ask the effect the leather case has on the Hugo 2 also, is it a noticeable upgrade to overall SQ?