Chord Electronics - Hugo 2 - The Official Thread

[DenTee]

What case is that.

that's MITER.

 

[Peti]

Hugo2 or Mojo2 for my IE800S earphones, that is the question...Anyone with experience on these gadgets?

P.S.: I'm not bent on EQing.

 

[Chikolad]

Who replaced the batteries for you? If it was a technician, I would have expected them to test that your Hugo 2 worked/charged correctly again, before shipping the device back to you.

True, they failed on that part...

 

[joshnor713]

Hugo2 or Mojo2 for my IE800S earphones, that is the question...Anyone with experience on these gadgets?

P.S.: I'm not bent on EQing.

I enjoyed the Hugo 2 and IE800S pairing (before upgrading to the IE900). The sound signature pairing was very good, because the IE800S's treble is tamed and the low-end is strong (opposite that of the Hugo 2). That said, I would ultimately say that the Hugo 2 is somewhat overkill for the IE800S. The IEM is not a detail-monster. A quality I love of the Hugo 2 is that it release so many nuances in the music. But you need a headphone that can resolve it to get the most out of the DAC. In other words, you wouldn't be getting the most out of the Hugo 2, but you would be getting the most out of the IE800S. So to me, that wouldn't make it worth it to get the Hugo 2 over the Mojo 2. But if you have other headphones that can take advantage of the Hugo 2's capabilities, while enjoying it with the IE800S at times, than yes, it's totally worth it to get the Hugo 2. To me, it is that much better than the Mojo 2.

 

[Peti]

I enjoyed the Hugo 2 and IE800S pairing (before upgrading to the IE900). The sound signature pairing was very good, because the IE800S's treble is tamed and the low-end is strong (opposite that of the Hugo 2). That said, I would ultimately say that the Hugo 2 is somewhat overkill for the IE800S. The IEM is not a detail-monster. A quality I love of the Hugo 2 is that it release so many nuances in the music. But you need a headphone that can resolve it to get the most out of the DAC. In other words, you wouldn't be getting the most out of the Hugo 2, but you would be getting the most out of the IE800S. So to me, that wouldn't make it worth it to get the Hugo 2 over the Mojo 2. But if you have other headphones that can take advantage of the Hugo 2's capabilities, while enjoying it with the IE800S at times, than yes, it's totally worth it to get the Hugo 2. To me, it is that much better than the Mojo 2.

For comments like these I'm still sticking with head-fi. Thank you very much indeed. I am planning to use the Chord device I will buy almost exclusively with the IE800S. But, to be frank, I was surprised to read that the IE800S is not a detail-monster. Granted, I don't have much experience with earphones and IEMs in general. Just to make it clear, you have had the Hugo2 IE800S pairing but have you ever tried the Mojo2 IE800S pairing as well?

 

[joshnor713]

For comments like these I'm still sticking with head-fi. Thank you very much indeed. I am planning to use the Chord device I will buy almost exclusively with the IE800S. But, to be frank, I was surprised to read that the IE800S is not a detail-monster. Granted, I don't have much experience with earphones and IEMs in general. Just to make it clear, you have had the Hugo2 IE800S pairing but have you ever tried the Mojo2 IE800S pairing as well?

Technically, no, I haven't actually used the Mojo 2 with the IE800S. I had upgraded to the IE900 prior to getting the Mojo 2. But I felt like my opinion would have good value to your question, so I commented.

Hopefully someone with the direct experience will help out. But I imagine the IE800S will go well with the Mojo 2 for the same reason the Hugo 2 does, as it's more of a little brother to the Hugo 2 than the Mojo 1 was. I actually did not enjoy the IE800S with the Mojo 1, as it added warmth to warmth. The Mojo 2 aims for neutrality like the Hugo 2, but with a slight kick in the low-end and crispness to the treble (to my ears). I would imagine this would work in the IE800S's favor.

Having used the Hugo 2 with high-end over-ears (Utopia and HD820) and IEMs (IE900 and KSE1200), a big difference between the Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 that IEM's don't quite capture is the space/openness of the sound and dimensionality/depth that the DAC resolves the notes within it. That's a reason why I said that the Hugo 2 for the IE800S would not be worth it. The Hugo 2 does indeed help push out "in-the-head" sound of IEMs (which the IE800S is certainly bound to), but to me the benefit isn't anywhere near proportional to the extra cost.

 

[Boldakov]

The lift of BluHugo2 over Hugo2 is spectacular.

There is no existance of such lift in the nature of things. Hugo 2 can play nothing by itself. It's just a DAC, so it strongly depends on a digital transport. So if you trying to campare one audio system of Blu MK2 + Hugo 2 with another second audio system with Hugo 2, so you should point out a digital transport of this second audio system.

Don't get me wrong. Blu MK2 is a honorable device, I do believe it plays damn good. But there are many other digital transports on the planet playing better..

Yes, dual coax is a Chord proprietary technology, so unfortunately all Hugo 2 users can use only half of Hugo 2 coax possibility with any other third-party digital transport. But if the transport by itself plays significantly better than Blu MK2 — the lift BluHugo2 over "Hugo2" you have mentioned will be just negative (with minus sign), and neither "dual coax" will help

 

[Christer]

Ultima DAC is a reference full sized high end DAC and will be priced at several times more than Dave. It's a project I have been working on for the past 4 years.

Excuse me for really being CC ie Controversial Christer,again this first posting of mine on any of these forums here, but frankly those two products will be affordable only to those very very very few Super Rich for whom money is no object.
H3 with improved over current mscaling already ONBOARD at a price similar to Qutest and current Mscaler combo, would most likely sell millions of units in its first year, and make MANY MANY more music lovers happier. And also both you and Chord happier economically than only catering to the Super Rich Elites. PS. read before deleted I'm already counting down tick, tick....
CC

 

[miketlse]

H3 with improved over current mscaling already ONBOARD at a price similar to Qutest and current Mscaler combo, would most likely sell millions of units in its first year, and make MANY MANY more music lovers happier.

Relax, your post has survived a couple of hours already.

I think you are being a bit ambitious there.

Chord are still a relatively small manufacturing company.
True they managed to cope with the logistics of selling 100k+ Mojos spread over several years, but I suspect that selling/shipping millions of H3 a year, would represent a far greater logistical challenge, which could be far too much for Chord to cope with.

 

[Kentajalli]

Excuse me for really being CC ie Controversial Christer,again this first posting of mine on any of these forums here, but frankly those two products will be affordable only to those very very very few Super Rich for whom money is no object.
H3 with improved over current mscaling already ONBOARD at a price similar to Qutest and current Mscaler combo, would most likely sell millions of units in its first year, and make MANY MANY more music lovers happier. And also both you and Chord happier economically than only catering to the Super Rich Elites. PS. read before deleted I'm already counting down tick, tick....
CC

Oh you got it wrong! wishful thinking, but never happens.
at last Ascot hi-end show, me and a friend were at Audeze section, trying out their famous headphones.
In particular I was interested in their LCD-5 flagship headphone at £4K!
Man it was really good, and I had my own Hugo2 at hand, which incidentally sounded better than anything they had on table.
Do you know, what I exclaimed to the guys at Audeze ?
- This is lovely, but you have a problem!
What? , they said.
- with LCD-X or LCD-XC being at £1300, and being so good, the LCD-5 ain't worth it!
They wryly smiled. They knew I had a point! one of them said:
- Yes the X and XC are very popular, and great sellers.
But we need to have a product that competes with the likes of DCA Expanse, at same price bracket.

There is a lot of truth in that!
Mojo2 is a great product, but it has knocked Hugo2 out of its comfort zone. Should there be a H3? we think so.
But if one arrives with expected improvements in SQ alone, then it may knock TT2 out of its comfort zone, and there we go again.
How does one improve in already excellent?

 

[joshnor713]

Excuse me for really being CC ie Controversial Christer,again this first posting of mine on any of these forums here, but frankly those two products will be affordable only to those very very very few Super Rich for whom money is no object.
H3 with improved over current mscaling already ONBOARD at a price similar to Qutest and current Mscaler combo, would most likely sell millions of units in its first year, and make MANY MANY more music lovers happier. And also both you and Chord happier economically than only catering to the Super Rich Elites. PS. read before deleted I'm already counting down tick, tick....
CC

That many can afford a Hugo?? I must not know enough people

 

[Kentajalli]

That many can afford a Hugo?? I must not know enough people

He said at Qutest prices.
about £1k. Yes many can afford that, but it never happens!
Not at today's inflation rates.

 

[Tanalasta]

I wouldn’t be surprised if h3 will be priced at today’s TT2 pricing. Especially if it incorporates the 2Go functionality.

When you add the two together it adds up.

I’d like to see an upgrade. Old adage is you make a lot more selling a $1000 device to 100000 people than a $100000 device to 100. But then they need to have the capability to do it.

 

[Edric Li]

If there is one request I could make @Rob Watts , it would be to include 4.4mm since all the TOTL IEM cables are in 4.4mm and currently have to use an adapter to use them, as you know everything in the chain makes a difference and I would prefer not to. thanks

I'm all for the 4.4mm addition if they can promise that it will sound identical to the 3.5/6.3mm output, aka fake balanced. Last time I owned a device with a 4.4 out that sounded better than the 3.5mm, I had to "commit" to 4.4mm on my IEM/headphones. That means no music listening on my smartphone or conference calling / youtube surfing on my laptop. It was a pain in the ass. My overall music listening time probably halved.

Don't ask me why I can't keep a 4.4-to-3.5 adapter with me. I'm still amazed that people actually carry a usbc-hdmi adapter around and some dongle dacs to listen to music.

 

[darkflame808]

I would say let the rich guys have their spoils and just live a generation behind. The beauty with chord is that even second hand they hold good value. So while you’ll still pay a premium, you won’t have to fear selling your prized possessions to get one also, when you decide to upgrade later your chord will still hold its value. Chord is at the pinnacle of their game, It’s going to take a lot of R&D to eke out another 2% of performance. This is what happens when you’re just so damn good! Heheh I recommend eBay. I scored my Hugo 2 w/ 2Go for 1600$. There are deals to be found. You just gotta look often.