[ahossam]

I suggest you read the third post in the Mojo thread to find out why Chord doesn't use balanced outputs. There is a lot of information there that pertains to the overall design implementations of Rob's DACs. The short story is that balanced output is a fix for an issue they don't have given the low substrate noise and excellent Current linearity of his DACs. Balanced output covers up these issues in other DACs. Also, more components in the analogue path reduce transparency so by having more analogue components to make the design balanced means less transparency to the source.

This link covers some quoted text from Rob regarding balanced:

https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/c...pressions-thread.756029/page-30#post-12625641



Rob has said that the SE RCA is more transparent than XLR. The XLR out on the TT and DAVE may be of benefit depending on the attached amp's capabilities and the amps best operating topology, but not a benefit for the signal coming from the DAC, regarding transparency and measured performance, according to Rob.

Wow...Thanks!! the links is very helpful for me to understand the design of Chords DACs, of course I am not going to understand all of it, but I get it why Chords design doesn't need balance port. Very interesting design indeed.

 

[Peter Hyatt]

After 24 hours on constant charge leaving plugged in H2 goes into Intelligent desktop Mode where
the battery is neither charged nor discharged. Hugo’s auto- shutdown feature is now disabled
It's not a trickle mode (slow charge) but it runs with no battery drain.

This should extend battery life for long time.

 

[Dvdlucena]

Come on!!!!
We wanna see some major reviews!

 

[esm87]

To those with the H2... give the song 18 and life a listen to by the rock band skid row... what an immense tune to drive home to after a hard nights graft on the shovel!

 

[ahossam]

Come on!!!!
We wanna see some major reviews!

Yes Please...

 

[Hooster]

Chord have been kind enough to clear up the situation regarding pricing in New Zealand. According to Chord the dealer decides the pricing, like some other posters here have wisely suggested.

I won't say what I think of the practices of the New Zealand dealer. They are free to charge what they want and the consumer is free to buy from them or from somebody else.

I wish Chord all the best, and if someone has had the mistaken impression that I don't like Chord or think they make poor products, please let me correct them. In my opinion Chord is at the cutting edge of development in the field of audio and their products, especially their DACs are a real gift to audiophile community. I congratulate Chord for making a product as fine as the Hugo2 and I congratulate all who have purchased one. Enjoy, and keep the reviews and impressions coming.

#############################################################
PS:

Seems like complaining actually works

 

[Rob Watts]

Dear Rob
Is desktop mode affected by turning on/off the unit? That is: if I leave my h2 always connected to the wall and turn it off when not in use, will it remain in desktop mode?
Thanks
Mauro

It will be in desktop mode as long as the charger is connected. If you turn Hugo 2 off, then it will charge the battery to 100%, then turn off the charger. Normally, you would leave it on all the time in desktop mode, as it only consumes 2W, the battery voltage won't wear the battery out, and the battery is not being charged / discharged, as charger current matches Hugo 2 current draw. This strategy gives the maximum life possible; also the power supply is such that if the battery capacity falls to 0%, Hugo 2 will still function with the charger connected.

 

[Democritus]

It will be in desktop mode as long as the charger is connected. If you turn Hugo 2 off, then it will charge the battery to 100%, then turn off the charger. Normally, you would leave it on all the time in desktop mode, as it only consumes 2W, the battery voltage won't wear the battery out, and the battery is not being charged / discharged, as charger current matches Hugo 2 current draw. This strategy gives the maximum life possible; also the power supply is such that if the battery capacity falls to 0%, Hugo 2 will still function with the charger connected.

Rob, when Hugo is in desktop mode, SQ will be compromised because Hugo 2 has no galvanic isolation?

 

[435279]

It will be in desktop mode as long as the charger is connected. If you turn Hugo 2 off, then it will charge the battery to 100%, then turn off the charger. Normally, you would leave it on all the time in desktop mode, as it only consumes 2W, the battery voltage won't wear the battery out, and the battery is not being charged / discharged, as charger current matches Hugo 2 current draw. This strategy gives the maximum life possible; also the power supply is such that if the battery capacity falls to 0%, Hugo 2 will still function with the charger connected.

Hi Rob,

If the battery in the Hugo2 is of the Lithium Polymer type then it would have been even better to switch off the charging at 50% (3.85v per cell) and maintain that cell voltage in desktop mode for the absolute longest battery life.

A Lipo battery is also a lot more volatile when fully charged.

 

[cs600]

It will be in desktop mode as long as the charger is connected. If you turn Hugo 2 off, then it will charge the battery to 100%, then turn off the charger. Normally, you would leave it on all the time in desktop mode, as it only consumes 2W, the battery voltage won't wear the battery out, and the battery is not being charged / discharged, as charger current matches Hugo 2 current draw. This strategy gives the maximum life possible; also the power supply is such that if the battery capacity falls to 0%, Hugo 2 will still function with the charger connected.

thank you very much Rob
so I'll leave it always conntected and always on (but for long inactivity such as vacation...)
cheers
Mauro

 

[Rob Watts]

Rob, when Hugo is in desktop mode, SQ will be compromised because Hugo 2 has no galvanic isolation?

With Hugo 1 galvanic isolation made huge differences to the SQ; and this was down to noise entering into Hugo's ground plane - and this noise was from two sources - the direct connection of the grounds from source to Hugo, and noise due to the decoding USB device as it unscrambles the USB data and buffers it to then feed it to the FPGA, with the FPGA supplying the clock.

The direct ground connection has been isolated by using RF filters, both on the ground and VBUS of the USB - this very effectively isolates Hugo 2 from the source ground. The USB decoder chip has a more efficient PSU, and full RF filtering, so noise from the decoding is also isolated from Hugo 2 analogue electronics. Moreover, Hugo 2 DAC and amplifier section is much better isolated from the battery, and we can see that from the stereo separation figures of better than 144 dB - and that's driving a 33 ohm load. You can see the separation (which actually indicates how well Hugo 2 is isolated from the power supplies) on this slide here:

Indeed, following the listening tests on Hugo 2's inputs I did (briefly) entertain the idea of not doing galvanic isolation for non-portable DAC's. Indeed, if Hugo 1 was as well isolated as Hugo 2, I would not have bothered to develop the galvanic isolation I currently use.

So to answer your question - with Hugo 2 the benefits of galvanic isolation has been reduced by at least an order of magnitude; if you are using HP, then don't worry about it all as it is a non-issue; if you are feeding power-amps then it can make a small improvement. Of course, YMWV as differing sources and different power amps will have different sensitivities. You can test this out by listening to USB or optical - if they sound the same, then you have no problems, and do not need further treatment at all.

Rob

 

[audi0nick128]

With Hugo 1 galvanic isolation made huge differences to the SQ; and this was down to noise entering into Hugo's ground plane - and this noise was from two sources - the direct connection of the grounds from source to Hugo, and noise due to the decoding USB device as it unscrambles the USB data and buffers it to then feed it to the FPGA, with the FPGA supplying the clock.

The direct ground connection has been isolated by using RF filters, both on the ground and VBUS of the USB - this very effectively isolates Hugo 2 from the source ground. The USB decoder chip has a more efficient PSU, and full RF filtering, so noise from the decoding is also isolated from Hugo 2 analogue electronics. Moreover, Hugo 2 DAC and amplifier section is much better isolated from the battery, and we can see that from the stereo separation figures of better than 144 dB - and that's driving a 33 ohm load. You can see the separation (which actually indicates how well Hugo 2 is isolated from the power supplies) on this slide here:

Indeed, following the listening tests on Hugo 2's inputs I did (briefly) entertain the idea of not doing galvanic isolation for non-portable DAC's. Indeed, if Hugo 1 was as well isolated as Hugo 2, I would not have bothered to develop the galvanic isolation I currently use.

So to answer your question - with Hugo 2 the benefits of galvanic isolation has been reduced by at least an order of magnitude; if you are using HP, then don't worry about it all as it is a non-issue; if you are feeding power-amps then it can make a small improvement. Of course, YMWV as differing sources and different power amps will have different sensitivities. You can test this out by listening to USB or optical - if they sound the same, then you have no problems, and do not need further treatment at all.

Rob

Thanks Rob for your detailed and easy to understand explanation.
I think many here will try their existing galvanic isolators, anyway.
And many will find it beneficial, even for HP... I am likely one of them, since I even use galvanic isolation when connecting my phone to Mojo

One thing that struck me is that you mentioned Hugo2 can be powered directly by the PS, without the Battery.
This begs the question what kind of fancy power supply and power chord one would need to maximize the SQ...

Cheers

 

[toears]

Fellas. The thing works. It has whistles and horns and light. Sound in my ears. So far it is my new friend. Better sounding (by far) and looking than me
Currently starting slow in regards to music genres.

 

[Dean Lim]

Shut up and take my money!!!

 

[ahossam]

It will be in desktop mode as long as the charger is connected. If you turn Hugo 2 off, then it will charge the battery to 100%, then turn off the charger. Normally, you would leave it on all the time in desktop mode, as it only consumes 2W, the battery voltage won't wear the battery out, and the battery is not being charged / discharged, as charger current matches Hugo 2 current draw. This strategy gives the maximum life possible; also the power supply is such that if the battery capacity falls to 0%, Hugo 2 will still function with the charger connected.

In short in order to stay in desktop mode you have to always connect the charger and you don't turn off the Hugo2, am I right?