[musickid]

volume control by remote is fine however if i try manually it rarely responds? i'm gently attempting to slide the volume control. i hope this isn't the beginning of a repair job. can anyone help?

 

[Hooster]

you’re seeing better resolution on the TV which is easily objectively observed, IMHO. higher resolution in audio is harder to quantify, or even describe, for some reason.

I believe there are two main reasons for this.

1. You can never compare one audio source side by side with another at the same time. You have to listen to one first and then the other. You have or many not correctly remember what you heard previously.If you listen to the same music piece twice you are bound to pick up new/different things, even if there was no real change. You will generally feel that the second time sounded better than the first.

2. Your brain can make you think you hear things that in reality do not exist, see for example the McGurk Effect.

If you look at two TV screens side by side at the same time you can build a clear objective picture of the differences between the two. With audio it is a lot harder.

What can be done to ascertain if there is a real audible difference is a simple test that should be easy enough for professional testers who have access to the right equipment/software. If you for example want to hear/measure if there is really a difference between Hugo2 and Mojo, then play the same music at the same level at the same time but one device in opposite phase to the other. If they sound the same the result will be silence. If there are differences they will show up as noise.

 

[Hooster]

volume control by remote is fine however if i try manually it rarely responds? i'm gently attempting to slide the volume control. i hope this isn't the beginning of a repair job. can anyone help?

See your dealer for advice. Sounds like you have the same problem as others have reported. I don't think this will be a repair job. They will probably just replace your unit.

 

[musickid]

who else reported this hooster? cheers mk

 

[Chianti]

who else reported this hooster? cheers mk

Straleno and myself. Both bought from Audio46 - to be clear: not their fault (!) - our devices are 2 serial numbers apart. Received RMA instructions today, will be 2-3 weeks to get a replacement.

I am debating whether to keep Hugo 2 after getting a new one. Several usability issues and the sound doesn’t capture me particularly - detailed but a bit bland.

If Hugo 2 were a typeface, the design would be Comic Sans and the sound Arial. Undecided - might just stick with the Sony and wait for the next gen flagship devices (e.g. LPG overdue for a refresh).

 

[musickid]

times new roman eloquent for me is H2. everything is great especially size vs SQ vs form factor. just the god damn volume control!!

 

[EagleWings]

I posted this in the Mojo thread. List of DAPs that can do Digital Out. Should be handy here as well. See the following post. I will update it tomorrow.

 

[EagleWings]

Compatible DAPs for Hugo 2:

Hugo 2 is a Digital to Analogue Converter equipment. It takes in a digital signal, converts it into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal via the Headphone Out. The DAP being paired with the Hugo 2 as a transport/source, must be capable of feeding a digital signal into the Hugo 2. Some DAPs do NOT have the capability to send/output a Digital Signal. Below is a list of popular DAPs on Head-Fi. I have broken down into which DAPs can and cannot be used for Hugo 2.

DAPs that CAN be used with the Hugo 2:
- Apple iPod Touch 5th Gen, 6th Gen (USB)
- Astell & Kern AK100, AK120, AK240 (Optical)
- Astell & Kern AK100ii, AK120ii, AK240, AK300, AK320, AK380 (Optical and USB)
- Astell & Kern AK70, KANN (USB)
- Astell & Kern A&Ultima SP1000 (Optical)
- Audio Opus #1, #2, #3 (Optical)
- Cayin N5, N6 (Coaxial)
- Caying I5, N3 (USB)
- Cowon Plenue 1, Plenue 2, Plenue M, Plenue M2, Plenue R, Plenue S (Optical)
- Fiio X3, X3ii, X3iii, X5, X5ii (Coaxial)
- Fiio X5iii, X7, X7ii (Coaxial and USB)
- Hidizs AP60, AP200 (USB)
- Hidizs AP100 (Coaxial)
- iBasso DX50, DX90 (Coaxial)
- iBasso DX80, DX100, DX200 (Coaxial and Optical)
- Lotoo Paw 5000 (Optical)
- Luxury & Precision L3, L3Pro, L5Pro (Coaxial)
- Onkyo DP-X1, DP-X1A, DP-S1 (USB)
- Questyle QP1, QP1R , QP2R (Optical)
- Pioneer XDP-100R, XDP-300R, XDP-30R (USB)
- Shanling M1, M2S (USB)
- Shanling M2, M5 (Coaxial)
- Shanling M3 (Optical)
- Sony Walkman A15/16/17, A25/A26/A27, A35/A36/A37, ZX100, ZX1, ZX2, WM1A, WM1Z (USB)
- Soundaware Esther, M1 Series (Coaxial)

DAPs that CANNOT be used the with the Hugo 2:
- Acoustic Research AR-M2, AR-M20, AR-M200
- Apple iPod Nano, Classic
- Astell & Kern AK Jr
- Cowon Plenue D
- Fiio M3, X1, X1ii
- Hifiman Megamini, Supermini, HM650, HM802, HM802S, HM901, HM901S
- Lotoo PAW Gold
- Luxury & Precision L5
- Sandisk Sansa Players
- Sony Walkman E Series Players

Uncertain List - Please check in the respective threads if these DAPs can do Digital Out:
- Sony Walkman A45/A46/A47, ZX300

 

[Hooster]

times new roman eloquent for me is H2. everything is great especially size vs SQ vs form factor. just the god damn volume control!!

They should have kept it simple.

 

[jmills8]

received my H2 today after an insufferable wait...very early impressions:It was worth the weight,sounds great and looks great but i have 2 beefs....first of all when you shake it at all you hear a rattle...at first i thought it was something inside and was concerned but then I put my fingers on the balls and shook it and heard nothing...the balls shake and make that noise...also the balls all lit up and all the colors makes it like a christmas tree especially in the dark....oh well these are aesthetic things i guess...without the slightest sweat they drove the Utopia and with a turn of the volume knob they drove the Ether C Flows......

I never shook any audio equipment.

 

[bluenight]

I am debating whether to keep Hugo 2 after getting a new one. Several usability issues and the sound doesn’t capture me particularly - detailed but a bit bland. Cf sbaf review that many here didn’t like - I can relate to those observations.

I see that you have HD650. Have any listening impessions with HG2 and HD650, if so, how well do HG2 drive them and hows the synergy? Really Liked the idsd bl with HD650.

 

[audi0nick128]

Hey there,

As I said before it took me quite a while to cope with the increased detail of H2 compared to Mojo, but now I feel the SQ is a substantial improvement upon Mojo.

Especially recordings that sounded a bit veiled over Mojo sound awesome via H2.

Initaly I was a bit worried, if I could justify the Hugo2 with the music I listen to, but even with rather musicaly simple Punk/Rock recordings the improvements are easy to discern. With many albums from this genre I like to use minimal x-phd to boost bass a bit and give it a more intimate presentation... and since I heard many of those bands playing live in basements or Pubs, I can say that to me it sounds even more like live music... Just that it sounds a lot better than live

What I am trying to say is that you don't need to be listening to audiophile approved music, to net substantial improvement in SQ with Hugo 2.

One of my test recordings is 'Mush' from the Band 'Leatherface' and to me it was quite shocking how good it sounded.

Same can be said about the self titled debut from 'Mad Marge and the Stonecutters'... the upright bass sounds simply amazing.
With '88 Fingers Louie' new record 'Thank you for being a friend' the leading Bass guitar puts a big smile on my face.
Bloody hell even the beats in some tracks from the 'Sleaford Mods' sound like live music

So with Hugo2 I find myself listening more to the music I really like, instead of searching for music that sounds 'even better'

Cheers

 

[Christer]

chord devices have 125 plus gain? Thats insane. No wonder mojo blows away every headphone you plug into it. even hard to drive planars.

also explains why you get all the loudness but miss on convincing basslines and required texture on required instruments like trumpets with full size cans. with iems all is fine except small sound stage.

Interesting take.
Have you auditioned HUGO 2 as well? Or are you entirely referring to Mojo?
I can clearly recognize the problems you describe with my HUGO 1.
Together with hiss and RF and EMI related problems,they are my main problems with my HUGO 1 from day one.
But I hope HUGO 2 will do a much better job with basslines in symphonic works like Tchaikovsky's mighty 6th symphony which sounds clearly thinner and with less individual instrumental timbre but with lots of inner detail via HUGO 1.
I listened with the score last night and apart from being a truly sublime symphonic masterwork, it is also a very demanding piece of music to reproduce realistically for any system.
I have quite a few recordings of this work,but my observations here in relation to my HUGO1 and Benchmark are mainly made from the recent recording from Pittsburgh released by Reference Recordings, though not recorded by Prof Johnson, wrongly quoted as the man behind MQA here recently, who does all his work these days in PCM 176.4.
This release was recorded using a Merging Horus ADC and is available as download ranging from masterfile DXD and DSD 256 and down to DSD64 and pcm 24/96 from several sites.
You can probably get it from iTunes or Spotify too ,but then you will get a dynamically compressed version.
The original dynamics are enormous even by symphonic standards, with levels ranging from barely audible, fivefold ppppp at times, to fourfold ffff at very loud climaxes.
The many pppp- ppppp parts present a real challenge for HUGO via both HD 800 and HE1000V2 with regards to noise.
Sometimes the hiss can be disturbing.
And when those string doublebasses really dig in, with full force in their lowest register, they sound almost a bit more like cellos, than basses, compared to how they sound via my Benchmark DAC 2 which manages to deliver both more timbre and a firmer stronger bassline than HUGO 1.
Not to mention how huge and deep and sorrowful they can sound live in a real hall.
At a concert not long ago they almost made the whole hall vibrate and resonate in a way no recording or system I have heard can muster.
I am a bit surprised most people here mention hiss problems only via iems.
I hear hiss/noise with both HE1000V2 and HD 800 and demanding music material like this at low dynamic levels, both with HUGO1. But also,albeit to a clearly lesser degree, with my Benchmark although it is I believe, around 4dB quieter than HUGO1.
Now what has all this got to do with HUGO 2 you may wonder?
One of my "new worries" regarding HUGO 2 now, is that it might not be as quiet as I had initially hoped.

 

[thePhones]

After Saturday's Can-Jam I went back to my hotel and watched F1 qualifying on the TV. I was struck by how amazingly good the picture quality was, and how much visual standards has clearly improved over the past 30 years. And similarly with audio; but whereas video is easy to appreciate (nobody would say a modern TV looked worse than a 90's TV), in audio plenty of guys would claim that their (often silly money) DAC was much better - but to me it clearly looks like the equivalent to a 90's TV.

Why is there often a complete lack of objectivity when assessing audio, when to me major differences sound so clearly and obviously better? Or am I guilty of hyper sensitivity? Having said all that, my daughters claim that they can see no difference between SD video and 1080p HD video on my projector; but I suspect they are trying (successfully) to wind me up....

Hi Rob,

I was thinking the same. Maybe it´s because music/audio gear is more of a subjective thing than TV´s/Displays. I think most of the people came to the conclusion or consents that screen have to accurately reconstruct what really is there to be shown. But in Audio it´s more of an art for many people. For example I really don´t like abstract art as it looks to me like they just can´t draw but do it anyway and many people enjoy it (don´t know why)
Also let´s look at an electric guitar where they noticed that when some of the tubes is damaged it sounded crazy and special and this effect is used till today
So you are just trying as hard as you can to bring the original performance back to life which I enjoy, where others just like "oil paintings" and they want everything to look/sound like that.
Where you are talking about reconstructing transients they just put their tubes in the microwave and enjoy their amplifier (ok I just pushed it a little bit, don´t want to offend anyone)

 

[x RELIC x]

Maybe it´s because musich/audio gear is more of a subjective thing than TV´s/Displays.

I don't know, my aging father insists that oversaturated colours and clamped blacks and boosted gamma look better on his television than a proper calibration, no matter how I try to explain it to him. He also loves frame interpolated 'clear motion' which I can't stomach. Not so different from audio IMO and each person has their preferences.