[Ruben D]

One bloke on the tidal masters page said the software decoding is "clearly not as good as the hardware decode" at 24/96. I later read software unfolds less than hardware, why that would be the case has done my head in. I would have thought if it all decodes into a PCM stream then....PCM is PCM. Still seems an industry imposed limitation. 
 
Audiophilia is fraught with rationalising expensive purchases beyond subjective listening tests and I would be happy to get rid of my suspicion that this topic is not immune. If he, or anyone, worked this out with an A/B blind test it would open my mind a bit more. I tap out.
 
I use Bandcamp to get FLAC files so...... 
 
....... Hugo 2

 

[514077]

  So.... As long as I don't stream and will absolutely never stream, MQA is absolutely not relevant to me, right? 

 
It won't and doesn't try to replae CDs but replace other streaming services, if my understanding is correct. 
 
Oh well, I will be leaning in my chair with me music collection, far far from all this streaming craziness. I just don't see myself listening to music without doing all that tag management and having limited edition CDs and such. 

Actually, not quite, George.  2L music is selling downloads in that format, culled from 352.8kb/s sources.  But my hard drives are big enough for me not to care and stick with my Chord DAC(s).  And I suspect people can request changes to Hugo2 in vain at this late stage.  The battery sourcing may be one thing, but to change the code in the FPGA to somehow allow MQA might set the release back farther than my ol' heart can stand.
And that is the last time I'll mention ***, I promise.

 

[Racy]

Would it be safe to assume that the thinking behind why the coax input is 3.5mm has something to do with the engineers making a reasoned judgement call due to their end goals? There is a lot to juggle in such a small space and to assume that because it has been done once before in the original Hugo doesn't mean it is always the optimal option from the engineers perspective when other advances have been made elsewhere in the Hugo 2.

One way to find out if it would truly make a noticeable difference is to listen to a Hugo with the straight RCA input, then the same setup with an RCA to 3.5mm jack back to an RCA jack and blind A/B test them. I would be surprised if anyone had the capability to notice the difference with their ears only with a better than 50% success rate. Willing to be wrong, but I would imagine the quality of the digital signal itself would be the more important consideration here for such a small diversion in the signal path. 

The Hugo 2 looks gorgeous and the layout makes sense for its versatility. I don't think Chord is here to give the middle finger to RCA purists. I imagine they listened to the two the two options, just like they did for choosing Apt-X over Apt-X HD. It just might be safe to say their decision after listening to the two codecs was rational and sound regardless of how my detail obsessed mind might play ping-pong with itself about the point. Same with RCA purists me thinks.

This is a world where anyone who believes they can do better is free to give it a go. I jumped to Chord from another brand, I will gladly jump brand favouritism if your product offers better sound and physical presentation.

Hi-Fi is a world of diminishing returns the more money you spend. It sounds like some people (I have it as part of me too, nothing unusual for an audiophile) are upset they can't squeeze that infinitesimally hard to perceive more sound for their price point. Is this not an example of price point induced FOMO? What is the price to satiate our insanity? If you can't afford a DAVE (like me), then be happy settling with the Hugo 2 and then meditate the rest of the insanity away with some good music to meditate to!!!! 

I love the concept of priceinduced FOMO ( I really recognise myself here :-/) I haven't read every post here, but has anybody heard this device yet? I've got my Hugo 1 singing after 2 and a bit years of fiddling ( sorry configuring) and i wonder how much better it can sound? I listened to a friend's Dave and yes it sounds better, as Hugo sounds better than Mojo ( the rest of his equipment is far better than mine though)! Does Hugo 2 sound better than 1 accross the board?

 

[Mojo ideas]

Why can't they just put a normal rca spdif connector on the thing like everyone else does? And why does the thing have to have cables coming in from the front and the back? What is wrong with having the front clean and all cables coming in to the back?

Brilliant now why didn't I think of that

 

[Mojo ideas]

Chord said a while ago that they weren't planning on implementing MQA for the simple reason that they'd have to reveal propriotary (forgive my spelling) technology on their products.  Part of the MQA process is that MQA needs to know about the DAC for part of the process.
I don't really care about MQA as I like to own rather than stream, and I like my Chord product.
PSAudio also use FPGAs and feel the same way.  Schiit have their reasons for not jumping on the band wagon, too.

I think your perhaps possibly confusing two issues We never gave that particular excuse for not implementing MQA. We said something similar about not putting a CCK chip inside any of our designs.

 

[514077]

 

Chord said a while ago that they weren't planning on implementing MQA for the simple reason that they'd have to reveal propriotary (forgive my spelling) technology on their products.  Part of the MQA process is that MQA needs to know about the DAC for part of the process.
I don't really care about MQA as I like to own rather than stream, and I like my Chord product.
PSAudio also use FPGAs and feel the same way.  Schiit have their reasons for not jumping on the band wagon, too.

I think your perhaps possibly confusing two issues We never gave that particular excuse for not implementing MQA. We said something similar about not putting a CCK chip inside any of our designs.

My appologies, John.  My vague understanding of the MQA process is that for full effectiveness, MQA has to know details about the respective DACs being used to decode the file to the fullest extent.  I'd better listen to HB again to re-remember the details before spouting unsubstantiated claims.

 

[SeaWo|f]

IDK why people are all worked up over this. It is the same thing as any other DRM that has been introduced to digital music over the years. It eventually falls away. For Chord or any other manufacturer that wants to have the tech in their devices there is typically a licensing scheme so that the maker of the DRM can extract cash. Eventually some one comes up with a free standard that works just as well and others will figure out away to decode and convert the information in real time via software. At which point if it ever did gain traction it is rendered obsolete. 

 

[Ike1985]

Has anyone paired Hugo 2 with the ALO CDM, seems like an exceptional rig.

 

[x RELIC x]

Has anyone paired Hugo 2 with the ALO CDM, seems like an exceptional rig.

 
ALO CDM only outputs 125mW@32 Ohms (balanced) and I imagine the Hugo2, with an output rating of 740mW 33Ω, would be much better for a variety of headphones from a power perspective. The ALO CDM certainly has a lot of acclaim, but I would not want to interfere with the transparency of the Hugo2 by adding the CDM. At least I personally don't see why the two would be paired together as the transparency of the Hugo2 would be largely lost by the coloration of the ALO CDM. If one likes the sound of the CDM why not use the built in DAC in the CDM and save some money? (rhetorical question - answer, because we like what we like)

 

[miketlse]

Has anyone paired Hugo 2 with the ALO CDM, seems like an exceptional rig.

Given that the Hugo 2 has not yet been released, the odds on anyone pairing the Hugo 2 with anything are pretty low, apart from anyone who demos it at canjams and audio shows.

 

[tunes]

Will the HUGO 2 have both USB and optical TOSLINK for input?

 

[jarnopp]

Will the HUGO 2 have both USB and optical TOSLINK for input?

Yes. http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/product/hugo-2/

 

[iDesign]

Skimming through this thread it's clear there is demand for a "Davette" with MQA support, rear facing inputs, no battery, etc. I'm surprised Chord hasn't gone after the affordable desktop market more aggressively because I think that will be their honey pot.

 

[ThatPhil]

They had something like that way back in 2010 called the Toucan. A successor to that would be amazing.

 

[miketlse]

Skimming through this thread it's clear there is demand for a "Davette" with MQA support, rear facing inputs, no battery, etc. I'm surprised Chord hasn't gone after the affordable desktop market more aggressively because I think that will be their honey pot.

 
At the moment MQA is a technology that is being strongly marketed by companies who hope to make money from it. This does introduce an element of bias into their claims.
 
In that respect MQA is no different to 3D televisions, which were the flavour of the month among manufacturers, until they realised that not enough people were interested in buying new 3D TVs or 3D media.
 
Even if MQA is wonderful, it may still follow the route of Betamax. Lots of organisations try and claim the benefits of being early adopters of new technology, but a lot of them then have to write-off huge amounts of money, when they discover they cannot generate any profits from it.