[jamato8]

   
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.

But Betamax was better. Sony just did, as they often do, a poor job promoting and backing it. 
 
Anyway, I look forward to the Hugo II with excitement!! 

 

[musicday]

....and the Pono Player had a great marketing and is not that great when you read the reviews.
However Chord products are on a different level and i am positive Hugo2 will have no competition at the price point or higher.

 

[blueninjasix]

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.

I agree but with galvanic isolation and without the MQA

 

[canali]

any idea when in March we'll be seeing the Hugo2 released?
 
just awaiting the reviews as I'm mulling over various DACs for a TT upgrade:
Auralic Vega, something from Benchmark, Sim 280D
the Lampizator Amber 2, etc.

 

[iDesign]

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.

I'm not asking for MQA, rather it seems many people in this thread are. I personally have no interest in MQA since there isn't a single album I want to hear in TIDAL and most of the rare and out of print classical albums I own will never be available with MQA. Though like many others, I would like to see Chord make a Davette or updated version of the TT without a battery that's based on the Hugo 2's technology. Given how many posts there have been expressing interest in an affordable desktop DAC from Chord it seems like an obvious opportunity for them.

 

[cs600]

any idea when in March we'll be seeing the Hugo2 released?

just awaiting the reviews as I'm mulling over various DACs for a TT upgrade:
Auralic Vega, something from Benchmark, Sim 280D
the Lampizator Amber 2, etc.

no one you mention are a step up from tt from what I know.....maybe side steps.....

 

[canali]

Originally Posted by canali 

any idea when in March we'll be seeing the Hugo2 released?

just awaiting the reviews as I'm mulling over various DACs for a TT upgrade:
Auralic Vega, something from Benchmark, Sim 280D
the Lampizator Amber 2, etc.
 
Quote:

no one you mention are a step up from tt from what I know.....maybe side steps.....

 
sorry but i wasn't clear...
my current ''TT' DAC is one of 3:
dragonfly red, ifi micro idsd or the chord mojo
...so i'm hoping to step things up.
.

 

[Hooster]

Brilliant now why didn't I think of that

 
 

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.

 
That is kind of what I said in a previous post, but apparently John at Chord was not impressed.  Chord probably make plenty of money already, so why bother making any truly practical products? The stuff they make is so good that they can afford to be sub optimal in areas such as ergonomics, sadly. 
 
I don't care about MQA, but I would like a desktop DAC that has headphone connections at the front and the other connections on the back, including a spdif rca in, and a remote control. They can save money by omitting the colored balls and fancy lights. A rotary volume control and input selector would work just fine, it could even have no controls on the unit itself and do everything through the remote... 

 

[Mojo ideas]

That is kind of what I said in a previous post, but apparently John at Chord was not impressed.  Chord probably make plenty of money already, so why bother making any truly practical products? The stuff they make is so good that they can afford to be sub optimal in areas such as ergonomics, sadly. 

I don't care about MQA, but I would like a desktop DAC that has headphone connections at the front and the other connections on the back, including a spdif rca in, and a remote control. They can save money by omitting the colored balls and fancy lights. A rotary volume control and input selector would work just fine, it could even have no controls on the unit itself and do everything through the remote... 

The reason I'd made that statement was your conclusion about the positioning of connectors etc. As if we hadn't properly considering some of the aspects of the design that we have been living with for a long time and the fact that we are shortly to introduce a steaming player module that connects to the two USB ports. Considering the limited total space available If we'd put all the connectors on one side as you'd suggested. The additional module would indeed have obscured the output connectors. Yes we could make a design just like you suggest but we would limit our overall design by doing so.

 

[Beolab]

The reason I'd made that statement was your conclusion about the positioning of connectors etc. As if we hadn't properly considering some of the aspects of the design that we have been living with for a long time and the fact that we are shortly to introduce a steaming player module that connects to the two USB ports. Considering the limited total space available If we'd put all the connectors on one side as you'd suggested. The additional module would indeed have obscured the output connectors. Yes we could make a design just like you suggest but we would limit our overall design by doing so.

Interesting John!

Sounds very nice!
A Hugo-Poly-version with even better decoding ( SQ ) performance than the Poly and Tidal client or what can you tell us about it?

 

[doraymon]

The reason I'd made that statement was your conclusion about the positioning of connectors etc. As if we hadn't properly considering some of the aspects of the design that we have been living with for a long time and the fact that we are shortly to introduce a steaming player module that connects to the two USB ports. Considering the limited total space available If we'd put all the connectors on one side as you'd suggested. The additional module would indeed have obscured the output connectors. Yes we could make a design just like you suggest but we would limit our overall design by doing so.

My idea to solve the desktop needs was to have the Hugo2 as it is, but offer two alternative modules: Poly and Desktop, where the desktop module would have worked as a "docking station" for desktop use.
But a Hugo2TT or a 2Qute2 would be equally good for me.
If the desktop solution will not be available I will stay with my Hugo 1st gen which is great.

 

[iDesign]

My idea to solve the desktop needs was to have the Hugo2 as it is, but offer two alternative modules: Poly and Desktop, where the desktop module would have worked as a "docking station" for desktop use.
But a Hugo2TT or a 2Qute2 would be equally good for me.
If the desktop solution will not be available I will stay with my Hugo 1st gen which is great.

I disagree. Chord needs to offer a purpose built desktop DAC and not attempt to make the Hugo 2 a jack of all trades, master of none. The price will also be important in order for Chord to make an impact in the desktop DAC category. At $4795 (now $4295) the Hugo TT was out of reach for the majority of audiophiles and that is why it never reached critical mass.

 

[Christer]

  My idea to solve the desktop needs was to have the Hugo2 as it is, but offer two alternative modules: Poly and Desktop, where the desktop module would have worked as a "docking station" for desktop use.
But a Hugo2TT or a 2Qute2 would be equally good for me.
If the desktop solution will not be available I will stay with my Hugo 1st gen which is great.

Imho design should always come second .And  SQ and user friendly  FIRST!
I am not interested in Chord products because they look cool.
Hugo 1 is  a pia for desktop use and now it seems you have compromised desktop use even with HUGO 2 for design reasons?

The reason I'd made that statement was your conclusion about the positioning of connectors etc. As if we hadn't properly considering some of the aspects of the design that we have been living with for a long time and the fact that we are shortly to introduce a steaming player module that connects to the two USB ports. Considering the limited total space available If we'd put all the connectors on one side as you'd suggested. The additional module would indeed have obscured the output connectors. Yes we could make a design just like you suggest but we would limit our overall design by doing so.

Fancy lights and design  options are about as secondary to me as they can be.
I want SOTA SQ and NO compromises made for design reasons.
I don't look at my DAC when listening to music. I listen to music mainly with my eyes closed.
But when seeing images of  new HUGO 2 I do  wonder why you chose sharp corners over soft rounded ones?

 

[Rob Watts]

 

I see a middle finger quite clearly. Thankfully there are a number of good choices out there, so Chord is free to give middle fingers and consumers are free to chose something that works for them. 

Why suggest such a hostile attitude from chord? Suggesting any major company on here giving
"the middle finger" to consumers for some tech decision just sounds unprofessional.
Haven't we had enough of this sort of antagonistic wording when poly was rolled out?

Just hope chord comes on here to provide some reasoning for their approach.

The reason I wanted dual coaxial inputs was for two reasons; convenience in having extra inputs for desktop mode; and having the ability to work in dual data mode for use with M scalers (768kHz 24 bit).
 
Given that two inputs are needed, there is no way I can put two BNC inputs onto Hugo 2 and for the unit to still be a transportable device. The benefit of the headphone jack is it is small and yet still allows 768 kHz operation.
 
Rob 

 

[Peter Hyatt]

 

 

I see a middle finger quite clearly. Thankfully there are a number of good choices out there, so Chord is free to give middle fingers and consumers are free to chose something that works for them. 

Why suggest such a hostile attitude from chord? Suggesting any major company on here giving
"the middle finger" to consumers for some tech decision just sounds unprofessional.
Haven't we had enough of this sort of antagonistic wording when poly was rolled out?

Just hope chord comes on here to provide some reasoning for their approach.

The reason I wanted dual coaxial inputs was for two reasons; convenience in having extra inputs for desktop mode; and having the ability to work in dual data mode for use with M scalers (768kHz 24 bit).
 
Given that two inputs are needed, there is no way I can put two BNC inputs onto Hugo 2 and for the unit to still be a transportable device. The benefit of the headphone jack is it is small and yet still allows 768 kHz operation.
 
Rob 

Thanks, Rob.  I respect the restraint shown to the projective insult.  I love Hugo's design and the unique designs of Chord, overall.  Though it is secondary to the sound quality, I love it and the build quality as I do not fret over traveling with devices meant to be transportable.  I am purchasing Hugo 2 on the first day available!  
 
I appreciate how Chord makes themselves available for Q & A.  The inevitable insult notwithstanding, the company and its products are class.