[jarnopp]

I had a level of incredulousness when adding 5 ferrites to my laptop->hugo2 usb link made it sound better. So, it was a revelation that Hugo2 (and all DACs frankly, no matter how isolated they are) have a degree of succeptibility to analog RF on the USB. My laptop was probably spewing all kinds of RF willy nilly into the usb transceiver. So I knew that ferrites were improving my laptop source to feed a lower noise USB signal. Sorta like getting a $5000 streamer for $30.
So, yes, I hope 2go is super clean ..but I think you are paying for convenience, not SQ. Perhaps. Would be nice to have Chord prove that a Hugo2+2Go is the ultimate.

I used the Mojo in various configurations with various cables for 2 years before getting Poly. There ain’t no noises, perceptible RF, harshness, etc (unless my phone is very close) and the sound is absolutely the best I’ve every heard Mojo. Particularly using Roon. Poly itself (on battery) does not seem to inject any unwanted noise into Mojo. I hope 2Go is similar.

 

[Currawong]

Why is it that almost all headphones dip in frequency response around 6KHz to 7KHz, then peak again at around 10KHz.

@jude has a detailed explanation on that, which I'm not even going to try and get into. This is just me bugging him to get it out there.

Nice, cheers Rob. DSD purists reading this will gasp that DSD is being converted to PCM705kHz...

An interesting thing: I was experimenting with DSD256 files from HD Tape Transfers, both directly converted and converted by Roon to 384k and I couldn't tell the difference, so it doesn't surprise me that the Hugo's conversion is effectively transparent.

The sound is just a lot more wholesome with great bass presence and treble extension. In contrast, the H2 headphone out sound a lot thinner and just isn't as enjoyable. I'm using the h2 dac with the PRII and it sounds absolutely fantastic. But that's not why I purchased the unit for over $2K !

That amp is going back quite a way! The lack of coloration direct out of a Hugo can be quite a shock.

That is marketing speak, because some people would be unable to understand how a standalone transportable dac, could drive headphones.

Rob has a fairly simple explanation for it about removing unnecessary amplification stages that normal DAC chips require due to the noise they output.

 

[Rob Watts]

I was excited about the 2Go to simplify my chain. But since the numerous 'ferrites-work-wonders' posts on both Hugo2 and Dave, i'm now concerned that any RF noise from 2Go will be directly injected into the Hugo2 across the USB link ...with no hope of supplying intervening RF quashing ferrites. It would be interesting to test 2Go + Hugo2 loosely coupled (with ferrited short USB cables). I'm sure 2Go will still sound great on the road but this would be good to know for desktop use.

Don't worry about that; USB interface is differential (that data is via differential lines, not referenced to ground), so you can very efficiently isolate the ground and VBUS from common mode RF noise; the ferrites are already installed in Hugo 2 on the USB using chip ferrites. This is the primary reason why USB sound quality on Hugo 2 has closed the gap with optical.

 

[Christer]

It takes a while to adjust, both for H2 as well as your brain.

I don't subscribe to the misconception that "it takes a while for your brain to adjust" regarding HUGO 2.
Apart from warming up of electronics IMO either a link in a reproduction chain is transparent or not transparent enough.
Simple as that,if your reference is the live acoustic sound.Your enjoyment of any link in a reproduction chain will depend on how close it gets to reproducing the live unamplified sound which is the reference.
Absolutely no "brain adjusting" time needed more than adjusting to the relative lack of transparency between different DACs/recordings or whatever other HIFI products used.
I suspect this misunderstanding partly comes from the fact that many play pretty bad recordings which HUGO 2/DAVE and BLU2 and some other high quality DACS, will reveal as such.

 

[hugo poon]

I received mine yesterday and had a chance to spend an hour with it.
This was supposed to serve as a combo desktop dac + headphone amp at work. My on-the-go portable is a iPod -> Algorythm solo -db -> Larocco PrII
Headphones: Fostex TH-900 m2

My initial impressions are that its a wonderful dac but I'm not impressed with the headphone amp in the hugo 2. My Larocco PRII blows it out of the water.

Compared with its wonderful sound one month later (even more wonderful now), my Hugo 2 did sound "horrible" in the first week, not to mention the first night the first hour...

 

[GreenBow]

Compared with its wonderful sound one month later, my Hugo 2 did sound "horrible" in the first week, not to mention the first night the first hour...

I find some of the comments about the Hugo sounding off at first to be odd. I slid straight into the sound quality. (To me the Hugo 2 sounds just right.)

I understand people not understanding the Hugo 2 if they came from another brand of DAC though. Basically because it took me a while to adjust to the Mojo initially, which was my first Chord DAC.


It took time to hear many of the special things that the Hugo 2 can do. I have only owned Hugo 2 for maybe three weeks. .... However on my first night, on my first listen, I found it neutral, avalanche level detailed, and a touch warm. (The touch of warmth was perfect I think, as this is how sound is). I had no second thoughts, or doubts; and it has stayed that way for me.

Possibly that slight warmth could have been my amplifier the Rega Brio 2017. ... I think the Brio was absolutely the right choice of amplifier though, as it's perfect for the price. Many say it punches sonically well above its price. (To me, the Brio does everything possibly that it can do for the price and a bit more.) ... I mean, I was deliberating over the Cambridge Audio CXA-60 for at least a year. Also the Marantz PM6006. Something was telling me no, though. E.g. the CXA60 an award winning amplifier itself, required careful partnering. No way - to careful partnering; I am not going to be slave to that stupidity. .... When the Brio came out, I thought long and hard, about whether to get the Elex-R. However the Elex-R reviewed as edging towards leanness. I chose the Brio for its easy partnering and more neutral approach. I also chose the Brio because I could not wait any longer.

What I mean though, is that the Hugo 2 gets criticised for being thin or bright. Even after many weeks of listening. .. I have to conclude for other people that this must be down to partnering kit. Or people simply resisted adjusting away from other equipment like their headphone amplifiers. I know I fought with myself day and night over letting the thick warm sound of the Meridian Explorer go. (Meaning when I bought the Mojo and moved on from the Meridian Explorer 2.) Yet no matter how much I fought that, the Chord Mojo was the right sounding DAC. As is the Hugo 2 even more.

 

[wakka992]

Hi guys,

I'm a happy Hugo 2 owner, only problem I've experienced (but maybe it's just me) is with the volume knob.

Every time I apply a pressure more than "a light touch" I can clearly hear crackling noise from the volume sphere (?potentiometer inside the sphere?), and that terrifies me.

Keep in mind that the volume knob/control works good, no functional damage is present, it does just this crackling noise if slightly pressed.

Is it normal? Should I RMA with the seller?
I apologise if I'm being paranoid, but it's the first big purchase I make for the love of Audio!

 

[hugo poon]

I find some of the comments about the Hugo sounding off at first to be odd. I slid straight into the sound quality. (To me the Hugo 2 sounds just right.)

I understand people not understanding the Hugo 2 if they came from another brand of DAC though. Basically because it took me a while to adjust to the Mojo initially, which was my first Chord DAC.


It took time to hear many of the special things that the Hugo 2 can do. I have only owned Hugo 2 for maybe three weeks. .... However on my first night, on my first listen, I found it neutral, avalanche level detailed, and a touch warm. (The touch of warmth was perfect I think, as this is how sound is). I had no second thoughts, or doubts; and it has stayed that way for me.

Possibly that slight warmth could have been my amplifier the Rega Brio 2017. ... I think the Brio was absolutely the right choice of amplifier though, as it's perfect for the price. Many say it punches sonically well above its price. (To me, the Brio does everything possibly that it can do for the price and a bit more.) ... I mean, I was deliberating over the Cambridge Audio CXA-60 for at least a year. Also the Marantz PM6006. Something was telling me no, though. E.g. the CXA60, an award winning amplifier itself, required careful partnering. No way - to careful partnering I am not going to be slave to that stupidity. .... When the Brio came out, I thought long and hard, about whether to get the Elex-R. However the Elex-R reviewed as edging towards leanness. I chose the Brio for its easy partnering and more neutral approach. I also chose the Brio because I could not wait any longer.

What I mean though, is that the Hugo 2 gets criticised for being thin or bright. Even after many weeks of listening. .. I have to conclude for other people that this must be down to partnering kit. Or people simply resisted adjusting away from other equipment like their headphone amplifiers. I know I fought with myself day and night over letting the thick warm sound of the Meridian Explorer go. (Meaning when I bought the Mojo and moved on from the Meridian Explorer 2.) Yet no matter how much I fight that, the Chord Mojo was the right sounding DAC. As is the Hugo 2 even more.

To be serious, I have been impressed by the Hugo 2 right from the very beginning - the fine resolution, transparency, separation and dynamics; on the other hand, the break-in process was also real and noticeable (took roughly one month in my case). Whether it's merely a "brain break-in" I don't know but the sound simply got better each day during that period: the sound was getting more refined, smooth, natural, real and the music simply more moving...

 

[Currawong]

I don't subscribe to the misconception that "it takes a while for your brain to adjust" regarding HUGO 2.
Apart from warming up of electronics IMO either a link in a reproduction chain is transparent or not transparent enough.
Simple as that,if your reference is the live acoustic sound.Your enjoyment of any link in a reproduction chain will depend on how close it gets to reproducing the live unamplified sound which is the reference.
Absolutely no "brain adjusting" time needed more than adjusting to the relative lack of transparency between different DACs/recordings or whatever other HIFI products used.
I suspect this misunderstanding partly comes from the fact that many play pretty bad recordings which HUGO 2/DAVE and BLU2 and some other high quality DACS, will reveal as such.

It doesn't have to do with the warming up of electronics. I guess you're a bit late to the party when it comes to this discussion. Rob has explained in great detail about this. His aim is to fix issues relating to the timing of transients in the music which our brain uses to assess the location of instruments. The result is an accurate sense of depth to the music. Regular chip-based DACs, even "transparent" ones, afterwards just sound artificial, and their soundstage and depth seem to be more vague. It isn't always immediately noticeable the first time you listen, because we've become accustomed to how most DACs reproduce sound.

I've noticed this myself, primarily the depth of imaging being not just deeper (where a recording has depth to begin with) but also the stereo image is more precise in all dimensions.

 

[TokenGesture]

Can Hugo 2 power the LCD4? Not that I can afford one, but, y'know...

 

[dmance]

...the break-in process was also real and noticeable ...

Add me to the list of deluded "Hugo2 sounded off" persons. For mine it was about three days of screeching detail and definitely thin sounding. I had other DACs at the time and switched back and forth. I changed inputs (USB vs TOS). I changed filter modes. I changed amps.
No, this was definitely 'something'. Then on day four ...the Hugo2 just transformed itself and sounded fantastic.
I was listening thru speakers, BTW.

 

[Whazzzup]

Weird eh for me ch1 sounded great straight up. The day I got TT I was amazed how much better it was in the first minute.

 

[Christer]

@jude has a detailed explanation on that, which I'm not even going to try and get into. This is just me bugging him to get it out there.



An interesting thing: I was experimenting with DSD256 files from HD Tape Transfers, both directly converted and converted by Roon to 384k and I couldn't tell the difference, so it doesn't surprise me that the Hugo's conversion is effectively transparent.

To get a much better idea of how much better or not better DSD 256 is over DSD 64 you need to compare natively recorded DSD2565 against DSD 64 or PCM.

The old dated analogue second generation commercial tapes from HD Tape Transfers you mention,are simply NOT good enough material for any serious SQ comparisons!

No wonder people jump to so many erronous conlusions regarding SQ when they keep using either dynamically limited bad pop rock recordings or digital transfers of half a century old or more ,commercial tapes.

Unlike for example the Living Stereo, SACDs and LPs which worked with the actual masters HD Tape Transfer does not.
They can deliver good music yes,but at best in dated midfi SQ.
A copy of a copy of a late 50s or early 60 analogue tape master is not material I would recommend to anyone really interested in hearing how transparent a DAC is or not .
Cheers Christer



]

 

[jscmd2000]

I don't subscribe to the misconception that "it takes a while for your brain to adjust" regarding HUGO 2.
Apart from warming up of electronics IMO either a link in a reproduction chain is transparent or not transparent enough.
Simple as that,if your reference is the live acoustic sound.Your enjoyment of any link in a reproduction chain will depend on how close it gets to reproducing the live unamplified sound which is the reference.
Absolutely no "brain adjusting" time needed more than adjusting to the relative lack of transparency between different DACs/recordings or whatever other HIFI products used.
I suspect this misunderstanding partly comes from the fact that many play pretty bad recordings which HUGO 2/DAVE and BLU2 and some other high quality DACS, will reveal as such.

Good point.
However, you need to keep in mind that everyone is different and have ears and brains that are built slightly different than you. You have better ears than I do if your very first impression of any dac, amp, or recording is always completely objective and a permanent one that you are willing to take to the bank. If you have never changed your opinion on anything ever after your first impression, you definitely are a better human being than I am. I am not as perfect, in fact, full of imperfections and subjective at times. There are many things that I learn to like and learn to dislike after some time, sometimes hours, days, or months. I just cannot believe anyone would dislike the H2 after a few days, unless you are a seasoned veteran in this hobby, exposed to the very best of the best in the world, and able to pick out the slightest imperfections of the H2 immediately and objectively, which I am sure you can. This is not a misunderstanding for me, sadly. That's why I ask for opinion of people like you before purchasing something. Then I have to stick with it for a while and avoid jumping into any final conclusions.

 

[Whazzzup]

Good point.
However, you need to keep in mind that everyone is different and have ears and brains that are built slightly different than you. You have better ears than I do if your very first impression of any dac, amp, or recording is always completely objective and a permanent one that you are willing to take to the bank. If you have never changed your opinion on anything ever after your first impression, you definitely are a better human being than I am. I am not as perfect, in fact, full of imperfections and subjective at times. There are many things that I learn to like and learn to dislike after some time, sometimes hours, days, or months. I just cannot believe anyone would dislike the H2 after a few days, unless you are a seasoned veteran in this hobby, exposed to the very best of the best in the world, and able to pick out the slightest imperfections of the H2 immediately and objectively, which I am sure you can. This is not a misunderstanding for me, sadly. That's why I ask for opinion of people like you before purchasing something. Then I have to stick with it for a while and avoid jumping into any final conclusions.

You need a bigger sample size for refrence