[musicday]

Has been confirmed that battery life will be 14 hours? If that's the case then is great.

 

[elviscaprice]

If hugo 2 does not have galvanic isolation then it's not fit for purpose as a home\main system DAC and I really don't see the point of it as mojo already does a great job as a portable DAC.

If the Hugo 2 does have galvanic isolation then it makes the TT and 2qute redundant.

 
I couldn't disagree more.  Far better to not have to feed the 5Vbus to the DAC with galvanic isolation and instead to supply galvanic isolation outside the DAC in the USB stream.  In fact, I wouldn't buy it for desktop DAC if it has galvanic isolation or 5Vbus is required.  I just hope that the 5Vbus is not required for flashing????  If it is, I'll pass.
 
Also I would like the ability to upgrade the power supply to an LPS-1, voltage 5V or 7V with 1.1 amps max.  I won't buy another DAC that can't be powered with a galvanic isolated supply.  Direct LIPO battery charging is a second place solution.

 

[JaZZ]

Chord's website sais 7 hours.

 

[elviscaprice]

I wonder if a module with galvanic isolation is possible?

 
Yes, it's called the Intona.

 

[highfell]

Hey, the taps in the Hugo² run at double speed compared to the Mojo, so they result in a WTA filter characteristic with almost double the effective quality in terms of signal reconstruction and timing.

Cool - that's reassuring

 

[skhan007]

   
The tap length defines the capacity of the reconstruction filter to reconstruct the original waveform, particularly in terms of timing (transient response).
 
The Hugo² will undoubtedly surpass the Mojo in every sonic aspect, but there's also portability and price to be considered.

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I'm going on the assumption that the larger the number, the better the feature. Not sure if this is an audible advantage vs. the Mojo? I had listened to the Mojo on two separate occasions at the local hi-fi shop and was getting ready to consider the purchase. If I'm reading things right, the Hugo 2 will be around the $2K mark? Curious if my ears will hear that much of a difference compared to the Mojo!

 

[Deftone]

There are three stages of portable audio I cultivate:

Jogging, walking:                                          a case for the FiiO X3 II alone (in the warmer days on an armband)
Public transport in the city (bus, tram):          .FiiO X3 II, sometimes (say when I have lots of luggage anyway) with the Mojo
Train rides, airplaine flights, holidays:             FiiO X3 II or X5 II with the Hugo

That makes (some) sense to me.  

What are your portable headphones iems of choice?

 

[JaZZ]

In noisy environments (city) and during unhurried walking it's the Shure SE846 (with empty filter tube, correspondingly equalized). For jogging I use the FiiO EX1 (≈ Dunu Titan 1), also equalized – its weaker isolation makes for lower occlusion effects, and it sounds damned good, especially the soundstage is impressive for an IEM.

 

[tamsaiming2003]

Hope Rob see my message. I would be grateful if current Chord products could have MQA supoort via firmware upgrade like lower price competitor Dragonfly DAC does.

 

[Stillhart]

Hope Rob see my message. I would be grateful if current Chord products could have MQA supoort via firmware upgrade like lower price competitor Dragonfly DAC does.

 
MQA is proprietary (translation: it costs money to license the codec and use in the product) and not widely available yet.  IMHO, it's safer to not include it at this point and keep the price down.  The nice thing about MQA is that you can use software or hardware decoding so not having it on your device doesn't mean you can never take advantage of the format.

 

[raypin]

mm.. I would not mind paying a little bit more for MQA compliance since MQA is the only game in town for hi-res streaming. Software decoding is like MQA lite (from what I understand) so you still need hardware decoding to take full advantage of MQA.

 

[Christer]

Therefore the double taps of Hugo2 might not be such a big advantage and it only have the same capability as Mojo

I am also  more than a bit curious to hear if the double tap length on HUGO 2  and other improvements over HUGO will actually translate into better more realistic sound quality on  really well recorded large scale classical symphonic music with  both hi res  PCM and DSD recorded music.
While  I can´t really  argue against what I haven´t heard yet, ie 1million taps 16/44.1, via BLU, I can safely say that contrary to what Rob claims 16/44.1 pcm does NOT sound as good as hi res  pcm or DSD,to MY ears/brain or any of my  engineer friends in the classical recording business  on any CHORD DAC or competitor´s DAC for that matter I have auditioned.
Everything else equal, hi res  still sounds  more realistic and closer to how live acoustic music sounds  in a real venue, than 16/44,1 in the real world where recordings are made and played back on the highest quality equipment.
Having lived with the admittedly very good SQ of HUGO for its size and as a portable DAC since 2013 I have also  too often been irritated by its limitations and  lack of body and effortless  authority on large scale classical especially  compared to properly galvanically isolated DACs particularly used in a Highend home  stereo system  with a 900 watts amp and electrostatic speakers, with a transparency in the critical midrange and treble that few if any conventional speakers  can rival.
I have repeatedly asked for a better designed and  equally good in the home as via headphones but still portable DAC.
Hopefully HUGO 2  is the answer to those requests.
I only listen to music standing still or  sitting down or lying down.
When I listen to music I do just that, and nothing else !
I am also keen to know if HUGO 2 actually plays back DSD natively as stated in the first printed material?
The weakness of both HUGO, MOJO and DAVE compared to native DSD files played back especially  via the DSD ADC used at sessions was their DSD performance   also compared to  some native DSD DACs imho.
While hi res PCM sounded  the best I have heard outside a studio or session from DAVE my native  DSD files where I know how the live sound was both in the hall and raw playback at sessions, had  kind a vague  artificial halo added.
I found it puzzling indeed.
Anyway ,
"The proof of the pudding will  be in the eating."

 

[Malevolent]

  Than again HUGO II plus your source will certainly make it more than 5 gram over 1Z.
 
The way I see it is HUGO II is still cheaper than most high end dap but than again they are different group of things. 

 
The WM1Z is plain.. heavy. Well built, feels like a really premium DAP, but it's too heavy, man.
 
Anyway, you're right, in the grand scheme of things, the Hugo 2 is still cheaper than some TOTL DAPs, but I guess they command the extra premium because they are all-in-one solutions. I've always fancied the Hugo, but went for the Mojo instead, as the audible differences between the 2 weren't as significant as the cost and size benefits that came with the Mojo. With the Hugo 2 in town, that opinion might change.

 

[audionewbi]

 

The WM1Z is plain.. heavy. Well built, feels like a really premium DAP, but it's too heavy, man.

Anyway, you're right, in the grand scheme of things, the Hugo 2 is still cheaper than some TOTL DAPs, but I guess they command the extra premium because they are all-in-one solutions. I've always fancied the Hugo, but went for the Mojo instead, as the audible differences between the 2 weren't as significant as the cost and size benefits that came with the Mojo. With the Hugo 2 in town, that opinion might change.

Innovation comes at a cost, so that is what the argument is in our hobby. 

I didnt like Mojo, I do enjoy HUGO with all its quirkiness. I will listen to the HUGO II certainly, but I will remain skeptical on whether doubling the tap will enhance the performance twice as much. 


The silver lining I guess is they kept the price the same. My guess for why Chord made HUGO II is simply because to improve the design, they probably had way more unit returned for reasons such as loose micro microUSB, RCA, glass panel falling off, people incorrectly plugging the wrong charger. CHORD probably saw releasing a new HUGO will reduce their repair work down the line.

 

[elviscaprice]

  Innovation comes at a cost, so that is what the argument is in our hobby. 
 
I didnt like Mojo, I do enjoy HUGO with all its quirkiness. I will listen to the HUGO II certainly, but I will remain skeptical on whether doubling the tap will enhance the performance twice as much. 

The silver lining I guess is they kept the price the same. My guess for why Chord made HUGO II is simply because to improve the design, the probably had way more unit returned for reasons such as look micro microUSB, RCA, glass panel, people incorrectly plugging the wrong charger that they saw releasing a new HUGO will reduce their repair work down the line.

 
Good assessment audionewbi.
The more I think about it, I'm going to pass on the Hugo 2, I don't care about portability.  I don't get the Bluetooth thing, at least not for the audiophiles that would be purchasing this.  All I need is a USB input, remote w/preamp output, RCA only, prefer a lower power unit for upgradeable LPS power supply.  Sure hope they give the 2Qute a big makeover or alternative.  Prefer no galvanic isolation or 5Vbus flashing, but if they hit on my other needs I could live with it.