[opienor]

I swear by the 600i Mojo combo for my LCD3. I have a Qutest on order to step it up a notch. The 600i is an underrated product because most people have not heard it with an external DAC.

Cool there are others in here with the same experience. I have done a lot of A/B-ing this weekend, going back and forth between only CMA600i, Hugo2+600i, Mojo+600i and the Chord units all by themselves. Almost exclusively listening through the Ether Flow.
I find that there is a noticeable difference between the 600i DAC and the Chord DACs. The Chords sound more open and dynamic, the Hugo2 even more so than the Mojo obviously. That being said I also enjoy the slightly smoother DAC of the 600i.
But the biggest difference comes when running the Hugo2 or Mojo through the 600i amp. I would describe it as everything I love with the Chord DACs with added punch and energy. It sounds so clean and powerful. Listening to hard rock and metal it´s like feeling the kick drum in my head. Perfect for planar magnetic headphones. I have done some listening with the Focal Clear too, and while the effect is very much noticeable I found the real magic in the Ether Flows with this setup.
It also makes it possible to tune the sound quite effectively. I have found going between the default line level setting on the Chords and 4 clicks down has a big influence on how energetically the music is presented. Great fun

 

[Rob Watts]

Hi @Rob Watts - quick question, I'm wondering if the delay propagation of the Hugo2 (and Qutest, assume they are the same) is constant? The reason I'm asking is that I'm trying to put together a multi-channel system (I have some convolution filters upstream to do room correction and low pass/high pass to integrate some subwoofers with my main channels) using this USB->SPDIF interface (https://www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/u-dio8), I'm concerned about clock drift between multiple DACs.

I surmise even if they are connected to the same SPDIF source, their internal jitter rejection mechanism probably introduces some kind of delay. As long as the delay is a constant function of time, an appropriate delay of the "faster" channels (if needed) would be able to keep them in sync? Or is this just wishful thinking?

Multichannel DACs are a rare thing (exasound or merging really is it for consumer) and I would love to keep using my Hugo2 (and complement it with a Qutest).

ps. Absolutely loved your DAC design masterclass, super interesting!

Thanks for your kind comment about the master class.
I think I have posted on the qutest thread about the exact same thing; the delay of different DPLL from different DAC's, and the short answer is that the DPLL was designed to minimise the buffer delay, whilst ensuring that the source jitter is eliminated. So you can use a Hugo 2 and a qutest together from the same SPDIF source and the delay will not be noticeable. Checkout my earlier post...it was not long ago.

 

[MikeRight]

I think Mike Write was saying we're one step closer to the 2go, in that the Poly creaters are releasing some I-app.

Yes it was exactly my intention.

 

[stevedlu]

Cool there are others in here with the same experience. I have done a lot of A/B-ing this weekend, going back and forth between only CMA600i, Hugo2+600i, Mojo+600i and the Chord units all by themselves. Almost exclusively listening through the Ether Flow.
I find that there is a noticeable difference between the 600i DAC and the Chord DACs. The Chords sound more open and dynamic, the Hugo2 even more so than the Mojo obviously. That being said I also enjoy the slightly smoother DAC of the 600i.
But the biggest difference comes when running the Hugo2 or Mojo through the 600i amp. I would describe it as everything I love with the Chord DACs with added punch and energy. It sounds so clean and powerful. Listening to hard rock and metal it´s like feeling the kick drum in my head. Perfect for planar magnetic headphones. I have done some listening with the Focal Clear too, and while the effect is very much noticeable I found the real magic in the Ether Flows with this setup.
It also makes it possible to tune the sound quite effectively. I have found going between the default line level setting on the Chords and 4 clicks down has a big influence on how energetically the music is presented. Great fun

Im dying to hear the Chord/600i combo with an LCD-4 but the Ether Flow has intrigued me as well.

 

[seamon]

Copy Pasta

Just completed comparing CMA600i with Mojo and CMA600i standalone.

CMA600i has a significantly larger soundstage than Mojo. Period. Mojo sounds suffocated compared to CMA600i. Mojo has a very intimate and forward presentation of notes compared to CMA600i. CMA600i is laid back and spaced out and not as much in your face as the Mojo.

CMA600i wins in detail retrieval. There were many cues that were just not present on the Mojo. Since Mojo has a very forward presentation, whatever detail it can retrieve, it tends to shove it down your throat. CMA600i has more detail but you gotta listen for it.

Mojo has quite a bit more bass than CMA600i. CMA600i is what I would compare as neutral and Mojo is definitely colored towards the warm side. CMA600i also controls the bass better than the Mojo.

Separation wise, CMA600i has a slight edge just because it is more spacious.

 

[seamon]

Cool there are others in here with the same experience. I have done a lot of A/B-ing this weekend, going back and forth between only CMA600i, Hugo2+600i, Mojo+600i and the Chord units all by themselves. Almost exclusively listening through the Ether Flow.
I find that there is a noticeable difference between the 600i DAC and the Chord DACs. The Chords sound more open and dynamic, the Hugo2 even more so than the Mojo obviously. That being said I also enjoy the slightly smoother DAC of the 600i.
But the biggest difference comes when running the Hugo2 or Mojo through the 600i amp. I would describe it as everything I love with the Chord DACs with added punch and energy. It sounds so clean and powerful. Listening to hard rock and metal it´s like feeling the kick drum in my head. Perfect for planar magnetic headphones. I have done some listening with the Focal Clear too, and while the effect is very much noticeable I found the real magic in the Ether Flows with this setup.
It also makes it possible to tune the sound quite effectively. I have found going between the default line level setting on the Chords and 4 clicks down has a big influence on how energetically the music is presented. Great fun

Yea Chord Mojo has more kick to it than the CMA600i and has a more forward presentation than CMA600i DAC. CMA600i retrieves more detail and has a larger soundstage than the Mojo.

 

[stevedlu]

Yea Chord Mojo has more kick to it than the CMA600i and has a more forward presentation than CMA600i DAC. CMA600i retrieves more detail and has a larger soundstage than the Mojo.

Some people prefer their music to sound...musical.

 

[seamon]

Some people prefer their music to sound...musical.

CMA600i sounds more musical in my opinion, it is more coherent and just smoother sounding. If you like more bass and a forward presentation then by all means, Mojo is the right choice for you

 

[MikeRight]

iOS app to configure Poly was released and it works great, as everybody expected for a Chord product.

Jump from Roon mode to Other modes (DLNA or MPD) is as easy as click a button and Poly changes in less than a second.

Well done Chord!

 

[514077]

iOS app to configure Poly was released and it works great, as everybody expected for a Chord product.

Jump from Roon mode to Other modes (DLNA or MPD) is as easy as click a button and Poly changes in less than a second.

Well done Chord!

Well, that's good to hear. Now, maybe they'll be able to start moving forward a bit on the 2go. Not impatient, mind you. I hope they take their time, of course, but don't announce it's release too long before the actual release.

 

[paulgc]

iOS app to configure Poly was released and it works great, as everybody expected for a Chord product.

Jump from Roon mode to Other modes (DLNA or MPD) is as easy as click a button and Poly changes in less than a second.

Well done Chord!

Yup. So maybe the 2Go for hugo is next.

 

[SearchOfSub]

Anyone compare Hugo2 to Lampizator big7? Which one better to your ear?

 

[musickid]

Maybe HTT 2 Munich? Makes sense.

 

[514077]

Maybe HTT 2 Munich? Makes sense.

Or maybe CanJam London? Whenever that is.

 

[musickid]

21-22 July i'll see if i can get down to London for a little walkabout.

I came across this link on the Qutest thread. In all my life i've never come across anything so hilarious. With special reference to the sentence beginning "the fundamental operating principle...."

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm