[Currawong]

It is actually the same level; I suspect that because the new filter is so much more effective, it sounds smoother and warmer, with a much more natural sense of flow and rythmn. The extra warmth I think gives the impression of it sounding quieter...

I was thinking about this the other day. Even though, in principle, I dislike DSD, given my Roon set-up includes a collection of DSD files, they do sound wonderful when listening.

 

[Phronesis]

Exact reason I kept my Mojo. It's now mostly used for playing background music when I'm gaming or browsing the web. With Hugo 2 the music becomes so engaging that I find it a bit difficult to focus on anything else. Of course it's a accomplishment. I've been letting the music playing in the background for so long, but with Hugo 2 I'm easily lost in the music again.

By the way, the restaurant comparison is really familiar but I can't remember where I'd seen it.

I haven't heard the restaurant comparison before, but I don't doubt that many came up with it before me.

For background listening, beyond a less detailed and dynamic DAC/amp, there could also be a rationale for using headphones which are similarly more laid back, and of course the choice of music is a huge factor. For the office environment, I'm starting to delve into the research on how different kinds of music affect productivity for different kinds of tasks.

Generally, I've been finding that it may be preferable to NOT listen to music which warrants attentive listening as background music, because repeated listening as background can dull its impact during attentive listening. It's as though I only want to listen to a given piece of music X times, so I need to make it count for the pieces which warrant attentive listening.

 

[Peter Hyatt]

Just think what Hugo2 could become with 2Go.
I used to love the Mojo, but when I got the Hugo2 I stopped listening to the Mojo. When i tried listening to the Mojo again a month later it sounded good, but slightly congested compared to the Hugo2. Perhaps not a great surprise, when you consider the relative number of taps.
After a few months of exclusively listening to the Hugo2, I tried the Mojo again, and surprisingly enjoyed the sound - perhaps an example of the brain recalibrating itself slightly over a period of months.
Nowadays I take the Mojo to work every day, but rarely listen to it. I get focused to work so quickly that I know that most of the time, I would not be listening to the music.
I am being realistic that if I bought a Poly, I would rarely use it at work, so it would be a waste of money for me.
The Hugo2 + 2Go would be a very different use case at home, I hope.

This is so interesting. I understand the change in the brain and adaptation.

I’d love an estimate of 2 Go release because if it’s very far off, I’d consider getting a Poly. Heather loves hers and she has a great deal of music on the SD card everywhere she goes. It’s hi tech glory.

Yet it’s all but guaranteed that if I spend the Poly $, the 2Go will come out shortly thereafter.

If I sold H2 to get Poly, I’d hear DSD and say, “I miss Hugo2!”

It’s a great problem to have in life.

 

[uzi2]

I was thinking about this the other day. Even though, in principle, I dislike DSD, given my Roon set-up includes a collection of DSD files, they do sound wonderful when listening.

The content is far more important than the format...

 

[Audio-Mark]

Too bad my wife won't let me listen to open backs in bed.

You should consider a Mr Speakers Æon Flow Closed. I use it next to my Hifiman HE1000 V2 in combination with the Hugo 2.

 

[tekkster]

Really interesting discussion around listening to be engaged, vs. listening simply for background music.

This made me question my own habits around this.

My old "work on computer but have music in the background" setup was a pair of etys plugged into my iphone listening to something either overly simple but well structured like chopin, or listening to something really complex but fairly even keeled, like a symphony orchestra playing some andante or legato, or similar. Sometimes I could listen to smooth jazz or softer music and that would help me work, like chris botti or helen jane long, maybe some einaudi or thomas newman. There were always a few songs that seemed ideal for this task, but were a bit artificial on the etys. It was good, but not really a perfect fit for the "background music while working" idea.

---

As an experiment, I've tried to play these songs using the H2/Utopia setup and working through email and word processing (I do a lot of contract work, so these are my two main work apps)

Seems to sort of still work for a while, but then some instrument will just have that extra...immediacy...life....and I get drawn into the music for a while again distracting me from work.

---

Which will now lead me on a new quest for a setup that sounds a little less harsh than my old ety-iphone setup, but also less engaging than my current end-game.

Maybe T1-mojo, or maybe hd800-ifi dsd bl, or meze99-hugo2....

Fun little project y'all got me thinking about....

 

[Triode User]

Really interesting discussion around listening to be engaged, vs. listening simply for background music.

This made me question my own habits around this.

My old "work on computer but have music in the background" setup was a pair of etys plugged into my iphone listening to something either overly simple but well structured like chopin, or listening to something really complex but fairly even keeled, like a symphony orchestra playing some andante or legato, or similar. Sometimes I could listen to smooth jazz or softer music and that would help me work, like chris botti or helen jane long, maybe some einaudi or thomas newman. There were always a few songs that seemed ideal for this task, but were a bit artificial on the etys. It was good, but not really a perfect fit for the "background music while working" idea.

---

As an experiment, I've tried to play these songs using the H2/Utopia setup and working through email and word processing (I do a lot of contract work, so these are my two main work apps)

Seems to sort of still work for a while, but then some instrument will just have that extra...immediacy...life....and I get drawn into the music for a while again distracting me from work.

---

Which will now lead me on a new quest for a setup that sounds a little less harsh than my old ety-iphone setup, but also less engaging than my current end-game.

Maybe T1-mojo, or maybe hd800-ifi dsd bl, or meze99-n5ii....

Fun little project y'all got me thinking about....

So, rather than ‘damning with faint praise’ you appear to be saying that H2 is too good and you need something worse to stop you listening to the music? It’s a tough life!

 

[tekkster]

So, rather than ‘damning with faint praise’ you appear to be saying that H2 is too good and you need something worse to stop you listening to the music? It’s a tough life!

It is kind of a quirky thing to think of, huh, probably shouldn't have posted, lol. It is the kind of thing a superficial person who spoils himself would say. Must learn to filter....

 

[miketlse]

Really interesting discussion around listening to be engaged, vs. listening simply for background music.

This made me question my own habits around this.

Don't worry, it is an interesting question.
I keep thinking about how 40 years ago, I used to listen to the local FM radio station broadcasting the nightly classic rock show, whilst i was doing my college/university homework.

Nowadays listening on one night with Mojo or Hugo2, to a friends internet radio station, focusing on alternative rock, I sometimes think that I remember nothing. Later re-listening to the show, using the mixcloud platform, I find myself remembering most, if not all, the DJ remarks during the show.

Some questions get raised in my mind

• Did listening to that daily radio show 40 years ago, distract me from my homework, and reduce my degree class? - I can never know the answer, and I passed my degree, so it is a minor issue for me
• Does listening to background music, especially with revealing dacs made my Chord, distract our subconscious, especially when at work?

Recent posts have suggested that possibly it is better to use the Mojo when listening to background music at work, but the Hugo2 when one wants to listen to music in fine detail at home.
This is not a dig at Chord. It is a genuine exploration of the current situation, that now Chord can provide revealing DACs at most price points, are they best used for leisure listening, or also for background listening during work hours as well?
This may sound a bit like sound psychology, but it is only recently that Chord have delivered DACs capable of raising/testing the question.

 

[NoTimeFor]

Interestingly enough, when I listen to Mojo, I don't really miss Hugo 2. I know H2 will sound better, but I don't miss having it. When I listen to Hugo 2, I am just amazed how much better Hugo 2 really is and it brings the best out of my headphones and speakers, BUT- at the same time, I still look forward to enjoy Mojo next chance I get. In terms of listening behaviour, even if I am doing background music listening, if the music is good, I have to stop what I am doing and just focus on the music. I don't think about this and that any more. I just connect and play, let it be Mojo or H2, they are all good kit. Way too many good music out there to be enjoyed, need to discover and enjoy them as many as possible

 

[rkt31]

the main reason for chord dac's reminding of am/fm days to many imho is the accurate construction of transients. FM and am transmission is in analog domain so music (those having native analog recording) played through vinyl in FM and AM stations preserves the timing of transients because it has not gone through any digital process in that chain. wait for Davina and even native digital recordings via chord DACs will sound lot closer to real life situations.

 

[Audio-Mark]

Maybe T1-mojo, or maybe hd800-ifi dsd bl, or meze99-hugo2....

Meze 99 and Hugo 2 is a very bad combination. I’ve tried and found it even unlistenable because of way too much bass. And don’t forget the Aeon Flow Closed, which can solve your 2 problems at once

 

[514077]

Interestingly enough, when I listen to Mojo, I don't really miss Hugo 2. I know H2 will sound better, but I don't miss having it. When I listen to Hugo 2, I am just amazed how much better Hugo 2 really is and it brings the best out of my headphones and speakers, BUT- at the same time, I still look forward to enjoy Mojo next chance I get. In terms of listening behaviour, even if I am doing background music listening, if the music is good, I have to stop what I am doing and just focus on the music. I don't think about this and that any more. I just connect and play, let it be Mojo or H2, they are all good kit. Way too many good music out there to be enjoyed, need to discover and enjoy them as many as possible

I feel the same about my Hugo2 vs my QP1R. H2 is permenantly tied to the computer, and Questyle goes everywhere else. I know it's not a Mojo, but it serves me well. Great times!

 

[Triode User]

the main reason for chord dac's reminding of am/fm days to many imho is the accurate construction of transients. FM and am transmission is in analog domain so music (those having native analog recording) played through vinyl in FM and AM stations preserves the timing of transients because it has not gone through any digital process in that chain. wait for Davina and even native digital recordings via chord DACs will sound lot closer to real life situations.

But what about vinyl recordings that have recorded and mixed in the digital domain along the way and as part of the process? I uspect that this applies to many or even most of the recent vinyl.

 

[tekkster]

Meze 99 and Hugo 2 is a very bad combination. I’ve tried and found it even unlistenable because of way too much bass. And don’t forget the Aeon Flow Closed, which can solve your 2 problems at once

Yeah, not my favorite pairing, for sure. But my sound profile preferences tend to change depending on what I'm listening to, and what mood I'm in. There are even some songs where I enjoy more than one profile. Like Dave Brubeck. Most of the time, I prefer the Utopia/H2 for Dave Brubeck's Gone With The Wind - Short'nin' Bread. But sometimes I prefer the T1/Hugo2 for that same song. Or on Vocals, sometimes I really like Sara Bareilles' I Choose You from The Blessed Unrest on the Utopia/H2, but sometimes, strangely, dunno why, I prefer the Tr80/250 H2 for that same song. I jump around a fair bit. Throughout the day, I'll dig through my music, start listening to something, and think about changing things up for that song.

the only headphone where I never pair with the H2 anymore is the hd800 (which is currently on the jot, but soon will be on the ifi pro ican). Everything else gets a turn on the H2 throughout a given week depending on the song, and depending on my mood.

Kinda fun.