[csglinux]

There are two main ways to get attention: 1) being smart, and diligently working hard toward making a positive contribution to the world 2) being controversial and shocking.

There's waaaay too much of the latter going on recently, IMHO.

 

[514077]

Yes, they may be saying contrarian and controversial things in order to get attention and traffic for the sake of their business interests. And that may backfire ...

It sounds like they in deed shot themselves in the foot, this time. I know the H2 is not! the worst DAC. Therefore, why should I trust their reviews henseforth?

 

[ra990]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/17273218/chord-hugo-2-review-dac-headphone-amplifier

GOOD STUFF

• Distortion-free sound
• Tough, rigid construction
• Lots of power in a transportable package

BAD STUFF

• Shrill highs spoil the enjoyment of music
• Controls are extremely unintuitive
• Flimsy MicroUSB ports

Hmmmmmmm...no comment!

If the highs were shrill, he should use the filter button to find one where they're not. And the shrill highs are just what's in the music, probably not because of the Hugo 2.

 

[JaZZ]

Have these ever been resolved? I just had a reboot episode with my H2 and after touching the unit it was quite hot. I removed it from it's leather case for now but this was the first time this has happened. Today was also one of the hotter days here in Seattle, with our office being on the 2nd flr of an older building it got quite warm inside (about 75*F ambient). I only presume it will get to 85-90* during the Summer time here so this is a concern.

@JaZZ @iAudio365 -- ping for post above

My solution is to renounce charging and playing at the same time when the battery indicator shows red. This has worked so far, since shorter charging times reduce the heat development. Currently I use the Hugo₂ in desktop mode, though. In any event I would never dare to have my Hugo₂ charge and play in a leather case.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Thank you for the reply @JaZZ
I do still use it with the leather case but I've decided to either charge OR play on battery OR fully charge then play while charging. At work i take it off the leather case now and put it on my laptop stand which is ventilated, rather than just on the table inside the leather case. Works great keeping the H2 cool while charging/playing from mid to low battery, no more excessive heat.

One thing I'd like to know is if the Hugo purposely uses the casing to cool parts and if so where on the case are the contact points. @Rob Watts could you answer that?

 

[Currawong]

Shrill highs spoil the enjoyment of music

I wonder if he is sure his source wasn't re-sampling the music, as well as what music he was listening to. I've been picking up a lot of new music while listening in the car, only to get home, load it up on TIDAL, and find it is distorted.

You are not alone in thinking this. When I had Hugo 2 in desktop mode, depending on the time of day, Hugo 2 would sound slightly brighter or the way I remember it sounding the other day. I determined that at least in my home, Hugo 2 had consistent sound quality running off batteries.

When I got Hugo TT I noticed the same thing. I thought it was in my head at first but each time I unplugged its power cable I experienced a darkening of tone and experienced a more relaxed sound.

So now I just make a habit of unplugging the power cable as well as switching off irrelevant power strips in my room, the sound quality is now consistently good!

In Rob's home or someone elses it may very well be the case that there won't be any difference between power plugged in or not. YMWV it seems.

I've been having similar weirdness. Sometimes the Hugo 2 would sound distinctly "brighter" than other gear. Sometimes not. I have far too much in the way of electronics in my room though.

 

[alphanumerix1]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/17273218/chord-hugo-2-review-dac-headphone-amplifier

 

[GreenBow]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/17273218/chord-hugo-2-review-dac-headphone-amplifier

GOOD STUFF

• Distortion-free sound
• Tough, rigid construction
• Lots of power in a transportable package

BAD STUFF

• Shrill highs spoil the enjoyment of music
• Controls are extremely unintuitive
• Flimsy MicroUSB ports

Hmmmmmmm...no comment!

To be fair, I'd prefer more solid connection ports. If you're careful though as you should be, it should all be fine.
I still have not memorised line level switch on, or dim lights. Secondly I posted a comment from HiFi Choice, that the 2Qute could not be used by colour-blind people. (Or so someone colour-blind claimed, to HiFi Choice.) Chord have not addressed this for their new DACs.

Highs are fine though. Ridiculous to even think anything else.

You are not alone in thinking this. When I had Hugo 2 in desktop mode, depending on the time of day, Hugo 2 would sound slightly brighter or the way I remember it sounding the other day. I determined that at least in my home, Hugo 2 had consistent sound quality running off batteries.

When I got Hugo TT I noticed the same thing. I thought it was in my head at first but each time I unplugged its power cable I experienced a darkening of tone and experienced a more relaxed sound.

So now I just make a habit of unplugging the power cable as well as switching off irrelevant power strips in my room, the sound quality is now consistently good!

In Rob's home or someone elses it may very well be the case that there won't be any difference between power plugged in or not. YMWV it seems.

I am actually very confused about this. A few weeks ago when I checked this over, I was blatantly convinced the Hugo 2 sounded better on battery. Now when I try the same thing I hear no change or am convinced it was placebo. I still hear a change sometimes but think I am changing my focus to bass. Right at the moment I pull the power chord. (I have to do it only while the DAC is charging and playing. Meaning out of desktop mode to see when it's charging.)

While this sound issue was a worry but much less so now. I still worry that my Hugo 2 isn't running from charger in desktop mode. Last time I looked it over, it seemed to be running the same charge discharge cycles that is does normally. Like when fully charged, and during the first twenty four hours, before going into desktop mode. I might be wrong though, so I need to really look closely. It does heat and cool fairly regularly though in desktop mode.

 

[tekkster]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/17273218/chord-hugo-2-review-dac-headphone-amplifier

GOOD STUFF

• Distortion-free sound
• Tough, rigid construction
• Lots of power in a transportable package

BAD STUFF

• Shrill highs spoil the enjoyment of music
• Controls are extremely unintuitive
• Flimsy MicroUSB ports

Hmmmmmmm...no comment!

Actually, I do agree that there are just a few songs where the highs can reduce enjoyment just a bit.

I love the H2 to death (and love my Utopia paired with it), but, for instance, with Lindsey Stirling's album "Lindsey Stirling" there's an orchestral version of one of her well known songs, called "Elements". When the H2 is paired with either the Utopia or HD800, the highest notes are a little wince-worthy.

Since I listen to more acoustical than electric music, it's not a really big problem for me. The Utopia and H2 continues to be a mesmerizing, almost magical, and constantly desirable experience for me with everything I have that is acoustical (except large symphony pieces). It almost surprises me that I lust after the sound even several months in. I'll be drinking coffee and suddenly think about a snare drum from a Dave Brubeck song and have to run to my audio setup to listen to it on my Utopias again. Or, I'll be in bed, and suddenly remember the tight cymbals from Funk N Swag (The Dirt Lounge) and have to get out of bed to go listen to it one more time before sleep. Or be walking the dog and suddenly remember the indescribable "after-note" piano notes from Emily Bear's Hot Peppers (Diversity album) and have to rush back to hear it again. I get these "must go listen NOW" moments for Sara Bareilles' "I Choose You" and the incredible vibration of Diana Krall's voice on "Hit That Jive Jack". Diana Krall especially is stunning on the Utopia. There is thin ultra fine vibration in her voice when she extends a note on fast songs that is smoothed over on every other setup I have. You can hear that vibration on her slower songs, but it always gets smoothed over on that song. It's only on the H2-Utopia that I can hear that ultra-finely packed together vibration on that particular quick tempo song.

All this to say, the Utopia H2 combo is the one that I would never give up if I had to give up everything else (heaven forbid), but, there are a few songs that admittedly, are just a tad hard to listen to because the H2 does make at least a couple of headphones a little wince-worthy in the treble.

 

[Rob Watts]

Thank you for the reply @JaZZ
I do still use it with the leather case but I've decided to either charge OR play on battery OR fully charge then play while charging. At work i take it off the leather case now and put it on my laptop stand which is ventilated, rather than just on the table inside the leather case. Works great keeping the H2 cool while charging/playing from mid to low battery, no more excessive heat.

One thing I'd like to know is if the Hugo purposely uses the casing to cool parts and if so where on the case are the contact points. @Rob Watts could you answer that?

The power dissipation path is via the PCB ground plane, and this conducts to the case via six M2 screws and stand-off pillars. Max power dissipation is whilst on and battery is flashing red; as the battery charges, the power dissipated internally is substantially lower.

 

[csglinux]

Actually, I do agree that there are just a few songs where the highs can reduce enjoyment just a bit.

I love the H2 to death (and love my Utopia paired with it), but, for instance, with Lindsey Stirling's album "Lindsey Stirling" there's an orchestral version of one of her well known songs, called "Elements". When the H2 is paired with either the Utopia or HD800, the highest notes are a little wince-worthy.

Maybe so, but how do you (and this guy from The Verge) conclude from that, that the culprit for the excessively shrill, or wince-worthy highs comes from the one component in your setup that we know measures either ruler flat, or (depending on filter settings), ruler-flat with a roll-off?

The problem I have with these attention-seeking media sorts like Vlad, is they have a large readership. There's a significant proportion of the general public that will actually believe the rubbish they write. We even have headfi members now sheepishly acknowledging that, yes, there really is a problem with excessively shrill treble from the H2.

I'm afraid, as a species, we are doomed.

 

[tekkster]

For your first sentence, I would say that when I pair the Utopia or HD800 with any other DAC, and I have a few like any other hobbyist, I don't have that problem. And when I pair the H2 with my other headphones (and again, I have a fair number of those like anyone who chases sound profiles), while I don't get necessarily a shrill sound, I do notice that the highs are pretty elevated from how those headphones are with other DACs.

While not scientific, I think I've done enough testing with my small sample of 20+ headphones and 10+DACs/DAC-Amps (which would include direct connections to mobile devices and laptops) to conclude that the H2 definitely elevates the treble significantly more than my other DACs/DAC-Amps do. Which...results in, for just a couple of headphones, a wince-worthy experience.

I also get the feeling that you're sort of painting me into the same position as the writer you are complaining about, and trying to poke holes in my opinion with your first comment. Despite the fact that my opinion is a reasonable subjective conclusion.

Which sort of makes me think you didn't really read the entire, much longer, second paragraph. A paragraph that puts me far far away, positionally, from the writer of the article you are complaining about. [Edit: I mean third and fourth paragraphs]

I've also been called a lot of things, but "sheepish"? That's a first.

Frankly, you're coming off as a little bit blind to the reality of this hobby, which is all about the subjective experience of each individual, who all gather here because we are passionate about listening to sound (whether we dub ourselves audiophiles or not). In such a gathering, expecting folks to simply be 100% behind any product without any acknowledgement that there might be subtleties in experience from one individual to the next, seems rather strange. We all process sound a little differently, listen to different kinds of music, and have different preferences to the sound profiles we like.

Why would having a different opinion from you, why would thinking that a piece of equipment is amazing overall, but has one or two little things about it that are not a best fit for a particular preference, equate to "I'm afraid, as a species, we are doomed"?

That just seems like you think everyone who likes this hobby and is passionate about music should have the exact same opinion regarding a product.

What a boring world that would be.

 

[dannyvstheworld]

Maybe so, but how do you (and this guy from The Verge) conclude from that, that the culprit for the excessively shrill, or wince-worthy highs comes from the one component in your setup that we know measures either ruler flat, or (depending on filter settings), ruler-flat with a roll-off?

The problem I have with these attention-seeking media sorts like Vlad, is they have a large readership. There's a significant proportion of the general public that will actually believe the rubbish they write. We even have headfi members now sheepishly acknowledging that, yes, there really is a problem with excessively shrill treble from the H2.

I'm afraid, as a species, we are doomed.

If you’re so sure that anyone criticizes H2 is “sheepishly” being mislead, then how do you know that everyone who praises H2 wasn’t sheepishly mislead by all those rave reviews?

And I can assure you that one negative review will do nothing to harm the sale of H2, because it’s already hyped to death and for every negative review there’re 1000 five star reviews. It doesn’t hurt to hear a different opinion. But I agree that the writer could do a lot better and provide better support to his conclusion, just like @tekkster did.

 

[Phronesis]

While not scientific, I think I've done enough testing with my small sample of 20+ headphones and 10+DACs/DAC-Amps (which would include direct connections to mobile devices and laptops) to conclude that the H2 definitely elevates the treble significantly more than my other DACs/DAC-Amps do. Which...results in, for just a couple of headphones, a wince-worthy experience.

You may be perceiving more treble due to some other attribute of the sound, such as more clarity. Also, I've tried the H2 with several headphones and found the Utopia to be on the bright side, but not the other headphones. I also found the Utopia to be on the bright side with the Mojo and the big McIntosh DAC/amp.

 

[csglinux]

@tekkster - I am in no way questioning your experience; I am questioning the conclusion you've reached as a result of it. Perhaps my language was a little blunt. I apologise for that. I'd genuinely like to converge on this, because I'm obvious missing something. Please explain what I'm not understanding here:

1) Your DAC/amp measures ruler-flat. 2) Your audio tracks have all sorts of imperfections: they may be too bright, too sibilant, or contain all manner of other distortions. 3) Your headphones have all sorts of peaks and troughs in their FR.

From the above, how do you conclude 1) is the problem? Did you honestly have this opinion before reading that Verge article?

Again, I understand you're talking about the net sum of your experience. You're perfectly at liberty to prefer the sound from switching in a tube amp. But there'd still be no logical basis for concluding that the Hugo 2 was the weak link in the chain.

Vlad Savov is the kind of guy that manufactures link-bait articles for a living. He got himself into hot water (and a whole bunch of free publicity) a year or two back when he said the Zero Audio Carbo Tenores competed with $1000 headphones. It was hyperbole of course, but IMHO there was a tiny grain of truth to it - the Carbo Tenores do punch well above their weight. IMHO, his comments on the H2's treble are totally vacuous. Yet it seemed like you at least partly agreed with him? Please help me understand. Why, when you hear a wince-worthy treble, would you conclude that the H2 is the cause of it?