[Deftone]

thanks for the impressions maxh, I look forward to trying them at canjam London.

 

[DoctaCosmos]

Got to hear the chord products today for the first time. I had wanted to buy a mojo today but didn't have enough. Lots of detail and hard to believe it was powering the Eikon the way it was but the magic wasn't there for my headphones with it. With an external amp then possibly. The Hugo 2 on the other hand had the magic the mojo was missing. The mrspeakers AEOn surprised me with its ability to scale up and also express the added upgrade in sound. The Hugo TT is also a great setup but holy cow it's impossible to compare anything to the Dave lol. Well actually it is really simple. Point at anything in canjam and say "not as good as Dave," and you're done

 

[x RELIC x]

Got to hear the chord products today for the first time. I had wanted to buy a mojo today but didn't have enough. Lots of detail and hard to believe it was powering the Eikon the way it was but the magic wasn't there for my headphones with it. With an external amp then possibly. The Hugo 2 on the other hand had the magic the mojo was missing. The mrspeakers AEOn surprised me with its ability to scale up and also express the added upgrade in sound. The Hugo TT is also a great setup but holy cow it's impossible to compare anything to the Dave lol. Well actually it is really simple. Point at anything in canjam and say "not as good as Dave," and you're done

You may be surprised to know the Mojo and Hugo1 (both have the same power output) are very very close to the TT's output. Don't judge the Mojo's output based on the size.

It's good that Chord has bumped the Hugo2 output slightly in my opinion, not because I don't feel the Mojo isn't enough for a wide range of headphones, but because people seem to want unlimited power, lol.

Glad you liked the DAVE. It's certainly an amazing DAC and I haven't heard anything sound close.

 

[psikey]

You may be surprised to know the Mojo and Hugo1 (both have the same power output) are very very close to the TT's output. Don't judge the Mojo's output based on the size.

It's good that Chord has bumped the Hugo2 output slightly in my opinion, not because I don't feel the Mojo isn't enough for a wide range of headphones, but because people seem to want unlimited power, lol.

Glad you liked the DAVE. It's certainly an amazing DAC and I haven't heard anything sound close.

 
Any confirmed release date on the Hugo 2 yet? My local dealer are hinting at March but didn't seem sure.

 

[x RELIC x]

Any confirmed release date on the Hugo 2 yet? My local dealer are hinting at March but didn't seem sure.

Nothing confirmed that I know of.

 

[STR-1]

thanks for the impressions maxh, I look forward to trying them at canjam London.

I'm hoping for an earlier opportunity than that at Audio Sanctuary's Headroom show in Chiswick on 24/25 March.

 

[miketlse]

   
Any confirmed release date on the Hugo 2 yet? My local dealer are hinting at March but didn't seem sure.

The French distributor said March for Hugo 2, and April for Poly, which aligns with what you have been told.
Unfortunately no specific date within March.

 

[dezispop]

Impressions on chord Hugo 2 are tempting, but I just ordered RWAK380 combo, money money money~

 

[doraymon]

@Mojo ideas any chance you can think of a "docking station" to make the Hugo2 more friendly during desktop use?
I know it's not an easy exercise but maybe...
In alternative a TT2?
Thanks

 

[cs600]

Headphones used: Focal Elear(Don't own), Audioquest Nighthawk (Own)

Tracks were played through Tidal Hifi either through a laptop (For Dave) or iPad mini/ iPod touch (Hugo TT and Hugo 2). The songs that were used were very familar to me and are some of my reference tracks that I listen to at home.

Note: These impressions were done under suboptimal circumstances so please take some of what I say with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, after two days listening back and forth I feel I have a pretty good grip regarding the differences between said devices. All of the Info below is my opinion and just that. YMMV.

Impressions of Hugo 2, Hugo TT , Dave.

I'm going to start with the Hugo TT since it just so happens to be the first one I got a chance to listen to. The overall design is beautiful! I knew it looked great looking at its photos online but in person it looks even better. The volume wheel is more responsive and the see through window is bigger and more elegant.

Plugging in the nighthawks It becomes apparent that the Hugo TT projects vocals more naturally and with more weight than the Hugo or Mojo. Detail levels are similar but come across as more engaging on the TT due to the dynamics the supercapacitors provide.




Next up was Dave . (Both the silver and black Hugo 2 were being used at the time)

Wow...You have not properly heard your music until you hear it through Dave. From the first click, Dave had my absolute undivided attention.  Dave reproduces music with seemingly unstoppable momentum! Dave was amazing! It was the best I have ever heard my music, period.. The sound stage was wide, the depth (when listening to both live recordings and close mic'd recordings) was surreal. On many occasions Dave sent a shiver down my spine and gave me goosebumps. When playing back several live recordings I kept turning my head because it sounded as if the audience was clapping and whistling right behind me. Both the width and depth were outstanding! Vocals and instuments were the best i've ever heard them. The piano was rendered beautifully,it was fast and weighty and seemingly came alive on both the Elears and night hawks. Now I fully understand what Rob means by reproducing "The timing of the transients" . Everything was laid out before me in an effortless way, I didn't have to put any effort in listening to the music. Damn you Dave! Now I really want to buy you! 








As soon as one of the Hugo 2's were available I sprung at the chance to hear it. Unfortunately for me I heard it right after the Dave. 

Before I get to the sound I want to talk about the design of the Hugo 2 and how it improved over the original Hugo. Right off the bat I noticed that Hugo 2 was designed to be a seamless device that does not require one to read the manual before using it. The input selection and crossfeed are both labeled and now represent tiny marbles instead of two tiny buttons on the side of the unit. All the inputs and outputs are properly labeled. The volume control is both bigger and faster than either the Hugo or TT. This means you can raise or lower the volume faster than before. The volume wheel also has a nice circular ramp around it which somehow made riasing or lowering the volume more comfortable than on the original Hugo. Now to the sound.

Coming from the Dave and listening directly to the Hugo 2 I felt as if some of the magic and dynamics were gone. It no longer had that unstoppable momentum I experienced before.

However.... It did indeed have some of Dave's magic. In many ways the Hugo 2 is like a portable Dave. It did much of what I mentioned above just to a lesser extent.  The Chord reps seemed to believe that the Hugo TT had an edge over the Hugo 2 in terms of dynamics, I'm inclined to believe that's true. However, IMO the Hugo 2 had the edge over the TT in terms of the "Timing of the transients" I felt that the Hugo 2 projected the starting and stopping of notes almost as fast as Dave and rendered instruments with detail that almost matched Dave but not quite. 

Comparing the TT and Hugo 2 side by side I felt that TT had more meat to the bones and better dynamics than the Hugo 2, but the TT didn't have the timing aspect like the Hugo 2 and Dave. Overall, it's a close call and honestly you can't go wrong with either of them. The Hugo 2 offers advantages in terms of portablity, timing, and different filter options (which due in fact change the sound like they advertise) and the TT is more suitable for a desktop or stationary use due to its better dynamics and balanced outputs. Meanwhile,with the Hugo you can take it wherever you-goooo. Well done Chord!

.....so here is my question again: FOR THE SAME PRICE you'd buy TT or Hugo2 for home setup (no balanced needed)?
Grazie
Mauro

 

[aut0maticdan]

AFAIK the power into Eikons is the same between the mojo and hugo2. I didn't hear the the hugo2 pairing but I listened to the Eikons through the mojo for quite a while and was quite impressed. I also listened to the Eikons through mojo > violectric v280 and lake people rs08. Very nice. Honestly, though, the mojo holds its own at a fraction of the wattage.

Power aside, the Hugo2 sound is a significant change/step up from the mojo. I wish I took some time with the pair because they were my best of canjam and I'd like to have them both some day. For my tastes, the humble mojo out performed the dacs that ZMF was demoing with (even with the benefit of massive amps attached to them)

 

[ipromesisposi]

  @Mojo ideas any chance you can think of a "docking station" to make the Hugo2 more friendly during desktop use?
I know it's not an easy exercise but maybe...
In alternative a TT2?
Thanks

+1

 

[maxh22]

.....so here is my question again: FOR THE SAME PRICE you'd buy TT or Hugo2 for home setup (no balanced needed)?
Grazie
Mauro

 
I think it's best to audition both of these units, side by side, in a quiet environment with a great source before making such a decision. The Hugo TT does have the advantage of Galvanic isolation so when the TT was hooked up to the iPad mini or laptop it sounded great and had the legup over the Hugo 2 since less noise was being transferred to the Dac. The super caps really do make a difference in terms of dynamics. But if you were to hook up both the Hugo 2 and TT to say a Microrendu/LPS-1 or other high end music server, the Hugo 2 may potentially sound more musical due to the updated code on the Hugo 2, but still will not have the dynamics of the TT (Although the gap will shrink).
 
The TT is more of a set it and forget it kind of piece. It has a nice heft to it and once you place it on your table or desk you really won't be moving it around that much. The Hugo 2 also has different filters which in my experience can radically change the sound of the song you are playing. Some people like warm and soft, some transparent and incisive, with Hugo 2 you could have it all! I also want to mention that the Hugo 2 feels much lighter than the original Hugo.
 
So really, which to buy depends on your list of priorities. Some may want the galvanic isolation, super caps, and larger footprint for their setup. Others may want to customize the sound to their liking and listen to their dac in different settings (Bed, couch, backyard, on walks, etc. ) 

 

[PhilW]

I'm hoping for an earlier opportunity than that at Audio Sanctuary's Headroom show in Chiswick on 24/25 March.

 
They are scheduled to be there

 

[514077]

 

.....so here is my question again: FOR THE SAME PRICE you'd buy TT or Hugo2 for home setup (no balanced needed)?
Grazie
Mauro

 
I think it's best to audition both of these units, side by side, in a quiet environment with a great source before making such a decision. The Hugo TT does have the advantage of Galvanic isolation so when the TT was hooked up to the iPad mini or laptop it sounded great and had the legup over the Hugo 2 since less noise was being transferred to the Dac. The super caps really do make a difference in terms of dynamics. But if you were to hook up both the Hugo 2 and TT to say a Microrendu/LPS-1 or other high end music server, the Hugo 2 may potentially sound more musical due to the updated code on the Hugo 2, but still will not have the dynamics of the TT (Although the gap will shrink).
 
The TT is more of a set it and forget it kind of piece. It has a nice heft to it and once you place it on your table or desk you really won't be moving it around that much. The Hugo 2 also has different filters which in my experience can radically change the sound of the song you are playing. Some people like warm and soft, some transparent and incisive, with Hugo 2 you could have it all! I also want to mention that the Hugo 2 feels much lighter than the original Hugo.
 
So really, which to buy depends on your list of priorities. Some may want the galvanic isolation, super caps, and larger footprint for their setup. Others may want to customize the sound to their liking and listen to their dac in different settings (Bed, couch, backyard, on walks, etc. ) 

Price taken into account, I'd go with the  Hugo2 and find something else for galvanic later.