[musickid]

any impressions of hugo/hugo2 Dithy? that would be great

 

[Hermitsden]

Unfortunately, Dithyrambes didn’t try DAVE and M-scaler with it, otherwise you might reach different conclusion. In my previous audition between HugoTT vs. DAVE using HD800 half-year ago, the gap was much much larger than I expected. I’ll skip TT even though I can’t afford DAVE. Now I’m hoping Hugo2 can bridge the gap closer. 

 

[musickid]

hi hermitsden,
 
"I’m hoping Hugo2 can bridge the gap closer." 
 
can you give some detail here. im thinking of upgrading to hugo2 in september

 

[Dithyrambes]

@musickid I never heard the Hugo 1 before so I wouldn't know how to compare it to that.
 
I'm sure the Dave is better, but then again we are talking orders of magnitude higher in price. I know for a lot of people here price isn't a factor, but spending 8k-10k on just a dac is something that will never happen. I feel the investment can go somewhere else in the audio chain or another hobby. Maybe getting out in the real world, going to real concerts, and socializing instead of marveling at the difference that a 10k dac brings. Or Maybe just spend 2.2k on hugo2, or yggy, and use the rest on getting a TOTL camera with several lenses? Any audio gear, even the Dave is never going to sound good as making real music, so I don't see the goal of chasing "live" audio reproduction.
 
Being a professional cellist, the funds would be better spent trying to find a good bow that appreciates in value from a good, but unknown maker.
 
I'm 100 percent sure I won't be impressed by the DAVE. Audio gear doesn't really impress me, but I do like quality when listening. I try to keep it a hobby and try to find a good balance between price/performance. Its for personal enjoyment and I don't buy audio gear to show status or impress others.
 
I listened to the HE-1s for an hour in a pop-up store in NYC in a quite environment. While it was "impressive", it still sounds like a headphone.....and with that limitation, I would never spend 60k on it(Not that I could afford it anyhow). 

 

[Triode User]

  hi hermitsden,
 
"I’m hoping Hugo2 can bridge the gap closer." 
 
can you give some detail here. im thinking of upgrading to hugo2 in september

 
It's pointless asking someone to clarify what he is hoping for as a way of guiding your future purchase in September.
 
I just have a vague recollection that I saw somewhere that Chord still see the hierarchy of sound as being Mojo<Hugo<Hugo2<HugoTT<Dave.
 
Unfortunately life is too short for me to be bothered about looking for where I saw it. In any case the Hugo2 will be out soon and then people can make their own minds up.

 

[rkt31]

yggy rag combo sounds better than headphones straight out of chord TT or even mojo ? can't believe it . how adding an amp to a DAC which does not have volume control will improve the sound ? rag specs are no way near even mojo's . if at all someone want to compare that r2r sch**t dac with even mojo , please do it and post the recorded clip of analog out o both or replace that r2r dac with mojo feeding to rag with same output level. imho any dac which conveys the vocals most realistically is best because vocal frequency represent the audio spectrum with which we are most conversant . with mojo and hugo the vocals directly communicate with you.

 

[Hooster]

  hi hermitsden,
 
"I’m hoping Hugo2 can bridge the gap closer." 
 
can you give some detail here. im thinking of upgrading to hugo2 in september

 
Sounds like a good plan, as long as you keep your system balanced. There is no point in buying a component as expensive as the Hugo2 unless you have a server, cables and headphones that let it shine. Enjoy your Hugo, it is a great dac.

 

[EVOLVIST]

@musickid

I'm sure the Dave is better, but then again we are talking orders of magnitude higher in price. I know for a lot of people here price isn't a factor, but spending 8k-10k on just a dac is something that will never happen. I feel the investment can go somewhere else in the audio chain or another hobby. Maybe getting out in the real world, going to real concerts, and socializing instead of marveling at the difference that a 10k dac brings. Any audio gear, even the Dave is never going to sound good as making real music, so I don't see the goal of chasing "live" audio reproduction.

I'm 100 percent sure I won't be impressed by the DAVE. Audio gear doesn't really impress me, but I do like quality when listening. I try to keep it a hobby and try to find a good balance between price/performance. Its for personal enjoyment and I don't buy audio gear to show status or impress others.

A very interesting post, and one I feel quite at home with. I remember my old tube television before I bought my first plasma 1080p television. The old Panasonic tube TV was great, and I played many DVDs through it, being totally ignorant of blu rays and HD video. After all, that old Panasonic with DVDs was killer compared to that old Magnavox I had after college, and the Magnavox blew away the old family Zenith (with rabbit ears) before that.

Not that bigger is always better, right? I mean, it's not. It's all perspective. But somewhere down the line, like let's say if video reproduction was your biggest interest, you have to take a stand like you are with the DAVE. That's great! That doesn't mean, though, that somewhere there wasn't a theoretical 1080p or 4k television is somebody's mind in 1977. In other words, the greater already existed, only we we're unable to experience it. Or, rather, hey, how many people had the ability to view the master of the film Gone With the Wind? Not many people; nevertheless, the quality was still sitting in a round steel can.

I think that's where you're view of the DAVE might be a little skewed, though. It's not as if the DAVE is trying to fully realize what isn't there, only what is actually in a recording. The whole closer to "live" thing isn't even in DAVE's remit. If we we're just talking about a recording of a single guitar, the recording, itself, would still be limited to the mic, the cables, the console/recording device that was used to reproduce the sound; therefore so would the DAVE.

This is much like film, yes? 4k isn't going to bring out any additional clarity that isn't intrinsic to film's negatives. But 4k is going to get us as close to the master as we've ever seen, and that's better than any version would could have watched on a 1968 Zenith.

Priorities, priorities. Does that mean one has to pay top dollar to enjoy their music? Hell no! Often - well, I've said it before in this hobby - ignorance is bliss much of the time. But also ignorance can come at a loss, much like my TV analogy.

If I was deciding between a Hugo2 and a Yggy, I would by the Yggy, because of bang for your buck. From what I've learned of Chord's technology, it's an all or nothing proposition, and "all" comes with a heafty price that might not suit everyone. Fitting a fraction of their tech in a little box is probably going to give less than a fraction of a yeild, simply because the tech is very complex for it to work properly, with a lot of factors that just doesn't fit in an all-in-one receptacle.

I have not heard the Hugo2, but I had the Yggy for 38 days (along with the Metrum Pavane) with the DAVE before I made my final choice. The Yggy sounded a tad forced, almost mechanical, but never digital. The Pavane sounded very musical, but way relaxed and smeared, while the DAVE was just right - free and easy, like 1080p on a well-calibrated TV. So, I bought into the sound, and I also bought into the tech, knowing that Chord promised to get better, that it was sure to cost me more money, but I had set my priorities as the hopes that one day I could get to 4k and beyond.

The truth is, one day the tech in DAVE is not going to fit in a smaller box, only the larger box will get less expensive. I chose to enjoy it now, because, well, nobody's next day is promised to them.

I have no illusion that what I hear now out of the DAVE will be the be-all-end-all, but I'm also believe that one day (and probably soon) that there will be only so much that the ear can hear and the brain can process. I'm not in this to collect expensive pieces of gear; I'm in it to go as far as I can hear great sound quality out of my recordings. Yeah. I think my journey into SQ is coming to a foreseeable end. I'm glad. I never wanted to spend this kind of money, but I'm glad I did.

 

[EVOLVIST]

It's pointless asking someone to clarify what he is hoping for as a way of guiding your future purchase in September.

I just have a vague recollection that I saw somewhere that Chord still see the hierarchy of sound as being Mojo
Unfortunately life is too short for me to be bothered about looking for where I saw it. In any case the Hugo2 will be out soon and then people can make their own minds up.

I Don't know; I hate to say it, but I think Hugo TT owners are getting a bit screwed on this deal. They have a pretty expensive DAC now that is only a 4 element pulse array DAC while the Hugo2 is already a 10 element pulse array. 26k taps for the Hugo TT and 49K taps for the Hugo2.

You have Supercaps in the TT, which I'm sure makes a great difference, since neither the Hugo2 nor the TT has an internal power supply, and you've got Bluetooth with the Hugo TT, but only at 16/48 audio.

I'm not saying the Hugo TT sucks, only I feel the Hugo2 has now probably overtaken it.

 

[Hooster]

I Don't know; I hate to say it, but I think Hugo TT owners are getting a bit screwed on this deal. They have a pretty expensive DAC now that is only a 4 element pulse array DAC while the Hugo2 is already a 10 element pulse array. 26k taps for the Hugo TT and 49K taps for the Hugo2.

You have Supercaps in the TT, which I'm sure makes a great difference, since neither the Hugo2 nor the TT has an internal power supply, and you've got Bluetooth with the Hugo TT, but only at 16/48 audio.

I'm not saying the Hugo TT sucks, only I feel the Hugo2 has now probably overtaken it.

 
It is what it is. They could hardly limit the Hugo 2, just because it might be better than the TT.

 

[Triode User]

I Don't know; I hate to say it, but I think Hugo TT owners are getting a bit screwed on this deal. They have a pretty expensive DAC now that is only a 4 element pulse array DAC while the Hugo2 is already a 10 element pulse array. 26k taps for the Hugo TT and 49K taps for the Hugo2.

You have Supercaps in the TT, which I'm sure makes a great difference, since neither the Hugo2 nor the TT has an internal power supply, and you've got Bluetooth with the Hugo TT, but only at 16/48 audio.

I'm not saying the Hugo TT sucks, only I feel the Hugo2 has now probably overtaken it.

I don't know either. I have owned Hugo, HugoTT and the Dave so I know what I'm talking about there but I have not heard the Hugo2 so I don't know what I'm talking about with that.
 
And that's all I can say with certainty!

 

[x RELIC x]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

After 98 pages, not many impressions of the Hugo 2. I'm still in the fence on getting this dac. I love the form factor and portability of unit, but I do wonder if it can compete with the Schiit Yggy at around 2.2k. 2.2k is a steep price and yes it comes with a lot of bells and whistles, but sq matters at the end of the day. I have my Sony WM1A for portability, so looking for a desktop unit.

TBH, I heard it at Canjam NYC, and I wasn't floored by the performance. I owned a mojo for almost a year, so I was expecting a revelation for the price difference. Yes there is better treble performance, no cramped soundstage, and better timbre. It was not an ideal setting and I only listened to it for 10 minutes with Zeus XRs and andromedas. I'll have to listen again in a better environment.
 
Something about the house sound still feels a bit strange to me. I don't want to hear Jazz repeat the same thing he repeats a million times in every chord forum so that's not what I'm looking to hear. I know the Chord viewpoints and explanations already.
 
I hear the WTA filter in action and it creates this weird strobe like feeling....like very small micro grains in the sound(Can feel it as Rob Watts himself says we are very sensitive to timing). This makes the sound thinner(or I guess "live" for some people) ultra clean. The lower resonances sound a tad strange. I can describe it like stuff cotton in your bass ports of your speakers to try to create a neutral sound. At the same time the sound is fluffy, smooth. The sound is very detailed but neither viseral, nor sharp, and tries to exude effortlessness. Imaging is good, but again I can't really tell if its trying to be 2d or 3d because the timbre of the sound tries to sound flat(I guess people can call it neutral or reference, but it doesn't sound like that in real life). its really strange(something I got from chord mojo having an X shaped soundstage instead of an O). It just sounded inoffensive, ambivalent, passive aggressive, slightly diffuse.
 
TBH I couldn't hear the 1k worth of performance increase over my wm1a.
 
Still probably one of the better dacs I heard there, but I can say that all the hype on most audio gear is overblown here at head-fi. I took my time to listen to all the products at canjam, and compared them to the impressions in the thread. Its far overblown and the differences are much smaller. 
 
I did not get to hear the dave, because it was being used, but I did try the Hugo TT. Really wasn't impressed at all. I can't believe people payed 5k for that, when it came out. its nowhere close to the performance of a yggy/ragnorak stack with the utopias. I wish people did a blind test to see which dac they prefer, because I think after hearing things like 10 pulse arrays and 50k taps, and all the stuff said here, one can imagine the difference. If someone asked me to listen to the Hugo TT blindly, and asked me how much do you think that setup is worth......I'm sorry to say, but I wouldn't guess its 4-5k. Same goes with the Hugo 2. If I heard it blind, I couldn't say at this point its worth 2.2k. (same goes with WM1Z....overpriced walkman....that's def not 3k sound and blame AK for that).

Looking forward to other impressions.....who are more on a neutral note with chord gear.

 

 
I've actually been considering getting a Yggy to hear what all the fuss is about. I have a good amp to pair it with already that isn't being used much. It would be interesting to compare so I can relate to what you just posted, as well as many other viewpoints here (and what's posted on other sites).
 
 
 

  @musickid I never heard the Hugo 1 before so I wouldn't know how to compare it to that.
 
I'm sure the Dave is better, but then again we are talking orders of magnitude higher in price. I know for a lot of people here price isn't a factor, but spending 8k-10k on just a dac is something that will never happen. I feel the investment can go somewhere else in the audio chain or another hobby. Maybe getting out in the real world, going to real concerts, and socializing instead of marveling at the difference that a 10k dac brings. Or Maybe just spend 2.2k on hugo2, or yggy, and use the rest on getting a TOTL camera with several lenses? Any audio gear, even the Dave is never going to sound good as making real music, so I don't see the goal of chasing "live" audio reproduction.
 
Being a professional cellist, the funds would be better spent trying to find a good bow that appreciates in value from a good, but unknown maker.
 
I'm 100 percent sure I won't be impressed by the DAVE. Audio gear doesn't really impress me, but I do like quality when listening. I try to keep it a hobby and try to find a good balance between price/performance. Its for personal enjoyment and I don't buy audio gear to show status or impress others.
 
I listened to the HE-1s for an hour in a pop-up store in NYC in a quite environment. While it was "impressive", it still sounds like a headphone.....and with that limitation, I would never spend 60k on it(Not that I could afford it anyhow). 

 
I listen at my desk while I work (a lot) from home so for me spending the money on audio gear is not about status or anything close to that. It's about enjoying my hobby while I have to be chained to my desk and I'll pay as much as I need to for my enjoyment (but that's me). I'm sure as a professional Cellist you have unique perspective compared to many on these forums regarding live music which may bias you more against any reproduction, regardless of the underlying implementation. I agree with your perspective of enjoying it as a hobby is what it's all about.

 

[Maru10]

Hello again,
 
one thing I don't know whether I am interpretting correctly; will Hugo 2 come with physical remote control included, or only the possibility of remote control, which will have to be bought separately? 

 

[musickid]

hi hooster,
 
i did at one point have a great vinyl collection which was written off in a small flood as it was stored in a hired container along with furniture etc when moving. i also was building a cd collection which also got dispersed. tidal hifi lossless which is meant to be redbook cd quality is my mainstay now and it is a very nice sound. i believe hugo 2 will bring out the best of 16/44.1Khz audio files. its the only real option for me.

 

[Knipester]

In chords website is sats s remote is included in the box

quote name="Maru10" url="/t/831345/chord-electronics-hugo-2-the-official-thread/1470#post_13334181"]Hello again,

one thing I don't know whether I am interpretting correctly; will Hugo 2 come with physical remote control included, or only the possibility of remote control, which will have to be bought separately? 
[/quote]