Chord Electronics - Hugo 2 - The Official Thread

[JaZZ]

  No the white is with the WTA filter 2 engaged - so we have the WTA working at 256 FS, so timing is more accurate.
 
The green makes a very big difference with 96 and 192 - its easy to hear - but it is very much smaller with 44.1 as there is almost no noise to filter out.
This is simply due to the much larger levels of noise coming from HD sources - and this noise is artificial, as it is ADC noise shaper noise. Needless to say, one of the things that Davina will do is not have increasing noise shaper noise within the 768 kHz sampling rate, but standard ADC's have large amounts of this noise. The HF filter is second order, and has a -3dB at 40 kHz, so noise above this is prevented from causing noise floor modulation in the analogue parts of the DAC.
 
No noise floor modulation means a smoother and warmer sound, exactly as I hear.
 
Rob

 
So it seems to have about the same (sonic) effect as the DAVE's HF filter, right?

 

[jarnopp]

No the white is with the WTA filter 2 engaged - so we have the WTA working at 256 FS, so timing is more accurate.

The green makes a very big difference with 96 and 192 - its easy to hear - but it is very much smaller with 44.1 as there is almost no noise to filter out.. 
This is simply due to the much larger levels of noise coming from HD sources - and this noise is artificial, as it is ADC noise shaper noise. Needless to say, one of the things that Davina will do is not have increasing noise shaper noise within the 768 kHz sampling rate, but standard ADC's have large amounts of this noise. The HF filter is second order, and has a -3dB at 40 kHz, so noise above this is prevented from causing noise floor modulation in the analogue parts of the DAC.

No noise floor modulation means a smoother and warmer sound, exactly as I hear.

Rob

I didn't see this explicitly stated, but is it:
Red = 16 FS + HF
Orange = 16 FS - HF
Green = 256 FS + HF
White = 256 FS - HF
?
Thanks!

EDIt: fixed typo on green, and thanks, Rob, for confirming.

 

[Rob Watts]

Yes on the filter definition.
 
Yes on HF filter re Dave.
 
Rob

 

[phonomat]

   
Thanks. Wich headphones would you recommend tor the Hugo ?
 
Here somebody paired Hugo+TH900 and he is happy with them:    http://www.head-fi.org/t/748410/hugo-with-fostex-th900-silverdragon-vs-hugo-with-mcintosh-mhp1000

 
Then you now have two data points. 

 
As for the recos, I personally would go for something with a "bigger" and somewhat darker sound, though nothing as drastic as the NightHawk; depending on your budget, perhaps the Meze 99 Classic or the Sony Z1R, which are both very easy to drive?
This sort of telediagnosis is always difficult, as it depends on so many variables. In the end, it has to please you, so the best way is to sample as many contestants as you can and try to narrow it down. Preferences differ so much that all anyone else can do is give you some pointers.

 

[boomtube]

No the white is with the WTA filter 2 engaged - so we have the WTA working at 256 FS, so timing is more accurate.

The green makes a very big difference with 96 and 192 - its easy to hear - but it is very much smaller with 44.1 as there is almost no noise to filter out.. 
This is simply due to the much larger levels of noise coming from HD sources - and this noise is artificial, as it is ADC noise shaper noise. Needless to say, one of the things that Davina will do is not have increasing noise shaper noise within the 768 kHz sampling rate, but standard ADC's have large amounts of this noise. The HF filter is second order, and has a -3dB at 40 kHz, so noise above this is prevented from causing noise floor modulation in the analogue parts of the DAC.

No noise floor modulation means a smoother and warmer sound, exactly as I hear.

Rob

Would there be any benefit to using a clocking device like W4S Remedy?

 

[paul2qute]

I

 

[cs600]

Dear Rob,
may we be confident purchasing early production units/batches of Hugo2? We all remember case problems with early Hugo1....and please reassure us also that these erarly units will have state of the art technical specs (last firmware,....)
I can't wait some months to buy one to see if any change has been done!
Thank you
Mauro

 

[paul2qute]

Yes on the filter definition.

Yes on HF filter re Dave.

Rob

It's official it's a mobile Dave lol

 

[ubs28]

It's official it's a mobile Dave lol

Not really. That will be the Hugo 3 or 4 if they keep doubling the taps with every refresh.

So in 3 to 6 years most likely there will be a mobile Dave

 

[paul2qute]

Not really. That will be the Hugo 3 or 4 if they keep doubling the taps with every refresh.

So in 3 to 6 years most likely there will be a mobile Dave

I can wait,I'll only be coughs 50 and not a grey hair in sight at the moment

 

[phonomat]

No the white is with the WTA filter 2 engaged - so we have the WTA working at 256 FS, so timing is more accurate.

The green makes a very big difference with 96 and 192 - its easy to hear - but it is very much smaller with 44.1 as there is almost no noise to filter out.. 
This is simply due to the much larger levels of noise coming from HD sources - and this noise is artificial, as it is ADC noise shaper noise. Needless to say, one of the things that Davina will do is not have increasing noise shaper noise within the 768 kHz sampling rate, but standard ADC's have large amounts of this noise. The HF filter is second order, and has a -3dB at 40 kHz, so noise above this is prevented from causing noise floor modulation in the analogue parts of the DAC.

No noise floor modulation means a smoother and warmer sound, exactly as I hear.

Rob

40 kHz seems ... high?

 

[paul2qute]

Hi Rob it's nice to meet you, I've been reading the head fi forums for years but never joined until recently, think it's amazing what your doing, you and John really listen to the critics, more aesthetically of your products rather than the sound.I lived in Singapore for over 2 and half years beautiful place and beautiful ppl, hope you had time to enjoy some of the sites before you came back.I would love to meet you and talk about your craft and your products but I'm afraid I would end up nodding off as its just gobbledygook to me,so maybe we could talk wines shakespeare and find dining instead It's mad we both have a brain arms legs a heart yet you design world class leading Electronics and I pack Persil capsules into a tub, we look similar,obviously your better looking but genetically so very different it's a fascinating world

 

[Rob Watts]

 

No the white is with the WTA filter 2 engaged - so we have the WTA working at 256 FS, so timing is more accurate.

The green makes a very big difference with 96 and 192 - its easy to hear - but it is very much smaller with 44.1 as there is almost no noise to filter out.. 
This is simply due to the much larger levels of noise coming from HD sources - and this noise is artificial, as it is ADC noise shaper noise. Needless to say, one of the things that Davina will do is not have increasing noise shaper noise within the 768 kHz sampling rate, but standard ADC's have large amounts of this noise. The HF filter is second order, and has a -3dB at 40 kHz, so noise above this is prevented from causing noise floor modulation in the analogue parts of the DAC.

No noise floor modulation means a smoother and warmer sound, exactly as I hear.

Rob

Would there be any benefit to using a clocking device like W4S Remedy?

Short answer: no. Long answer no... but I am basing my assessment on optical and USB sounding the same with a very high spec MSI lap-top with an i7, 32GB, 4K display (so its likely to be much noisier than a regular lap-top or a mobile) using headphones only. So further isolating the USB will have no effect; but of course different sources, different results are possible.
 
I must say I was surprised by the null result, I could hear clear differences before.
 
Rob

 

[Rob Watts]

Dear Rob,
may we be confident purchasing early production units/batches of Hugo2? We all remember case problems with early Hugo1....and please reassure us also that these erarly units will have state of the art technical specs (last firmware,....)
I can't wait some months to buy one to see if any change has been done!
Thank you
Mauro

Absolutely production code! And very big holes for the RCA.

 

No the white is with the WTA filter 2 engaged - so we have the WTA working at 256 FS, so timing is more accurate.

The green makes a very big difference with 96 and 192 - its easy to hear - but it is very much smaller with 44.1 as there is almost no noise to filter out.. 
This is simply due to the much larger levels of noise coming from HD sources - and this noise is artificial, as it is ADC noise shaper noise. Needless to say, one of the things that Davina will do is not have increasing noise shaper noise within the 768 kHz sampling rate, but standard ADC's have large amounts of this noise. The HF filter is second order, and has a -3dB at 40 kHz, so noise above this is prevented from causing noise floor modulation in the analogue parts of the DAC.

No noise floor modulation means a smoother and warmer sound, exactly as I hear.

Rob

40 kHz seems ... high?

The engineer in me can't accept worse than -0.8 dB at 20 kHz, as worse than -1 dB can't be considered flat!

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Absolutely production code! And very big holes for the RCA.
The engineer in me can't accept worse than -0.8 dB at 20 kHz, as worse than -1 dB can't be considered flat!

 
Nice