[Whazzzup]

Actually we do speak about amps. Especially to explain the difference between adding an amp to a common CD player or DAC with headphone output, where it absolutely makes sense, since it will bypass the (inferior) internal headphone amp, and adding an amp to a Chord DAC/headphone amp, where bypassing the internal «amp» isn't possible. So this option just means adding your preferred flavor, under acceptance of signal degradation and reduced transparency. Just really insensitive headphones will benefit nonetheless. That's also the occasion to remind that equalizing is a better way of shaping the sound to your liking or for compensating the headphone's flaws since it doesn't come with said signal degradation.

Ill throw in a

 

[JaZZ]

Ill throw in a

Could you please translate that again? I have no idea what you're trying to say. If it is an expression of criticism to my argument's, it would be useful if you could express it in words.

 

[Martinrm]

aptX + H2 provided one of the best bluetooth experiences of my life.

Trying to put the H2 through it's paces, testing it now as a preamp hooked up to two monoblock and my LSiM 705's, superb!

 

[Jawed]

Diamond Life is a pretty thin sounding album - designed to sound good on 80s ghetto blasters (boom boxes). Yes, I was there... Though I hated the album when it came out for it's "slick, shiny" feel that gave off an over-produced feel, with a whiff of sophistication that seemed aimed at making yuppies feel they were being cool by owning it. I came to like it as the years went by... But it still sounds kinda stark, without the impact and the last degree of groove and funk it should have. It is arguably a victim of early CD era mastering, where there was a tendency to master CDs to sound "bright".

One thing that better hi-fi does is to make the differences easier to hear. Fast music will sound faster, slow music slower, echoey open sounding production will sound more spacious, claustrophobic recordings more up-close and personal. etc. So Hugo 2 and HD 800 S is extremely revealing and will make the differences really obvious across your music collection. The Stax headphone guys have a good word for how revealing HD 800 (S) is: plankton. You hear the tiniest most inconsequential things.

HD 800 S appears to be designed for Sennheiser's headphone amps/DAC-amps. These are engineered with a high output impedance to add bass. So, it's reasonable to do EQ to add some bass. HD 800 S also has some extra bass resonance/distortion engineered into its sound, to give it a more "fun" character.

I don't use EQ: I found that I was always fiddling. It's an evil waste of time as it makes me think: "ooh I could make this sound a bit better by ..."

One thing I love with my system is the way HD 800 S "disappears". It's not so much that the sound transports me to the recording venue, as the headphones don't seem to be on my head. Also I find HD 800 S to be an exceedingly emotionally communicative headphone - and Chord DACs can make fireworks sound emotionally engaging, so the combination is a real show!

It's always good to listen to new music with your shiny new hi-fi: you have no idea how that music is supposed to sound. This stops you thinking about the differences from your old hi-fi.

Here's something to take your mind off the sound:

http://www.nilsfrahm.com/works/sol/

It's a free album by Nils Frahm played on an amazing piano with super resonant scale and extremely low bass notes (10 foot/3m long strings!). Amongst the plankton you'll hear him, I guess, pressing a button on his digital recorder to mark the tracks: it's an improvised album recorded in one take.

So ... it's taken me the entirety of Diamond Life to write this post, mildly distracted at times by the album...

Now playing: Sade - Why Can't We Live Together

 

[Whazzzup]

Could you please translate that again? I have no idea what you're trying to say. If it is an expression of criticism to my argument's, it would be useful if you could express it in words.

Sorry again for introducing humor. No criticism. I mearly gave up, give up and finished with an innocent smiley face. You proved my inside joke, we do not speak of amplification on chord threads. I already washed my mouth out, don't make me do it again.

 

[Dvdlucena]

I've been trying different combinations of inputs and music with the DACs I have on hand. One thing that is apparent is that they each have their subtle character, but more than anything all bring a sense of realism and enjoyment I've been searching for since I started in the hobby.

That being said, level-matched into a Master 9 with Utopias (Yggy and R2R 7 balanced, Hugo 2 SE) listening to Three Guitars, where with the Yggy and R2R 7 sting plucks are a bit more "one note", with the Hugo 2, I can make out the underlying texture and vibration of the note decay.

Can you elaborate more in the H2 vs Yggdrasil review? There are several reviews comparing Yggdrasil vs Dave, and seems They are close, and the choice is a matter of taste

 

[JaZZ]

Sorry again for introducing humor. No criticism. I mearly gave up, give up and finished with an innocent smiley face. You proved my inside joke, we do not speak of amplification on chord threads. I already washed my mouth out, don't make me do it again.

Oh, thanks for explaining! I think I do have a sense of humor, just not the Canadian kind (that was Swiss humor, just in case). Actually we do talk about amps in Chord threads, but we don't use headphone amps with Chord DAC/amps. Fair enough?

 

[audionewbi]

Here is my two cent on Mojo vs HUGO vs HUGO 2, please note I do not own HUGO 2 and impression is based on maybe 3-6 hours of listening to a demo unit:

I started my Chord journey with Hugo which impressed me so much with its resolution that I ended up getting the Mojo. Mojo is the warmer sounding unit at much smaller size where as Hugo is a much more neutral sounding. I have had a pleasure to try Dave and based on the experience it is safe to say the higher the price point we go on the Chord line the more resolving the product gets.

Now for me the obvious question was is HUGO 2 worth trading both my mojo and hugo plus 2.4 AUD, well if sound alone was to be the judge no. If you own Mojo and want something more resolving and still have the option to get the mojo sound HUGO 2 does offer that but if you are a HUGO owner and want a direct upgrade from it and dont quiet like the sound Mojo HUGO 2 going to be the next step. The improvement is there, specially the upgraded design and improvement in the industrial design (which in my opinion they should have gotten right on the original HUGO, but sadly they didn't).

I used Cardas EM5813, T8iEMKII, HUM Prisitine and Shure KSE1500 for my testing. Out of which I truly love how EM5813 pairs with higher end chord DAC.

I will wait till HUGO 3 comes out or DAVE prices reduce, as is I can't justify loosing my HUGO and Mojo.

 

[rcoleman1]

Got my shipping notification! I'll be in the H2 club soon. Will definitely post impressions when received.

 

[jaspal kallar]

aptX + H2 provided one of the best bluetooth experiences of my life.
Trying to put the H2 through it's paces, testing it now as a preamp hooked up to two monoblock and my LSiM 705's, superb!

I'm thinking of using the H2 in my stereo set up as a Pre & Dac as it's primary use.

Do you simply just connect RCA cables from the H2 to your power amp (or mono blocks) and use the remote to change volume ?

 

[Hooster]

Do you simply just connect RCA cables from the H2 and your power amp (or mono block) and use the remote to change volume ?

Yes

 

[x RELIC x]

Can you elaborate more in the H2 vs Yggdrasil review? There are several reviews comparing Yggdrasil vs Dave, and seems They are close, and the choice is a matter of taste

I'd also be interested in a more elaborate comparison. I almost purchased the Yggy when Schiit had it available in black, to pair with my Liquid Gold, but I was also waiting to hear the Hugo2 in the review tour (timing, use case scenarios, allocation of funds and all that). I rarely listen to the Liquid Gold as I prefer the DAVE without it, but I do like the Liquid Gold's sweet tone and perhaps the Yggy could draw me back to it as a second listening station. In the end I just couldn't do it as I hadn't ever heard the Yggy.

 

[UntilThen]

In the end I just couldn't do it as I hadn't ever heard the Yggy.

I heard Yggy now and it's grat8.

 

[Currawong]

I have to ask the simple question: is that really John Franks, CEO of Chord Electronics or someone posing as him?
His English and punctuation are atrocious.

He often posts from his phone, in a hurry.

Hmm, I thought Prof Johnson of Reference Recordings was the man behind HDCD all those years ago?

My bad, he was responsible for DVD Audio. I must have been mixed up. I thought that there was another, similar technology he had designed in the past though.

Some better set ups will also provide more apealing bass as well. The hd800S has sufficient range to provide adequate bass and sub bass if the system projects that.
Eq is also a solution, although i prefer no eq filters etc.

I tried the crossfade options and it gives the feeling that there is more bass. I still think that it's the spaciousness and depth that give the impression of less bass, as I have had similar experiences going back decades now from when I first tried music I liked on a proper hi-fi system rather than whatever cheap player I had.

kinda hard to use search feature so if someone is not offended and can answer the questions about Filters:

Which color is "DAVE" filter? (l know it is not Dave so no need to insult)
Which color is "Mojo" filter?
What is "roll off"? does this mean some data is lost??

More or less you need to know how digital filtering works. Since digital audio can only encode up to certain frequencies, a DA-converter has to cut off any frequencies higher than the maximum. For CD quality audio (the most common) it is 22.050 kHz. The basic method now is a "brickwall" filter that just cuts them off dead at that point. However with regular DACs (not Chord) that causes other sonic issues, so a lot of people prefer a gradual roll-off towards the limit. The Chord DACs can do a brickwall filter without the issues other DACs have, but some people still don't like it as much as a gradual roll-off. It only affects high harmonics essentially, as instruments only go up to about 12 kHz (fundamentally anyway). Most people can't really hear up to 20 kHz anyway, so it doesn't affect everyone in the same way.

I agree that I am not used to the amount of information I hear from Hugo 2. It's quite overwhelming tbh. I just need to spend more time listening to it and see if my brain's perception of the music changes. It will be a Hugo 2 weekend

Try a DAVE. That was purely freaky with the information overload.

I'll give the eq a go - that's a good shout guys.

Any sw recommendations for a Macbook? Both for an equaliser and/or player... I want to try out many things!

Audirvana can access the built-in EQs in MacOS in the preferences.

Can you elaborate more in the H2 vs Yggdrasil review? There are several reviews comparing Yggdrasil vs Dave, and seems They are close, and the choice is a matter of taste

That's tricky. To get the most out of a Dave, there is the assumption that the recording is excellent and that you're either using headphones direct or plugging it into something that can carry through everything the Dave is capable of revealing. That's why all the jokes about using an amp (or not using one). I think at this point, it's going to depend a lot on everything other than the Hugo 2. So with the Utopias direct from the Hugo 2 and one of the best recordings I have, I get more detail with the Hugo 2. With lesser recordings, or less revealing headphones, or through an external amp, I'm not sure I'd be able to pick a difference, going by my A/B tests with other gear here.

 

[boomtube]

I'm so in anticipation of actually holding the H2 in my hands...I feel like a heroin addict waiting for a call from his dealer.