[ChisChas]

Ooops...............Who talked about not listening to his new Hugo 2 before 'running it in'? Confession time, I'm listening to Clive Gregson & Christine Collister's track 'How weak I am' (I know how you feel guys). My excuse, a genuine one, is that I couldn't get any output through a spare pair of headphones although everything should have been working fine. It was my AKG K702 Anniversary HP's whose 3.5mm jack didn't like its NBF at the Hugo 2 end of proceedings. I was lining up my older K702's for overnight duty as the Hugo 2 was fully charged.

And I do not understand the big deal about the four control buttons, perhaps I have read so many posts explaining which one does what but they are easy peasy to get on with. And if an oldun can master them...........

Anyway, having read this entire thread from its first post, just wanted to THANK YOU all (and Rob Watts for his very regular contributions) for all the advice/tips/hints that have appeared in this thread. I feel I've had a Hugo 2 for ages. My K812's have scaled up beautifully.

And I need to look into this properly but since I bought an Asus optical drive with two power usb's, I've had to use another usb port on my MSI laptop (the one I usually put my mouse wireless usb in, I 'seem' to be getting a more powerful & fuller sound? But I will try the other two usb ports tomorrow but I also found this with my AQ DF Red before Mr C took over. Anyone else experience a difference between their lappy usb ports?

 

[jscmd2000]

Something is burning in.... Some of you say it's my brain. Some say it's the Hugo 2.

Bass is back, dynamics in the music more prevalent. Haven't noticed a change this strong from other equipment. Anyway Ultrarendu, Sbooster PSU and Hugo 2 are delightful on my HD800.

I won't go into the differences between my USB cables.

Ade

I experienced the same thing... For the first couple of weeks, I thought I just wasted 2g's on something not even as good as the Mojo. Not sure if it was the "burn-in" or my brain needing to adjust/learn. I seriously thought about selling it. Then I thought about asking someone to teach me how to enjoy this thing... how is this good?? I'm glad I didn't because I starting liking it after about 20-30 hrs of listening, much better than Mojo. I don't have golden ears, so this was kind of an accomplishment for me to tell the difference between the two and actually like the one that is suppose to be better. Yea, just tried listening to Mojo couple of days ago and thought about my nephew and Christmas.

 

[commtrd]

Direct opposite here. The instant I got everything terminated and working with the driver it was immediately apparent the difference between H2 and Mojo. I knew "right now" that I was going to love listening to music thru this device. More listening confirmed the initial impression that further upgrades (Yggy etc.) were going to be un-necessary. This is such a nice little setup and also does not take up a bunch of desk space like full size components would. Most importantly it just sounds really nice and I listen to it for hours on end at times. Sweet! =)

 

[Deftone]

When I first listened to Hugo 2 I didn’t know what the sound improvements would be, I didn’t read up about it like I do with everything else. I just knew it was showing off 49K taps, 10E pulse array etc.

Anyway on first listen what grabbed me was how extremely realistic everything sounded I was in shock I had to switch back to mojo to confirm and it just wasn’t there, then after a few days of listening i came to this thread and noticed quite a few people commenting on how they hear Hugo 2 producing sound that is so realistic.

 

[Currawong]

I have not done a direct comparison of the Ygg/Spring DAC vs. Hugo2 DAC SQ yet, but my gut tells me that they are all performing at the same level. I may even like the Hugo2 more myself. Has anyone done the comparison?

I don't have a Spring DAC, but do have the R2R 7 here, which I've been using in various modes. So far, between them and the Yggy, the Hugo has the edge, very slightly, in fine detail terms, on my system. Granted, the other DACs don't have a headphone output, so there is likely some compromised when going through another amp vs. using the headphone. Depending on the headphones and amp, this compromise is sometimes necessary or beneficial in some ways. However in overall feeling, the Hugo 2 has a clear musicality that is cohesive throughout its presentation -- from another perspective, it doesn't feel like the Hugo 2 uses any kind of "trick" or "tuning" to achieve this, but there is a naturally audible depth with pure stereo recordings. The Yggy is a very tiny bit flatter sounding (really very tiny, and NB: New Yggys have changes to the firmware and boards which I don't have in mine) and the R2R 7 is pleasing to listen to due to its slight harmonic distortion (in OS or NOS mode, with some variation) but sacrifices a tiny bit of detail as a result. I can very easily forget which DAC I've switched in to listen with most of the time though.

Here's the kicker though: Depending on the transport, it's possible knock any of the DACs up or down a notch. I fed the Hugo 2 using the crappiest optical cable I had from my computer and it very clearly wasn't as pleasant to listen with. The two desktop DACs have some variation depending on transport as well. So assuming no nonsense about preferences towards or against any company, I wouldn't be entirely surprised by some variation in comparisons in different set-ups.

 

[Hooster]

I can very easily forget which DAC I've switched in to listen with most of the time though.

^^^ That is worth noting. Just pick the one you like best when it comes to price, looks and functionality.

 

[myhalis]

I just ordered a black Hugo 2 for my utopia. I trust your guys ears. And mine as I have auditioned the hugo2 at the NY CanJam. Now, I have also ordered the Nordost Purple Flare USB cable and that was an impulse buy/recommendation I am not sure about. Of course, I don’t want to start another opinionated cable idea exchange. I do know that Chord sells a USB cable though. So I just wonder if anyone had firsthand experience with this or another similar quality cable. My impression from reading posts and reviews is that Hugo 2 is not as sensitive as other DACs on cable quality. Anyway, I will be able to tell you what I think in a couple of weeks, hopefully.

 

[Triode User]

I just ordered a black Hugo 2 for my utopia. I trust your guys ears. And mine as I have auditioned the hugo2 at the NY CanJam. Now, I have also ordered the Nordost Purple Flare USB cable and that was an impulse buy/recommendation I am not sure about. Of course, I don’t want to start another opinionated cable idea exchange. I do know that Chord sells a USB cable though. So I just wonder if anyone had firsthand experience with this or another similar quality cable. My impression from reading posts and reviews is that Hugo 2 is not as sensitive as other DACs on cable quality. Anyway, I will be able to tell you what I think in a couple of weeks, hopefully.

Just to clarify that Chord cables is a completely separate and unrelated company to Chord Electronics.

 

[Deftone]

https://www.chord.co.uk/

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/

 

[myhalis]

https://www.chord.co.uk/

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/

my bad about the company names. Thanks

https://www.chord.co.uk/

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/

By bad. Thanks guys.

 

[MacedonianHero]

I just ordered a black Hugo 2 for my utopia. ....

Congrats! Brilliant pairing!

 

[commtrd]

I could easily imagine Hugo2 having really nice synergies with almost any headphone excepting maybe the hardest to drive items.

 

[MacedonianHero]

I could easily imagine Hugo2 having really nice synergies with almost any headphone excepting maybe the hardest to drive items.

That's what I've found with my H2. Maybe the LCD4 or Abyss-Phi don't work as well, but everything else I've thrown at it really impressed me!

 

[Deftone]

I could easily imagine Hugo2 having really nice synergies with almost any headphone excepting maybe the hardest to drive items.

IE800-S and Hugo 2

Fluid, precise, dynamic.

 

[jlbrach]

pretty much anything other than the LCD-4,the Abyss and the susvara will sound wonderful out of the H2....i can say without reservation that the H2 sounds fantastic with the Utopia