Chord Electronics - Hugo 2 - The Official Thread

[thomaspf]

The Hugo 2 seems to be having problems with bass on certain headphones

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hord-hugo-2-dac-and-headphone-amplifier.2349/

 

[musicday]

The Hugo 2 seems to be having problems with bass on certain headphones

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hord-hugo-2-dac-and-headphone-amplifier.2349/

" If you like the review please consider donating " ha ha.
490.000 taps

 

[Deftone]

I finally decided to get the Hugo 2, and then I saw these 2 less than enthusiastic reviews:

(He says he actually prefers the Mojo, which I already own)


(Says the H2 is lacking in the low end)


Can someone please cheer me up?

Why would someone else’s opinion stop you from enjoying it?

 

[Deftone]

Like many, i have both and my 50 year old ears are pretty weak, being unable to hear below 22hz or above 15khz. Even for me, the h2 outperforms the mojo, but not for all music and not for all conditions. Hiphop, rock, rap, house, pop, i can’t tell the difference using most headphones. For some reason, with the t1’s, my fav headphone, i can’t really tell the diff between mojo and h2.

Folk/acoustic, ensemble, jazz, some classical, and using the hd800’s or the cheap fostex tr80/250, i can tell the diff between h2 and mojo, as long as source is flac. No filter on the h2, of course.

When listening to new equipment I try not to inspect the sound looking for improvements in bass, treble, soundstage etc. It’s difficult but at first I “just listen” to my favourite music and see how it makes me feel. With chord DACs I feel everything is very enjoyable and over time I noticed mojo and Hugo to have effortless flowing quality. Simply unmatched in that category.

 

[Deftone]

See, Hans Beekhuyzen on YouTube said in his review that there's no difference in stage depth, only in height and width. So I guess there's not a single truth.

He also said mojo suffers from a lot of jitter in his tests...

 

[Chikolad]

Why would someone else’s opinion stop you from enjoying it?

It wouldn't, but I haven't heard it yet so after seeing those reviews I naturally started to wonder whether I made the wrong choice

 

[Triode User]

The Hugo 2 seems to be having problems with bass on certain headphones

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hord-hugo-2-dac-and-headphone-amplifier.2349/

This author is one if the main contributors over in the Sound Science section of this forum. You have to be aware that they all there see no point in any dac being listened to assess whether it is any good. Also any listening in their eyes has to be blind listening group tests or it is not valid. Dip your head over in Sound Science and you will see what I mean. Notice that the implication of the review is that there is no need to listen to the DACs to reach a conclusion about which one is best. The author likes the Topping dac and sees no point whatsoever in buying anything else.

As regards the so called problem with bass on certain headphones notice that the author admits this is a new test he is carrying out and that he has no experience with other headphone amps to check how this performance measures compared to others. For all he knows it might be exceptionally good compared to others.

 

[Rob Watts]

It doesn't bode well that he got facts plain wrong, and measurements that bear no similarity whatever to my measurements using the APx555.

 

[Hooster]

While Hans has the aura of a wise teacher I would take anything says with a big grain of salt.

 

[Currawong]

There's a heck of a lot of basic info about each of the measurements missing, such as the sample and bit rate used for some of them, as well as how many times he made them. His set-up needs to be independently checked.

 

[mindbomb]

To be clear, he is comparing a $2700 dac+headphone amp, the chord hugo 2, against a $3500 dac without a headphone amp, and the chord wins in linearity, harmonic distortion, and low frequency noise...

 

[Paul Bjernklo]

I would appreciate any comments from Hugo 2 owners on how warm your Hugo 2 is when not playing music and in desktop mode.

My Hugo 2 is warmer than I expected, even when volume is at minimum level and all inputs are disconnected (to ensure that the USB is not engaged).

It is not as hot as when playing music, but still significantly warm and definitely not close to “cool to the touch” which other has described, which is what I would expect as the unit is not charging and not playing music.

 

[Rob Watts]

Not playing music but on without USB is still just over 2W - so it should be warm.

 

[thomaspf]

It doesn't bode well that he got facts plain wrong, and measurements that bear no similarity whatever to my measurements using the APx555.

Hi Rob,
sorry for joining this discussion late. I went back to the Chord WEB site and could not find any of your measurements there. Do you mind sharing what you see on your most excellent rig
Overall the Hugo 2 seems to measure really well except for some problems when connecting headphones.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[Mython]

.... over in the Sound Science section of this forum. You have to be aware that they all there see no point in any dac being listened to assess whether it is any good .... Notice that the implication of the review is that there is no need to listen to the DACs to reach a conclusion about which one is best.

Look, it's time I spilled the beans:

I like the sound of Mojo and Hugo 1 very much, but, frankly, they pale by comparison with the best DAC I ever encountered. In fact, I am quite confident that the DAC I am referring to will substantially outperform even the Blu-DAVE combo (sorry, Rob).

Frankly, I don't know why it isn't more popular, here on Head-Fi. I guess people here don't know a TOTL line high-end DAC when they see it. This thing is so awesome, it wouldn't even need inputs and outputs in order to give hardcore audiophiles wet dreams.

It's performance is off-the-charts accurate

Spoiler: Probably the best DAC ever made!