[Rhamnetin]

Has anyone compared the Hugo 2 to the Audio Note DAC 4.1? I'm curious how this comparison would go.

 

[435279]

Chord Electronics started a little game on their FaceBoook page last night. It was picture of a photo-shoot of a new bit of kit, the idea was to guess what it was they were taking pictures of. This morning I thought I'd see what some of the other guesses were but I can't find the post, its gone.

I guessed 2Go, I wonder if it broke while they were taking pictures of it.

Joking aside, I wonder why they took it off their page?

 

[SearchOfSub]

The last line of my previous port, clearly states my goal and my premise.

Yes, you won't find most of those people posting their disappointment in this thread because, they know that, the moment they post something negative, they are going to be met with resistance and arguments. Some of them learnt the lesson the hard way on the Mojo thread. And some people dared to try it here, and they received flak.

Instead of challenging me, why don't you go through the "12,000" yourself? You'd find those 10 people you asked for. And if you want more, try the other audio forums and you'd find them.

Chord Hugo is a very good sounding DAC. The people who come here saying $500 DACS sound just as good as the $2,300 Hugo are met with resistance and arguments. And these very people seem to take it personal. Why? Because they are not lying about the Hugo sounding good. They are genuinely hearing the DAC sound better than most. And they've already made a decision to themselves on a subconcious level. So you say otherwise, and all hell break loose because you are not insulting the DAC any longer, but instead their character. Their intelligence, ears, and personal judgement on this audio topic! It is really hillarious at times reading some of the stuff.

 

[SearchOfSub]

How much more power does the Hugo 2 have over the orginal Hugo?

 

[tjy00]

Just hope that chord will release 2go soon. Thats the only thing holding me back from purchasing one cause the mojo poly is just more convenient on the go.

 

[Currawong]

Just tried the new Audio Technica ADX5000s through the Hugo 2. Holy cow, these may just be some of the greatest cans for vocals ever, AND they extend nicely in both directions without any unpleasantness.

 

[AndrewH13]

Just tried the new Audio Technica AD5000s through the Hugo 2. Holy cow, these may just be some of the greatest cans for vocals ever, AND they extend nicely in both directions without any unpleasantness.

That's a worry if no unpleasantness, on any tracks, lol?

There's no 'unpleasantness' to me on OPPO PM3s, no shrill treble. But personally on any music that needs get up and go, they send me to sleep!

Just my feelings on previous discussion pairing HD800s and Utopia These don't hide and like Hugo2, tell it how it is. I relate people finding harsh treble in tracks to myself on the day CD was released. My Naim system suddenly sounded brash, hard and unlistenable on some CDs. Kept upgrading CD players, bought external Dac, Arcam black box, then changed explicit speakers to a softer Wharfdale model.

In trying to cater for some unpleasant CDs and early poor CD players, I actually downgraded other parts of the system. My Roksan turntable and tape deck lost it's soul.

It's then I realised, don't build a system around the odd bad thing, enjoy the good music and accept that bad recordings etc should sound bad on good equipment.

Back to Currawong's 'no unpleasantness' statement, sure you don't mean it's rolled off, and will take a look, thanks!

 

[vaibhavp]

The last line of my previous port, clearly states my goal and my premise.

Yes, you won't find most of those people posting their disappointment in this thread because, they know that, the moment they post something negative, they are going to be met with resistance and arguments. Some of them learnt the lesson the hard way on the Mojo thread. And some people dared to try it here, and they received flak.

Instead of challenging me, why don't you go through the "12,000" yourself? You'd find those 10 people you asked for. And if you want more, try the other audio forums and you'd find them.

Praise and criticism for chord dacs both are overblown. The reason for that also lies in how it sound. I still remember how i was blown away by mojo when I first heard it. If anyone makes 'apparently' unreasonable claims about how they sound, its understandable.

However over a period of time they run into trouble. 6 months down the line when you get used to their cleanliness, precision, you start noticing what they don't offer you.

When I first heard mojo, my previous fiio x5 e12 rig was nowhere in comparison. It sounded dark, muffled, unrefined etc. 6 months later I am not sure which one I prefer. I am glad I did not sold fiio rig cause of the initial impressions.

Whenever I move onto fiio rig I am met with better dynamics and impact, sweetness in mids, more distinct instrument separation that pops more. Mojo in comparison is neutral, natural, very good as well.

How has hugo ownership been to people?

 

[x RELIC x]

How much more power does the Hugo 2 have over the orginal Hugo?

Around a 25% increase in power output.

Original Hugo:

300 Ohms 70mW
32 Ohms 600mW
8 Ohms 720mW

Hugo2:

300 Ohms 94mW
32 Ohms 740mW
8 Ohms 1050mW

Both devices output max 500mA of Current.

 

[Peter Hyatt]

The last line of my previous port, clearly states my goal and my premise.

Yes, you won't find most of those people posting their disappointment in this thread because, they know that, the moment they post something negative, they are going to be met with resistance and arguments. Some of them learnt the lesson the hard way on the Mojo thread. And some people dared to try it here, and they received flak.

Instead of challenging me, why don't you go through the "12,000" yourself? You'd find those 10 people you asked for. And if you want more, try the other audio forums and you'd find them.

Just like the Chord Poly thread?

 

[514077]

The last line of my previous port, clearly states my goal and my premise.

Yes, you won't find most of those people posting their disappointment in this thread because, they know that, the moment they post something negative, they are going to be met with resistance and arguments. Some of them learnt the lesson the hard way on the Mojo thread. And some people dared to try it here, and they received flak.

Instead of challenging me, why don't you go through the "12,000" yourself? You'd find those 10 people you asked for. And if you want more, try the other audio forums and you'd find them.

Of course they're going to meet resistance; this is a thread about a Chord product. If you don't like the YggY on the Yggy thread, be prepared. If they're going to waste their lives hating an object, then too bad, so sad.

 

[514077]

Just tried the new Audio Technica AD5000s through the Hugo 2. Holy cow, these may just be some of the greatest cans for vocals ever, AND they extend nicely in both directions without any unpleasantness.

Review coming?

 

[Jawed]

What are people hearing with the battery/PSU difference? I'm in the studio now running pink noise and music and toggling the PSU and I don't feel like I'm hearing much difference. Obviously takes hours of doing this to hone in on something if it's going on, but what sonic complaints have other people had about the running it with the PSU? And is it just the Chord PSU that's the culprit or any?

Mains loops are hard to debug. Every pair of components in a system can create a mains loop, if both components are connected to mains.

Chord's PSU gets the blame quite often, but the only way to be sure the PSU is the problem is with:

• an optical connection to Hugo 2 and headphones as the only electrical connection
  
• a battery powered phone or DAP over coax or USB and headphones as the only other electrical connection

Compare these two setups with the PSU plugged in or disconnected. With no mains loops there should be no RF influence on Hugo 2's sound quality, so this is a pure experiment on the sound quality influence of the PSU.

Now playing: Mogwai - Two Rights Make One Wrong

 

[musickid]

Chord dacs are in a class of their own. I've had and listened to yulong u100, modi multibit with intona industrial, audiolab mdac, sennheiser hdva 800, naim dac v1, moon 230, audeze deckard, oppo ha1, sony & pioneer flagship amps, a and k dap. I can honestly say that hugo1 wins hands down without any doubt everytime against all of the above. From every musical perspective or mode of critique. If hugo1 was called lemon1 dac then lemon1 dac would beat all of the previous dacs listed above hands down to my ear everytime. The others are flat 2d sounding. No bias no nothing just the very best sound. How can anyone tell me what i'm hearing is wrong.

listening to miles davis miles ahead with roon/mojo/pm1--big band awesome

 

[miketlse]

Just another person's opinion obviously, but I think tekkster's critique is nuts. Or let's just say, naive.

I've been a recording and mastering engineer for 30+ years and have worked in some of the finest monitoring environments created, including Ocean Way Nashville and Westlake LA. Out of curiosity I listened to a ton of recordings through the H2 through my Kii Threes and Kaiser Encores for specifically what he's talking about and never once heard anything like it except for on either bad or intentionally bright mastering, where yes, you hear nastiness. Probably everyone here knows, but the latter has been a common practice for decades, especially through the eras of NS10s and even some of the underpowered B&W systems in classical environments. I can't tell you how many times mastering and even mix engineers threw in either an ndB shelf 10k boost or later used some plug-in almost like a reflex to make up for HF-compromised listening environments where the recordings would end up getting played (this was in the era before IEMs, and HF was eaten by acoustic factors like rugs/sofas/curtains/car upholstery so we tried to compensate for all that. Usually the client went to their car and said "I can't hear the treble like I can in the studio."). Add to that the phase shift that the plug-ins put in, especially the bad ones like Waves operating at 16/44 as they did in the day, made HF nasty and sharp and crunchy.

FWIW that's all I hear going on. I can't hear anything like what he's talking about going on with the H2 generally. Plus obviously if it were global to the unit, you'd hear it on every recording.

No, the H2's not perfect; it can't handle very complex orchestral music as cleanly and fluidly as the DAVE. But even those "overwhelmed" moments are pretty few and far between on the H2. IMO anyway.

Interesting description.
I think it would be quite useful for you to post a short list of albums/tracks which are adversely affected by this boost, on this thread https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-music-that-i-shall-use-to-test-my-hugo-2.842494/ .
Hugo 2 owners can then demo this music, to try and identify themselves, if any criticisms that they have of the Hugo 2, are due to the Hugo 2 or the mastering/mixing.
Sorry, I realise that it is additional work for you, but I think that such a list would be a useful resource, for both Chord 'lovers' and 'non-fans'.