[dontfeedphils]

I simply cant understand why they cant just add hugo amp to qutest???
Qutest with amp for maximum transparency for hugo price would be insta buy...

I agree here. Pre amp functions required but not the headphone section. I've had to buy a separate passive preamp when I upgraded from Mojo to Qutest and I regret the extra bit of kit and extra cables which can only reduce transparency.[/QUOTE]

Or you could just buy a Hugo 2.

 

[blueninjasix]

I agree here. Pre amp functions required but not the headphone section. I've had to buy a separate passive preamp when I upgraded from Mojo to Qutest and I regret the extra bit of kit and extra cables which can only reduce transparency.

Or you could just buy a Hugo 2.[/QUOTE]
Didn't want the headphone amplifier but did want dual BNC so had to have Qutest over H2

 

[dontfeedphils]

Didn't want the headphone amplifier but did want dual BNC so had to have Qutest over H2

Hugo 2 can take the dual BNC input. Also, didn't you just say you wanted the Qutest DAC with the Hugo amp section?

 

[blueninjasix]

Hugo 2 can take the dual BNC input. Also, didn't you just say you wanted the Qutest DAC with the Hugo amp section?

Only the preamp part ie the volume controls. I know H2 has the full functionality with Mscaler but it does not have the dual BNC sockets.

 

[dontfeedphils]

Only the preamp part ie the volume controls. I know H2 has the full functionality with Mscaler but it does not have the dual BNC sockets.

It basically has preamp volume control as it's digital volume control straight from the DAC output. Also, what does the dual BNC buy you past the ability to use an M-scaler? If nothing, then there's nothing to gain with dual BNC inputs.

 

[JaZZ]

Folks... the Qutest has the same or a very similar output stage as the Hugo₂, so it can certainly drive headphones – probably equally well. What it lacks is the lossless digital volume control. A passably good workaround would be a buffered digital volume control on the source side.

 

[blueninjasix]

It basically has preamp volume control as it's digital volume control straight from the DAC output. Also, what does the dual BNC buy you past the ability to use an M-scaler? If nothing, then there's nothing to gain with dual BNC inputs.

It buys me the same BNC solution as used in Dave rather than the presumably compromised version used on H2, at a lower cost than H2.[/QUOTE]

 

[dontfeedphils]

It buys me the same BNC solution as used in Dave rather than the presumably compromised version used on H2, at a lower cost than H2.

I give up.

 

[blueninjasix]

I give up.

Also I didn't want any batteries in my dac. Don't get so exasperated with other people's choices. I wanted a dac for home use, no battery issues, no headphone section, that costs less than H2. I would just have preferred for it to have had the built in volume controls. I knew before I bought it that it didn't so I spent some more on a passive preamp. I would have preferred to have spent that extra on a set of Chord volume control balls. That does not make my ideal Chord product a H2!

 

[Jawed]

My questions are

This is easy:

• Unplug your laptop from the mains power
• Unplug Hugo 2 from the mains power
• Unplug your headphone amplifier from Hugo 2
• Make sure that the only digital connection to Hugo 2 is the USB cable from your laptop
• plug your headphones into Hugo 2 - luckily HD 800 S comes with a single-ended cable as well as the balanced cable

If there's an improvement in your enjoyment of the music, then you may well have an RF problem.

An optical converter for your USB connection is likely to be more expensive than 20 ferrites and a good USB cable: see my signature. But optical is undeniably a silver bullet for RF going into a Chord DAC.

RF affects all devices in a system though. So an amplifier can be affected too, not just the DAC. Some equipment seems to react badly to Chord DACs - a theory is that the switched mode power supplies normally used with Chord DACs cause problems for other components in the system.

 

[Hooster]

I simply cant understand why they cant just add hugo amp to qutest???
Qutest with amp for maximum transparency for hugo price would be insta buy...

Sounds like you want a Hugo TT2. Throw in an Mscaler and you will have transparency to burn.

 

[Amberlamps]

Also I didn't want any batteries in my dac. Don't get so exasperated with other people's choices. I wanted a dac for home use, no battery issues, no headphone section, that costs less than H2. I would just have preferred for it to have had the built in volume controls. I knew before I bought it that it didn't so I spent some more on a passive preamp. I would have preferred to have spent that extra on a set of Chord volume control balls. That does not make my ideal Chord product a H2!

I don’t know if you are aware of this, and I respect your stance, but Hugo 2 can work without batteries.
That was one of Rob’s main considerations when he designed it, probably due to people moaning about H1’s batteries ? However, Rob did say, why would anyone want to use it like that since the batteries is better than noisy mains power. But it can work without batteries.

As for sticking with dual bnc, all you need is $10 of bnc connectors and an RCA/Phone adapter, which I doubt would detract from Mscaler and hugo 2’s sound.

Again, I respect your decision to focus solely on bnc.

Edit;

I wonder if it’s possible to remove Hugo’s batteries altogether and put some cap’s, or super caps in there place.
I wonder if it would be an easy cut and paste job, or if the board itself had to be altered in anyway. If not, maybe a couple of big caps or super caps might be the answer for a long life hugo 2

 

[Amberlamps]

Sounds like you want a Hugo TT2. Throw in an Mscaler and you will have transparency to burn.

What country is that from ? 9k for a TT2.

Thats a nuts price.

 

[111MilesToGo]

Thank you all for your posts which I quote since they extend to a bit backwards.

@801evan
Hello, I read your long post and all I can say is you are still under the spell that all these gadgets affect the digital bits.
Learn from.those who have been down this road;
It's all about RF noise. And ALL your gadgets just alter the amount or character of the RF noise. NONE do anything to change the bits.
So when you describe colorful changes to the sound you are really saying is; my Hugo2 is a frikkin scientific instrument to detect analog RF noise ...and I can discern that each change I make to my chain alters the sound.
I am writing this with hope that you may consider that all these devices and software or source changes are doing nothing but changing how much, how little or at what frequency RF noise is riding on your usb cable. It's not jitter or imperfect eye-patterns you are hearing. Certainly it's not bit errors.

Try an optical (TOSLINK) connection to hugo2, remove all other inputs(metal wires), go on battery. I am sure you will be floored (as I was) when you hear your music unaffected by RF.

You can believe what you want, but most of them Dacs even Dave dont have good noise filtering. There are reviews that Ifi Nano usb 3.0 for example enhance performance significantly, even in Dave...
I can from experience tell that you need Something like ifi Usb 3.0 nano or Micro is even better.
There are 2 stages where noise come from.
1. Its obviously Pc and Ifi Usb do perfect job to get rid of it.
2. Its Usb cable. What you need is very well shielded cable so that noise dont tranfer to conductors.
Had Nano usb 3.0 first and i enjoyed much better more organic sound, but later i found out that there is still digital sound somewhere... I thought its my Sabre dac, but then i got Cheap, but very well shielded usb cable and when i plugged in i notice that All digital sound is gone.
I have Audioquest Tower and it is very digital sounding cable i bet Cinamon would sound similar. There are many opinions that Aq cables sound very digital. Seems like they dont use good insulation or something... only heard great comments about Aq Diamond...

I use hugo 2 as desktop DAC.The improvement with micro iusb 3.0, nano igalvanic 3.0, mercury 3.0 cables & groundhog is easily noticeable. The usb port from pc/mac is very noisy (audible as well as measurable). Also, my hugo 2 is in desktop mode with power & data being fed from different usb out of the micro iusb3.0. (it has different usb out for power & data)
I have no experience with dave. But, i firmly believe that emi/rf/ground loops affect the SQ to a great extent.
Just my 2 cents.

Excatly. Ifi products are absolutely real deal and more proccesing power in fpga chips could reveal more noise than lesser chips cause they are more transparent to everything, so Ifi is absolutely must. Personally I would buy Hugo 2 too, but there is not many good usb cables that use Hugo 2 usb connection and overall Hugo 2 shape is not for my desktop use. I simply cant understand why they cant just add hugo amp to qutest??? They could gain lot of buyers who buy Sennheiser hdva820, Schiit combos, cayin combos etc... I wont buy TT 2 for sure, but Qutest with amp for maximum transparency for hugo price would be insta buy...

Usb cables is another topic in itself. But I believe in cables. I am using curious cable for data and silver dragon to power hugo2 from iusb3.0.
Hugo 2 and qutest have the same dac section. Chord will release amps in future.
For me hugo 2 is awesome. I may add the m-scaler in 2019.

This is easy:

• Unplug your laptop from the mains power
• Unplug Hugo 2 from the mains power
• Unplug your headphone amplifier from Hugo 2
• Make sure that the only digital connection to Hugo 2 is the USB cable from your laptop
• plug your headphones into Hugo 2 - luckily HD 800 S comes with a single-ended cable as well as the balanced cable

If there's an improvement in your enjoyment of the music, then you may well have an RF problem.

An optical converter for your USB connection is likely to be more expensive than 20 ferrites and a good USB cable: see my signature. But optical is undeniably a silver bullet for RF going into a Chord DAC.

RF affects all devices in a system though. So an amplifier can be affected too, not just the DAC. Some equipment seems to react badly to Chord DACs - a theory is that the switched mode power supplies normally used with Chord DACs cause problems for other components in the system.

First, and very important, let me say I am NOT suspecting any big SQ deterioration in my system as of now. I am rather trying to find the best practice, and I would like to compare my current status to it, without going for many small step trials.

Second, I am approaching this from a theoretical point of view, using the bit of physics (got a PhD in ancient times...) that is left. RF is omnipresent, generated by a multitude of sources, affecting everything, traveling over the air and over metals. What one has to do is identify the potential culprits and sort them by the magnitude of their influence. Omit those that you can‘t change anyway. And while I don‘t doubt that many small remedies can have small effects, I would like to look into first things first.

With this in mind, I think the worst culprit is the laptop (tendency-wise more the motherboard and associates than the power supply), and I think the worst transmitter is the metal wire (USB) going into the DAC. I figured this point in the chain could be modified most easily, considering an optical input to the H2. What a luck if that were true and could be done for a trial. That‘s the reason for me to look for a USB-to-optical adapter with XMOS, maybe s.th. on loan from my dealer.

So I continue to ask for recommendations. And I am happy to discuss all your and my approaches!

 

[dmance]

@111MilesToGo
Your experience is deja vu for me. Hugo2 when fed optical and run off batteries is as near RFI free as possible. So I sold all my USB gadgets and bought this. The newer xmos u8 chip allows me to go 24/192 toslink. Okay, not top speed but I honestly can't say ive missed it.
M-SCALER will, unfortunately, reintroduce all the problems I've solved going this route. And also add a second audio delay so I can't watch YouTube or NPR videos. I'm gonna stick with Hugo2 for a while.
Dan