[technobear]

I am happy for the previous three posters who can't hear the difference between the ADI-2 DAC and the Hugo 2. They will save money and also gain lots of useful extra features. However, my experience contradicts theirs. I can hear a very clear and very important difference between the Hugo 2 and the ADI-2 DAC (and every other chip DAC I have heard).

I find that the ADI-2 DAC emphasises and makes worse any faults in a recording, be it harsh, hard, screechy, squealy, sibillant, metallic or just plain distorted. The ADI-2 DAC makes me want to cover my ears or turn the sound down. The Hugo 2 doesn't do this. The Hugo 2 doesn't hide these faults. It just reproduces them clearly and cleanly and naturally but it does not emphasise them or make them worse. They just sound natural. There is no need to cover the ears or turn it down.

I am so bothered by this that I am seriously considering selling the ADI-2 DAC and using the Hugo 2 in my AV system despite the inconvenience of moving it back and forth between AV and my headphone rig and despite the loss of control over room boom via the PEQ in the ADI-2 DAC.

The Hugo 2 is a country mile ahead of anything else at or near the price that I have heard and that's quite a few now.

 

[Boldakov]

I am happy for the previous three posters who can't hear the difference between the ADI-2 DAC and the Hugo 2. They will save money and also gain lots of useful extra features. However, my experience contradicts theirs. I can hear a very clear and very important difference between the Hugo 2 and the ADI-2 DAC (and every other chip DAC I have heard).

I find that the ADI-2 DAC emphasises and makes worse any faults in a recording, be it harsh, hard, screechy, squealy, sibillant, metallic or just plain distorted. The ADI-2 DAC makes me want to cover my ears or turn the sound down. The Hugo 2 doesn't do this. The Hugo 2 doesn't hide these faults. It just reproduces them clearly and cleanly and naturally but it does not emphasise them or make them worse. They just sound natural. There is no need to cover the ears or turn it down.

I am so bothered by this that I am seriously considering selling the ADI-2 DAC and using the Hugo 2 in my AV system despite the inconvenience of moving it back and forth between AV and my headphone rig and despite the loss of control over room boom via the PEQ in the ADI-2 DAC.

The Hugo 2 is a country mile ahead of anything else at or near the price that I have heard and that's quite a few now.

I was about the same thoughts before buying perfect linear power supply for my RME ADI-2 Pro
And it sounds like another brand new DAC now without that metallic harsh you are talking about
As for me -- I said "there are lots of things making more difference than DAC itself"
But mine was not a cheap Chinese linear PSU, mine is a huge and a top one

 

[technobear]

I was about the same thoughts before buying perfect linear power supply for my RME ADI-2 Pro
And it sounds like another brand new DAC now without that metallic harsh you are talking about
As for me -- I said "there are lots of things making more difference than DAC itself"
But mine was not a cheap Chinese linear PSU, mine is a huge and a top one

Interesting. Thanks for that. I guess I'll have to put out feelers and see if I can borrow one.

 

[Edric Li]

I am happy for the previous three posters who can't hear the difference between the ADI-2 DAC and the Hugo 2. They will save money and also gain lots of useful extra features. However, my experience contradicts theirs. I can hear a very clear and very important difference between the Hugo 2 and the ADI-2 DAC (and every other chip DAC I have heard).

I find that the ADI-2 DAC emphasises and makes worse any faults in a recording, be it harsh, hard, screechy, squealy, sibillant, metallic or just plain distorted. The ADI-2 DAC makes me want to cover my ears or turn the sound down. The Hugo 2 doesn't do this. The Hugo 2 doesn't hide these faults. It just reproduces them clearly and cleanly and naturally but it does not emphasise them or make them worse. They just sound natural. There is no need to cover the ears or turn it down.

I am so bothered by this that I am seriously considering selling the ADI-2 DAC and using the Hugo 2 in my AV system despite the inconvenience of moving it back and forth between AV and my headphone rig and despite the loss of control over room boom via the PEQ in the ADI-2 DAC.

The Hugo 2 is a country mile ahead of anything else at or near the price that I have heard and that's quite a few now.

A lot goes into the amount of treble you hear. The mix, the master, the format, the DAC, the amp, the cables, the headphones, your ears, etc. A big part of this hobby is in fact to achieve the right amount of treble in the end result.

There are crap components out there that are just so bright or so dark that it is a waste of money to adjust the rest of the playback chain to achieve a reasonable treble brightness for most music. IMO ADI isn't one of them.

Try this: Find an album that is remastered by MFSL, listen to the original CD pressing of it on Hugo 2 and the MFSL remastered CD/SACD on ADI pro. You'll hear more similarities than differences.

 

[Nikonkit]

I am happy for the previous three posters who can't hear the difference between the ADI-2 DAC and the Hugo 2. They will save money and also gain lots of useful extra features. However, my experience contradicts theirs. I can hear a very clear and very important difference between the Hugo 2 and the ADI-2 DAC (and every other chip DAC I have heard).

I find that the ADI-2 DAC emphasises and makes worse any faults in a recording, be it harsh, hard, screechy, squealy, sibillant, metallic or just plain distorted. The ADI-2 DAC makes me want to cover my ears or turn the sound down. The Hugo 2 doesn't do this. The Hugo 2 doesn't hide these faults. It just reproduces them clearly and cleanly and naturally but it does not emphasise them or make them worse. They just sound natural. There is no need to cover the ears or turn it down.

I am so bothered by this that I am seriously considering selling the ADI-2 DAC and using the Hugo 2 in my AV system despite the inconvenience of moving it back and forth between AV and my headphone rig and despite the loss of control over room boom via the PEQ in the ADI-2 DAC.

The Hugo 2 is a country mile ahead of anything else at or near the price that I have heard and that's quite a few now.

I dispute the view that I cannot hear the difference, I only feel that the differences, despite being noticeable, are both pleasantly acceptable to my old ears. The fact that I used a tube headphone amp also help to tame the harshness. My younger friends however tend to agree that the details are overly etched and can induce a degree of fatigue after prolonged listening. They like the extra details over the chord and if you consider selling your ADI-2 one of them is interested, please let me know.

 

[jjb3]

Has anyone had an issue with Hugo 2 shutting down recently due to overheating? I just bought one and it shutdown in 2 hours of charging and playing, very warm to touch. I've seen earlier posts on this but has it been resolved? Normal?

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Has anyone had an issue with Hugo 2 shutting down recently due to overheating? I just bought one and it shutdown in 2 hours of charging and playing, very warm to touch. I've seen earlier posts on this but has it been resolved? Normal?

Not normal.

I use mine pretty much exclusively desktop mode. Using RCA ioutputs at a couple notches below line out, never had thermal shutdown. It’s summer here and my office is usually 72-75 Deg F.

 

[jjb3]

Not normal.

I use mine pretty much exclusively desktop mode. Using RCA ioutputs at a couple notches below line out, never had thermal shutdown. It’s summer here and my office is usually 72-75 Deg F.

Thanks. I read a post from 2018 in which someone explained it could occur when charging at 2A from a red battery light while playing music so I am hoping that was why it shutdown.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Not normal.

I use mine pretty much exclusively desktop mode. Using RCA ioutputs at a couple notches below line out, never had thermal shutdown. It’s summer here and my office is usually 72-75 Deg F.

Same and I am at line out with a hot-ish tube amp next to it. I do have it nicely raised on some acoustic feet.

 

[Boldakov]

Not normal.

I use mine pretty much exclusively desktop mode. Using RCA ioutputs at a couple notches below line out, never had thermal shutdown. It’s summer here and my office is usually 72-75 Deg F.

Yes, because H2 doesn't charge in desktop mode.
But if only you:
1. unplug the power cable
2. dry the battery out to red light
3. plug in the power cable
4. start playing heavy hi-res non-stop
You will feel how hot H2 became.
And having a thermal shutdown will be ok

 

[jjb3]

Yes, because H2 doesn't charge in desktop mode.
But if only you:
1. unplug the power cable
2. dry the battery out to red light
3. plug in the power cable
4. start playing heavy hi-res non-stop
You will feel how hot H2 became.
And having a thermal shutdown will be ok

This is exactly what I was doing when mine shutdown. And, I had it tucked in a low airflow space.

 

[Dalmonegrig]

Has anyone had an issue with Hugo 2 shutting down recently due to overheating? I just bought one and it shutdown in 2 hours of charging and playing, very warm to touch. I've seen earlier posts on this but has it been resolved? Normal?

Look here

 

[ZekeAdebayo]

Does anyone have the issue with their Hugo 2 in which they get this loud static noise that comes out forcing them to restart the DAC? It happens occasionally, and when it does It sounds similar to the same sound the old school tv's with an antenna would make when you tuned into a channel that you didn't have and you would get the black and grey look on your screen. When it's not doing that it works great with no issues. My dac is connected to my pc via a USB cable, and I'm running it via a 4 foot Rocketfish RCA (RF-G1211) to my integrated amp for my speakers. When I restart the Hugo 2 it's fine again. What could be causing this, and is there any cause for concern? Lastly is there any audible difference between using the rca connector that I'm using vs a digital output to my integrated amp? It can accept any of the analog outs from the dac including Toslink.

 

[Boldakov]

Does anyone have the issue with their Hugo 2 in which they get this loud static noise that comes out forcing them to restart the DAC? It happens occasionally, and when it does It sounds similar to the same sound the old school tv's with an antenna would make when you tuned into a channel that you didn't have and you would get the black and grey look on your screen. When it's not doing that it works great with no issues. My dac is connected to my pc via a USB cable, and I'm running it via a 4 foot Rocketfish RCA (RF-G1211) to my integrated amp for my speakers. When I restart the Hugo 2 it's fine again. What could be causing this, and is there any cause for concern? Lastly is there any audible difference between using the rca connector that I'm using vs a digital output to my integrated amp? It can accept any of the analog outs from the dac including Toslink.

yeeah, that's coming even from the first version of Hugo
sometimes mine is not ask for mandatory restart
just restoring normal play after that noise
I have nothing to do with it

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Yes, because H2 doesn't charge in desktop mode.
But if only you:
1. unplug the power cable
2. dry the battery out to red light
3. plug in the power cable
4. start playing heavy hi-res non-stop
You will feel how hot H2 became.
And having a thermal shutdown will be ok

After 2 hours of playing and plugged in?

Yes, the Hugo 2 gets warm in my application as well.

The original question was if it is normal for the Hugo 2 to thermal shut down after 2 hours of playing while plugged in.