[Rob Watts]

Hi Rob and thanks for your dedicated contributions hear on headfi.

My Question to above as a complete novice is that getting a powerbank for TT2/HMS and H2 in desktop mode would be better than expensive BNC cables to eliminate any potential RF noise? Or am I mixing apples and oranges?

My own listening tests revealed that battery operation on the M scaler meant that I didn't need BNC cables with HF ferrites. And using the Wave cables meant that battery operation was not needed - both approaches virtually eliminates the GHz ground currents going into my Dave. Of course, YMMV!

Happy listening, Rob

 

[greenmac]

Toonartist,

Could you post pictures of your Krisdonia and HUGO2 set up ?

 

[surfgeorge]

I don't have 3xp, but I had 3xr, composer+soloist 3x before. The dac performance is about on par. Which one is better all depends on your taste, but Burson ones have balanced output.

In terms of DAC/AMP, I will have to say both Burson combo are ahead. They are able to drive almost any headphone on our market amazingly. However, considering about the size and portability of Hugo 2 (you can also attach a 2go with it), we can easily move it in our house and carry it around the world without sacrificing too much in SQ. It was also aethetically designed. That's why I let go my Bursons and kept Hugo2go.

If you do need portability sometimes or have limited space on your desk or hate cable mess, Hugo2 would be a good choice.

I am always wondering how to understand general statements like A is better than B.

I didn’t have access to that many different DACs and Amps and frankly speaking I am not really keen on going down that rabbit hole. But I have heard some expensive DACs and when I bought the Mojo, I was immediately impressed by the „analog“ and "live" feeling, the midrange detail and the staging. It made me replace the $4000 DAC in my 2 channel system with a CHORD 2Qute to get that kind of signature also in my stereo listening.

The Hugo 2, which I bought 1,5 years ago surpassed the Mojo by a bigger margin than I had expected, providing more definition and detail over the whole frequency range, but most notably especially in the bass and treble, where the Mojo is a bit relaxed and softer. H2 also had a lot more stage width, depth, better layering and focus. I was quite surprised by the difference to the Mojo.

It also pairs really well with the Focal Clears, delivering a very defined, textured and articulate presentation, but without sounding edgy or „digital“. If definition is what you are after I think the H2 is doing a great job with the Clears. and it's plenty powerful to drive the Clears.
With the Hifiman Arya I am not sure if the output power is sufficient, but the pairing still sounds excellent, better than the Focals in stage size, separation and detail, but worse in dynamics, a little uneven in the R/L stage distribution and somehow less natural and balanced.

To come back to the original question, when you say the Burson is on par as a DAC and ahead as a DAC/Amp combo, can you describe that in a little more detail?

FYI @exiliox

 

[Melting735]

I am always wondering how to understand general statements like A is better than B.

...............

To come back to the original question, when you say the Burson is on par as a DAC and ahead as a DAC/Amp combo, can you describe that in a little more detail?

FYI @exiliox

I might have expressed myself in a wrong way. Both Burson and Chord make good products. I didn't intend to rank their sound.

For the DACs, which are Hugo 2 vs Burson Composer 3x. I found that Hugo 2 has very high level of detail and sounds very clear and transparent. The composer provides denser lower end and great soundstage. It sounds warm with very good layering. When I had both, I kept switching in between so I would not get bored on anything. Hugo 2 has x-phd and filters, while composer can roll its opamp for different sound signature.

When it comes to the amp section, I have to say this is where Soloist 3xp shines. I am not saying Hugo 2 has bad amp. It actually did a really good job in keeping the original sound from its DAC section and provide fair enough power for many headphones. However, it's still a product that is design for portable purpose. It doesn't pair well with power hungry headphones like HE6, Susvara, even some high impedance headphones etc. However, Soloist 3xp has no problem to drive these to very satisfying level.

As a desktop system, the Burson Stack is more versatile IMO, but Hugo 2 is so simple and neat and still sound really good. They are different animals, but Hugo2go eventually stayed on my desk.

These are my 2 cents.

 

[Toonartist]

Toonartist,

Could you post pictures of your Krisdonia and HUGO2 set up ?

I've sent a pic by PM. I don't use the Krisdonia to power the Hugo2, it powers the Allo Digione Pi4 that feeds the Hugo 2. I used to use it on the MScaler into my TT2 and it did a great job at that as well.

 

[surfgeorge]

I might have expressed myself in a wrong way. Both Burson and Chord make good products. I didn't intend to rank their sound.

For the DACs, which are Hugo 2 vs Burson Composer 3x. I found that Hugo 2 has very high level of detail and sounds very clear and transparent. The composer provides denser lower end and great soundstage. It sounds warm with very good layering. When I had both, I kept switching in between so I would not get bored on anything. Hugo 2 has x-phd and filters, while composer can roll its opamp for different sound signature.

When it comes to the amp section, I have to say this is where Soloist 3xp shines. I am not saying Hugo 2 has bad amp. It actually did a really good job in keeping the original sound from its DAC section and provide fair enough power for many headphones. However, it's still a product that is design for portable purpose. It doesn't pair well with power hungry headphones like HE6, Susvara, even some high impedance headphones etc. However, Soloist 3xp has no problem to drive these to very satisfying level.

As a desktop system, the Burson Stack is more versatile IMO, but Hugo 2 is so simple and neat and still sound really good. They are different animals, but Hugo2go eventually stayed on my desk.

These are my 2 cents.

Thanks for that deep dive! This description really helps!

 

[chesebert]

That’s a nice way of saying Hugo 2 sounds “thin and lack density and digital sounding”. I don’t understand all the minced words.

 

[x RELIC x]

It actually did a really good job in keeping the original sound from its DAC section and provide fair enough power for many headphones

The analogue output from the DAC directly, including headphone out, is the amp section. You are never ever hearing a separate ‘amp section’ from the DAC.

 

[Peti]

The analogue output from the DAC directly, including headphone out, is the amp section. You are never ever hearing a separate ‘amp section’ from the DAC.

Boy, I wish I had a penny each time you have reminded folks to this on this forum...

I could afford to buy a Hugo2, maybe even a Dave, ha-ha.

 

[Christer]

Using power bank for H2 is to preserve the life span of the internal battery. For critical listening, I always use the internal batteries.

Thanks but in defence of Hugo 1 which I still have and bought the year it was released still works after a couple of mysterious shut downs a few years ago it is still working ansd charging I just checked it a few days ago. And before getting Qutest /Mscaler I used it a lot. I have mainly used it running on the intermal battery because of RF/EMI problems if pugged in. I Never tried a powerbank with it .
Is the battery in Hugo 2 not as reliable and long lasting?
Cheers CC

 

[pjw241142]

So all - Mojo 2 released with separate DSP technology that does not impact sound quality, from what I've read in this thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cho...31-2022-starting-on-page-95-of-thread.885405/

Made we wonder if we will see a new Hugo 3 in due course with that technology + what other features (Mini M-Scaler bolt on etc LOL).

One issue that has had negative feedback is the use of Micro USB charging (note there is a new USB-C input) on the Mojo 2. Chord will have exactly the same issue with Hugo 2/2go users. I'm one of them (Roon/SD Card) but really like the solution for Desktop in particular.

So just wondered if there were any Hugo 3 rumours out there or whether Chord/Rob Watts can provide an update. Just saying

 

[surfgeorge]

So just wondered if there were any Hugo 3 rumours out there or whether Chord/Rob Watts can provide an update. Just saying

Rob Watts posted a few days ago stating that there are no activities to develop a Hugo 3 at the moment.
He seems to be working on another project, and speculations are that it might be an M-Scaler update. Considering those pieces of information I think we won't see an H3 for several years.

 

[pjw241142]

Rob Watts posted a few days ago stating that there are no activities to develop a Hugo 3 at the moment.
He seems to be working on another project, and speculations are that it might be an M-Scaler update. Considering those pieces of information I think we won't see an H3 for several years.

Thanks for the update Surfgeorge

 

[ChrisGB]

Just joining the Hugo 2 owners club. I've been considering various DACs because my favorite headphones need a bit more current to drive them than my DAP can provide. I read all the way though the ifi Gryphon thread, then the Mojo 2 thread. The ifi fell at the first hurdle due to a number of reported operational and quality issues. The Mojo 2 was an interesting listen, I liked it, particularly the energy it gave to the Quad ERA-1 headphones, but I couldn't live with the loss of nuance and resolution compared to my Shanling M6 DAP. Time to dig deeper into the pocket, I arranged to borrow a Hugo 2 for a week to try out (thank you Reference Audio in Witham) having a detailed audition. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes for the Hugo 2 to demonstrate its considerable talents and the combination of drive, authority nuance and detail made it an immediate hit with me. Curiously, where the Mojo 2 had a more prominent but generally less than nuanced or detailed bass, the Hugo 2 seems to add more weight to that bass, but also imbue it with texture, subtlety, speed and nuance. It's much more resolving nature fits my tastes nicely.

It's going to be used mostly with streaming services although there are a few hundred gigs of .flac files to play. Having more wires than the DAP was annoying, so I've got 2go coming as well. Only thing is, I just couldn't plough 1384 pages of this thread, so I may ask a few daft questions that have already been asked and answered!

I took the demo unit back and I'm missing it already! Get mine Wednesday.

 

[greenkiwi]

In love my H2.

In the realm of FoMo, I'm glad to hear that people aren't dumping the H2 for the M2