[audionewbi]

Thank you for your input Jason, I know for sure Stax is not in the picture, resisted the temptation of HD800 for so long and to be honest all my other purchases was completely impulse based and I did them mostly with the ease of mind knowing that I can bring their best based on what I currently own.
 
Going back to QBD76 HDSD DAC on paper HUGO seems to be bettering their flagship on few features but been an audio world nothing can be truly the same as how they sound compared to what they to be sound based on their written specs.
 
I know my weak nature and I know I will take what it takes to get that 10% out of the HD800, it is at time more of an obsession that the music itself. Logging in the first thing in the morning on head-fi surely does not help me either.
 
Have a great weekend and for now I still ponder on the possibilities, it is rumoured that Sennheiser is soon to release a "respond" to AKG K812, hopefully it is true and hopefully we get to see a nice price reduction on HD800.

 

[estreeter]

No easy answers, but I'm looking at the Taurus, a pair of LCD-3s and active monitors from Dynaudio or Focal and that's where I want to draw a line under this obsession - the rest of my time will be spent chasing music and live performances on DVD. Chasing the curve is an endless circle - for some, that's fine, but its not a train I'm eager to see pass my house every 3 or so months when a new toy gets everyone ranting. I still envy the guys who bought a Benchmark DAC and a pair of HD600s and never came back to Head-Fi : that's a serious VFM equation over 5+ years. Toys are great, dont get me wrong, but its so easy to get caught up in gear and lose interest in the very thing that bought us here in the first place - I'm really happy that the Hugo has given me a genuine appreciation of the value of hi-res music beyond 'Oh, that piano sounds good'. 

 

[jjcha]

 
I know my weak nature and I know I will take what it takes to get that 10% out of the HD800, it is at time more of an obsession that the music itself. Logging in the first thing in the morning on head-fi surely does not help me either.
 

 
Lol - good, at least you're honest with yourself.  And honestly, it's a fun (if expensive) journey getting that last 10%. 
 
As you say, it takes time to appreciate how good something is.  But I remember many amazing moments - like listening to one of my favorite songs on a new setup at home, and having a knocking sound be so realistic that I nearly jumped out of my seat to go answer the door.  I already had an amazing setup, but man, getting just that extra 3D realistic detail made this sort of difference. 
 
Or when headphones just melt away and it's just your brain directly connected to a sonic soundstage.  I guess that's why I'm also a detail fanatic.
 
People are critical of audiophiles that they're so focused on the details that they miss the music.  This is a fair criticism.  But sometimes when the audio is so amazing, it's the same feeling as eating an amazing meal or (dare I say it) having great sex...
 
At least you're careful about the big ticket items.  Still, sorry about your wallet

 

[audionewbi]

Actually m

   
Lol - good, at least you're honest with yourself.  And honestly, it's a fun (if expensive) journey getting that last 10%. 
 
As you say, it takes time to appreciate how good something is.  But I remember many amazing moments - like listening to one of my favorite songs on a new setup at home, and having a knocking sound be so realistic that I nearly jumped out of my seat to go answer the door.  I already had an amazing setup, but man, getting just that extra 3D realistic detail made this sort of difference. 
 
Or when headphones just melt away and it's just your brain directly connected to a sonic soundstage.  I guess that's why I'm also a detail fanatic.
 
People are critical of audiophiles that they're so focused on the details that they miss the music.  This is a fair criticism.  But sometimes when the audio is so amazing, it's the same feeling as eating an amazing meal or (dare I say it) having great sex...
 
At least you're careful about the big ticket items.  Still, sorry about your wallet

Indeed when all goes well that feeling is so magical that it leaves me high for a long time and my wallet loves it when I slim it down, not that it is ever fat...
 

 

[FortisFlyer75]

couple of weekends ago I managed to pop into my local Hi-FI dealer to try the Hugo (revised case edition apparently) and knowing there had been a re-jig of the hole sizing modifications for interconnects to fit in thought nothing of it until I tired to plug in my Via blue mini jacks to listen to both my headphones and Earphones to find the recessed hole is still way to small for these via blue jacks which almost made me cry!  I went to the back up plan of using a 1/4 inch adaptor for the mini jacks so even though in theory this is not desirable to do would give me an idea of the Hugo sound for the first time only then to discover I really did need the usb conversion cable for my Sony ZX1 Walkman that I had my music on to hook up to which I now need to order from Japan so I can try the ZX1 with it.  
 
Ended up listening to it through the speaker set up there they had already in place which consisted of running a Cocktail Audio X10 using wav files on its hard drive through the Hugo with a Chord CPM2650 intergrated amp using the other "Chord" Signature cables  series through a pair of Focal Aria 926's and although I never heard any of those components before was a fairly good clean open sound with very controlled deep lows but did have a slight edge to it's signature which made it sound a tad harsh especially at the top end but am having and educated guess this might be laying with a bit of both from the source of the X10 to the Focal speakers delivery so ideally need to hear this with one's own set up to gauge, other than that it was still an impressive listen considering the mix in hierarchy of components. 
 
I take it the only answer will be to get my via blue mini jack plugs reterminated to smaller ones to fit the mini headphone jacks or are Chord looking at revising their design again at some point to take these little chunky monsters of jack plugs that come from the boutique world of portable hi-fi? 
 
Will order the conversion cable soon for my ZX1 and revisit for a demo and then guess that is when I will be hooked to the sound as I already have fallen in love with the logistics (exception of mini jack ports not large enough on the recess) & the looks of this small metal box of wonderment.  Maybe they should of called this the "Genie" instead of Hugo?  
 
Only other thing piquing my interest currently is maybe (although bigger as a desktop) the Oppo HA-1 headphone dac/amp if anyone has experienced this or can compare to the Hugo?

 

[guntherkern]

I recently connected a Hugo Chord to a Naim Superunity2. The sound and resolution is exceptional. However Chord took one little shortcut with the power supply. When you plug in the provided power supply and connect it to a naim amplifier, you will hear a 60Hz signal in the background. The Hugo is made in the UK, the power supply made in China. It lacks proper grounding. I do not understand why they took this shortcut here to save a few pounds or dollars. Chord please provide a external power supply that does not give you a 60HZ (USA) humm in the background.
Other than that the HUGO is great.

 

[lramirez1959]

One silly question: If I hook up my AK100II to Hugo via Toslink: Can I control de volume with de AK ?

 

[jude]

One silly question: If I hook up my AK100II to Hugo via Toslink: Can I control de volume with de AK ?

 
No, volume would be controlled on the Hugo.

 

[lramirez1959]

Thanks for the prompt response.