[TomGi]

I read on  the 6moons review that the Hugo TT (or Hugo)  uses batteries also to provide an isolation from the noise from the mains supply.
 
I have a question.
 
I use the optical input of the TT. If it could be measured that the streamer (SB Touch or Raspberry PI with digi+ sound card) provides a bit-perfect stream (recording of the optical digital output of the streamer in a file and comparison time alignment with the original file : null test), I can assume that an optical isolation of my ethernet network before the streamer is not required (no effect on the SQ), can't I ?

 

[Whazzzup]

I read on  the 6moons review that the Hugo TT (or Hugo)  uses batteries also to provide an isolation from the noise from the mains supply.

I have a question.

I use the optical input of the TT. If it could be measured that the streamer (SB Touch or Raspberry PI with digi+ sound card) provides a bit-perfect stream (recording of the optical digital output of the streamer in a file and comparison time alignment with the original file : null test), I can assume that an optical isolation of my ethernet network before the streamer is not required (no effect on the SQ), can't I ?

Huh?



:blink:

 

[andyschaub]

I read on  the 6moons review that the Hugo TT (or Hugo)  uses batteries also to provide an isolation from the noise from the mains supply.

I have a question.

I use the optical input of the TT. If it could be measured that the streamer (SB Touch or Raspberry PI with digi+ sound card) provides a bit-perfect stream (recording of the optical digital output of the streamer in a file and comparison time alignment with the original file : null test), I can assume that an optical isolation of my ethernet network before the streamer is not required (no effect on the SQ), can't I ?

Logically, what you say makes sense, but it assumes that (a) a bit-perfect stream is desirable. With DSP software, that might not be the case and (b) I have used different Ethernet cables with differing sonic results even though I'm sure that they all supplied the same bits at more or less the the same time, plus your streamer may be buffering the data and clocking things out. So I would not assume anything without an empirical assessment, most specifically listening. I use the AudioQuest Ethernet cables because they sound the best (both the Forest and the Diamond, depending on how much money I want to spend). They sound better than any other Ethernet cable I have tried, regardless of context.

 

[Whazzzup]

What he said.

Seriously tho I use AUDIOQUEST as well.

 

[TomGi]

@andyschaub: thanks for your answer. In digital domain, most of the time there is no problem to transmit digital data. But electric cables are subject to propagate noise which has effect on the last step which is the digital to analog conversion. I agree that a digital cable has an effect on the sound even if safe for digital transmission. I never test some ethernet cables for the simple reason that before I do not use a streamer. If an equipment is enough (the digital streamer) immune to those noises to transmit perfect digital data via optical fiber to the DAC, the other possibility to affect final conversion in the DAC is provided by the mains supply. In case of the Hugo, the batteries decrease the influence of the noise which could be injected via the mains supply. So I was wondering if Chord DAC were more immune in such case.​
 
In other words: must pay us attention to optimize the system upstream (if safe to digital data) if it is the last equipment (the DAC) which will condition the final result ?
 
@Whazzzup: sorry if I was not clear in my question or if it was a stupid question. But, as you I like very much the Hugo TT and was wondering why.

 

[Whazzzup]

No it wasn't a stupid question, no question is, I was trying to be funny cause it was technically over my head.

 

[TomGi]

No it wasn't a stupid question, no question is, I was trying to be funny cause it was technically over my head.

 
Thanks Whazzzup .

 

[TomGi]

Today, I compared with the TT my Yellowtec Puc2 USB to AES (ASIO driver) converter to a Raspberry PI using piCorePlayer (linux platform) and a Hifiberry digi + audio card. Subjectively, they sound a little different in tone. But the human perception is not an exact measurement. I tend to be wary of myself. So I decided to record the two digital spdif outputs in cubase. After synchronizing the digital samples (time alignement) of the two audio tracks, I discovered that one (or the two outputs) of the outputs was not bit perfect (small differences exist between the digital samples). I hope that I committed an error in the settings of the core of piCorePlayer. But the most boring is that the tracks do not have exactly the same duration and synchronization between the samples of the two tracks is lost during the song (I hope that a buffer must remedy this). The null test was faulty, but was correct when I validate the method using a duplicate track with inverted phase.
 
Even in digital domain, we have to be careful before to pretend that digital outputs should be apparently the same.
 
To be continued...

 

[andyschaub]

I liked my Hugo TT but eventually returned it because I had built a very high-end headphone system around the tonal character of my Ayre QB-9 DSD and Audirvana Plus. I say trust your ears, not the measurements, because it's really about how much you enjoy the music. I am not even sure I am going to keep my HE-1000s. In many ways, I prefer my LCD-2.2s. Perhaps I will set the HE-1000s aside for a while and try them again in a month. I am using an iMac as my source machine with an AQ Diamond USB cable and Stealh Sakra balanced interconnects going into a Cavalli Liquid Gold. My headphones cables are from Moon Audio. The system is balanced throughout.

 

[Angelbelow]

Enjoyed the ChordTT for a few hours at the recent Socal canjam. Definitely itching to make the purchase now. Sound just felt more impactful to me.

 

[rgs9200m]

Yep, as AndySchaub implied above, the Stealth Sakra (and Indra) are great interconnects and make a big difference, especially in bass control and sweetness of highs. And the AQ Diamond usb cable also makes a big difference and is a very natural sounding cable. All of these are great with the TT (which is also great).

 

[Jawed]

Do all those cables combined cost less than the TT?

 

[rgs9200m]

Well, you can get the Stealths used, but the AQ diamond would probably be needed to be bought new. A regular non-balanced Indra is superb and often available used. A 1 meter diamond is a grand.

 

[Jawed]

So, instead of TT + these cables, for about the same or even less money, one could have DAVE and average cables?

 

[rgs9200m]

A Dave is about an extra $6800 over the TT, more than the 2 to 3K for the cables. (and the difference between "average cable" an these is will reduce the extra cost of the cables even more, so the net extra cost for the cable is about 2 grand I would say).
And if you buy these cables (with the Stealth used), there is little depreciation so it's like money in the bank, you have equity in them, and they sell pretty easily. So you could consider these as savings vs money in the bank earning almost no interest these days.
I used these for the Hugo for a year before the TT and it took the Hugo to another level, it was that big of a difference, no kidding. Wireworld is good too, and a good value, but not like these.