Chord Hugo TT High End DAC Amp Impressions Thread

[raypin]

mmm......TToby...........me:

.............ditto for the AK 300 with recorder.
 
Quote:

Pity

and se

 

[nachocheese70]

mmmm......no upcoming Chord balanced headphone amp to partner with the TT????  Sorry, but I'm not a speakers guy.

It may be a long time before Rob goes down that road. I recall a post by Rob describing the difficulty and extra analogue circuitry needed to support balanced out. His comment is for the most transparent output, single-ended output is unbeatable. On the Hugo thread, the consensus is even the Hugo can drive even the most demanding headphone and an external amp only fundamentally colors the sound, not actually provides more power. Basically, as long as you do not significantly attenuate the volume in the digital domain, the Hugo can drive practically any headphone to hearing damaging volumes. That said, HugoTT should be even more capable with headphones.

Now for speakers, especially full size speakers with woofers, you absolutely need a power amp to provide the higher voltage and current needed. With external (analog) amp, then the compromise with needing balanced output (transparency vs noise rejection) maybe worth it. Plus with listening to speakers in a real non-anachoic chamber, I'm sure the slight loss in transparency would be much less noticeable or even negligible vs headphone.

Now, the rumored digital amp pared with Dave is potentially the best of both world (full transparency and high power for speakers). But that combo is a whole other price point.

 

[AlanYWM]

It may be a long time before Rob goes down that road. I recall a post by Rob describing the difficulty and extra analogue circuitry needed to support balanced out. His comment is for the most transparent output, single-ended output is unbeatable. On the Hugo thread, the consensus is even the Hugo can drive even the most demanding headphone and an external amp only fundamentally colors the sound, not actually provides more power. Basically, as long as you do not significantly attenuate the volume in the digital domain, the Hugo can drive practically any headphone to hearing damaging volumes. That said, HugoTT should be even more capable with headphones.
 

 
Hmm... my own listening experience tells me otherwise. I feel pairing the Hugo and TT with a good amp actually enhances my listening experience. IMO, the sound overall is better with that combo. This is for the Hugo and TT. The Dave is a different beast altogether. I believe many folks have paired the Hugo and TT with an external amp and reported better overall sound. Also being able to drive a headphone does not necessarily equate to better sound. YMMV

 

[Whazzzup]

 

It may be a long time before Rob goes down that road. I recall a post by Rob describing the difficulty and extra analogue circuitry needed to support balanced out. His comment is for the most transparent output, single-ended output is unbeatable. On the Hugo thread, the consensus is even the Hugo can drive even the most demanding headphone and an external amp only fundamentally colors the sound, not actually provides more power. Basically, as long as you do not significantly attenuate the volume in the digital domain, the Hugo can drive practically any headphone to hearing damaging volumes. That said, HugoTT should be even more capable with headphones.
 

 
Hmm... my own listening experience tells me otherwise. I feel pairing the Hugo and TT with a good amp actually enhances my listening experience. IMO, the sound overall is better with that combo. This is for the Hugo and TT. The Dave is a different beast altogether. I believe many folks have paired the Hugo and TT with an external amp and reported better overall sound. Also being able to drive a headphone does not necessarily equate to better sound. YMMV

so what amp do you use with TT?

 

[AlanYWM]

I am using the Bryston BHA-1 amp.

 

[nachocheese70]

Hmm... my own listening experience tells me otherwise. I feel pairing the Hugo and TT with a good amp actually enhances my listening experience. IMO, the sound overall is better with that combo. This is for the Hugo and TT. The Dave is a different beast altogether. I believe many folks have paired the Hugo and TT with an external amp and reported better overall sound. Also being able to drive a headphone does not necessarily equate to better sound. YMMV

That's just paraphrasing Rob's own comment on the Hugo thread. He believes any amp only reduces the transparency and detracts from the sound. But, I'd say to each there own. For me, I'm a sucker for a tube amp sound; not for all music such as classical, but it's nice to have some variety.

 

[AlanYWM]

No disrespect to Rob but I humbly have to disagree on the transparency part. I believe a good amp will bring about better transparency, among other things. Again, your mileage may vary. For any doubters out there, please give it a try and hear it for yourself. If you think adding an amp will weaken transparency, then good for you. You just saved some money on an amp

 

[JaZZ]

No disrespect to Rob but I humbly have to disagree on the transparency part. I believe a good amp will bring about better transparency, among other things. Again, your mileage may vary. For any doubters out there, please give it a try and hear it for yourself. If you think adding an amp will weaken transparency, then good for you. You just saved some money on an amp

 
It depends on your sonic ideal. In my experience any added amp (I'm speaking of Hugo and DAVE, no experience with the TT) reduces transparency and accuracy. In turn its coloration may make for a tonal balance more to your liking, maybe stronger bass, a rounder, more forgiving characteristic.
 
The direct connection is really prone to highlight the weaknesses of the reproduction chain. Fortunately with my equalizing practice I'm much less dependent on artificial synergy effects such as amplifier colorations. It's worth trying – a puristic alternative! It gives you much better and more versatile control than the fixed coloration from the amp.

 

[SAP7]

A good amp can't possibly bring about more transparency than a direct feed.

Impossible.

It can make things Louder, though, but will always change the colour.

This debate was done exhaustively on the Hugo thread? Maybe this thread. Some people prefer to add an amp but that's not the same argument as suggesting it's better. It still remains that if the Hugo can drive a set of cans then no need to add to the chain. Unless you just like messing with the signature to hear differences.

 

[ubs28]

The Chord Hugo doesn't even get the best out of the HD 650. The soundstage and dynamics are better even when it's used single ended. Considering that the HD 800 S goes into a higher gear when it's used balanced, the same would probably true for the HD 650 also ( I don't have a balanced cable for the HD 650). 

 

[Whazzzup]

We are on the TT thread?

The TT SE through hd 800S is just amazing. Especially utilizing dhc c4. Although i find the debate on using a quality external amp interesting like gsx mk2 or liquid gold. I too am not convinced its necessary on TT. I could see hugo owners amping tho. I will give the nod as to fine TT owners that give the ok to amping. They like the color , nothing wrong in that.

 

[AlanYWM]

Somehow I get the impression that some folks may have forgotten that both the Hugo and TT have built-in amp Anyway, what is important is what you like to hear. If your TT is good enough on its own, you are all set.

 

[JaZZ]

Somehow I get the impression that some folks may have forgotten that both the Hugo and TT have built-in amp

Anyway, what is important is what you like to hear. If your TT is good enough on its own, you are all set.

 
...and that's not true. The headphone output carries the signal from the DAC's line stage, the same as the line output. So if you consider this signal not transparent or clean or whatever enough, you can't improve it by re-amplifying it – that just adds the amp's harmonic distortion/coloration and signal rounding. Which may sound pleasing to some ears or create some sort of system synergy that wasn't there before, but it's definitely less accurate and transparent.
 
That's what some technically less versed people aren't aware of and others seem to constantly forget: You can't bypass the «amp» in the Hugo(s). So the only reasonable reason for adding an amp (apart from effective power issues), replacing a mediocre one with a better one, does not apply here. And if you're looking for improved system synergy (= compensational tonal flaws), you'd be better served with a software equalizer.

 

[AlanYWM]

Gee..I didn't know both the Hugo and TT does not have a built-in amp :rolleyes:

 

[JaZZ]

Gee..I didn't know both the Hugo and TT does not have a built-in amp

 
Yeah, and the same applies to DAVE – which sounds phenomenal with the built-in «amp».

  Note that the ampless design of Chord's latest generation DACs is part of Rob Watts' sonic philosophy and stands for as low coloration/harmonic distortion from analogue electronics as it gets.
 
Now some people think they know better... Of course there's nothing wrong with choosing the sound you like (whatever the cause), just be aware that additional headphone amps are not the ultimate solution when it comes to high fidelity in a narrower sense. And as mentioned, if you want to modify the sound to your demands or to match the rest of your system, there are better solutions that don't sacrifice transparency.