[halloweenman]

 
How do you know that this is actually worth obsessing over?  
 
It sounds like Rob is saying you are getting 16 bits of data padded out to 32 bits with 16 bits of zeros.  In other words, you are getting 16 bits worth of data.  I can't imagine this would sound any different than if you actually saw that 16 bits were being output.  Have you heard otherwise?

It's worth obsessing over because the TT should be recognised by OS X as both 16 bit and 32 bit capable. Its currently only recognised by OS X as 32 bit capable. This for me is an issue because it is simply wrong and it forces your software player to convert your 16 bit files to 32 bit rather than output bit perfect. The problem with this is that you are putting your trust in software players to complete the conversion correctly. I have heard a difference with iTunes and Audirvana when I believe I should not. Admittedly this could all be in my head as I have not done any blind AB testing. My suspicion is that either iTunes or Audirvana is not completing the conversion correctly.

 

[kennyb123]

 
It's worth obsessing over because the TT should be recognised by OS X as both 16 bit and 32 bit capable. Its currently only recognised by OS X as 32 bit capable. This for me is an issue because it is simply wrong and it forces your software player to convert your 16 bit files to 32 bit rather than output bit perfect. The problem with this is that you are putting your trust in software players to complete the conversion correctly. I have heard a difference with iTunes and Audirvana when I believe I should not. Admittedly this could all be in my head as I have not done any blind AB testing. My suspicion is that either iTunes or Audirvana is not completing the conversion correctly.

 
I wouldn't worry about it.  Obsess over things that are well known to deliver important improvements.  
 
It's not even clear to me that the output isn't bit perfect.  The 16 bits of data is simply being padded with extra zeros.  I can't imagine that this a complicated thing for the software player to do.  The 16 bits of data is most likely exactly preserved.  
 
Now if this data was being delivered as 14 bit - that would be a big concern.  That's what we care about more when we seek to achieve bit perfect playback.

 

[halloweenman]

The output isnt bit perfect when playing back 16 bit files. I tested it. The problem is that we do not know if the zeros are just being padded or more is going on. The sound difference between iTunes and Audirvana for me is too great. More is going on with either one or the other.

 

[kennyb123]

Literally speaking, of course it's not bit perfect. I just meant that the 16 bits would still get passed on in tact. If Rob didn't seem to be concerned with it, maybe you shouldn't be either.

I used to own a Weiss DAC. Weiss made available files that could allow one to confirm bit perfect playback. A light would come on when these were played bit perfect. I confirmed back then that Audirvana + was bit perfect with upsampling disabled. So at one time, that platform did bit perfect just fine.

Yes Audirvana is a step up from iTunes for sure. Moving to something like the microRendu would be a far more significant leap.

 

[Jawed]

If you can hear the difference on Mac, then it shouldn't be any trouble to discern which is the best configuration on Windows, just by listening. It's not as if the list of choices is infinite.

If you have any doubts then perhaps an Audirvana thread is where you should ask.

Foobar 2000 will certainly do bit perfect playback, you can use that as your reference.

 

[halloweenman]

Rob, For the TT what is the best Windows driver to use for jriver, Asio or wasapi?

 

[tpex]

Hi. So i just received my Hugo TT the other day and it sounds amazing through the Sd input, but when I try the HD input I get no sound at all! Installed the driver just fine on win 10 pro, but when I try to play a test tone in sound settings all I get is a jittery weird left/right sound. Other than that no sound at all! Tried uninstalling and installing again with no results. Tried a laptop at work running win 8.1,and it works fine through the HD input. Anyone have/had the same issue?

 

[andyschaub]

[COLOR=000000]Hi. So i just received my Hugo TT the other day and it sounds amazing through the Sd input, but when I try the HD input I get no sound at all! Installed the driver just fine on win 10 pro, but when I try to play a test tone in sound settings all I get is a jittery weird left/right sound. Other than that no sound at all! Tried uninstalling and installing again with no results. Tried a laptop at work running win 8.1,and it works fine through the HD input. Anyone have/had the same issue?[/COLOR]

I had the same problem. If you're using Mac with El Capitan and you haven't updated your OS in a while, try that. There was a problem with USB drivers in El Capitan that screwed up USB 2.0 for a lot of DACs. I think it's been fixed now though I'm not sure as I returned my Hugo TT preferring my old standby, the Ayre QB-9 DSD.

 

[Jawed]

Install Foobar, if you don't already have it and configure Foobar to use:

"WASAPI (Event) : Digital Output (Chord Async: 44.1KHz - 384KHz)"

and set it to 16-bit digital output.

To get to this setting, on the File menu there is an item called Preferences. In the form that comes up, select the "Playback" section and click the ">" sign to open up a new set of options. Click on "Output".

This is using the driver that you installed, but it's bypassing some of the stuff Windows does.

The list is quite long and you'll see that "Digital Output (Chord Async: 44.1KHz - 384KHz)" appears more than once. See what happens when you try each of those settings. Good luck.

You may be a victim of the stupidities of Windows 10 Anniversary Update. I've not been paying much attention, but I've seen reports that stuff was broken by this update. I've deliberately configured Windows Update on my PC to prevent the Anniversary Update installing.

Something you may also want to try: remove ASIO drivers if you have any. I'm not sure what else to recommend.

 

[tpex]

I had the same problem. If you're using Mac with El Capitan and you haven't updated your OS in a while, try that. There was a problem with USB drivers in El Capitan that screwed up USB 2.0 for a lot of DACs. I think it's been fixed now though I'm not sure as I returned my Hugo TT preferring my old standby, the Ayre QB-9 DSD.

I´m not using a Mac just a regular PC that i built myself.

Install Foobar, if you don't already have it and configure Foobar to use:

"WASAPI (Event) : Digital Output (Chord Async: 44.1KHz - 384KHz)"

and set it to 16-bit digital output.

To get to this setting, on the File menu there is an item called Preferences. In the form that comes up, select the "Playback" section and click the ">" sign to open up a new set of options. Click on "Output".

This is using the driver that you installed, but it's bypassing some of the stuff Windows does.

The list is quite long and you'll see that "Digital Output (Chord Async: 44.1KHz - 384KHz)" appears more than once. See what happens when you try each of those settings. Good luck.

You may be a victim of the stupidities of Windows 10 Anniversary Update. I've not been paying much attention, but I've seen reports that stuff was broken by this update. I've deliberately configured Windows Update on my PC to prevent the Anniversary Update installing.

Something you may also want to try: remove ASIO drivers if you have any. I'm not sure what else to recommend.

Thx for the reply, I installed Foobar and followed your instructions with no good results. I just see the time bar struggles to move and then this message comes up "Unrecoverable playback error: Timeout" Tried all of three of the Chord Async ones. 
 
I´ve also mailed Chord and am waiting for a reply from them!

 

[Jawed]

I'm using Windows 10 Pro edition with my TT.

See if Device Manager shows a warning triangle against the Chord driver under "Sound, video and game controllers".

Another thing to investigate is the IRQs and USB configuration in your BIOS. e.g. reset these things to defaults. With my self-built PC I have "peculiar behaviour" with USB hard disks if these settings are wrong. I'm afraid to say nothing more than trial and error can lead to a solution here.

 

[tpex]

The triangle was there in the begining and disappeared after i installed the driver.
I went in to BIOS and put everything to default. Still no sound but one thing that is happening is that the light on the TT is starting to change when fed different material. It didn´t do that before.

 

[Rob Watts]

Rob, For the TT what is the best Windows driver to use for jriver, Asio or wasapi?

With Mojo ASIO sounds a bit better - better depth (using a mains powered lap-top). But Mojo does not have galvanic isolation, so with TT it may make little difference.
 
Rob

 

[halloweenman]

thanks, i'll give it a try.

 

[ufospls2]

Does anyone know how many milliwatts the Hugo TT headphone output would put out into 46ohms? The only spec I could find relating to headphone output power was this
 
Headphone output: 110dB SPL into a 300ohm headphone load
 
 
Is the headphone output more powerful than the Mojos?
 
 
I'm just wondering as I'm thinking about using a Hugo TT as a dac in the system I'm putting together, for use with the Abyss AB-1266 headphones, LCD-4, and HD800S. I'm guessing its output power would be good for the HD800S and decent for the LCD-4, but lacking a bit in power for the Abyss. I would likely be purchasing a more powerful amp eventually and using the TT as a dac only, but using the TT's headphone output in the meantime.