Chord Hugo TT High End DAC Amp Impressions Thread
Feb 21, 2015 at 9:26 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1,665

rudi0504

Headphoneus Supremus
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Hi Head Fi Friends

Since Chord Hugo TT already launching and i Think , It is better i Shared My Impression from My Chord Hugo TT

In High End Audio Forum , from the Sound Quality is better i put on High End Audio Forum.

Yesterday i got My Chord Hugo TT from Chord Indonesia .

I am very Happy can get the First Batch Chord Hugo TT , because now is very limitation production .

On 28 February 2015 John Chord CEO Will Flying to Jakarta to open pre launching Chord Hugo TT in Jakarta Indonesia .

I would like to Share open the box Chord Hugo TT at the Chord Distributor Jakarta .

My First Impression Chord Hugo TT Out the box compare Chord Hugo :

My new Chord Hugo TT pair with Abyss 1266

Source :
AK 100 Gold Japan Edition

DAC / Amp :
Chord Hugo TT

Headphone :
Abyss 1266

Cable :
Sys Concept 5,00 mm

Compare my Hugo :
High :
Better in clarity and detail .better present

Mid :
Sweeter and cleaner .better pronounce and better remdering .

Bass :
Better Bass impact and speed .can go lower and cleaner and bettet detail too

Separation :
Better music separation .that between one instrumemt very clear the placement.

Soundstage :
Is wider .taller and deeper .more like in big concert Hall

Conculsion :
Chord Hugo TT Sq is more high end close to their TOTL DAC QBD 76 HDSD.
After i heard Hugo TT .Hugo is Sq for portable can go to home DAC .
Hugo as portable DAC is still the best on the market.
Hugo TT more organic sound .and fuller sound too.
IMO



















 
Feb 22, 2015 at 12:40 PM Post #2 of 1,665
HDSD i bought Chord Hugo TT as my DAC and Pre Amp.
Perfect Size with my Mass Ko Bo 394 Full Balance Amp.
Source :
AK 100 Gold Japan Edition
DAC / Amp :
Chord Hugo TT as DAC and Pre Amp
Amp :
Mass Ko Bo 394 Full Balance Amp
Headphone :
LCD XC
Cable :
Sys Concept 5.0 mm mini to Toslink
NOTE :
CHORD HUGO TT NEED SPECIAL ORDER FROM SYS CONCEPT .IT CAN NOT FIT WITH THE CONNECTOR .
Because Hugo TT Optical Cable Jack is recessed.
Sound Quality compare to Hugo
High :
Very clean and detail. Extended high and with rich of Detail.
Excellent close to perfect presentation.
This is only with AK 100 Gold sound so amazing .
Mid :
Very clear and clean and very sweet sounding mid.
I can hear very clear how tge Sanger breathed.
Excellent pronounce and close to perfect rendering.
Bass :
Excellent detail and clarity.
Very good Bass impact and very deep and very low Bass reproduction.
Never heard before in my LCD XC.
Separation:
Excellent separation.that i can feel like the Sound came from the individual instrument.
Soundatage :
Very wide .Tall and very good Depth .like i am staying in Big Concert Hall .
Amazing
Background :
Very black background
Conculsion :
This is my perfect desktop High End set Up for Headphones and Iems.
Never sounding all my Headphones and Iems sound so amazing like with this set up IMO










 
Feb 23, 2015 at 1:26 PM Post #3 of 1,665
This afternoon i have mini meet 3 of us at Nannys Pavilion Cafe plaza Indonesia .
We have compare the Sound Quality from Chord Hugo vs Hugo TT.
Below is my friend impression or better to say our impression :
Some notes:
Back in the Black / Nativity in Black session.
Chord TT expand the sound signature of Hugo to a next level.
In fact it is all 'more' expansive, better depth, width, better separation, layering, better decay and weighty notes. Blacker background as well.
Black is the theme.
A positive improvement is the superlative "musicality' in TT vocabulary. This is something that does not strike me when I listen to Hugo. I try to love Hugo but the sound sig is not for me since it murders my music due to the bad recordings from my fav artists and bands.
Enter TT.
Hugo is more monitoring and technically correct while TT adds the enjoyment and analog feel that elevates the listening experience.
I can say that Chord really have a winner this time, since TT is "transportable table top dac" with battery and can run with the best of them.
I believe they improve and revamp the circuitry inside with a better battery to boot. Blacker background and zero noise / hiss with iems that I tried confirm this.
I have to give AK240 SS the credit to give such a contribution as a great transport to TT. Having a blacker background compares to the regular AK240, it surely enhance the pairing with TT.
All transports are the same? Wrong.
Using my beaten up AK100 as a transport is not a good idea. The imaging is not a clear, the separation and the layering are not up to Ak240's standard. SS truly bludgeoned my dap into submission.
Then came the secret sauce: the Durapod.
Having using these kind of things in my previous home setup (different brands of footers) i am not a stranger to this tweak.
Putting the four pods under TT and SS, the width improved from side to side, the depth moved to the back while the height improved just a bit, not much.
Vocals are more pronounced, sweeter and you can feel the sighs on Norah Jones's breath. The guitar strings and piano are weightier. The PRat improve, The decay is longer. All things considered, putting the pods underneath make the sound more analog and less glassy. More enjoyable.
Trumpets from Botti could sound harsh from a typical solid state but with All Black Team of SS and TT, the sound is magnificent. Smooth and refined, very enjoyable and euphoric.
Playing Richard Hawley. It a harsh, compressed track, but it sounds more enjoyable and a weightier body to the music. Play That Funky Music, White Boy and see if your indie band sound so glorious with this combo.
Harvest Moon is next.
Having played this track from a boombox to a mega setup with Watt Puppy and DCS, it is one of my favorite tracks from Cassandra Wilson.
The SS and TT combo do not beat the Watt Puppy and DCS combo. But on a desktop setup, this is one of the best I have heard.
Smoky vocals, crickets and windchime, steel guitar and plethora of details thrown at you, you can feel the yearning and the sadness in the music. Improved decay and layering make this song so stunning, loving it more after all these years.
Is it worth the price?
Price is always subjective but this combo can only go up with Mass Kobo or other top of the class desktop amps of your choice.
Considering the setup from Master Rudi with Mass Kobo and My fav headphone, yes the mighty Abyss, you could say he bought a stairway ti heaven!
Ps: Duoza scales well with all the sources. Truly a marvel to enjoy.
It can keep up with the best of them.
Equipment used:
Chord Hugo black edition
Chord TT black edition
Sysconcept optic cable
AK240SS
AK100
Jvc fx1100
Zero Audio Duoza
Songs:
Norah Jones - Don't know why
Cassandra Wilson - Harvest Moon
Chris Botti - Caruso
Richard Hawley - Tonight the streets are ours














 
Feb 23, 2015 at 2:43 PM Post #4 of 1,665
Looking forward to a trial of this setup Rudi. Thanks for sharing the setup and your impressions here.
 
Mar 6, 2015 at 2:58 AM Post #10 of 1,665
I was at CES and had the chance to talk to John, I asked him how much the TT is better than the Hugo in sound quality and he said "about 10%". I did listen to the TT with the LCDxc, LCDx, LCD3, and the EL8 that was available and compared the TT to the Hugo using the same AK120 with hires songs. John stated that the 10% improvement comes from the super capacitors. The TT was good but not better the Hugo by leaps and bounce. Unless they made changes between CES and recently, to me the TT may be better by no more than 10 percent as John indicated.
 
Mar 11, 2015 at 12:35 PM Post #11 of 1,665
I was at CES and had the chance to talk to John, I asked him how much the TT is better than the Hugo in sound quality and he said "about 10%". I did listen to the TT with the LCDxc, LCDx, LCD3, and the EL8 that was available and compared the TT to the Hugo using the same AK120 with hires songs. John stated that the 10% improvement comes from the super capacitors. The TT was good but not better the Hugo by leaps and bounce. Unless they made changes between CES and recently, to me the TT may be better by no more than 10 percent as John indicated.


The demo unit was pre production unit the same circuit board , the final production Hugo TT is about 4 times than HUGO .
It has different circuit board , different USB port with better isolation , better battery too
Thats why I sold my hUGO to but Chord Hugo TT
If the different only 10 % I won't buy chord HUGO TT , it wasted my money .

IMO
 
Mar 11, 2015 at 10:54 PM Post #13 of 1,665
Just to reinforce recent comments - the production TT boards do indeed measure much better - THD and noise is 4 dB lower at 3v RMS, which is a considerable measured change.
 
In my opinion, it's certainly not a small difference in sound quality - in terms of scale, I can hear the improvement as soon as one plugs it in - you certainly do not need to do careful AB tests to hear the change. But of course that's just my opinion and we all have different sensitivities and tastes, so try it out for yourself.
 
Rob
 
Mar 28, 2015 at 10:30 AM Post #14 of 1,665
  Just to reinforce recent comments - the production TT boards do indeed measure much better - THD and noise is 4 dB lower at 3v RMS, which is a considerable measured change.
 
In my opinion, it's certainly not a small difference in sound quality - in terms of scale, I can hear the improvement as soon as one plugs it in - you certainly do not need to do careful AB tests to hear the change. But of course that's just my opinion and we all have different sensitivities and tastes, so try it out for yourself.
 
Rob

 
So, now, the question becomes (for me) what is the best upgrade to my HUGO as a "small transportable" DAC/AMP :  The Hugo TT or... the Project xxxx (which also has Headphone out).  
 
--> will the Project xxxx offer MUCH better SQ than the TT ? 
 
Mar 29, 2015 at 8:16 PM Post #15 of 1,665
  Just to reinforce recent comments - the production TT boards do indeed measure much better - THD and noise is 4 dB lower at 3v RMS, which is a considerable measured change.
 
In my opinion, it's certainly not a small difference in sound quality - in terms of scale, I can hear the improvement as soon as one plugs it in - you certainly do not need to do careful AB tests to hear the change. But of course that's just my opinion and we all have different sensitivities and tastes, so try it out for yourself.
 
Rob

 
thanks Rob for this clarification.
 
Another question if you don't mind:  Since the HUGO TT has balanced XLR line-out in the back, I wonder if those 2 XLR can also be used (with an adaptor) to drive in balanced mode a headphone ? 
 
If YES, then will this balanced connection provide better SQ or at least higher output (for hard to drive headphones) ? 
 

 
thanks in advance
 

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