[THGM]

Pleased you are very happy with your recent purchase of the TT. As you have found out, the TT is forgiving of poorly recorded material which makes it such a pleasure to listen to. It is also non-fatiguing; I can easily listen for long periods and often do!

Will be interested to read your thoughts on the TT/Utopia pairing in due course and what, if any, difference the Taurus makes.

 

[548184]

Can you run Line/RCA OUT to Headphones/CIEMs like you can with the Hugo2? Too much power for CIEMs, no resistor?

Nevermind, for my needs it makes more sense to hold out for a Hugo₃ at this stage. I know I would of loved the TT, but I only started thinking about desktop during COVID.

At this point in the hobby, I would have to agree with the below:



I use to consider the digital source was just behind the Chord DAC in importance, now it's #1 priority.

 

[GREGGO1545]

Two additional things I've noticed in the short term of owning it:

1) The USB HD is the best sounding digital input on the unit which surprised me as I said earlier on previous DACs I've owned I preferred other inputs like Coax & AES (which the Chord does not have).

2) The Focal Utopias are a great match! Vocals sound great - better than the Vega/Taurus MKII combo. I run the Auralic set up balanced with CorpseCable Gravedigger XLR cables. For the Hugo TT I am running 1/4" also with a CorpseCable Gravedigger cable. That said the Auralic set up beats it for bass; the Auralic sounding a bit more tight and deeper where the Chord sounds just a tad bit looser/flabbier and a tad more emphasized. But the vocals and highs are really good with the Chord and I could live with the bass sounding this way - it isn't bad just in comparison not as tight. There is also more detail and separation/air with the Auralic set up but also just a tad more glare/unforgiving highs. A great example song is from HAIM - "The Wire". It can sound bright on the Auralic but smoother on the Chord. Another song: "Hypotheticals" from Lake Street Dive - the bass is a tad bit overemphasized and flabby compared with the Auralic which also has a bit more detail and air/separation but the Chord does Rachael Price's voice a little better. There is a bit of slowness to the Chord compared to the Auralic which is faster sounding in comparison. They are different and the beautiful thing about headphones is that it's easy to have more than one set up

 

[gnomen]

Two additional things I've noticed in the short term of owning it:

1) The USB HD is the best sounding digital input on the unit which surprised me as I said earlier on previous DACs I've owned I preferred other inputs like Coax & AES (which the Chord does not have).

2) The Focal Utopias are a great match! Vocals sound great - better than the Vega/Taurus MKII combo. I run the Auralic set up balanced with CorpseCable Gravedigger XLR cables. For the Hugo TT I am running 1/4" also with a CorpseCable Gravedigger cable. That said the Auralic set up beats it for bass; the Auralic sounding a bit more tight and deeper where the Chord sounds just a tad bit looser/flabbier and a tad more emphasized. But the vocals and highs are really good with the Chord and I could live with the bass sounding this way - it isn't bad just in comparison not as tight. There is also more detail and separation/air with the Auralic set up but also just a tad more glare/unforgiving highs. A great example song is from HAIM - "The Wire". It can sound bright on the Auralic but smoother on the Chord. Another song: "Hypotheticals" from Lake Street Dive - the bass is a tad bit overemphasized and flabby compared with the Auralic which also has a bit more detail and air/separation but the Chord does Rachael Price's voice a little better. There is a bit of slowness to the Chord compared to the Auralic which is faster sounding in comparison. They are different and the beautiful thing about headphones is that it's easy to have more than one set up

Ha, ha! I have just finished posting on the Utopia thread how the Utopias gave a new lease of life to my original Hugo TT, which is now in a separate desktop system. Excellent, excellent combination!

 

[THGM]

The Focal Utopias are a great match!

Ha, ha! I have just finished posting on the Utopia thread how the Utopias gave a new lease of life to my original Hugo TT, which is now in a separate desktop system. Excellent, excellent combination!

Thanks guys, just what my wallet didn't want to hear! I've only just replaced my MacBook with a dedicated server and now this...

 

[Progisus]

Thanks guys, just what my wallet didn't want to hear! I've only just replaced my MacBook with a dedicated server and now this...

May I ask what server you are using?

 

[THGM]

May I ask what server you are using?

I'm using an Innuos Zen Mini Mk3, which holds my ripped CD library on its 1TB HDD and also streams my Qobuz library. Initially I was using iPeng on my iPad to control Squeeze server on the Zen Mini but a recent upgrade to InnuOS 2.05 loses Squeeze and also allows the use of their dedicated iOS app Innuos Sense. It can also be used as a Roon Core but I'm happy with the sound as it is, which has improved considerably too; not great at descriptions but to my ears the sound has more clarity, detail and depth to it, better bass extension and sweeter highs, whilst still retaining a richness of tone and 'musicality'.

Probably about time I put my gear in my sig, although I always seem to be in a period of transition!

 

[Progisus]

I'm using an Innuos Zen Mini Mk3, which holds my ripped CD library on its 1TB HDD and also streams my Qobuz library. Initially I was using iPeng on my iPad to control Squeeze server on the Zen Mini but a recent upgrade to InnuOS 2.05 loses Squeeze and also allows the use of their dedicated iOS app Innuos Sense. It can also be used as a Roon Core but I'm happy with the sound as it is, which has improved considerably too; not great at descriptions but to my ears the sound has more clarity, detail and depth to it, better bass extension and sweeter highs, whilst still retaining a richness of tone and 'musicality'.

Probably about time I put my gear in my sig, although I always seem to be in a period of transition!

I’ve read a lot of good things about InnuOS 2.0. Hopefully roon takes steps in upgrading sound. Very nice server. Enjoy.

 

[djnoctis]

Hi! I finally was able to afford a Hugo TT and I absolutely love it!

i tried to use some ifI chain from my pc to the Hugo TT

PC > Defender > Mercury 2.0 > iGalvanic > Mercury 2.0 > iUSB 3.0 > Gemini 2.0 > Purifier3.0 > TT

i noted significant loss of detail and soundstage compared to just directly plugging the PC and the DAC with no chain at all.

I played tracks like Strong & Strike from Naruto, Hello by Adele and In The End by Linkin Park

anyone experienced such?

 

[Whazzzup]

Hi! I finally was able to afford a Hugo TT and I absolutely love it!

i tried to use some ifI chain from my pc to the Hugo TT

PC > Defender > Mercury 2.0 > iGalvanic > Mercury 2.0 > iUSB 3.0 > Gemini 2.0 > Purifier3.0 > TT

i noted significant loss of detail and soundstage compared to just directly plugging the PC and the DAC with no chain at all.

I played tracks like Strong & Strike from Naruto, Hello by Adele and In The End by Linkin Park

anyone experienced such?

Don’t know any of these boxes but that’s a whole bunch of power drain from a pc usb…. I tried once just a jitterbug from a Mac, noticed the power diffusion.. i Use a server really

 

[Somafunk]

i noted significant loss of detail and soundstage compared to just directly plugging the PC and the DAC with no chain at all.

If it obviously sounds better to your ears without that unnecessary stuff in the signal chain so I don’t understand why you would need it?, don’t get sucked into believing you need “tweaks” just because someone online recommends it or says it’s a must have.

 

[kennyb123]

PC > Defender > Mercury 2.0 > iGalvanic > Mercury 2.0 > iUSB 3.0 > Gemini 2.0 > Purifier3.0 > TT

Strip all that stuff out and then methodically add one item at time. You’ve gone overboard with this stuff.

I think I’d start with the iGalvanic. While the TT has galvanic isolation, I found that it still benefitted from an additional stage via the ISO Regen.

I tried their DC Purifier at one time and thought it did more harm than good. I’d leave that for last.

 

[djnoctis]

Don’t know any of these boxes but that’s a whole bunch of power drain from a pc usb…. I tried once just a jitterbug from a Mac, noticed the power diffusion.. i Use a server really

The iUSB 3.0 is supposed to output power while cleaning the signal but felt like it degraded it. time to sell these then

 

[djnoctis]

If it obviously sounds better to your ears without that unnecessary stuff in the signal chain so I don’t understand why you would need it?, don’t get sucked into believing you need “tweaks” just because someone online recommends it or says it’s a must have.

They’ve been with me since 2017 but I noticed how crap they sounded when I bought the TT a few weeks ago

 

[djnoctis]

Strip all that stuff out and then methodically add one item at time. You’ve gone overboard with this stuff.

I think I’d start with the iGalvanic. While the TT has galvanic isolation, I found that it still benefitted from an additional stage via the ISO Regen.

I tried their DC Purifier at one time and thought it did more harm than good. I’d leave that for last.

I tried them, one by one. I found that skipping the chain works the best.