[Ed-Wood]

  Very nice response!
 
Agreed the tubes are a good call. I don't need you to do an A/B test for me, but I think it's important to have at least done a casual comparison on the same day, with the same headphones, as there are so many physical, psychological, and other variables in play. I still maintain that the headphones you have described are known to be good pairings for the HPA-21. Many have not found the synergy to be great with cans outside your stable. But you chose well, and you're happy with it, and that's what is important. It's all subjective at this point. There are people that prefer the LF. Some don't. That's fine. But the Liquid Glass that is in production now, and at the same price-point as the Bakoon, for most, is a decided step up from the Liquid Fire, and more versatile as well. Cavalli has come a long way since those first LFs came out - the beginning of an era ; )

I still don't see why you need another headphone amp with the Hugo? I'm a little confused...

 

[Hifi Nutter]

It's great you don't feel like you are missing anything cause then you are done. It's stupid to spend more money or make things more complicated if you don't hear the difference, or if the difference you do hear doesn't bring additional enjoyment.  Hence is would be silly for my daughter to bother with more than her monoprice earbuds strait out of her iPhone listing to Spotify, while it made perfect sense for others to shell out for something like the SR-009 + BHSE + >$5K DACs.

I am envious of you.  IF I thought I wasn't missing anything using just the Chord Hugo my headphone listening would be greatly simplified. Hugo + HD800... done.  It would also be a nice symmetry since my speakers are driven by a Chord SPM 1200 power amp which I love.  Given how portable the Hugo is and that I listen to either headphones or speakers I could even just drive the SPM 1200 with the Hugo and get rid of the rest of my gear.  Alas, for my ears (in a blind listening test) I preferred having a Headamp GS-Xmk2 between the Hugo and my HD800 with balanced cables to the headphones connected directly to the the Hugo.  The amplifier in the Hugo is decent, making it the best sounding portable DAC (or DAC+amplifier) I have ever heard, but I think top end desktop amplifiers takes the SQ to the next level when driving HD800 and LCD-X (can't speak to any other headphones). Of course, this is apples -vs- oranges since most people would not expect the amplifier in portable unit to match a top end dedicated desktop amplifier.

--Mark

Thanks for the reply Mark,I totally know where your coming from,I had the stax SR-007 headphones with their top valve amp and was disappointed to be honest,I was gonna stretch for the blue Hawaii but what if I wasn't happy with that,i've spent tens of thousands of pounds on hifi over the years only to be happy for the first month buzzing then for it to sound like the norm afterwards and to be in more debt and still never be happy,i see a Ferrari and I want one but it doesn't stop me enjoying driving my Bmw,but with hifi it was different it became an obsession with me,now maybe I'm getting old and my Mrs has kicked me into touch but I swear I'm happy with the sound of my I phone Hugo and Sennheiser ie 800,yes im sure their is better out there but who cares,I can finally sit back and enjoy without getting up and down changing the cds every five minutes showing what my system can do,Is the best really that much better than a very good system,I doubt it

 

[Hifi Nutter]

Most ppl weren't happy with the sound of portable gear so chord built the Hugo problem solved,yet ppl are talking about desk top headphone amp s to be used with it which is great but it's main objective was for portable use and for that it fits the bill perfectly,ppl wanna use it in a home system as well just shows how good it is and money well spent

 

[Tony1110]

What music app would allow you to stream from the Seagate Wireless? I was thinking of doing the same thing but must apps can't access  the wireless drive using the ipod touch. Unless you use the app supplied with the Wireless drive. but I don't think the app would plays HighReZ files through the ipod touch.

Good to see that you took my advice

 

[barbes]

[rule]
And I just got in touch with Flyer Audio regarding really short CCK-enabled Lightning cables

That would be great. Please keep us posted. Thanks.

 

[SleepyOne]

   
Yeah. I've just ordered the X5 to replace the DX50 as it can take two SD cards instead of one.

 
Great idea thanks!

 

[Audiowood]

About seagate wireless hdd, it does get disconnected once in a while.

 

[Laurence11]

About seagate wireless hdd, it does get disconnected once in a while.

I can live with that. Just bought the drive and a 32 touch. Going to sort it all (waiting on short lead from touch to Hugo coming Monday), then will put up photo. Thinking all 256 aac on touch and all lossless upwards on external drive?
 
How have you done it?

 

[tonyl59]

I can live with that. Just bought the drive and a 32 touch. Going to sort it all (waiting on short lead from touch to Hugo coming Monday), then will put up photo. Thinking all 256 aac on touch and all lossless upwards on external drive?

How have you done it?

I use 8Player on the iPod Touch. I had to convert all my FLACs to ALAC though (using dbPoweramp). Really good app and plays everything from the Seagate up to 24/192.
Find I'm not using it much now though, since subscribing to Qobuz.
I've just (this morning) received a Vertere D-Fi V2 USB to micro USB cable to connect the iPod CCK to the Hugo. First impressions are very, very favourable!
Welcome to the mad house, by the way

 

[nOtEcH]

About seagate wireless hdd, it does get disconnected once in a while.

Have you tried this?
http://www.hackseagatesatellite.com/wordpress/category/wireless-plus/

They claim a much more stable Wireless Plus.
I have purchased and installed the hack (a few bucks with PayPal) and it works, but I haven't tried the Wireless Plus for a long enough time to determine if it is stable or not.. it works though..

Next weekend I will hopefully be able to try it out with my brand new Hugo with the modified casing.

 

[Laurence11]

8 player is good. Just found it.
 
Decided to put all my iTunes purchases on the iPod (256aac), and then all high res on the wireless drive for more intimate listening.
 
Like you i have subscribed to qobuz.....wow. Perfect streaming, between that and spottily/deezer (i use deeper as i find it has best quality sound), i really don't need anything else.
 
Will put a pic up as soon as have the lead. Thank you for your recommendation on that, will check it out now.
 
David

 

[Laurence11]

That looks a good lead. if my amazon ones don't work out, that will be the one to order. Just a shame about the cost!!

 

[SoundFreaq]

  I still don't see why you need another headphone amp with the Hugo? I'm a little confused...
 

 
If you don't need another headphone amp with the Hugo, then you don't need one! 
 
 
Quote:

Most ppl weren't happy with the sound of portable gear so chord built the Hugo problem solved,yet ppl are talking about desk top headphone amp s to be used with it which is great but it's main objective was for portable use and for that it fits the bill perfectly,ppl wanna use it in a home system as well just shows how good it is and money well spent

 
+1
 
Thanks for the reminder, good point. I've always said it was top-notch as a portable product. It's just the DAC is so good that you can actually use this piece of gear in your home kit. And at that point, the amp's shortcoming, to me, become obvious when compared to the best home reference amps. Again, the Hugo wasn't meant to take on the Liquid Glass. And the fact that you can even think about using it in a home reference chain is remarkable, and as Audiowood points out, labels this thing as a great value. The fact that it's tiny, and has a good portable amp on it at all, is just sprinkles on the icing on the cake. ; )

 

[tonyl59]

That looks a good lead. if my amazon ones don't work out, that will be the one to order. Just a shame about the cost!!

Yes, a bit pricey, but so far it's sounding noticeably (no, appreciably) better than the many different cheap leads from Amazon that I bought. Unfortunately, there's really no option to try before you buy, so it's always going to be a bit of a gamble...

 

[Laurence11]

Yes, a bit pricey, but so far it's sounding noticeably (no, appreciably) better than the many different cheap leads from Amazon that I bought. Unfortunately, there's really no option to try before you buy, so it's always going to be a bit of a gamble...

Will definitely give it a go if the cheaper don't work out! Wish it was still a bit shorter, how you getting on with the length?

Post a pic?