[Crashem]

I have to agree. So where does thus leave sabre ?
Al

 
The #1 DAC Chip manufacturer by far and growing their market share.
 
"A DAC is a computer. So is an iPhone. So was the Motorola flip phone. Can we say the iPhone is several orders of magnitudes superior to a 15 year old Motorola RAZOR?
We can. In a similar fashion as a computer, the Hugo is far more sophisticated and capable than any off the shelf chip DAC regardless the price."
 
AGB100 makes the statement that the Hugo is light years more complex than ESS chips.  I think he doesn't know what he is talking about.  There is no way the Hugo is a lot more complex than the top end ESS chips.  My guess is that it is less complex.  Luckily it is a hard fact that can be proven.  So I welcome AGB100 to quote the actual number of gates/transistors whatever that proves his point.
 
To use a beer comparison, ESS is like Budweiser and Hugo is like a craft beer.  While I prefer the craft beer, Budweiser is designed to appeal to most people.  But don't fool yourself that the craft beer is harder to make than Budweiser.  Budweiser and its ilk are extremely difficult to make and light years harder than any craft beer to make.  Anheiser-Busch could make good craft beer if they liked, but a craft beer company would be hard pressed to create Budweiser.
 
Have you guys ever looked at the talent that started ESS and the talent there today?  As impressive as the Hugo's chief designer's resume is, he isn't in the same realm as the ESS founders and ESS today has a huge team of sound engineers etc.  ESS was involved with/pioneered much of the foundation of today's dacs.  All the audiophile companies play on the fringes of what people like ESS create when it comes to DAC chips.  Hence most of the audiophile companies just "enhance" the DAC chips via better implementation and not making competitive one.  Like the Budweiser/craft beer example, ESS could easily do what the core Hugo chip does, but not the other way around.  While I might like craft beers more than Budweiser, I don't fool myself into thinking that the ESS chips are easier to make or less complex than the Hugo (think 100X man hours).

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

  Thanks for the heads-up.
 
That leaves us with the USB3 fibre cable as a galvanic isolator. Should get mine today, as well as the Wyrd.

Hello Clemmaster
 
Are you getting the Adnaco-SU1 today? Can you let us know if it works with HD USB?
 
Many thanks!

 

[Crashem]

Btw have the traculent ref1 on order based on someone's recommendation (cosmicghost?) from this thread. Like the idea of universal iem. But most excited to take my Hugo on the go.

 

[ted_b]

  Hello Clemmaster
 
Are you getting the Adnaco-SU1 today? Can you let us know if it works with HD USB?
 
Many thanks!

Wow, is the shortest cable 33 ft?  Talk about isolation!    And you can only use a USB 3.0 port from the computer (luckily my JCAT card is USB 3)

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Wow, is the shortest cable 33 ft?  Talk about isolation!    And you can only use a USB 3.0 port from the computer (luckily my JCAT card is USB 3)

@seeteeyou is a genius.
He is talking to the cable supplier in China to ask for a 1m version.
He is resourceful.

 

[estreeter]

   
The #1 DAC Chip manufacturer by far and growing their market share.
 
"A DAC is a computer. So is an iPhone. So was the Motorola flip phone. Can we say the iPhone is several orders of magnitudes superior to a 15 year old Motorola RAZOR?
We can. In a similar fashion as a computer, the Hugo is far more sophisticated and capable than any off the shelf chip DAC regardless the price."
 
AGB100 makes the statement that the Hugo is light years more complex than ESS chips.  I think he doesn't know what he is talking about.  There is no way the Hugo is a lot more complex than the top end ESS chips.  My guess is that it is less complex.  Luckily it is a hard fact that can be proven.  So I welcome AGB100 to quote the actual number of gates/transistors whatever that proves his point.
 
To use a beer comparison, ESS is like Budweiser and Hugo is like a craft beer.  While I prefer the craft beer, Budweiser is designed to appeal to most people.  But don't fool yourself that the craft beer is harder to make than Budweiser.  Budweiser and its ilk are extremely difficult to make and light years harder than any craft beer to make.  Anheiser-Busch could make good craft beer if they liked, but a craft beer company would be hard pressed to create Budweiser.
 
Have you guys ever looked at the talent that started ESS and the talent there today?  As impressive as the Hugo's chief designer's resume is, he isn't in the same realm as the ESS founders and ESS today has a huge team of sound engineers etc.  ESS was involved with/pioneered much of the foundation of today's dacs.  All the audiophile companies play on the fringes of what people like ESS create when it comes to DAC chips.  Hence most of the audiophile companies just "enhance" the DAC chips via better implementation and not making competitive one.  Like the Budweiser/craft beer example, ESS could easily do what the core Hugo chip does, but not the other way around.  While I might like craft beers more than Budweiser, I don't fool myself into thinking that the ESS chips are easier to make or less complex than the Hugo (think 100X man hours).

 
Great stuff, but the key difference for mine is that Chord/Rob didnt actually design the Spartan-6 - they simply saw it as something they could us for their own purposes. AFAIK, the chips ESS designs are single-purpose while the Xilinx FPGA products are multi-purpose - doesnt detract from the technical wizardry behind the SABRE, simply trying to point out that they dont seem to be quite the same thing. I have absolutely no idea how an engineer goes about hooking a standard DAC chip to the input, power and output stages but it would seem that Rob had quite a bit more work to do with the Spartan-6 and that - to me - is where the genius lies in this product. PS Audio undoubtedly had to jump through many of the same hoops but their product is considerably more expensive than the Hugo. 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FPGA
 
At the risk of being severely flamed, as bright as Lukasz Fikus seems to be I would be very surprised if he could program a Spartan-6 - I look forward to being proved wrong. Bruno Putzeys, OTOH, probably could  

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Btw have the traculent ref1 on order based on someone's recommendation (cosmicghost?) from this thread. Like the idea of universal iem. But most excited to take my Hugo on the go.

Congrats!
Please ask for Ortofon large size tips and allow some hours for the isobaric bass drivers to burn in so to achieve top sonic performance.

 

[rgs9200m]

Someone out there besides me should try the Hugo w/ and AQ diamond usb -- imho they're made for each other and lifts the hugo performance up a big notch.

 

[seeteeyou]

.

 

[OK-Guy]

 
I'm a little concerned with a preference for IEMs on many threads. The fact is, no IEM in my experience comes close to the best orthodynamic headphones available. OK, for road-only use the IEMs may be a better choice. For home, desktop, not close. The best headphones are significantly more satisfying and provide far less listener's fatigue, ending in a more satisfying user experience.

 
I'm really going to bounce down the road listening to LCD-3's.... there's a reason I asked a question and why Al felt the need to offer up a solution.
 
btw speakers are better for home use but that's my ears preference.

 

[Crashem]

  Someone out there besides me should try the Hugo w/ and AQ diamond usb -- imho they're made for each other and lifts the hugo performance up a big notch.

 
Does the Diamond come in micro USB and, if it does, does it fit?  I got an AQ Cinnamon micro USB and it does not fit the Hugo.  The Cable Company said it was the best micro usb to usb cable they had.  If you are using adapter with diamond, which adapter?  AQ Adapter?  I have AQ Adapter and I found it hard to keep a connection.  Also do you think the AQ adapter which is probably made up of cheaper materials than the diamond basically negate the positive effects of the cable?

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

The AQ adapter puts too much stress on the usb port and the poor connection introduces noise if listen carefully...

 

[Crashem]

The AQ adapter puts too much stress on the usb port and the poor connection introduces noise if listen carefully...

 
I agree.  I even did a small operation on the adapter which improved its fit, but still seemed to be stressing the usb port.  Hoping that the AQ diamond the previous poster either fits etc.

 

[sutjahjo]

I too think that it's the best portable dac/amp. It's certainly better than any Sabre based dac/amp whether it be portable or desktop. That said, I said it's a good dac (not just good portable dac, I would have said the best portable dac instead) because I've heard much better dacs (such as Meridian 808.5 which in my opinion has an unmatched musicality).

In your opinion, which portable DAC/Amp is better than Chord Hugo?

As far as I know, Meridian 808.5 is neither portable nor the same DAC/Amp.

 

[obsidyen]

In your opinion, which portable DAC/Amp is better than Chord Hugo?

As far as I know, Meridian 808.5 is neither portable nor the same DAC/Amp.

There's no better portable dac/amp. I just said there are better dacs but they are not portable  and are much more expensive (like the Meridian).  As a high-end dac, Hugo is very good.  As a portable dac, it is amazing and it is certainly the best.
 
I'm not a native English speaker so my wording may come across as a bit off sometimes.