[Sonic77]

  I am disappointed that dealers and mfg'ers are giving misinformation about Hugo.  I have a dear friend who I have convinced would love the Hugo.  He, on my recommendation (among others), uses the Totaldac D1 USB cable (one of my fave 3, the others being PPA red and JCAT).  All three work just fine, thank you, with the Audioquest $9.99 microUSB adapter (no trimming required in my case version, no sq issues).  But he's being told to sell the cable and buy micro cables because it is incompatible.  C'mon.  Sell quality and value, not misinformation. 

Thanks for that info ted_b, I just bought that adaptor to use with my cardas cable. I bought the Moon Audio Micro USB Silver Dragon for the Hugo, and in my system and using my speakers (Magnepan 3.7i) using that cable makes the sound very bright, I'm going to give it a couple more weeks then probably return it, if the sound doesn't change. 

 

[SearchOfSub]

Oops, and i plan to spend $300.00 more on powercord for my preamp.

So so far ive spent $1900 on DAC Hugo (used), $2000 on speakers (used), $1700 on Amp (new), $1700 on preamp(new) and $1800 on cables including speaker cables/ICs/powercords put together(new).

I think every component in the chain is just as important and should spread out spending money evenly.

 

[estreeter]

  can we get at least a detailed and well deailed comparison between using stock cables or after market cables for the following
 
1- usb to micro usb
2- coaxial cable
3- optical cable
 
we really need to come to a comparison and the effect on sq as after we invested in the hugo buying expensive cables for me need to be justified by a real sq difference, if its just durability of cables then I  won't consider buying after market cables
 
the link above was for non hugo devices we need this to be specific for hugo only 
 
all the talks here and a big debate can someone who has the cables to post the real impression and experience with after market cables 

 
I just dont trust other people's impressions when they are constantly swapping between cables like this, Why dont you try various combinations for a week at a time and settle on the one that feels best to YOUR ears. Personally, coax probably is better but even the stock USB cable works fine with my music - the obsessives wont see it that way but they never will. I'm far more interested in the transducers in my headphones and the resulting musical output than I am in the silver or copper content of my cables - YMMV. 

 

[estreeter]

 
Hello People,
I think this question went lost in the thread - your thoughts are appreciated!
 
Thanks!

 
I've previously explained that whatever advantages Rob finds in the Toslink optical connection simply arent sufficient with my setup (stock Mac Mini into Hugo) for me to abandon the USB connection. Overall, I did think the coax connection sounded a little better but it wasnt worth messing around with such a large and inflexible cable. Unlike some of the tinkerers on HF, I tend to simply find what works for me and stick with it. Rob's technical argumet for toslink over the other connections is superbly expressed in his post and it may well be that there are aftermarket cables out there which would give me that 'Eureka' experience : I just dont know how much they can improve on the current beam of light finding it's way through the stock cable. Happy to hear feedback on this. 

 

[elviscaprice]

 
Thanks for that info ted_b, I just bought that adaptor to use with my cardas cable. I bought the Moon Audio Micro USB Silver Dragon for the Hugo, and in my system and using my speakers (Magnepan 3.7i) using that cable makes the sound very bright, I'm going to give it a couple more weeks then probably return it, if the sound doesn't change. 

Hi Sonic 77, I just ordered that same cable from Moon Audio.  Shall be interesting to see what it is capable of.  Drew says that you need at least 60 hours of burn in for that cable.  Keep us posted on how it turns out.  A comparison with the other cables would be nice.  Another poster here earlier had both the silver dragon and the blue dragon.  They had a similar experience as you and enjoyed the blue dragon more, but did not reply to my question about burn in time. 
When I asked Drew about it from Moon Audio, he said it needed more burn in and that the silver was much better than the copper one.  He has the Hugo and the cables so I am trusting his judgement.  If not, I'll also be sending it back.
   Elvis

 

[Sonic77]

 
Hi Sonic 77, I just ordered that same cable from Moon Audio.  Shall be interesting to see what it is capable of.  Drew says that you need at least 60 hours of burn in for that cable.  Keep us posted on how it turns out.  A comparison with the other cables would be nice.  Another poster here earlier had both the silver dragon and the blue dragon.  They had a similar experience as you and enjoyed the blue dragon more, but did not reply to my question about burn in time. 
When I asked Drew about it from Moon Audio, he said it needed more burn in and that the silver was much better than the copper one.  He has the Hugo and the cables so I am trusting his judgement.  If not, I'll also be sending it back.
   Elvis

Hi Elvis,
 
I'll keep you posted, I am hoping for the best, but I had silver Kimber Kables and they had the same effect in my system, very bright. I'll keep using them and let you know, keep me posted on your experience, thanks Elvis.
 
Sonic77

 

[estreeter]

Yup - just received my AQ 'Diamond' cable and - as mentioned earlier in the thread - nothing short of supa-glue will keep it in the slot Chord have created for the micro-USB connector. Awesome job, fellas - particularly when the cable does work with my $179 Leckerton DAC - this will suffice for burn-in purposes until I decide which way I want to go next. I'd dearly love to take to the casework with a punch (the kind you drive with a hammer ..) but that won't do a whole lot for resale value if I decide to sell the Hugo at some stage and right now I'm sorely tempted. Reading the comparison between the Hugo and the Naim DAC V1 in WHF I couldn't help thinking that the latter sounded right up my alley even if it is shaded overall by the Hugo. At least Naim built a proper desktop DAC into the confines of a half-width case. 
 

 

[Cenacheros]

  Yup - just received my AQ 'Diamond' cable and - as mentioned earlier in the thread - nothing short of supa-glue will keep it in the slot Chord have created for the micro-USB connector. Awesome job, fellas - particularly when the cable does work with my $179 Leckerton DAC - this will suffice for burn-in purposes until I decide which way I want to go next. I'd dearly love to take to the casework with a punch (the kind you drive with a hammer ..) but that won't do a whole lot for resale value if I decide to sell the Hugo at some stage and right now I'm sorely tempted. Reading the comparison between the Hugo and the Naim DAC V1 in WHF I couldn't help thinking that the latter sounded right up my alley even if it is shaded overall by the Hugo. At least Naim built a proper desktop DAC into the confines of a half-width case. 
 

 Prior to the Hugo,I was set on buying a V1.It was described to me as being "ridiculously good",plus plenty of other gushing reviews.I've been buying Naim gear for 30 years,tank like is a fair description.
 The appeal of the Hugo for me is it's reported handling of CD Redbook.I have a couple of thousand CDs,and will never buy downloads,in any format.I like to own my music in a physical format.
The weak point of the Hugo does appear to be it's connectivity with cables other than stock.I use USB between a Macbook and DAC at present.It seems fine,but I have no
 experience of Optical or Coaxial.If optical is OK,I may go for one of these http://www.custom-cable.co.uk/chord-company-optichord-toslink.html  I understand they're separate companies.It does seem that finding a USB connection that fits is pretty hit or miss.

 

[TokenGesture]

The cable connection issue seems to me the only problem with the Hugo. But it definitely is a problem.  But so far I am happy with the stock cables, I'm content to just enjoy the music for a while at least.  So much so that my desktop rig has been repurposed/sold off

 

[junkjunk]

   Prior to the Hugo,I was set on buying a V1.It was described to me as being "ridiculously good",plus plenty of other gushing reviews.I've been buying Naim gear for 30 years,tank like is a fair description.
 The appeal of the Hugo for me is it's reported handling of CD Redbook.I have a couple of thousand CDs,and will never buy downloads,in any format.I like to own my music in a physical format.
The weak point of the Hugo does appear to be it's connectivity with cables other than stock.I use USB between a Macbook and DAC at present.It seems fine,but I have no
 experience of Optical or Coaxial.If optical is OK,I may go for one of these http://www.custom-cable.co.uk/chord-company-optichord-toslink.html  I understand they're separate companies.It does seem that finding a USB connection that fits is pretty hit or miss.

warning! i own Chord Optichord toslink to mini toslink.  unfortunately, the toslink end is too fat for the Hugo optical input so don't waste your money on it

 

[mannp]

  warning! i own Chord Optichord toslink to mini toslink.  unfortunately, the toslink end is too fat for the Hugo optical input so don't waste your money on it

 
Thanks for that, as I was looking at it too and did think it looked a little fat for the hugo.

 

[PhilW]

Hi all, okay......what has happened??? I have had no further than 8 emails this morning from a few people at Head-Fi asking if the Optichord fits the Hugo. Reading above I can see why.
 
Conclusively the Optichord does NOT fit the Hugo and so please do not purchase it for this purpose. However the only decent quality Optical that we do that fits is the van den Hul Optocoupler! Tell everyone! LOL
 
I have just taken a picture of the latest version for you, I hope it helps.
 

 
 

 

[archeryc]

Hi all, okay......what has happened??? I have had no further than 8 emails this morning from a few people at Head-Fi asking if the Optichord fits the Hugo. Reading above I can see why.

Conclusively the Optichord does NOT fit the Hugo and so please do not purchase it for this purpose. However the only decent quality Optical that fits is the van den Hul Optocoupler! Tell everyone! LOL

I have just taken a picture of the latest version for you, I hope it helps.

Thanks! But does it able to play dsd or 192k files with this optical cable?

 

[PhilW]

 

[Cenacheros]

  Hi all, okay......what has happened??? I have had no further than 8 emails this morning from a few people at Head-Fi asking if the Optichord fits the Hugo. Reading above I can see why.
 
Conclusively the Optichord does NOT fit the Hugo and so please do not purchase it for this purpose. However the only decent quality Optical that we do that fits is the van den Hul Optocoupler! Tell everyone! LOL
 
I have just taken a picture of the latest version for you, I hope it helps.
 

 
 

   I think    a lot of the blame for this confusion is to do with me,I thought the Chord Optical cable looked good.I had no idea it would not fit,"a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing ",etc,etc.
   Phil,what are your thoughts on Hugo with USB,Optical,or coaxial? Thanks.