[smial1966]

This is very interesting. So effectively the Raspberry Pi is acting as a headless music server? How do you control your music media on the Pi? 
 
Many thanks. 
 
Quote:

  OK, so not strictly 'head-fi', but rather than use a mac mini I have started using a raspberry pi running 'Volumi' to feed the Hugo - so far an incredible combination!

 

[piercer]

Volumio can be controlled from uPnP control point (bug ticke in the box that) but it also has a nice web interface for local storage (if you have it) - and yes I am running it headless.

 

[smial1966]

Thanks for the info. I will look into this setup for use with my Hugo. 

 
Quote:

  Volumio can be controlled from uPnP control point (bug ticke in the box that) but it also has a nice web interface for local storage (if you have it) - and yes I am running it headless.

 

[isquirrel]

Running the Nordost Heimdall2's out of my Hugo and a Coax cable in, Nordost supply their cable with BNC connectors and a true 75 ohm RCA adapter so it all works nicely with Hugo and my AP1
 

 

 

 

[estreeter]

@isquirrel that's the kind of desktop rig I always pictured the Hugo in - I thought my iFi stack made for a somewhat convoluted cabling arrangement but you've shown me the error of my ways : superb. 

 

[SearchOfSub]

I just had to say this. Lately Ive still been seeing PS Audio MK2 being sold for 1,750.00 Used And People are buying them. I A/B ' ed Hugo with PS Audio MK2 side by side in my listening room for hours and days and Hugo is on another league than the PS MK2. So much more tranparent, detailed bass, better tone, timber, depth to stage, imaging. In every possible way it's in another league. And this was WITH a 400.00 upgraded powercord..I was so close to saying this to the person who bought it for that price recently and held myself back.. oh boy it was hard. Anyone who's trying to decide between the Hugo and the PS mk2, there is no question.. it's not even close. Hugo wins hands down.

 

[x838nwy]

I just had to say this. Lately Ive still been seeing PS Audio MK2 being sold for 1,750.00 Used And People are buying them. I A/B ' ed Hugo with PS Audio MK2 side by side in my listening room for hours and days and Hugo is on another league than the PS MK2. So much more tranparent, detailed bass, better tone, timber, depth to stage, imaging. In every possible way it's in another league. And this was WITH a 400.00 upgraded powercord..I was so close to saying this to the person who bought it for that price recently and held myself back.. oh boy it was hard. Anyone who's trying to decide between the Hugo and the PS mk2, there is no question.. it's not even close. Hugo wins hands down.

Listening to the Hugo certainly diminished my apprecistion of my PWD mkII. Good news is, once upgraded to a Direct Steam, i'm happy i didn't purchase the Hugo.

Don't get me wrong, the Hugo is still amazing at any price imo. Only if i had the money....

 

[SearchOfSub]

Did you ever try running the Hugo direct to power your speakers? I bought a custom made banana to rca from kimber kable in to my aq rocket 88 and nothing can touch the Hugo in terms of tranparency,tone, air and 3d soundstage (especially depth) upwards to 8K. I added an amp from Hugo out to my speakers and the sound was degraded quite a bit. Took the amp out, ran the speakers direct from Hugo as dac/volume/amp and the magic was back again.

 

[Rob Watts]

The depth of sound stage was the most extraordinary thing I heard with Hugo powering Axjet horn loudspeakers. I was playing the lark ascending, and the solo violin sounded 40 feet away - it was uncanny. 

 

[audiokid]

Has anyone else tried to connect the Hugo directly to their speakers?

I saw a few posts on this recently. I have ordered some cables to try but I'm a little nervous that I'll damage the speakers. They are Linn Kans, and I also have some Harbeth M30.1. They're not hard to drive but will Hugo deliver the power for a moderate volume without clipping and damaging the speakers? Thanks.

 

[Somphon]

  Running the Nordost Heimdall2's out of my Hugo and a Coax cable in, Nordost supply their cable with BNC connectors and a true 75 ohm RCA adapter so it all works nicely with Hugo and my AP1
 

 

 

 
Do you hear significant differences with the AP1SE?
 
I'm trying very hard not to fall in to all these snake-oil business.. but...
I bought a 20$ Olimex USB-ISO which only works in SD mode, but I can hear significant difference - no background noise (it was not much to begin with but alway feels something is there), wider soundstage. Overall more pleasant, natural and clean sounds coming from Hug even on HD tracks downsampling to 16/44. 

 

[SearchOfSub]

Dude, your speakers are rated 86db at 6 ohm load sensitivity. I had a pair of EA MicroOnes rated 87db at 6 ohms and Hugo distorted at moderate volume. But for late nite listening at low volume, it was unbelievably good. Since then I sold my speakers, and now waiting for my new speakers rated 98db 1w@1m on 8ohms.

I wouldn't recommend it. But since your cables are coming in, play everything through Hugo (dac/volume/amping) to your speakers at low to lower moderate volume at night and you will see what I'm talking about. You'll prabably end up selling your speakers too lol. Nice speakers though.

or, I have heard from Rob that there are new amps from Chord that are as good as the Hugo coming out in 2015. Wait for those, I'm defiantly picking those up to pair with Hugo out to my Dynaudio C1 signatures.


-peace

 

[Klonk]

If you want to connect your passive speakers to the Hugo, is it RCA to Bananas/Spades? 

 

[isquirrel]

I hear differences which I prefer using the AP1SE & PP.
 
Some notes:
 
When I ordered it Philip told me that he had just made some improvements to the PP. I prefer running an coax cable rather than directly connecting it. I also had issues with the sound cutting out due to a ill fitting BNC connectors.
 
I initial tried a 1m coax cable and ended up with 1.5m as it sounded better. The fact that the Nordost cable connects very well to the AP1 with its BNC connectors and the supplied true 75ohm gold plated RCA to the Hugo, would have helped no doubt.
 
What did it add?
 
It added a magical quality to the Hugo with more air and less underlying noise, although Hugo is excellent using the HD USB input I found the sound to be just a little hard. The AP1 combo gave it a flowing euphonic quality and lifted it to another level of performance.
 
Is it worth the $2,000 spend?  I don't want to get into that argument. I was chasing the ultimate performance out of my Hugo. I feel that I have achieved that.
 
I am enjoying my music so much as a result of Hugo that I have decided to buy an end game DAC which arrives in 2 weeks. When the new QBD becomes available I will try that as well as I am enjoying the Chord house sound.

 

[Currawong]

  John Franks and I will indeed be visiting Taiwan. Our schedule is:
 
24 Sep Tokyo International Audio Show, where John and I will be giving some talks.
26 Sep  South Korea.
29 Sep Taiwan.
1 Oct Hong Kong.
 
If any Head-fiers would like to meet us, please contact your local Chord distributor for details of public events.
Rob 

 
He might consider coming to the Tokyo headphone festival on the last weekend of October too.
 

  OK, so not strictly 'head-fi', but rather than use a mac mini I have started using a raspberry pi running 'Volumi' to feed the Hugo - so far an incredible combination!

 
I was trying to set that up again and was having issues with drop-outs and getting it to stream music to begin with. I might try again with the newer version at some point and/or a faster SD card.
 
My iPad Mini Retina seems to work fine through the HD input now, with iOS 8. Hard to say if it sounds much different from my MB Air/Audiophilleo set-up.