[Rob Watts]

Do I understand correctly that there is no way to use the Hugo's RCA outputs in line-out mode (not controlled by the volume knob) along with headphone outputs normally controlled by the volume knob? I was wondering if I could avoid unplugging headphones and resetting the Hugo to use it as a source to a different amp. (Benchmark DACs can easily be used this way, for example.)

No all the OP's are connected together internally. In a normal DAC you would have two I to V stages, then a diff to SE amps, volume control, and finally a headphone buffer, so its a very complex analogue section. With Hugo, analogue is very simple, all the work is done digitally, where it possible to do things perfectly transparently. So I have only one single OP stage that combines headphone OP, and I to V conversion in one stage. The benefit is the analogue is very simple (and hence transparent). The downside is there is no fixed DAC OP that one can buffer.
 
Rob

 

[lovethatsound]

Hello Mate,
that sounds great, I'm now tempted to get the supernova 7 but it's 4 times the cost of the van den hook optical cable I have now and it works fine. Is there really a noticeable difference in sound quality? It's just light...?

Are you comparing this to another optical cable or to the USB connection?

Thanks!

If your asking me if it sounds better than the van den hull then yes without a doubt,You can really tell the difference it just sounds so right.I know it's just light and really they should all sound the same, but this super nova 7 has really change my mind, It sounds fantastic.

 

[rgs9200m]

It doesn't matter, at least to these ears, that the volume control is not bypassed. All that matters is that the signal from the RCA outputs to my amp sounds awesome, which is what I hear.
So the proof is in the pudding.
I do keep the Hugo volume on max, though, and all is well. So don't that keep you from getting a Hugo to use with an external amp.
(Of course, you have no choice is run Stax phones or other stats. And we have some of these users around here.)

 

[papa kief]

i would really like to see Chord produce a quality docking station for those of us using it more in a home setup. offering balance outputs, maybe an analog input? not having to hold down buttons to max the volume output...would sell like crazy. and being able to easily undock for portability...best of both worlds!

 

[FortisFlyer75]

i would really like to see Chord produce a quality docking station for those of us using it more in a home setup. offering balance outputs, maybe an analog input? not having to hold down buttons to max the volume output...would sell like crazy. and being able to easily undock for portability...best of both worlds!

This would be icing on the cake if they done this and I am sure plenty of us would utilise a dock like that. How much would one cost though, my guestimation although not condoning it of course would be circa £200 if they did do one?  Although I think £100 same as leather case would be acceptable.. cough to Chord!
 
Maybe a Christmas project for anyone at Chord who is bored for a 2nd Q release in 2015 ; )

 

[coolmanvn1]

Hello everyone, where do I go buy a Hugo Chord online in the USA? Thanks.

 

[edn4x4]

Here->
"http://www.moon-audio.com/chord-electronics-hugo-dac-headphone-amp.html"

 

[SoundFreaq]

i would really like to see Chord produce a quality docking station for those of us using it more in a home setup. offering balance outputs, maybe an analog input? not having to hold down buttons to max the volume output...would sell like crazy. and being able to easily undock for portability...best of both worlds!

 

  This would be icing on the cake

 
This would be a flop in the purist "audiophile" circles. Such a device would introduce a whole host of extra electronics and even added functionality for the signal to get through. More electronics = bad. Such a device would inherently only work to degrade the sound quality. Hugo doesn't support balanced operation, so adding balanced outs on a dock is just a glorified way of sticking an adapter on the output.
 
I'm beginning to notice a trend of the new "audiophiles" putting much more weight in and desire for extra functionality (amenities), rather than the single-most important factor being sound quality, and sound quality alone.  Not sure if this stems from the Beats domain, or out of ignorance, or if everything just sounds good enough now, so the differentiating factors are now based more in design and the extras? Not sure...
 
And we are starting the new cycle right now in this Hugo thread of a new influx of guys discussing and figuring out what the guys that have spent the last weeks answering, and aren't posting as much anymore.

 
So very interesting. What is this, cycle 4? 5?
 
Again, impossible to find answers in a 600 page thread. So rock on!

 
PS. I always put "audiophile" in quotes as its such an arbitrary word. So don't take offense.

 

[Lutrty]

Just to share that I'm mostly using the Hugo in my stereo system (Naim 5si+Dynaudio x12) and I find it absolutely fantastic, really. Now I understand why in the Naim Forum many are arguing that they prefer the Hugo to the Naim's DACs.
 
On the other hand, even though I find the Hugo + LCD-3F pairing great (!), I found that this pairing + Pathos Aurium is just outstanding(!!); it's like it gives another layer of soul to the music - the Pathos might be my next upgrade.
 
L.
 
PS: also, the Olimex USB ISO recommended by Rob W. works like a charm between my Snology NAS and Hugo.

 

[RoundRound]

If your asking me if it sounds better than the van den hull then yes without a doubt,You can really tell the difference it just sounds so right.I know it's just light and really they should all sound the same, but this super nova 7 has really change my mind, It sounds fantastic.

Hey mate,
You want to hear something funny?
 
I went and got a Supernova 7 tousling today (1M), pluged it into the Hugo, all went fine, I need to listen a bit more to decide about the SQ.
the weird thing is that it doesn't play 192Khz! My Van den hal (a third of the price) plays it fine... Could it be a faulty cable?

 

[lovethatsound]

Hey mate,
You want to hear something funny?

I went and got a Supernova 7 tousling today (1M), pluged it into the Hugo, all went fine, I need to listen a bit more to decide about the SQ.
the weird thing is that it doesn't play 192Khz! My Van den hal (a third of the price) plays it fine... Could it be a faulty cable?

hi m8
I think it's more likely because the super nova 7 doesn't go all the way in the Hugo.my van den hull doesn't do 196 .But the three optical cable i got with my Hugo does.But still the super nova sounds fantastic with red book cd.I think it makes the van den hull sound light weight.

 

[FortisFlyer75]

   
 
This would be a flop in the purist "audiophile" circles. Such a device would introduce a whole host of extra electronics and even added functionality for the signal to get through. More electronics = bad. Such a device would inherently only work to degrade the sound quality. Hugo doesn't support balanced operation, so adding balanced outs on a dock is just a glorified way of sticking an adapter on the output.
 
I'm beginning to notice a trend of the new "audiophiles" putting much more weight in and desire for extra functionality (amenities), rather than the single-most important factor being sound quality, and sound quality alone.  Not sure if this stems from the Beats domain, or out of ignorance, or if everything just sounds good enough now, so the differentiating factors are now based more in design and the extras? Not sure...
 
And we are starting the new cycle right now in this Hugo thread of a new influx of guys discussing and figuring out what the guys that have spent the last weeks answering, and aren't posting as much anymore.

 
So very interesting. What is this, cycle 4? 5?
 
Again, impossible to find answers in a 600 page thread. So rock on!

 
PS. I always put "audiophile" in quotes as its such an arbitrary word. So don't take offense.

Had to Lol at that!
 
I must admit I miss read Papa kief's post slightly as I was juggling laptop work and email notification perked my interest with his post and of course the external connections is another factor in the chain to degrade sound but it does it hurt to dream & share regardless?  It triggered my vision of a dock just been a charge base dock where the power cable feeds into the dock and it can sit upright like a pc tower as good as it's footprint is on my table beside my chair for headphone listening is not a lot of room so would benefit from that when in a dock not that I described it like that originally but everyone has their needs and dreams.
 
I do not get to post on here much in recent months as I used to (been a few months since I done a review of a demo unit i had on this thread) so have not experienced every page of this fast moving thread over than the odd email notification but I don't think Hugo owners who are chipping in about ideas on functionality or "amenities" are ignorant of it's primary objective which is delivering no compromise to the SQ but are Hugo owners that maybe are just so impressed and happy with the product in what it has delivered so far that fans of the hugo dare to dream how it might potentially evolve in time as no one can deny this ticks so many boxes already in what it can do and delivers in terms of connections and size, sounds, design and quality of build.  
 
Yes, you answered your own question with 600 ages.. so rock on to finding a question within (unless someone who is hardcore Hugo person that is prepared to give up half their live to track this thread and make a faqs and stats list kept on the first page of this thread to stop your last cycle count of 4,5!)
 
I'm sure there are a Beats/ Apple generation finally drawn to this arena but if so then this is where the experienced knights of the round table on here have to be patient to educate anyone who asks a question or even opinion whom may seem ignorant (after all still democratic even on forums last time I looked?) no matter how daft it may sound as everyone has to start somewhere and if it takes a few dead pages in 600 this will always be the caveat with such large threads. Just an observation rather than personal opinion. Maybe it's because I do not get to follow and par take in every page now day's this does not frustrate me like it may some?
 
Hope having when I started out back in the early nineties with Naim gear progressing to my current Tag Mclaren set up with Tag & B&W speakers with Chord Indigo cables using WAV & FLAC only files does not constitute been an "Audiophile"?. 
 
Anyway while my Hugo awaits a dock for it to be made I am enjoying the new found wonders of how the Hugo is not just with high res music but it's strength laying in how well redbook sounds through this, analogue seduction in a digital world....
 
So yeah, rock on

 

[weisse muller]

It might be possible for the guys at chord to add too, but not take away anything from Hugo. A separate carrier unit would not allow for this but a larger heavier Aluminium Case with more space for say, larger connectors even XLRs and batteries or even super capacitor back up to do this they'd need direct access to the Hugo circuitry but they would have that, It might even allow for other requested features perhaps.

 

[SoundFreaq]

well i got my 0.5m supernova 7 2day and yes is does fit in the Hugo, it don't click in but it's stayed in and as 4 the sound,well yes it sound's amazing,i will do a proper review in about a week's time, At the moment this super nova 7 is blowing me away.

 
Awesome man! I continue to really enjoy mine. It really is a revelation for me.
 

   It's just light...?
 
 

 
It is. But think about how so many different light conducting materials have an impact on how the light transfers through. Think of a window to the outside. Think of a freshly-cleaned high-purity glass window. It's so transparent that you can hardly tell there is a window there at all. It lets all the light through with almost no distortion. But that same window can get dirty. Or, it could be made out of acrylic, or even plastic, or just lower grades of glass. The impurities impart distortion to the light allowed through. 
 
Extrapolate. 
 
 

... it just sounds so right.... It sounds fantastic.

 +1
 

   
I went and got a Supernova 7 ... it doesn't play 192Khz! 

 
Neither my AQ Cinnamon nor the SN7 play 192 for me. But honestly, Red Book sounds the best to me. 
 

hi m8
I think it's more likely because the super nova 7 doesn't go all the way in the Hugo.my van den hull doesn't do 196 .But the three optical cable i got with my Hugo does.But still the super nova sounds fantastic with red book cd.I think it makes the van den hull sound light weight.

 Interesting that different cables allow differing bit rates. 
 
And +1 on the Red Book. 
 

  Had to Lol at that!
 
I must admit...

 
Awesomeness. Good insight. I would be remiss to say that I was making generalized observations about "audiophiles," and the state of this Hugo thread, and were not intended to be directed at you whatsoever. 
 
And absolutely, I love a sound mind (hehe) eager to learn. I'll write books worth of info in here for new guys. It's ok to know nothing. It's ok to ask anything. My comments are more out of fascination or humor, as this thread is just so enormous. 
 
I think anyone that spends north of $20 bucks on any personal audio gear that is not Apple-made is considered an Audiophile. I'm cool with that. The word just means you have an awareness about things audio that the common man doesn't think on. But everyone's definition differs!

 

[dwizard]

Does your Hugo rattle if you gentle shake it?