[Dobrescu George]

My Hugo first impressions

* Bigger than I expected and more sturdy. In pictures, I thought it looked a bit plasticky. Not a bit. The black model looks very elegant
* Cool, so cool, wow this is a cool device to pick up, touch and look at.
* Cool features - being able to look inside the device and see the the Spartan chip and the 3 LEDs ; having the different colours to reflect different source specifications and the volume control lighting is helpful.
* Intuitive to use, once you have used it for a day - on/off switch on, press to select the source, one for cross-feed (if you want), then adjust the volume to your chosen colour.
* All my connectors coaxial or earphone plugs fitted -

* Bluetooth works fine, but I need to keep the Iphone still. Spotify streaming 320K sounds very acceptable.
* No hiss at all with UE TF10s

Sound - initial feelings

1. At the dealers, I found it much easier to determine a difference in quality when listening through earphones than through a desk top into speakers and comparing the Hugo to the otherwise fine Dx90, the latter feels more lightweight and thinner in the sound it produces
2. As people have mentioned the bass is rich & full. The music flows like silky water
3. It doesn't sound thin at all with the UE TP 10s
4. Yes the Hugo *is* good.

DAT hugo looks so amazing in black! it is so much elegant.

 

[paulchiu]

Did you see the silver version at the dealer?

 

[highfell]

Yes. The rest of my equipment (dx90 & Fatman 202 Amp) is black,so I wanted a black Hugo in any case. But having seen both, I personally preferred the black one.

 

[paulchiu]

I ordered a silver with brown case.  I never did get to see the Hugo in person.  Buying blind.
In my situation, since i carry a gold iPhone 6 plus, i figure that was a better color choice.  I just hope the silver Hugo do not look like a cheap toy in real life.
 
Quote:

Yes. The rest of my equipment (dx90 & Fatman 202 Amp) is black,so I wanted a black Hugo in any case. But having seen both, I personally preferred the black one.

 

[highfell]

I ordered a silver with brown case. I never did get to see the Hugo in person. Buying blind.
In my situation, since i carry a gold iPhone 6 plus, i figure that was a better color choice. I just hope the silver Hugo do not look like a cheap toy in real life.

I wouldn't worry. It feels like a really solid piece of well built kit. And it sounds blissful.

 

[Somphon]

You wont be disappointed!

 

[zniper2984]

.

 

[SearchOfSub]

So when is the new more powerful version coming out?

 

[estreeter]

  Even if schiit ones do have a chance in sound, they still are not portable, which is one of the basic principles of hugo.
 
not to speak of the fact that hugo can standalone drive some of the hardest to drive headphones.

 
If you go back and look at the sentence I quoted, it was a challenge to compare Hugo with a 30K DAC - I personally dont have access to any 30K DACs but I'm reasonably confident most of them arent portable either. Since the day it was released, the Hugo has been slotted into big dollar speaker systems as a dedicated DAC by reviewers and others who couldnt give a hoot about headphones and the reviews speak for themselves : even it's harshest critic on Head-Fi has reluctantly accepted that it's 'not bad' as a DAC with some music. Based on all of this, and its sticker price, the Hugo should be seen as a direct competitor to Yggdrasil, a DAC which will sell for considerably less than 30K when enough of us are able to hear it for ourselves. 

 

[harmonix]

If you go back and look at the sentence I quoted, it was a challenge to compare Hugo with a 30K DAC - I personally dont have access to any 30K DACs but I'm reasonably confident most of them arent portable either. Since the day it was released, the Hugo has been slotted into big dollar speaker systems as a dedicated DAC by reviewers and others who couldnt give a hoot about headphones and the reviews speak for themselves : even it's harshest critic on Head-Fi has reluctantly accepted that it's 'not bad' as a DAC with some music. Based on all of this, and its sticker price, the Hugo should be seen as a direct competitor to Yggdrasil, a DAC which will sell for considerably less than 30K when enough of us are able to hear it for ourselves. 

First of all there are not that many $30k DACs around a handful at best. Between $10k-30k the list gets longer but not huge.

Saying a Hugo can compare to some those DACs is like saying to someone who wants a Mitsubishi Evo that it is up there with a Ferrari. I think it gets you a taste of what is possible but not the same. Beyond that it's probably more helpful to state what particular $30k DAC we are talking about. Off the top of my head not many are exactly $30k many under and very few higher

 

[514077]

My Hugo first impressions

* Bigger than I expected and more sturdy. In pictures, I thought it looked a bit plasticky. Not a bit. The black model looks very elegant
* Cool, so cool, wow this is a cool device to pick up, touch and look at.
* Cool features - being able to look inside the device and see the the Spartan chip and the 3 LEDs ; having the different colours to reflect different source specifications and the volume control lighting is helpful.
* Intuitive to use, once you have used it for a day - on/off switch on, press to select the source, one for cross-feed (if you want), then adjust the volume to your chosen colour.
* All my connectors coaxial or earphone plugs fitted -

* Bluetooth works fine, but I need to keep the Iphone still. Spotify streaming 320K sounds very acceptable.
* No hiss at all with UE TF10s

Sound - initial feelings

1. At the dealers, I found it much easier to determine a difference in quality when listening through earphones than through a desk top into speakers and comparing the Hugo to the otherwise fine Dx90, the latter feels more lightweight and thinner in the sound it produces
2. As people have mentioned the bass is rich & full. The music flows like silky water
3. It doesn't sound thin at all with the UE TP 10s
4. Yes the Hugo *is* good.

 

I wouldn't worry. It feels like a really solid piece of well built kit. And it sounds blissful.

Glad to hear you chose the ol' Hugo. I also bought blind; didn't know the Hugo was silver till my wife mentioned "that silver box hidden under the desk."

 

[estreeter]

First of all there are not that many $30k DACs around a handful at best. Between $10k-30k the list gets longer but not huge.

Saying a Hugo can compare to some those DACs is like saying to someone who wants a Mitsubishi Evo that it is up there with a Ferrari. I think it gets you a taste of what is possible but not the same. Beyond that it's probably more helpful to state what particular $30k DAC we are talking about. Off the top of my head not many are exactly $30k many under and very few higher

 
I didnt come up with the 30K figure - it was put out there by the poster I guoted purely as an indication of how highly he regards the Hugo's sound quality. 
 
If you want to my personal list of DACs I'd like to see included in a group listening test with the Hugo, they would be:
 
1. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/599-berkeley-audio-design-alpha-dac-reference-series-review/comments4.html  (16K USD)
 
2. http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue74/lampizator_7.htm  (starting at around 10.5K USD plus shipping and import duties)
 
3. http://www.trinity-ed.de/typo/index.php?id=12&L=1  (~60K USD)
 
4. http://www.audiostream.com/content/totaldac-d1-dual-dac  (>12K USD + shipping and import duties)
 
and strictly for the hardcore tinkerer who is willing to accept a software+hardware+eccentric designer package when they buy a DAC:
 
5. http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1744.0;all  (somewhere north of 4K USD)
 
Clearly, the only one of these that comes anywhere near the Hugo's sticker is the Phasure and Yggdrasil is even closer : none are cheap but there is a point where being told on a forum that a 60K DAC will wipe the floor with everything else leaves me wondering how many people ever get the chance to put that claim to the test. At least Yggdrasil will be priced at a level that many here would seem to be able to afford and it wont require customers in the CONUS to spend a small fortune on shipping. Compared to the Hugo, most of the uber-DACs listed above are built more like amps and weigh just as much : as the owner of a 35lb SACD player with DAC inputs I know that doesnt always guarantee bigger sound. Still. it would make for a very interesting weekend in the right environment to be able to get all of the above together - an expensive weekend, but compared to that Veyron, chump change  

 

[highfell]

I have now connected an IPad mini to the Hugo using the camera usb kit. Using a DSD player called Hibiki (IPhone not IPad App), playing a DSF file DOP to the Hugo. See pics.

 

[harmonix]

   
I didnt come up with the 30K figure - it was put out there by the poster I guoted purely as an indication of how highly he regards the Hugo's sound quality. 
 
If you want to my personal list of DACs I'd like to see included in a group listening test with the Hugo, they would be:
 
1. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/599-berkeley-audio-design-alpha-dac-reference-series-review/comments4.html  (16K USD)
 
2. http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue74/lampizator_7.htm  (starting at around 10.5K USD plus shipping and import duties)
 
3. http://www.trinity-ed.de/typo/index.php?id=12&L=1  (~60K USD)
 
4. http://www.audiostream.com/content/totaldac-d1-dual-dac  (>12K USD + shipping and import duties)
 
and strictly for the hardcore tinkerer who is willing to accept a software+hardware+eccentric designer package when they buy a DAC:
 
5. http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1744.0;all  (somewhere north of 4K USD)
 
Clearly, the only one of these that comes anywhere near the Hugo's sticker is the Phasure and Yggdrasil is even closer : none are cheap but there is a point where being told on a forum that a 60K DAC will wipe the floor with everything else leaves me wondering how many people ever get the chance to put that claim to the test. At least Yggdrasil will be priced at a level that many here would seem to be able to afford and it wont require customers in the CONUS to spend a small fortune on shipping. Compared to the Hugo, most of the uber-DACs listed above are built more like amps and weigh just as much : as the owner of a 35lb SACD player with DAC inputs I know that doesnt always guarantee bigger sound. Still. it would make for a very interesting weekend in the right environment to be able to get all of the above together - an expensive weekend, but compared to that Veyron, chump change  

IMHO the Hugo is not in the same league as the BADA Alpha Ref or the Trinity. Have not heard the lampi, TotalDAC or phasure.
By the way the Trinity is ~$40k or a bit north of that not $60k - not that it matters at that point anyway

 

[Whazzzup]

 

   
I didnt come up with the 30K figure - it was put out there by the poster I guoted purely as an indication of how highly he regards the Hugo's sound quality. 
 
If you want to my personal list of DACs I'd like to see included in a group listening test with the Hugo, they would be:
 
1. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/599-berkeley-audio-design-alpha-dac-reference-series-review/comments4.html  (16K USD)
 
2. http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue74/lampizator_7.htm  (starting at around 10.5K USD plus shipping and import duties)
 
3. http://www.trinity-ed.de/typo/index.php?id=12&L=1  (~60K USD)
 
4. http://www.audiostream.com/content/totaldac-d1-dual-dac  (>12K USD + shipping and import duties)
 
and strictly for the hardcore tinkerer who is willing to accept a software+hardware+eccentric designer package when they buy a DAC:
 
5. http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1744.0;all  (somewhere north of 4K USD)
 
Clearly, the only one of these that comes anywhere near the Hugo's sticker is the Phasure and Yggdrasil is even closer : none are cheap but there is a point where being told on a forum that a 60K DAC will wipe the floor with everything else leaves me wondering how many people ever get the chance to put that claim to the test. At least Yggdrasil will be priced at a level that many here would seem to be able to afford and it wont require customers in the CONUS to spend a small fortune on shipping. Compared to the Hugo, most of the uber-DACs listed above are built more like amps and weigh just as much : as the owner of a 35lb SACD player with DAC inputs I know that doesnt always guarantee bigger sound. Still. it would make for a very interesting weekend in the right environment to be able to get all of the above together - an expensive weekend, but compared to that Veyron, chump change  

IMHO the Hugo is not in the same league as the BADA Alpha Ref or the Trinity. Have not heard the lampi, TotalDAC or phasure.
By the way the Trinity is ~$40k or a bit north of that not $60k - not that it matters at that point anyway

It was fun to click on the links though, clicks are free Im just working up the mustard to add the TT to the stable.  Enjoy the a8 as a desktop for the th900 but the hugo gets lots of desktop time as well, never mind portable use.