[joeexp]

  The 164,000 taps and SQ is a long story, something I will perhaps talk about closer to launch.
 
The LX75 FPGA with 164,000 will never be portable, the FPGA alone consumes 5W of power. But wait 5 years or more when we get 10nm FPGA's then maybe it will be possible for a portable device!
 
Rob

 
I understand that you don't want to talk SQ in detail just yet!  Obviously it must sound "better", otherwise there would be no point pursuing that route. Just let us know if we can look forward to another "Hugo Moment” - ??  

 

[Rob Watts]

   
I understand that you don't want to talk SQ in detail just yet!  Obviously it must sound "better", otherwise there would be no point pursuing that route. Just let us know if we can look forward to another "Hugo Moment” - ??  

Well it does sound an awful lot better - but another Hugo moment? That's difficult to imagine. We all respond differently to devices, but Hugo to me, in entirely musicality terms, or being emotionally involved with the music, with Hugo it was like somebody had turned on the light on in a darkened room. I guess the visual analogy would be that future improvements will be like getting better glasses - Hugo has already kindly turned the lights on! 
 
Rob

 

[Jalo]

Well it does sound an awful lot better - but another Hugo moment? That's difficult to imagine. We all respond differently to devices, but Hugo to me, in entirely musicality terms, or being emotionally involved with the music, with Hugo it was like somebody had turned on the light on in a darkened room. I guess the visual analogy would be that future improvements will be like getting better glasses - Hugo has already kindly turned the lights on! 

Rob

Rob, is this project a stand alone Dac or a Dac/amp like the Hugo? I just love your approach to Dac and wanted to start planning this next product in my system.

 

[Rob Watts]

Project xxxx is a digital pre-amp with headphone drive.... I will be at liberty to talk about it closer to launch in May!
 
Rob

 

[Jalo]

Project xxxx is a digital pre-amp with headphone drive.... I will be at liberty to talk about it closer to launch in May!

Rob

Rob, will this project xxxxx be demo at the upcoming Can Jam as I will be attending. Well if you are not at liberty to talk about it till May, chances are probably not. But if it can drive headphone, I assume it has something like the Hugo where the amp section is fused with the output stage of the Dac? Fortunately May is not that far away in audio product time.

 

[joeexp]

  Well it does sound an awful lot better - but another Hugo moment? That's difficult to imagine. We all respond differently to devices, but Hugo to me, in entirely musicality terms, or being emotionally involved with the music, with Hugo it was like somebody had turned on the light on in a darkened room. I guess the visual analogy would be that future improvements will be like getting better glasses - Hugo has already kindly turned the lights on! 
 
Rob

This sounds very promising and I am sure 164.000 taps is not going to be the last word on that matter either.
But perhaps what is actually the best about Hugo is the fact that one can buy this "ear-opening" technology at a price that is still affordable.
(just ! -  does an audio junky care about the cost of their addiction?)
Hence Chord is democratising reference technology > previously unheard of. (trickle-up technology if there is such a word)
 
I hope this time around this further push in tap-length, trickles down to the lower-end of the Chord product range eventually. Please bear in mind that not everybody can afford a £6K appliance.  And I wish that the Hugo 2 will have a much longer tap length (Moor's Law), much better isolation from disturbing usb noise, remote-control from my iPhone, better on/off switch, a battery life of two days of course and all that for the same price!  

 

[Jalo]

Sure, with an LX75. But it has been a major headache, I had to re-design it 4 times, due to timing and place and route problems. As each filter is 100,000 lines of code, it has not been easy. On paper it can do 200,000 but the initial design could not meet timing, so I had to completely change strategy for it. This guarantees timing closure, but limits it to 164,000 taps as I had to create more DSP cores with all of them running at half the original speed. So the design uses 160 DSP cores in parallel just for the first stage of the WTA filter. 

Rob

Well every time I heard anything that runs half the speed, I am immediately worry about the impact it has on sound. How will it impact complicated passages and any negative impact it has on PRAT especially with 160 DSP cores.

 

[MT0227]

you can leave the Hugo plugged in all the time if you like.so yes you can use you're Hugo.

Thanks....do you wait for the battery to discharge by ~80% before plugging back it in?  I'd assume the standard rule of keeping consistent charging cycles applies to maintain better battery life for Hugo.

 

[Whazzzup]

you can leave the Hugo plugged in all the time if you like.so yes you can use you're Hugo.

Thanks....do you wait for the battery to discharge by ~80% before plugging back it in?  I'd assume the standard rule of keeping consistent charging cycles applies to maintain better battery life for Hugo.

There is a direct quote from Rob further back in the thread. I was a little surprised but I beleive the recommendation was to recharge more frequently than to let it discharge especially not completly. I beleive there were some repercussions to playing while keeping it charged as well? Let us know if you find the post.

 

[lovethatsound]

Thanks....do you wait for the battery to discharge by ~80% before plugging back it in?  I'd assume the standard rule of keeping consistent charging cycles applies to maintain better battery life for Hugo.

If you're using your Hugo as a desktop dac then just leave it plugged in all the time.If you're using your Hugo as a portable dac then 80% sounds about right.Hope this helps you out m8 and enjoy your Hugo.

 

[Sam Edwards]

  Project xxxx is a digital pre-amp with headphone drive.... I will be at liberty to talk about it closer to launch in May!
 
Rob

 Can you fill us in @  Can Jam? I'm looking forward to you presentation.

 

[Kakki]

  Project xxxx is a digital pre-amp with headphone drive.... I will be at liberty to talk about it closer to launch in May!
 
Rob

 
Rob, thank you for your exciting news!
 
For the "headphone drive", are you planning to give more power than Hugo so that we can drive efficient speakers better than Hugo?
I would imagine if the DAC (or digital pre-amp) can drive the speakers directly, that will be the best option from the transparency perspective.
 
Can't wait until May!

 

[MT0227]

There is a direct quote from Rob further back in the thread. I was a little surprised but I beleive the recommendation was to recharge more frequently than to let it discharge especially not completly. I beleive there were some repercussions to playing while keeping it charged as well? Let us know if you find the post.

Thanks......I did read that if you let he battery drain completely (beyond the flashing Red light), theres a recalibration cycle that occurs for about 7-10 min next time you plug it in.  During this time the Hugo will seem in-operable and not charging.  Once the calibration process is completed, things will revert back to normal.  I will continue to look for the post.

 

[MT0227]

If you're using your Hugo as a desktop dac then just leave it plugged in all the time.If you're using your Hugo as a portable dac then 80% sounds about right.Hope this helps you out m8 and enjoy your Hugo.

 
Sounds like what I was thinking; enjoying the Hugo for sure.

 

[MT0227]

There is a direct quote from Rob further back in the thread. I was a little surprised but I beleive the recommendation was to recharge more frequently than to let it discharge especially not completly. I beleive there were some repercussions to playing while keeping it charged as well? Let us know if you find the post.

 
 
Here's what I was able to piece together.  Seems as though you should use Hugo plugged in if possible to prolong battery life by reducing the number of discharge cycles.   The question I have is when I travel to/from work each day and I go from Blue to Green/Yellow, should I cycle the battery through to Red or just plug in as soon as you can?  
 
 

  The charger for the batteries has 3 modes of charging. An initial small current to pre-charge the battery when it is completely flat. Then the full on charge current. Once it gets fully charged, it will go into constant current trickle charge mode, where it feeds a small current. Once the voltage is high enough, it stops doing this.
 
If you keep it switched on permanently with the charger connected the trickle charge exactly matches the current being drawn from Hugo, so no net current from the battery, but you will have the benefits of battery operation which is low noise.
 
Rob 
 

 

  So your recommendation is where possible use it while plugged in to charge?

 
 

  Yes, battery life would be longer as it will not be charging/discharging. I can't hear any difference with it plugged in. Also I am lazy, just like to get up in the morning and its ready to go! Power dissipation is well below 2W, so it's pretty green left on.
 
Rob