[hugoboss]

Heya, I wish I could but my hands are tied by my boss with that one! Obviously we do have stock of the original chassis and I have seen the new chassis and the differences are not that big. The stereo RCA holes have been made slightly bigger but if you don't need it connected to a HiFi then there would be no difference.

can you post some pics here compare the new one and the old ones, thanks

 

[tonyl59]

I have just found the perfect partner for my iPod Touch / Hugo / TH900 or UM Miracle set up... Qobuz.
Lossless (FLAC) streaming. It's amazing! So much CD quality music. I am loving it. I heartily recommend you have a look...

Still deeply impressed with my Hugo. For once I am feeling no desire to look beyond what I have now. I really don't feel that it could be dramatically improved upon. Even if it could I doubt I could detect the difference. So now it's time to just focus on the music, courtesy of Qobuz!

Cheers

 

[Sek1]

I have just found the perfect partner for my iPod Touch / Hugo / TH900 or UM Miracle set up... Qobuz.
Lossless (FLAC) streaming. It's amazing! So much CD quality music. I am loving it. I heartily recommend you have a look...

Still deeply impressed with my Hugo. For once I am feeling no desire to look beyond what I have now. I really don't feel that it could be dramatically improved upon. Even if it could I doubt I could detect the difference. So now it's time to just focus on the music, courtesy of Qobuz!

Cheers

+1. Qobuz is terrific, in particular for jazz and classical. A big advantage over Spotify is the ability to read the track notes (for most labels) and the improved tagging. As a French company, they also have several European boutique labels unavailable for streaming elsewhere. The only gripe is that Hyperion records are no longer available for streaming (but still available for hi-res download).

Agree about the Hugo too. Using my iphone with HD650s, HD800s, and (newly purchased) ie800s and the Hugo/Qobuz/iphone synergy is quite something. Like you, I am experiencing that rare audiophile feeling...being happy with what you have.

 

[zenpunk]

Interesting. I tried Qobuz but decided to keep using Spotify. The smaller catalogues and the tiny increase in SQ, if any, wasn't enough to convince me. I also bought few albums from them but the tagging was often messed up or incomplete.

 

[stewboss]

I just received this from my local hi-fi dealer....
 

[color=rgb(31, 31, 31)] I have spoken with Chord to clarify the situation regarding the "revised chassis". Apparently some large RCA connectors have difficulty due to the small size of the Hugo. To this end they are working on a revised chassis to make it easier to connect these plugs into the back. It is currently unavailable, and there is no performance improvement. The current RRP as from Feb 1st is £1400.00.[/color]

 
This appears to contradict much of what I have read on this forum. This is the old chassis with the increased price.
 
The worst of both worlds it would seem!

 

[SleepyOne]

 
This appears to contradict much of what I have read on this forum. 

 
Not sure what you mean. In what way it contradicts?

 

[PhilW]

And also the price increase was March 1st. I can also confirm that anyone who wishes to use Chord Cables on their Hugo they can. I have just made sure that these fit and they do!

Chord Cables - Short VEE3 Interconnects

 

[Musicdiddy]

Could anyone help a complete noob please? I have just got my Hugo and tried to use it for the first time tonight with my AK120 but everytime I plug the toslink cable the 120 says "Music playback cannot be controlled when Optical Audio input is used" and I cannot get any sound from the headphones. It is probably something quite simple but does anyone know what I am doing wrong?
 
Thanks

 

[jacal01]

Dunno.  Need optical output maybe?

 

[PhilW]

  Could anyone help a complete noob please? I have just got my Hugo and tried to use it for the first time tonight with my AK120 but everytime I plug the toslink cable the 120 says "Music playback cannot be controlled when Optical Audio input is used" and I cannot get any sound from the headphones. It is probably something quite simple but does anyone know what I am doing wrong?
 
Thanks

you need to plug it into headphone socket.

 

[Shenook]

Does anyone have a review comparing this amp Bakoon HDA-5210mk3 with the Chord?  Any help is appreciated.

 

[Musicdiddy]

 
you need to plug it into headphone socket.

Thanks Phil got it,  thought you had to use the optical in/out!

 

[charliebrown88]

Amongst the iPhone 5s, ZX1 and MBP using Amarra, the iPhone 5s is easily the most compatible device with the Hugo. Never refuses a handshake and just works, everytime. Not so with theother two sources.

I do enjoy much on music (HD or dsd or even 44.1) with the IPT and hugo ... It is great and work flawless ...

 

[verber]

The following was sort of an apples to oranges comparison driven my a personal need. In the last three months there have been a number of changes in my life which has resulted in: me using speakers more than headphones, separating my speaker system from my headphone rig, and I am using my headphones when I am sitting in other rooms more than sitting in the living room which has my desktop headphone system (Lavry DA11 --> Headamp GS-Xmk2) Right now I have the hassle of shifting my Lavry DA11 DAC, between the headphone and speaker systems or I am lazy and use the HiFi-M8 which just isn't the same.
 
So I seem to be in the market for a second DAC which will be for the HD800s.  I would like the new DAC to be at least as good as the Lavry, provided at least as good an ROI. My quick observation of the Lavry... I am sure there are likely better DACs that the Lavry, but I have yet to hear one that has moved me enough to being willing to spend the money to make an upgrade.  I liked the characterized in 21 dacs post by purrin which notes that the Lavry is well rounded with nothing annoying.  I find the Lavry even handed with great tonal balance... I just wish it was a bit more dynamic and have more micro-details.
 
Most of the DACs I am considering at typical desktop DACs, but I have encountered a couple of reviews that suggested that The Hugo might be up to the task of being both my desktop DAC and to be used on the go. I even hoped (unrealistic dream) that the built in headphone amp of the Hugo might be good enough that I would not need to bother with a separate headphone amplifier.
 

In the last couple of days I got to spent a number of hours listening to the Chord Hugo.  I did three different comparisons.  I primarily used my HD800 which  have Black Dragon balanced cables, and a balanced to 1/4 plug converter when connecting directly to the Chord Hugo.  I also spent a bit of time with a pair of Audeze LCD-X which seemed to mirror the impressions I had using the HD800. Before each test I adjusted levels to be within 1db as measured with a microphone inside the headphone.  Oh, source material was all 44.1/16 lossless.  Nearly all my music is from CDs which is unlikely to change, so I didn't try to compare higher-rez material.
 
#1 Mobile
Chord -vs- HiFi-M8 --> HD800
 
What can I say other than in every way I can think of the Chord bested the HiFi-M8 as one would expect given the price difference. The Chord was more musical, more detailed, better tonal balance, better imaging, I could go on. Things that really stood out as the Hugo had a much tighter bass, more air at the top, much less congested with complex symphonies.
 
#2 DAC Comparison:
Hugo -vs- HiFi-M8 -vs- Lavry --> GS-Xmk2 --> HD800 
 
Not surprisingly, the DAC in the HiFi-M8 (amplifier set to line level) was inferior to the Hugo and the Lavry. I threw it into the test because it was easy since the GS-Xmk2 has three inputs.  Since each source was matched within 1db of each other and then I could switch between sources at will with no persevere difference in volume level.
 
Pretty quickly I stopped bothering with the HiFi-M8. It was clearly not in the same league of the other two DACs, though I noticed some of the passages that sounded very congested through the HiFi-M8 in the first test were not nearly so noticeable when the headphone were being driven by the GS-Xmk2.
 
The comparison between the Lavry and Hugo was fairly close. There were times the switch would be thrown and I had no idea which DAC we were coming/going to. I found like the Lavry that the Hugo was nicely balanced and didn't do anything that annoyed me. The Hugo on some passages seemed to give me more details that the Lavry. When the Lavry sometimes can sounds a bit flat, the Hugo sounded an bit more lively and had a more delicate touch. In general I had a slight preference to the tonal balance of the Lavry, especially when listening to vocalists... there was a richness and weight which was sometimes missing from the Hugo in the mid-range.  Occasionally the Hugo seems spot on while the Lavry's seemed a bit damped down almost like a slight veil.  The Hugo seemed to be a bit tighter in the bass.
 
All in all, the Hugo impressed me. While different than the Lavry, I would say it was in the same league with personal preference leading someone to favor one over the other which is impressive given how portable it is, and that it is single ended, while the Lavry to HD800 was a fully balanced path.  On the other hand, you certainly pay for the portability.  Oh. one other thing in the Chord favor, it's USB implementation seemed the best of any DAC (other than the DragonFly) I have tried.  I never had a problem connecting... it just worked.
 
#3 Amplifier Comparison:
(Hugo --> HD800) -vs- (Hugo/Lavry --> GS-Xmk2 --> HD800)
 
Could I be happy with just the Hugo? If so, I could sell my GS-Xmk2 and my HiFi-M8 and have a very simple good sounding system and put some money in my pocket.
 
It was clear that the amplifier in the Hugo couldn't touch the GS-Xmk2 when it came to driving the HD800. Like the Hugo -vs- the HiFi-M8, everything was better when using the GS-Xmk2: tone, detail, dynamics, imagining. The music sounds more alive with the GS-Xmk2.
 
--mark

 

[Shaka]

nice post verber
thanks for your impressions