[masteryd]

I have few questions

Does mp3 file say 320kbps sound different in hugo compared to flac files? Even if it's upsampled by hugo, does it sound different?

Second question. Does mp3 file through hugo have wide soundstage? How about small details?

I have mostly mp3 files mostly classical. I dont know if hugo is worth upsampling a bunch of 320kbps files...

 

[audionewbi]

I actually played some well recorded recorded which I thought I want to downsample to 320 kbps mp3 and it played well on hugo. I cannot say with honesty there was a huge different with flac as I could not pin point the different to me knowing it was mp3 or whether it was infact mp3 defect.
 
I will do a proper AB/sing later on. 

 

[cheznous]

I have few questions

Does mp3 file say 320kbps sound different in hugo compared to flac files? Even if it's upsampled by hugo, does it sound different?

Second question. Does mp3 file through hugo have wide soundstage? How about small details?

I have mostly mp3 files mostly classical. I dont know if hugo is worth upsampling a bunch of 320kbps files...

Surely if you want to move towards the higher end of the portable scene it makes sense to bring your music along for the trip. That must mean lossless files at the least.

 

[SleepyOne]

And you can't really turn lossy file to lossless (otherwise it will just be a lossy file but in a different format), you will need to rip the CD again or use one of those app music subscription service that stream WAV/ FLAC.

 

[sutjahjo]

And you can't really turn lossy file to lossless (otherwise it will just be a lossy file but in a different format), you will need to rip the CD again or use one of those app music subscription service that stream WAV/ FLAC.

I can't say very much as I only have one album to compare. But based on 16/44.1 flac ripped from CD and the 24/96 flac files from Blu-ray of Patricia Barber Modern Cool, played by AK240 through Hugo, I thought the higher resolution files are better sounding.

 

[SleepyOne]

You could try out 2L free samples download site of different formats (not sure best examples though, they are mostly recorded using DXD to begin with). They don't have 16/44.1 though.
http://www.2l.no/hires/

 

[masteryd]

Surely if you want to move towards the higher end of the portable scene it makes sense to bring your music along for the trip. That must mean lossless files at the least.

GOD having an audio as a hobby is so costly...

 

[Hifi Nutter]

Thanks for the advice chaps. Got the Lightning Camera adapter, complete with its mysterious recognition cehip, all all is working beautifully with the iPod.
After a few hours listening, the BIG revelation for me has been between headphones. Before the Hugo, I wasn't totally convinced that my Sennheiser HD800s or my Shure SE846s were that much of an upgrade on my previous HD650s and SE530s. Different, yes, but not necessarily better . With the Hugo there is no contest, particularly using the HD800s, where there is real synergy.
Tell you something else. Playing the Hugo into my fairly high end Naim system sounds far better than any previous digital source that I have heard.

Can I ask you what speakers are you using and have you tried connecting your Hugo directly to your amp,I think with better results although mine sounds utterly terrible,it's these monitor audio apex 40 s absolutely crap for music and the Arcam p 7 seven channel amp probably not much better,depresses me when I use to have utopia speakers with bryston 7bsst mono blocks,thinking of selling my wadia 861se but it's unpredictable when I switch it off then switch it back on and their ain't no wadia engineer to fix it in the UK what a joke,I emailed wadia in America and told them,I spent 8 and a half grand for that player in 2006 and they couldn't even be bothered to email me back,think I'll buy chord from now on,at least if I've got any problems they will answer the phone,to be honest im absolutely disgusted with wadia.I hope they go bust like they were close to In the past

 

[malcolm.mcintyre]

My domestic digital source is lossless files stored in a NAS into a Squeezebox Touch with a Teddy Pardo power-supply, and a Teddy Pardo USB to S/PDIF 192 kHz converter into the Hugo using coax input.

Amplification is a Naim reference system. Hugo line out RCAs into Naim pre-amp.

I use Harbeth speakers these days

 

[verber]

Does mp3 file say 320kbps sound different in hugo compared to flac files? Even if it's upsampled by hugo, does it sound different?

Second question. Does mp3 file through hugo have wide soundstage? How about small details?

I have mostly mp3 files mostly classical. I dont know if hugo is worth upsampling a bunch of 320kbps files...

 
The hugo is good, but it's not magic. The details have already been thrown away through the lossy compression, no way to get them back.  To me, 44/16 FLAC or ALAC sounds different than the same music which have been encoded at 320kbits/s using MP3/Lame. I can heard the difference immediately with every DAC I have listened to. The MP3 always sounds a off. The Hugo was no different. I only listened to 2 lossy tracks (1 AAC and 1 MP3) and said "Yup, I can hear the difference, still stuck carrying larger files" and did all the rest of my listening using lossless files.  I encourage all my friends to do blind A/B comparison lossy -vs- lossless.  If they can heard the difference I encourage them tot make the effort to use lossless as much as possible.  I have friends who can't tell the difference.  For them I think "Well it sucks you can't heard the difference, but that means they have many more options when it comes to sourcing music and you can carry a lot more music than I given the same amount of storage." 
 
I will let others address how mp3 sounds since I have listened to so little on the Hugo.
 
Is the Hugo worth it?  For me, if all my music was 320kbps and I had $2.5k to upgrade my system, my strategy would be to upgrade my music to at least 44.1/16 lossless, even if that meant having to re-buy the music.  For me, lossless via a decent budget DAC such as the AQ Dragonfly would be more satisfying than 320kbps MP3 via Chord.  That's not to say I don't enjoy MP3 through the Chord, just that I get more enjoyment when I am listening to lossless music. Would the Chord be right for you? Can't answer that question.  It is the finest portable sound I have heard.
 
--Mark

 

[Hifi Nutter]

I remember the days when I was single,never bothered going the pub much and put my money into hifi,audio works from Manchester delivered my utopia speakers in these massive boxes,the blokes from audio works were stuck in traffic but the delivery bloke turned up,I was pretty big at the time all geared up and told him we can take them off the wagon don't wait for the lads from audio works,think he nearly had a heart attack helping me lift them off lol,we put them on the garden and ppl were walking past not knowing they just walked past one of the best ten speakers in the world at the time and only one of two in the country,they were reviewed in a hifi magazine as they went to the blokes house the one that I bought them from,audio works turned up an hour later and got the trolley and wheeled them into my house,they said I was the biggest hifi nut they ever came across lol,I had mezo utopia speakers on the rear lol and a stack of bryston 7 b mono blocks up to the ceiling,oh my God it was amazing for music and films,if when you die their is a place and time you can go back to its that day.What's that got to do with the Hugo you may ask,well absolutely nothing and if you wanna ban Me from this site then go ahead,we all real ppl just speaking our mind surely it's not a crime and let's face it the Mrs ain't interested.I've been kicking myself for the last few years now,I had a 40 grand mortgage and now I'm older and settled down Me and the Mrs have less to live on,my mortgage is 113 thousand now through spending so much on hifi but now I look back and think I had one hell of a time spending the money on hifi,yes I've got the rest of my life now to pay for it,could of been mortgage free now but hey life goes on and I do have regrets but if I had my life back i probably wouldn't change a thing

 

[Racy]

I recently got a Fiio X5 as a source along with two 64gb SD cards, it actually is a very nice piece of kit ( UI is still not all that it could be, Fiio seems to have a weak spot here ! ) and sounds really good through the coaxial input of Hugo. In fact it sounds really good as a stand alone device, surprisingly good! Not Hugo- good, but very nice nonetheless!,

 

[estreeter]

  GOD having an audio as a hobby is so costly...

 
It doesnt have to be - I looked at most of my iTunes collection objectively and said 'How much of this needs to be better than 256K AAC ?' - the answer was surprisingly little of it, You have to remember that you are dealing with obsessives here and on every other audio board I'm aware of with the possible exception of hydrogenaudio, but that's beyond the scope of this discussion. 
 
Other side of the coin, I've bought more SACD and Blu-Ray discs than I'm completely comfortable with (try burning either to a hard drive ...) since I bought the Oppo, but my aim is to be able to categorically tell anyone who'll listen that 24/96 is as 'hi-rez' as my music and ears need to be  
 
Finally, never underestimate the Head-Fiers who've spent the last 5 or so years with little more than a Sansa Clip and a pair of universal IEMs - they've probably spent a whole lot more time listening to music and a lot less listening to gear. They also have wallets the size of Donald Trump's penthouse. 

 

[estreeter]

I recently got a Fiio X5 as a source along with two 64gb SD cards, it actually is a very nice piece of kit ( UI is still not all that it could be, Fiio seems to have a weak spot here ! ) and sounds really good through the coaxial input of Hugo. In fact it sounds really good as a stand alone device, surprisingly good! Not Hugo- good, but very nice nonetheless!,

 
In the history of Chinese-designed DAPs, there is but one constant - flaky UIs. Throw in some nasty firmware blunders and its a rollercoaster ride. Full marks to Fiio for continuing to provide incredible VFM, but I'm going to endure the 90-minute trip to Bangkok next week in the hopes of picking this up:
 
http://www.jetliveaudio.com/product/1310002/Sony%20NWZ-ZX1.html

 

[audionewbi]

It is indeed can get a very scary and never ending obsession that might take away from the fun very quickly. Sadly I've felt the bitter taste of that obsessiveness and recently I've once again got back into listening to the music than the gear. I am happy where I am not and I like to keep it that way.
 
I miss the days where I had 70 GB worth of music, did not know what HDtrack was and had a 2GB sony walkman thinking it was the best thing on earth. Now when I listen to music I am listening to the fault of the track and recording, I am listening to particular part of the music than the entire thing, it was fun at start but recently I am obsessing about things like whether I should use optical out or the digital out, whether I had the ear cup turned the right way, whether improving the USB cord I can improve the sound. It is all fun at start but start was sadly a long time ago for me, at least that is how it feels like it.
 
I am really happy with HUGO and honestly it feels great to finally say it.