My Hugo which I bought from Custom Cable arrived this afternoon. I bought ex-show stock (latest revision) but it's in perfect condition apart from a small scratch. I paid GBP 999 for it (about USD 1700). There were many cables in the box, thanks to Chord for that. Also my Chord Company Crimson Plus cables fit the RCA holes perfectly. I'm going to try my Dali Kubik system later and compare to the internal dac, which sounds great on its own.
In the last few hours, I've tried it with 2 headphones and one set of IEMs. Senn HD650, Momentum and IE800s. I also have an AKG K452 lying around somewhere, I'll listen with it too. Hugo sounds very neutral with all of them, no colour whatsoever. Yet it is very musical, never thin or harsh sounding. HD650s sound completely on another league now, with Meridian Explorer they sounded great but now they sound much more open and airy with no trace of the so-called veil. I listened to:
- The Lady of My Life by George Benson (24/96)
- Luka - Suzanne Vega
- Mud on the Tires - Brad Paisley
- Bailando - Enrique Iglesias
- Instant Crush - Daft Punk (mastering quality)
- Do My Thang - Miley Cyrus (this type of modern pop especially sounds good with Hugo-Momentum duo)
- American Idiot - Green Day (24/96)
- Ascolta il tuo cuore - Laura Pausini
- Crush - Paul van Dyk
- Dernière Danse - Indila
- My Love is Winter - The Smashing Pumpkins
All of them sounded amazing but of course this was not a thorough listening session, it was just to calm my excitement.
I'll probably write a review on Head-Fi after a few weeks.
Ps: I'd like to thank Phil and rest of the Custom Cable staff for great customer service. I bought a dac and cables from them before and they've always been great.
Ps2: One negative point for Hugo is that the packaging is really lame. Even the much cheaper Meridian Explorer had premium packaging. You may have a technological marvel in your hands but that doesn't mean presentation isn't important. For some customers, it's what mostly matters (the average folk, not head-fiers). Other than that, unlike many people, I'm fine with Hugo's design. I don't have high-end cables so maybe that's why.
My babe next to the laptop (I won't travel with it unless I leave home for a few days at least).
A question: I assume it's fine leaving Hugo plugged in all the time?