[obsidyen]

I agree. Hugo's forward, lively sound complements laid-back headphones well. Does that mean Hugo's not that good with bright and aggressive headphones? Maybe so but I don't have such headphones so I didn't have the chance to try.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

The Hugo is forward a little and a few other things as well
But you will get far a few real answers on this.
But if you do not use the internal amp directly and a external amp
It tames it back in some ways. But when you do it's like less magical.
Now given the Hugo does not have a true line out the output amp us always engaged
So for me it's fine with a can like the hd800.
But needs a little EQ for some others but I am old so maybe it's me. Ask some young guns
As well.
Al

 

[frankrondaniel]

I generally like the HD800 driven only by the Hugo but I find that I eventually get fatigued by, for a lack of a better term, brightness. 

 

[barbes]

Deleted.

 

[barbes]

Not sure if anyone else saw the question I posed to OK-Guy a few pages back, but I would be thrilled if someone could give me details of the cabling etc I need to hook my Hugo up to my Sony ZX1. I tried an adapter with the stock WM-Port data transfer cable but it didnt work - the Sony just played music from its tiny onboard speaker. Thanks in anticipation. 

You need the Sony WMC-NWH10 conversion cable.

 

[lovethatsound]

Hd800s sound good with the hugo, but I use the hugo as a dac for the hdvd800 amp, I use their balance cable as well, and I could listen 2 it all day, it sounds fantastic when set up like this.

 

[Rob Watts]

 
Thanks, Rob. I bought this one http://www.firestone-audio.eu/shop/products/allproductslisted/greenkey.php , the only one I can find in Hong Kong in store... I managed to get it working with ipod touch... I can hear better depth with this by using an isolator
 
will need to A/B a bit more using HD800 without an additional amp

I am listening to Hugo Wolf on my Hugo using a Olimex USB-ISO USB. This is £33 in the UK, it will only work with the SD USB - so only good for 44.1 or 48 kHz - but it sounds very good, better depth, instrument focus and separation. All consistent with better RF noise rejection as my Dell is now better RF isolated from Hugo. Like CosmicHolyGhost, the immediate impression is one of much better sound stage depth.
 
Rob 

 

[AGB100]

Amplifier/speaker matching is all about synergy and that's just as true with headphones. Just because the Hugo has an amp section doesn't mean it's necessarily the best amplifier to drive every headphone. What I'd really like is a modded Hugo with a car battery driving a beefed up output stage but using the same basic configuration. I can dream...

No, it's not about synergy. A myth repeated ten thousand times remains a myth. Adding anything in series creates a series of errors affecting the signal. There is no way around it unless you have the means to reverse the laws governing FFT. The distortions of any amplifier include harmonic, intermodulation, noise and phase shift among others we don't even suspect. Whether that distortion is audible to you is speculation, most distortion eventually is audible to me. On that note, re the car battery, hope you won't hold it against me, I think I'll pass. Cheers

 

[obsidyen]

Mr. Watts, my computer doesn't have an optical output but Meridian Explorer has one. If I connected Explorer to the computer via usb, and Hugo to Explorer via optical, would the sound be better than computer to Hugo directly via usb (in your experience)? Or would Explorer make the sound worse?

 

[holeout]

  I am listening to Hugo Wolf on my Hugo using a Olimex USB-ISO USB. This is £33 in the UK, it will only work with the SD USB - so only good for 44.1 or 48 kHz - but it sounds very good, better depth, instrument focus and separation. All consistent with better RF noise rejection as my Dell is now better RF isolated from Hugo. Like CosmicHolyGhost, the immediate impression is one of much better sound stage depth.
 
Rob 

Hi Rob, your impression kinda mirrors mine with AP1 SE/PP, and is consistent with redbook right up to DSD (with ripped DSD being most noticeable). This is my goto interface now especially with prolonged listening.

 

[nOtEcH]

  I am listening to Hugo Wolf on my Hugo using a Olimex USB-ISO USB. This is £33 in the UK, it will only work with the SD USB - so only good for 44.1 or 48 kHz - but it sounds very good, better depth, instrument focus and separation. All consistent with better RF noise rejection as my Dell is now better RF isolated from Hugo. Like CosmicHolyGhost, the immediate impression is one of much better sound stage depth.
 
Rob 

Nice impressions.
I am curious about how it will work with a source like an iPad Mini or other iDevices.. do you have any at hand? 

 

[pigfatcat]

  After almost 400 pages in this thread can we say that the 'bright sounding' comments come mostly from HD800 owners, me included? 

I do think so. HD 800 is know to be objectively on the bright side . You may check with the HD 800 thread and professional reviews and objective measurement of HD 800 compared with other headphones. I am using Hugo with HE-6( with a 400w-4ohm amp in between) with great satisfaction  . Now HE-6 is also known to be slightly on the bright side, which can be cured with pad mods or matching cabling .
 
For me , I found my combo to be very satisfying , but occasionally on the bright side with some recordings . I'd prefer to use the word "openness" instead of " brightness" . I found an "openness" to the sound of Hugo , similar to which I found with listening to LPs. This openness  , except in the most exceptional case of bad recordings , does not lead to fatique . There are times when i felt that the vocal and the instruments are sharp and loud and all competing for attention . In my experience , such situation will lead to feelings of harshness and fatique pretty soon. However , with Hugo, a little magic works and there is no such feeling .It might be that inherent cohesiveness of different instruments and vocals as presented by Hugo prevent the feeling of harshness and fatique  . As I have said, I have only experienced such phenomenon with LPs.

 

[514077]

  I agree. Hugo's forward, lively sound complements laid-back headphones well. Does that mean Hugo's not that good with bright and aggressive headphones? Maybe so but I don't have such headphones so I didn't have the chance to try.

I found it tamed my SR-325i so they're bright but not painful as they used to be on other sources, (i.e. UHA-6X II(209)).  My LCD-X for home use, Grados for stationary portable with the Hugo, and TF-10s on the bus.

 

[514077]

I do have a question for Mr. Watts or whomever can answer.
I'm using XP with Foobar into the Hugo.  I notice a 15 second delay when the computer seems to freeze before playing files at 48K or multiples thereof.  Is that usual or do I have a problem somewhere.  I mainly use ALAC files.
Thanks.

 

[Head1]

  I agree. Hugo's forward, lively sound complements laid-back headphones well. Does that mean Hugo's not that good with bright and aggressive headphones? Maybe so but I don't have such headphones so I didn't have the chance to try.

From what I read in Hifi World, the Hugo is a bit more open and dynamic than the mdac and more forceful in the treble. The mdac sounds creamy in comparison. It has more weight in sound because it has a linear power supply whereas the Hugo doesn't, being portable.