[gideon228]

   
Take a look at some of the sigs here - several of which are about to be augmented with Yggy / HE1000 and at least one new amp - and tell me there is such a thing as an 'end game' rig. I really dont believe it exists as long as you are still willing to visit this site. 

 
Good point. As soon as I receive my black Hugo I will stop browsing head-fi! Except to visit this thread of course... so long as there's no talk about TT or project xxxx

 

[seeteeyou]

It's funny that many owners of Hugo here in Asia acquired source components and cables that would cost even more than Hugo itself
 
http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=180&t=3814233&p=1
 
Audiobyte Hydra Z
Synergistic Research Galileo LE USB
Vertere Acoustics Pulse HB USB
Weiss INT204
 
The thing is, Hugo was designed in a way that could scale so well after those upgrades were introduced. Sometimes Hugo could be blamed for lackluster performance but it's "honestly expressing yourself" like this
 

 
Let's say someone was feeding Hugo with a source that ain't quite in the same league to begin with, Hugo would show no mercy and simply present the exact picture that was already there in the first place.
 
It's so transparent that even Ed Sheeran would use Hugo in his recording studio, that's quite a statement from the pro audio market
 
http://www.stereo.net.au/articles/an-afternoon-with-chord-electronics/

 

[fiascogarcia]

  Hi all. I'm intending to get the hugo to pair with my 1964 A12 and Shure 846 (silver cable). I've tried 2 demo units and on 1 I've heard hiss which I think is due to the sensitivity of the 846. But when I demo-ed another hugo somewhere else, I did not really notice the hiss. Could the hiss be due to the individual units?

Or bad source?  My K10's are pretty sensitive, and I have no hiss.  Could be old ears though!

 

[Jeff Y]

 
The Hugo sounds a lot better via SPDIF. Compared to the TT,  the portable hasn't got a galvanically isolated USB connection.
 
The way to improve your Hugo to get the sparkle back in, is to get an Audiophileo 2 + Pure Power or Audiophileo 2 with a Linear Power supply.
Improves the bog standard Hugo to the level of the TT (almost) IMHO.
 
Other USB/SPDIF converters are obviously also available. [Stello U3, Audiobyte Hydra+,  Empirical Audio Off Ramp, Berkeley Alpha USB, etc]
 
 
 
Compared to the price of the TT, the extra expenditure for the USB/Spdif converter is well worth it.
 
 
Just a thougth,

Perhaps the Schiit WYRD would help the USB?

 

[Dobrescu George]

Good imagination is great to have, but... i barely can hear differences between sources, i have literally no placebo effect.
 
After having hugo, i do not think that there is anywhere to go any further, this seems to had been expressed by the creator himself.
 
I think that if one feels the need to upgrade again, it is all about equipment, not sound. i mean, i can understand why you would want to upgrade, having new things is great, but there are certain points where it is useless, as most changes are not in SQ anymore.
 
 
 
A tip, that might help a LOT: get a secondary hobby. It will create much more pleasure. You can go for computer gaming, anime, DSLR photo cameras, movies watching, pet owning, drones, book reading. Most of these are compatible with an already music excentric person, i am talking from experience, i have most hobbies out there.
 
The other thing you can also do is get a hugo, and a stax 009 with it's own amp, or abyss. they seem regarded as the best headphones ever. I am yet to check he1000.
 
Anyways, everyone should always remember that besides audio, there are many other hobbies which can fuel one's passion.

 

[highfell]

After spending over 6 months and listen to Hugo about 4 hours everyday , I found the amazing sound is over . I found it lacking the full sound also the X factor that I was listen to it in my early days slowly disappear

My question : Is hugo really colourless dac or what ? I just bought hugo TT the X factor still more than hugo hope it won't disappear it sound amazing with my focal speaker and lcd 3 f and other headphones .


X factor which make you say WAW.

Logically, the wow factor will fade (a little), as you get used to the same level of musicality, albeit we all know how wonderfully musical the Hugo is. It is good news that the TT is better, which it should be given the price difference.

I am very happy with the Hugo and have no intentions of upgrading. I believe its capabilities are due to its unique design features, which I think make it a game changer certainly at its price. The unique design of the Hugo actually prevents me from thinking about an upgrade to a product containing just an off-the-shelf DAC chip unless it also has some proven innovative deign feature (akin to the Hugo).

 

[514077]

  Perhaps the Schiit WYRD would help the USB?

+1 to that question.
Actually, I think Cirrawong mentioned he noticed a difference when using the Wyrd with Hugo.  Don't remember which thread, but think it was in the Dapoff thread.

 

[OK-Guy]

  Good imagination is great to have, but...
 
After having hugo, i do not think that there is anywhere to go any further, this seems to had been expressed by the creator himself.
 

 
funny enough God created Earth in seven-days (apparently), then tweaked bits of evolution along the way (think dinosaurs, Neanderthals)... see this as the 'Hugo period', things will evolve... we just happen to call it Hugolution in the heavens...

 

[Sound Eq]

sorry to ask when is the munich event exactly, and I assume this will be a new product by chord?

 

[Currawong]

 

  Perhaps the Schiit WYRD would help the USB?

+1 to that question.
Actually, I think Cirrawong mentioned he noticed a difference when using the Wyrd with Hugo.  Don't remember which thread, but think it was in the Dapoff thread.

 
Yup. Here too. The Wyrd + Hugo is excellent. It's as good, I feel, as the Audiophilleo was. I think the noise isolation was the key.

 

[OK-Guy]

  sorry to ask when is the munich event exactly, and I assume this will be a new product by chord?

 
14th - 17th May are the Munich dates... apart from that I know nothing...

 

[Tobias89]

Or bad source?  My K10's are pretty sensitive, and I have no hiss.  Could be old ears though! :rolleyes:

I used the same source for both. ; (

Yup. Here too. The Wyrd + Hugo is excellent. It's as good, I feel, as the Audiophilleo was. I think the noise isolation was the key.

How will the chain be like with the wyrd? Sorry but never used it before :xx

 

[Rob Watts]

  Hi all. I'm intending to get the hugo to pair with my 1964 A12 and Shure 846 (silver cable). I've tried 2 demo units and on 1 I've heard hiss which I think is due to the sensitivity of the 846. But when I demo-ed another hugo somewhere else, I did not really notice the hiss. Could the hiss be due to the individual units?

Every Hugo (more than 10 units) I have had in my lab gets measured - each one has a dynamic range of either 120.0, 119.9 dB or maybe 120.1 dB. They are amazingly consistent, and Chord tell me every unit is the same. Now you may think what is the big deal, but for a DAC to measure identically in production is a big deal - I used to manufacture DAC's in the 90's, and we had to tweak each unit by hand, they were never the same, and then the dynamic range was around 100dB for a really good one.
 
So I would be surprised if the units were varying - but you will hear a hiss with the 846, as they are incredibly sensitive. If its an issue, use the 846 attenuator.
 
Rob

 

[Tobias89]

  Every Hugo (more than 10 units) I have had in my lab gets measured - each one has a dynamic range of either 120.0, 119.9 dB or maybe 120.1 dB. They are amazingly consistent, and Chord tell me every unit is the same. Now you may think what is the big deal, but for a DAC to measure identically in production is a big deal - I used to manufacture DAC's in the 90's, and we had to tweak each unit by hand, they were never the same, and then the dynamic range was around 100dB for a really good one.
 
So I would be surprised if the units were varying - but you will hear a hiss with the 846, as they are incredibly sensitive. If its an issue, use the 846 attenuator.
 
Rob

Thanks Rob!

 

[Jeff Y]

Logically, the wow factor will fade (a little), as you get used to the same level of musicality, albeit we all know how wonderfully musical the Hugo is. It is good news that the TT is better, which it should be given the price difference.

I am very happy with the Hugo and have no intentions of upgrading. I believe its capabilities are due to its unique design features, which I think make it a game changer certainly at its price. The unique design of the Hugo actually prevents me from thinking about an upgrade to a product containing just an off-the-shelf DAC chip unless it also has some proven innovative deign feature (akin to the Hugo).

I think Schiit's new Yggy is also using a dac chip like that or something? (not sure I heard it from somewhere on head-fi) I wonder why there are SO many dacs nowadays and so little use custom chis like this. Perhaps magical fairy dust is the key!