[514077]

Thanks. Never had an issue with other usb-dacs (most recently Modi Multibit), so mostly wondering if Hugo is more prone to this than other dacs. Will try it out when I receive my unit.
I'm leaning more and more towards optical, if there's no downside to it. This way the rca's will be on the back, so it won't look completely stupid when I run rca's from the front, around the unit and to the back of my desk.

There's also some devices supposed to regenerate a clean USB signal between the computer and DAC. I bought a Regen, which cleaned things up, to my ears anyway. You could search in this thread or Google it.

 

[Rob Watts]

Usb with the Mojo did sound marginally brighter than optical. Rob Watts the designer explains in some of his posts, that the brightness is caused by how the brain reacts to the small signal electrical noise - some people do prefer this slight brightness, because it makes the music sound like a live performance.
In contrast optical was free from electrical noise, so was a purer signal, but the result was that the music tended to sound like a perfect recording, rather than a live performance.
That is the only downside, but there is no right/wrong answer, because some people do prefer the slightly brighter USB.

Rob Watts has implemented enhanced filtering in the new Hugo 2, and says that his ears can no longer reliably distinguish between USB or optical.

Just to clarify - I don't mean to imply that under all circumstances that the USB and optical would sound identical with Hugo 2 - because that is not the case - with headphones it was the case, with the particular MSI lap-top that has both optical and USB outputs that I was using. But you could hear a difference if the analogue output from Hugo 2 was grounded (which would happen if it was connected to a power amp say). Also one successful test with one source certainly does not mean this will happen with all sources - after all one swallow does not a Summer make... But for sure the difference between optical and USB has been greatly reduced with Hugo 2.

 

[Matez]

Just to clarify - I don't mean to imply that under all circumstances that the USB and optical would sound identical with Hugo 2 - because that is not the case - with headphones it was the case, with the particular MSI lap-top that has both optical and USB outputs that I was using. But you could hear a difference if the analogue output from Hugo 2 was grounded (which would happen if it was connected to a power amp say). Also one successful test with one source certainly does not mean this will happen with all sources - after all one swallow does not a Summer make... But for sure the difference between optical and USB has been greatly reduced with Hugo 2.

Thank you for your input, Mr Watts.

 

[makne]

Does anyone know if the Chord C-line RCA cables will fit the Hugo? (Both 2xanalog and digital coax).

Also, is there any processing/decoding etc. involved when converting USB to optical or coax? The reason I'm asking is I wonder if I can get away with using a cheap USB-soundcard like Asus Xonar U3 or U5. Or if I have to get a Schiit Wyrd.
Anyone?

 

[ve3fnd]

Hello all, I'm wondering if its ok to leave the Hugo 1 on all the time or is it better to only have it on when using it. I know of many people who leave there gear on 24/7. I'm using the Hugo in my main system with the USB hooked up to my computer and the optical hooked up to a CD player. The reason for this question is not only do I not want to reset to line level every time I want to listen to music, but I also find the Hugo sounds even better when warmed up first. Leaving it on and plugged in would eliminate both. Any feed back on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and if Mr.Watts could give his expert option,that would be really great! I must add I love the Hugo! It has taken my setup to the next level. My system consists of a Micromega PA-20 pre, PW-400 power amp and Martin Logan Motion 40 speaker. Also I,m using Nordost blue heaven speaker cable, Audio reference IC1 interconnects for the Hugo to pre. Oyaide Neo XLR from pre to amp, and Analysis plus optical cable from my Denon CD/SACD player to the Hugo.

 

[miketlse]

Hello all, I'm wondering if its ok to leave the Hugo 1 on all the time or is it better to only have it on when using it. I know of many people who leave there gear on 24/7. I'm using the Hugo in my main system with the USB hooked up to my computer and the optical hooked up to a CD player. The reason for this question is not only do I not want to reset to line level every time I want to listen to music, but I also find the Hugo sounds even better when warmed up first. Leaving it on and plugged in would eliminate both. Any feed back on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and if Mr.Watts could give his expert option,that would be really great! I must add I love the Hugo! It has taken my setup to the next level. My system consists of a Micromega PA-20 pre, PW-400 power amp and Martin Logan Motion 40 speaker. Also I,m using Nordost blue heaven speaker cable, Audio reference IC1 interconnects for the Hugo to pre. Oyaide Neo XLR from pre to amp, and Analysis plus optical cable from my Denon CD/SACD player to the Hugo.

First a word of caution - at its peak 3 years ago, this thread was receiving over 600 posts/week, but for the past 3 months has averaged less than 5 posts/week, so not many people may read your post.
Regarding leaving Hugo 1 connected to power all the time, you are likely to get several points of view:

• many owners do happily leave their Hugo 1 connected to power permanently, and experience no issues
• in contrast elviscaprice usually posts that it is a recipe for disaster
• @Rob Watts has posted many times about the Hugo batteries (search this thread), but maybe he will be able to give you advice, now that the Hugo 1 has been available for 3 years, and Chord will have a good perspective regarding how to best use the Hugo 1 (and ensure good battery life).

 

[ve3fnd]

Unfortunately I am aware of the decline in posts here. I have been reading on head-fi for some time and decided to participate. I thank you for your help. I am going to use the Hugo mostly at home as I have a Mojo for OTG.

 

[miketlse]

Funny enough, I was never a big crossfeed user except for hard-panned older music. But, I found it useful when listening to 'Jazz Side Of The Moon,' which I bought last night. It seemed to bring a little focus to the stage, where without, I actually heard that inside-the-head effect.
So, it just depends on the recording and personal taste.

Just listening to that album with the Hugo 2. You are right that no crossfeed sounds very 'inside the head', but max crossfeed does help extract the sound slightly outside the skull.
Some of the percussion is just so crisp, even after a couple of glasses of whisky.

 

[Whazzzup]

scotch sotchy scotch scotch

 

[miketlse]

Unfortunately I am aware of the decline in posts here. I have been reading on head-fi for some time and decided to participate. I thank you for your help. I am going to use the Hugo mostly at home as I have a Mojo for OTG.

Have you just bought a new Hugo? I have seen them on offer at a competitive price in the summer sales, and thought that they would be tempting for anyone who had not pre-ordered a Hugo 2.

 

[miketlse]

scotch sotchy scotch scotch

Great gig in the sky called for a third glass - there are worse ways to chill during the summer break

 

[ve3fnd]

Have you just bought a new Hugo? I have seen them on offer at a competitive price in the summer sales, and thought that they would be tempting for anyone who had not pre-ordered a Hugo 2.

Yes and no lol actually I had a Hugo for a short time about a year ago. It had a problem with the HD USB input and my dealer sent it back to Chord. He took forever to send it out, he gave me a Mojo to use in the mean time. I ended up just keeping the Mojo for OTG. After some time I missed the Hugo so I bought a used one off a friend a few weeks back. I'm very glad I did. I'm just wondering with its built in battery, if its ok to keep it plugged in and running all the time. I used to keep my Cambridge audio DAC on 24/7 with no issue. The Cambridge audio DAC magic 100 is what I was using at home before the 2nd Hugo.

 

[makne]

I received my Hugo yesterday and after having played with it with my Elears, I can say that my initial demo impressions still hold up! What a beautiful, transparent dac/amp. With that said though, I do prefer the optical input over the usb. Optical has a blacker backround, more air and quietness between the notes, maybe a bit smoother-sounding even. Now I can't tell how much of this is placebo after reading in this thread that usb is inferior to the S/PDIF inputs, but I'm quite sure that there's a definite difference. I've used optical from a Chromecast Audio, and usb from my computer (both with TIDAL).

Now I'm pretty set on getting the new Schiit Eitr usb/coax converter to avoid using usb. I got the coax rca extender-plug with my Hugo, which should eliminate the cable-not-fitting issue, but I've read that several people have had trouble with bad connections with the extenders. Are there anyone who are successfully using the included extender, or is it "normal" that it doesn't work?

 

[makne]

The charger for the batteries has 3 modes of charging. An initial small current to pre-charge the battery when it is completely flat. Then the full on charge current. Once it gets fully charged, it will go into constant current trickle charge mode, where it feeds a small current. Once the voltage is high enough, it stops doing this.

If you keep it switched on permanently with the charger connected the trickle charge exactly matches the current being drawn from Hugo, so no net current from the battery, but you will have the benefits of battery operation which is low noise.

Rob

Yes it should be on, as the charger matches the current being drawn by Hugo, so no net charge into the batteries. When you switch Hugo off, no charge needed for the fully charged batteries, no current being drawn by Hugo too, so the charger shuts down. The charger wont start up until some battery charge has been depleted.

Rob

Yes and no lol actually I had a Hugo for a short time about a year ago. It had a problem with the HD USB input and my dealer sent it back to Chord. He took forever to send it out, he gave me a Mojo to use in the mean time. I ended up just keeping the Mojo for OTG. After some time I missed the Hugo so I bought a used one off a friend a few weeks back. I'm very glad I did. I'm just wondering with its built in battery, if its ok to keep it plugged in and running all the time. I used to keep my Cambridge audio DAC on 24/7 with no issue. The Cambridge audio DAC magic 100 is what I was using at home before the 2nd Hugo.

Hope this answers your question. It seems to me like the Hugo stops charging when the batteries are full, so no overcharging and no harm done to the batteries.

 

[ve3fnd]

I received my Hugo yesterday and after having played with it with my Elears, I can say that my initial demo impressions still hold up! What a beautiful, transparent dac/amp. With that said though, I do prefer the optical input over the usb. Optical has a blacker backround, more air and quietness between the notes, maybe a bit smoother-sounding even. Now I can't tell how much of this is placebo after reading in this thread that usb is inferior to the S/PDIF inputs, but I'm quite sure that there's a definite difference. I've used optical from a Chromecast Audio, and usb from my computer (both with TIDAL).

Now I'm pretty set on getting the new Schiit Eitr usb/coax converter to avoid using usb. I got the coax rca extender-plug with my Hugo, which should eliminate the cable-not-fitting issue, but I've read that several people have had trouble with bad connections with the extenders. Are there anyone who are successfully using the included extender, or is it "normal" that it doesn't work?

Yes that did help some. I still hope someone on here uses the Hugo at home plugged in and on all the time for some time and has had no issues.

I have used the extender on both Hugos with no issue, I mostly use the USB but anytime I did use the coax input never any problems on my end.