[Light - Man]

  Has to be a good amp to handle the Mojo, though, which I'm sure 95% of you here have. I tried hooking the Mojo to my (cheaper) Cayin C5 and the effect was to veil the detail and sharpness of the Mojo's own output. Still, it added a fun, rumbling bass which is great for listening to some genres

 
I also tried Fiio E12A & Fiio A5 amps and to me they did nothing for the overall transparency of the Mojo  - in other word they made the Mojo sound worse to me but maybe added a little more clout/bloat to the bass that some people might like (but not me).
 
I also used the Fiio X3ii coaxial digital output connected to the Mojo and I was surprised how bad it was compared to my Hidizs AP100 DAP. It could be partly due to having to use 2 adapter cables joined together for my test (because of Fiio's shared socket)

 

[miketlse]

 

 
Black or silver? That is the question.
 
So how many of you fellow Mojo'ers are thinkin' of adding the Hugo 2 to your systems?
 
I think the ultimate compliment to the Mojo is that listening to it is such a revelation that it tempts me to upgrade to a higher-end Chord DAC sooner than planned.

 
Before CES I was considering a black Hugo, but the silver Hugo 2 looks nicer (at least to me). Unfortunately the pictures of the silver Hugo 2, indicate the text on the case is in a pale grey colour font - which is potentially difficult to read, when the light is dim. 

 

[Chris1975]

   
I also tried Fiio E12A & Fiio A5 amps and to me they did nothing for the overall transparency of the Mojo  - in other word they made the Mojo sound worse to me but maybe added a little more clout/bloat to the bass that some people might like (but not me).
 
I also used the Fiio X3ii coaxial digital output connected to the Mojo and I was surprised how bad it was compared to my Hidizs AP100 DAP. It could be partly due to having to use 2 adapter cables joined together for my test (because of Fiio's shared socket)

I'm waiting for a connector cable between the Mojo and Fiio X3ii to arrive in the post; hopefully it will sound good. 

 

[Peter Hyatt]

 

 
Black or silver? That is the question.
 
So how many of you fellow Mojo'ers are thinkin' of adding the Hugo 2 to your systems?
 
I think the ultimate compliment to the Mojo is that listening to it is such a revelation that it tempts me to upgrade to a higher-end Chord DAC sooner than planned.

This could be an easy question: 
 
Whichever is in stock first! 

 

[musickid]

hi to all,
 
i have posted here a copy of a question i submitted on the 2qute thread. the reason being i understand the mojo is also used as a standalone dac and has a 3v output. thanks to all.
 
 
HELP NEEDED.
 
Im using an earmaxpro tube amp. like most amps as i understand it it is designed to accept a 2V line in from a cd player, dac etc. I would love to upgrade my dac from modimultibit to 2qute however i do not have the luxury of auditioning equipment. would i have any issues using 2qute with my earmaxpro which as far as i can tell was designed for a 2V line input or am i making a big deal from nothing here. i am in a state of limbo here not wanting to spend 1k then finding my tube amp can't cope with a 3V in. thanks to all.


 

 

[x RELIC x]

hi to all,

i have posted here a copy of a question i submitted on the 2qute thread. the reason being i understand the hugo is also used as a standalone dac and has a 3v output. thanks to all.


HELP NEEDED.

Im using an earmaxpro tube amp. like most amps as i understand it it is designed to accept a 2V line in from a cd player, dac etc. I would love to upgrade my dac from modimultibit to 2qute however i do not have the luxury of auditioning equipment. would i have any issues using 2qute with my earmaxpro which as far as i can tell was designed for a 2V line input or am i making a big deal from nothing here. i am in a state of limbo here not wanting to spend 1k then finding my tube amp can't cope with a 3V in. thanks to all.

All Chord DACs share the same basic topology which means that the volume is digitally controlled (except the 2Qute which obviously has no volume control), and the headphone out and the 'line-out' are basically the same path from the DAC. There is no separate headphone amp stage in any current Chord DAC so you'll not be double amping no matter which one you choose.

One of the biggest reasons I did not consider the 2Qute is precisely because it only has a fixed 3V line-out which is to 'hot' for many amps. If I were you I'd contact the amp manufacturer and ask if it can handle a 3Vrms signal, otherwise look at another amp or one of Chord's other offerings with the ability to reduce the output.

 

[Bulbsofpassion]

In case you decide to go Mojo instead:
 

 

[Music Alchemist]

Im thinking of getting one but the Hugo 1 is what im looking at and black.

 
The Hugo 2 is said to sound significantly better than the Hugo. @romaz mentioned that the DAVE is the only DAC he's heard that sounds better than the Hugo 2. (Even compared to the six figure upgraded MSB SELECT DAC II!) It seems to be well worth the extra few hundred dollars.
 

  and just out of curiousity, which ones  would you vote for in not needing EQ? I'd love to find a perfectly balanced set of cans...problem is, everyone's prefs of a great or ideal sound sig are  often  unique.
i'm a basshead 'lite', for example: meaning while i love great bass, it has to be balance. I'm also getting away from too much sub bass I feel it can bleed into other areas...but other bass lovers would poo poo me as not appreciating bass. so my idea of  balanced cans wouldn't be to their liking...and vice versa, most likely.
or am i missing something?

 
"Not needing EQ" is vague, because there are many factors involved.
 
Here are a few headphones I enjoy without EQ. (In alphabetical/numerical order.)
 
HIFIMAN HE400i: Fairly neutral, but somewhat warm and smooth.
Koss KTXPRO1: I hype this one up like mad 'cause it only costs ten bucks yet sounds like a $300 headphone. There's some boost in the lower frequencies, which lets it hit harder. Most of the time this makes music more exciting, but on occasion it will interfere and make things a little muddy. The mids and treble are close enough to neutral that I have no major complaints. I can't tell you how much I adore this little gem.
Sennheiser HD 650: Tastefully warm and dark, but more neutral than most.
STAX SR-30: Gorgeous up-front mids, slightly rolled-off treble. Bass distorts at high volume. Reducing the bass and/or volume fixes it.
STAX SR-207: Most neutral I've heard. (The 10 kHz peak in those measurements isn't there with the stock pads.) The way it handles transients is also the most natural I've heard. (I could never get the HD 800 to sound nearly as natural even with extensive EQ.)
Yamaha HPH-MT220: Powerful bass impact, crazy dynamics, good clarity. Not neutral, but thrilling indeed.
 
There's a delay with the Focal Elear, so I won't have it until sometime next week. It's tuned like the HD 650, which is a very good thing in my book. I suspect I will enjoy it with all music without EQ, but I did get EQ settings from another owner who uses them to make it more neutral.
 

Lol, Mojo's sound drove me to acquire the DAVE last year.

I'm considering the Hugo2 to replace the Mojo based on early reports of the sonic performance. Black is the only choice for me.

 
I wonder if I should give the Blu MkII priority over the DAVE. (When the time comes.) I also wonder whether the Blu MkII paired with the Hugo 2 would sound better than the DAVE alone.
 

  ill take the black hugo 2 (after saving up for 14 months...) 

 
I could pre-order it, but I want to save/reinvest the rest of my money for now.
 

  I'm definitely planning on getting a Hugo 2. I had the original Hugo in black, but this time due to the improved aesthetics, I'm going for the silver version.

 
The silver is certainly iconic of the Hugo legacy. I'll have to think about it for awhile longer (and see more photos as they come out) to decide which better suits my fancy.
 

  Has to be a good amp to handle the Mojo, though, which I'm sure 95% of you here have. I tried hooking the Mojo to my (cheaper) Cayin C5 and the effect was to veil the detail and sharpness of the Mojo's own output. Still, it added a fun, rumbling bass which is great for listening to some genres

 
Did you try reducing the volume on the Mojo? (Just to be sure.)
 

  Before CES I was considering a black Hugo, but the silver Hugo 2 looks nicer (at least to me). Unfortunately the pictures of the silver Hugo 2, indicate the text on the case is in a pale grey colour font - which is potentially difficult to read, when the light is dim. 

 
As far as I can tell, the Hugo 2 is just like the Hugo in this respect: there is a cut in the metal to form the letters, but it's the same material/color as the rest of the chassis. I have no need to read the logos in the dark, anyway.
 

Spoiler: photo

 
Edit: He was referring to the letters for the balls, not the logos.
 

  This could be an easy question: 
 
Whichever is in stock first! 

 
Now that's eagerness!

 

 

[musickid]

BULBS.
 
The whole point was to source a desktop dac ie qute. i feel quite underwhelmed now. why oh why does qute have to be fixed 3v.

 

[betula]

 

 
Black or silver? That is the question.

For me it is black, without a question. The balls look much better with black background.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  BULBS.
 
The whole point was to source a desktop dac ie qute. i feel quite underwhelmed now. why oh why does qute have to be fixed 3v.

 
For what it's worth, the Mojo and Hugo can also be used as desktop DACs, and you can control their output voltage.
 
If you're set on the 2Qute and are willing to get another amp, I can confirm that Schiit Audio amps have no maximum input voltage spec and will work fine with it.

 

[musickid]

i have a beautiful sounding german earmaxpro2 tube amp £700. it was described as an extraordinary sounding amp by one well known reviewer. i have no intention of substituting it. im using a modimultibit dac which although nice with an intona industrial my instinct is saying the 2qute will destroy it. my budget is 1000 so hugo is out and mojo is not a sizeable improvement over what i have. apart from that the hassles of charging. 2qute is perfect. i have even been able to get a very good deal from fanthorpes. to audition the 2qute i would have to shift my laptop,amp and headphones across town. relic an expert has stated why he didnt go 3v 2qute as it is too hot for most inputs. why design it with 3v out?

 

[Music Alchemist]

  why design it with 3v out?

 
In interviews, Chord stated that the 2Qute is primarily marketed to loudspeaker users, so I guess that's why.
 
Even on the product page, it implies this.
 

Using the same technology found within Hugo, our multi-award-winning portable DAC, 2Qute offers a simple, compact and affordable standalone solution for your two-channel system.

 

[musickid]

THANKS. that makes perfect sense now. any ideas for 1k dacs not needing charging to improve over modi multibit.

 

[TG04]

All Chord DACs share the same basic topology which means that the volume is digitally controlled (except the 2Qute which obviously has no volume control), and the headphone out and the 'line-out' are basically the same path from the DAC. There is no separate headphone amp stage in any current Chord DAC so you'll not be double amping no matter which one you choose.

One of the biggest reasons I did not consider the 2Qute is precisely because it only has a fixed 3V line-out which is to 'hot' for many amps. If I were you I'd contact the amp manufacturer and ask if it can handle a 3Vrms signal, otherwise look at another amp or one of Chord's other offerings with the ability to reduce the output.

Yes, as a happy Mojo owner I agree with all the above.  If I had known then what I know now I would have gotten the 2Qute (although the extra $ would cause some pain).  The issue with high output and recordings mastered "hot" -- this is nothing new, I have been using the Rothwell Audio product designed to counter this problem for at least 10 years to good effect.  Here's the link:
 
http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/attenuators.html
 
Works great in your conventional stereo setup too.  I have the XLR version on my power amp (1000 watts!) inputs and can attest to their efficacy.