[escknx]

Not sure why you would do that. The Mojo IS in fact a headphone amplifier. As such the Hugo is however probably a bit better. The advantage would be that you should definately be able to use the Hugo the way it is intended to be used, sell the Burson and spend the money on something useful.

Because I love the way Burson sounds.
And I want to compare Chord DAC on Burson vs Chord all-in-one like Hugo.

Sure thing if Hugo outperforms Burson on clarity/soundtage field then I gonna sell Conductor.

 

[Hooster]

Because I love the way Burson sounds.
And I want to compare Chord DAC on Burson vs Chord all-in-one like Hugo.

Sure thing if Hugo outperforms Burson on clarity/soundtage field then I gonna sell Conductor.

The fact is that the Burson can not improve the clarity/soundstage of the Hugo. The Burson is not adding any information to the signal coming from Hugo.

 

[escknx]

The fact is that the Burson can not improve the clarity/soundstage of the Hugo. The Burson is not adding any information to the signal coming from Hugo.

Yes but Burson has pretty fine amp section, and I don not know how it compares to Hugo's amp section.
I mention Burson Conductor, this is DAC/AMP featuring ESS9018 DAC. So my idea is to compare Bursons DAC to Chord DAC using Burson's amp section.
If both amp AMP and DAC sections of tiny Chord outperforms Burson, then it will be sold for sure.
But in case Chord's DAC is good, but AMP section is not that good compared to Burson's then I'm gonna use Chord DAC -> Burson AMP

 

[x RELIC x]

Yes but Burson has pretty fine amp section, and I don not know how it compares to Hugo's amp section.
I mention Burson Conductor, this is DAC/AMP featuring ESS9018 DAC. So my idea is to compare Bursons DAC to Chord DAC using Burson's amp section.
If both amp AMP and DAC sections of tiny Chord outperforms Burson, then it will be sold for sure.
But in case Chord's DAC is good, but AMP section is not that good compared to Burson's then I'm gonna use Chord DAC -> Burson AMP

Well, by design the 'amp' in Chord gear is more akin to the analogue stage of most other DACs. That is, it has very few components in the signal path for the sake of transparency to the source and therefore you'll get comments that state that adding an external amp will only add its flavour to the sound. You can not separate the DAC section from the 'amp' section in the Chord DACs because they are tied together. Indeed, when you use the line-level output it's simply a volume preset and nothing more. Nothing internally is bypassed.

If you like the Burson attached to the unit then that's what matters. An audition would be in order.

 

[Yourmomm]

Yes but Burson has pretty fine amp section, and I don not know how it compares to Hugo's amp section.
I mention Burson Conductor, this is DAC/AMP featuring ESS9018 DAC. So my idea is to compare Bursons DAC to Chord DAC using Burson's amp section.
If both amp AMP and DAC sections of tiny Chord outperforms Burson, then it will be sold for sure.
But in case Chord's DAC is good, but AMP section is not that good compared to Burson's then I'm gonna use Chord DAC -> Burson AMP

Yep but you can't separate the Mojo's dac and amp sections: they are the same thing... So, if you choose to double-amp (which some people, including me do choose to do, because they like the coloration synergy of their respective amps), you are not comparing Mojo with the Burson Amp...You are comparing the Burson, with the Mojo AS WELL AS the Burson...

 

[Hooster]

Yes but Burson has pretty fine amp section, and I don not know how it compares to Hugo's amp section.
I mention Burson Conductor, this is DAC/AMP featuring ESS9018 DAC. So my idea is to compare Bursons DAC to Chord DAC using Burson's amp section.
If both amp AMP and DAC sections of tiny Chord outperforms Burson, then it will be sold for sure.
But in case Chord's DAC is good, but AMP section is not that good compared to Burson's then I'm gonna use Chord DAC -> Burson AMP

Sorry to rain on your parade, but the better/more transparent the Burson's amp section is, the more it will let you know what the Hugo's amp section sounds like. If the Burson is perfect it will be perfectly transparent and there will be no difference between using the Burson or not using the Burson, which kind of makes you question the point of the exercise.

 

[escknx]

Yes I got it.
Just got both Mojo and Hugo will see how it goes.
Thanks guys

 

[escknx]

Indeed, your point of view is understandable and it is nice to see that you are being honest about what you are doing, "because they like the coloration". I like some kinds of coloration too, but the last thing I would say is that double amping increases clarity. That is just not possible.

Yea I just didn;t know that this thing will be different between Mojo and Hugo.

Hugo has RCAs preamps as far as I understand that allows to use external amp same way as with 2Qute.

Just why bothering 2Qute if I can get same thing w Hugo plus pretty good amp section all in 1 package.

I guess that I can be used as desktop amp even if battery dies, right?

 

[Hooster]

Yes I got it.
Just got both Mojo and Hugo will see how it goes.
Thanks guys

Please let us know. Just make sure to level match precisely if you are comparing setups/components.

 

[escknx]

Please let us know. Just make sure to level match precisely if you are comparing setups/components.

Will definitely do next week once they arrive.
May also grab 2Qute later just to see if there's any difference between its RCA outs compared to Hugo's.
I dont see any difference except shielded USB on 2Qute.

EDIT: sorry might be a bit of offtop here

 

[x RELIC x]

Yea I just didn;t know that this thing will be different between Mojo and Hugo.

Hugo has RCAs preamps as far as I understand that allows to use external amp same way as with 2Qute.

Just why bothering 2Qute if I can get same thing w Hugo plus pretty good amp section all in 1 package.

I guess that I can be used as desktop amp even if battery dies, right?

The Hugo's RCA out is tied to the headphone out. Again, no separate amp section.

 

[Hooster]

Yea I just didn;t know that this thing will be different between Mojo and Hugo.

Hugo has RCAs preamps as far as I understand that allows to use external amp same way as with 2Qute.

Just why bothering 2Qute if I can get same thing w Hugo plus pretty good amp section all in 1 package.

I guess that I can be used as desktop amp even if battery dies, right?

This is a pretty big subject and there is a lot of material available online. I think an in depth comparison of Mojo/Hugo and 2Qute might be beyond the scope of this thread. If you can try a 2Qute, by all means do. Have fun!

With the right cables, Mojo, Hugo and 2Qute can all be used as preamps. I am not sure how Hugo behaves if the battery dies.

 

[escknx]

The Hugo's RCA out is tied to the headphone out. Again, no separate amp section.

Oh okay got it.

So basically Mojo and Hugo use same DACs but with different output stage implementation?

Anyways, wondering if anyone here used Mojo as main desktop amp..

 

[Hooster]

Oh okay got it.

So basically Mojo and Hugo use same DACs but with different output stage implementation?

Anyways, wondering if anyone here used Mojo as main desktop amp..

I have done that and it works, but there are better DACs out there for that purpose.

 

[x RELIC x]

Oh okay got it.

So basically Mojo and Hugo use same DACs but with different output stage implementation?

No actually. They use the same idea in the implementation but the Mojo's FPGA chip is newer with newer filters programmed in it. The Mojo has about double the TAPs as the Hugo, but run at about half speed to get equivalent performance to the Hugo1 according to Chord. Both output the exact same Voltage and Current so power is the exactly the same, but again the analogue stage is slightly different (same principle though) due to the difference in size and cost of each device.

An FPGA chip is just a blank slate for anyone to program their code on to it. There's also more to it than just the code running on the FPGA. They also use a 4e Pulse Array DAC and, as I previously mentioned, they both have slightly different analogue stages. The newer Hugo2 uses a 10e Pulse Array DAC and has further improvements to the code on the FPGA and has a better analogue stage yet.

Honestly, it's a mine field. Mojo measures better than Hugo in many areas but many prefer the sound of the Hugo1 over the Mojo. Some prefer Mojo's sound. One can either follow the best measuring device or follow what sounds best to them. Many find the Hugo1 to be brighter than the Mojo's mid-centric sound, it's all about preference. Even adding an amp to the chain will degrade the measured performance but some like the sound of their amp, and in the end that's what matters, enjoying the music.