miketlse
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 8, 2016
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Hi, since you own both the Mojo and Hugo 2 I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind elaborating on what kind of upgrade one would be experiencing. I have the mojo, and have been eyeing the Hugo 2 for some time but can’t determine if the cost justifies it. With your experience with both, I am hoping you can give some better insight?
You both will know the musicality that the Mojo brings to music reproduction - so treat that as the baseline.I'm on the same boat. Have been curious about the Hugo 2 lately. I think the KSE1200 could resolve the extra detail. It's just $500 vs $2500 is asking a lot.
The Hugo 2 incorporates additional taps, which enable it to retrieve more fine detail from music, so you will start to hear little parts of tracks that you used to miss with the Mojo. The Hugo 2 also brings to the party, the ability to direct drive my desktop speakers, plus my floorstanding speakers - so the Hugo 2 represents more to me than just a dac/headphone amplifier. Of course this ability to direct drive speakers, will not be a factor for everyone.
When my Hugo 2 first arrived, I immediately consciously noticed the extra fine detail, and the Mojo started to sound congested in comparison.
After a few months of brain burn in (which does include the brain redirecting some conscious music processing, to subconscious processing), the Mojo started to sound enjoyable again. Possibly one contributor, is that one is no longer consciously listening to the dacs, but subconsciously listening to the music again.
Most of the time I use the Hugo 2, but if the battery is low, or I want to sit outside in the evening, I am quite happy to use the Mojo, without feeling that I am missing out.
Onto electrostatic headphones.
For christmas I spotted the Drop Koss ESP/95X on clearance sale from the Drop european warehouse for €290, and bought a pair as an experiment with electrostatic headphones.
I have tried them with both the Mojo and Hugo 2, and they work well with both - to me they offer the detail of Aeon Flow Closed, but with additional air/space around some instruments. They also offer a very fast response.
I expect that I could now be flamed by Stax owners, but that's life.
Anyway I use the Koss when the mood takes me, and usually with the Mojo, and they feel like a good combination.
Based on that experience, @joshnor713 you should demo the KSE1200 - I have not tried them, but I suspect that they could also work well with the Mojo, and provide the detail that you seek at a relatively low price.
These are just my opinions, but hopefully they may prove helpful to you.
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