[DecentLevi]

  Hi h1,
 
Is this the one?
 

CONGRATULATIONS @hypnos1 ON GETTING THE Chord Hugo 2!!!!!
 
I may never have words for how BEYOND extraordinary this fine rare-earth gem sounds!!!! WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW... WOW! To tell the truth I had my doubts about your purchase, BUT that's because I was not yet aware about the difference between Chord Hugo 1 and 2. I demoed the v1 two years ago and was impressed, but not nearly as much as the v2. Fast forward to today, I thought I'd give it a whirl just for kicks when nearly passing by the Chord table at the L.A. meet. Pairing it directly with my HD-600's I literally said that that was the best I've ever heard my HD-600's sound, and could have been even above the HD-600's pairing with the Zana Deux (though by distant memory and this can change according to the DAC used with the ZD). However it is 100% the DAC of this thing that makes it special!!! It's something very advanced for our civilization on the order of alien technology, and by the words of a Chord insider: "The DAC of the Chord Hugo 2 is made of our own proprietary technology that nobody else has", then upon asking if this is R2R in thinking this must have to be R2R to sound this good, they said its' DAC is better than R2R, "much better" according to their words.
 
Of several conversations I had with my good friend Jude the owner of Head-Fi he actually said he very much doubts statements like that due to the fact that it's not only the DAC chip and type that makes it good, but also how the chip is implemented. So the Chord Hugo 2 does not sound good only because of the DAC chip but also because of being well implemented as well. He was also carrying around one of these (soon to be released) babies in his back pack and had caved to let at least one other member borrow his to demo, whom of which were noticeably impressed. To be completely honest you don't necessarily even need an external amp such as the Elise or Euforia for the Hugo 2 because the DAC is that high calliber, as well as a great amping stage. Though I would venture to say H1 may be onto something if he says it pairs well with the Euforia as an external amp too.
 
PS- I also A/B'd this with (using the same source track) their little controversial Chord Mojo, to which I concluded with 100% agreement of the staff that the Hugo 2 sounds at least 2x better, however we also did agree that the Mojo does really good for it's price-point.
 
PS- the Hugo 2 was fed optically by an AK 380 DAP (data stream, processed & amped by the Hugo 2)

 

[DecentLevi]

OK guys here's the link to what is guaranteed to be the fastest rising thread of the next few days, where you can read about the SoCal Can Jam impressions:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/843727/canjam-socal-2017-impressions-thread

 

[hypnos1]

 
Quote:

  Thanks for the comments.
 
Now, h1, if Good is Good, isn't Better Better? Yes, but in this context, having reached a very satisfactory level of sound reproduction, will it make you happier?

YOU BET, m!!!...... 
       
            
 
(Mind you, not sure which one is me...​all three actually, methinks!!!​

).
 
But at least I now know​ what the extra goodies will do for Euforia...wouldn't even consider it if not lol!!

 

  CONGRATULATIONS @hypnos1 ON GETTING THE Chord Hugo 2!!!!!
 
I may never have words for how BEYOND extraordinary this fine rare-earth gem sounds!!!! WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW... WOW! To tell the truth I had my doubts about your purchase, BUT that's because I was not yet aware about the difference between Chord Hugo 1 and 2. I demoed the v1 two years ago and was impressed, but not nearly as much as the v2. Fast forward to today, I thought I'd give it a whirl just for kicks when nearly passing by the Chord table at the L.A. meet. Pairing it directly with my HD-600's I literally said that that was the best I've ever heard my HD-600's sound, and could have been even above the HD-600's pairing with the Zana Deux (though by distant memory and this can change according to the DAC used with the ZD). However it is 100% the DAC of this thing that makes it special!!! It's something very advanced for our civilization on the order of alien technology, and by the words of a Chord insider: "The DAC of the Chord Hugo 2 is made of our own proprietary technology that nobody else has", then upon asking if this is R2R in thinking this must have to be R2R to sound this good, they said its' DAC is better than R2R, "much better" according to their words.
 
Of several conversations I had with my good friend Jude the owner of Head-Fi he actually said he very much doubts statements like that due to the fact that it's not only the DAC chip and type that makes it good, but also how the chip is implemented. So the Chord Hugo 2 does not sound good only because of the DAC chip but also because of being well implemented as well. He was also carrying around one of these (soon to be released) babies in his back pack and had caved to let at least one other member borrow his to demo, whom of which were noticeably impressed. To be completely honest you don't necessarily even need an external amp such as the Elise or Euforia for the Hugo 2 because the DAC is that high calliber, as well as a great amping stage. Though I would venture to say H1 may be onto something if he says it pairs well with the Euforia as an external amp too.
 
PS- I also A/B'd this with (using the same source track) their little controversial Chord Mojo, to which I concluded with 100% agreement of the staff that the Hugo 2 sounds at least 2x better, however we also did agree that the Mojo does really good for it's price-point.
 
PS- the Hugo 2 was fed optically by an AK 380 DAP (data stream, processed & amped by the Hugo 2)

 
Thanks for further confirmation, DL....very few folks have actually heard it yet, but I've a feeling this thing is gonna set a lot of folks afire LOL!!
 
The end of May for my own is going to seem a VERY long way off!

...
 
And coax-fed is undoubtedly better still!!

...

 

[frederick-rea]

  A little glow in the dark paint applied inside the frame:

I solved my most irritating problem by losing my glasses 10 times a day, buying 6 of them and spreading them all over the house

 

[frederick-rea]

  Just starting to look for a Dac, have to decide price point to performance I want. Present setup here
 

You could see LAMPIZATOR as (for me) is one of the best DACs around. They have an Euforia and they are Polish too and its boss name is Lucasz as well

 

[pctazhp]

Good morning @connieflyer. I'm sure your mind is full of LAMPIZATORs and DAVEs. But I also realize you frequently ask yourself what is responsible for my extraordinary knowledge and wisdom. Well, this is where it was all nurtured and cultivated.
 

 

[mordy]

Hi DL,
 
So let me clarify this - with the Hugo2 I don't need any external tube amp?

 

[mordy]

Time to celebrate for the little blue bunny in the middle (you know who you are).
 
Here is some classical music" The Overture to William Tell" by a very talented jazz band - the Salt City Six.
 
As I remember, the heir to a large fortune from a huge shoe company was very interested in Hi Fi, and bought first class equipment to record this band with very good results.
 
 
 
Amazing that just six guys can make such a recording - sounds like a much bigger band. Is it possible that this is a binaural recording?

 

[Oskari]

Did I ever post this?


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BXSkigN45w[/VIDEO]

Murheellisten laulujen maa

Tough luck if I did.

 

[DecentLevi]

  Hi DL,
 
So let me clarify this - with the Hugo2 I don't need any external tube amp?

 
Yes that's sure right. with the astonishing DAC prowess of the Hugo 2, I have a hunch that it can really take almost any decent amp to a whole other level - doing 'the impossible' as H1 had put it, and by that I think we're referring to something in the far, far left nethlands of this hobby, things such as 'intimacy', 'presence' and ultra-transparency, would start to describe what I heard anyway. I'm not sure how good its' built-in amp is alone, but paired with its' special DAC technology, the DAC+built in amp on this thing sounds fantastic enough to make me wonder if this is even better than large tube amp rigs I've heard before, which is no small thanks to it's special DAC. Though also having a line-out I would presume one could get even better sound out of the Hugo 2 with an external SS or tube amp such as Euforia.
 
PS- I've listened to the HE-1 (unofficially called 'Orpheus 2'), DAVE and Holo Audio Spring Level 3... Though they were on drastically different rigs making a fair comparison not possible, my mind keeps going back to the Hugo 2 or to some extent the Holo v3 and DAVE. 

 

[DecentLevi]

So my Euforia has been idle in the mail ever since EMS tracking says it left Poland on March 29th - 12 days and no activity since then. Has anybody encountered a similar delay? Lukasz just told me it should be there soon especially since it's an express shipping! But even if it's held up in 'customs', I would have no idea which one and in which country it's in, being the last activity shown at all is simply that it "departed Poland" - so I wonder how I would even presume to track where it's being held up?

 

[Oskari]

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c2KrD3LiLM[/VIDEO]

Urami Bushi

 

[DavidA]

   
Yes that's sure right. with the astonishing DAC prowess of the Hugo 2, I have a hunch that it can really take almost any decent amp to a whole other level - doing 'the impossible' as H1 had put it, and by that I think we're referring to something in the far, far left nethlands of this hobby, things such as 'intimacy', 'presence' and ultra-transparency, would start to describe what I heard anyway. I'm not sure how good its' built-in amp is alone, but paired with its' special DAC technology, the DAC+built in amp on this thing sounds fantastic enough to make me wonder if this is even better than large tube amp rigs I've heard before, which is no small thanks to it's special DAC. Though also having a line-out I would presume one could get even better sound out of the Hugo 2 with an external SS or tube amp such as Euforia.
 
PS- I've listened to the HE-1 (unofficially called 'Orpheus 2'), DAVE and Holo Audio Spring Level 3... Though they were on drastically different rigs making a fair comparison not possible, my mind keeps going back to the Hugo 2 or to some extent the Holo v3 and DAVE. 

Hi DL, did you get to try both versions?  I've spend a lot of time with the original Hugo and it was one of the few DAC / amps that can do the HD800 and HE560 justice and to me made having additional amps redundant.  Also got to hear a friends Hugo TT which is even better but its not worth the price difference from the Hugo IMO and the DAVE is just too far up there for me to even think about.  The original Hugo was really good IMO so I'm really getting interested in the Hugo2 now and with your comments it puts another positive impression on it.

 

[DecentLevi]

  Hi DL, did you get to try both versions?  I've spend a lot of time with the original Hugo and it was one of the few DAC / amps that can do the HD800 and HE560 justice and to me made having additional amps redundant.  Also got to hear a friends Hugo TT which is even better but its not worth the price difference from the Hugo IMO and the DAVE is just too far up there for me to even think about.  The original Hugo was really good IMO so I'm really getting interested in the Hugo2 now and with your comments it puts another positive impression on it.

trying not to derail this thread so I'll answer here, but probably this would go better on the Hugo 2 thread. Anyway as is the trend for exhibitors, Chord only displayed their latest models, so only the Hugo 2 was on display, along with their Mojo, and DAVE at another table. I recall trying the Hugo 1 two years ago and was gobstoppingly more impressed with the Hugo 2, and I've also read similar sentiments that basically every aspect is greatly improved on the Hugo 2 vs. 1. 
 
Also @hypnos1 did you happen to notice the Hugo 2 only has coax and optical inputs? Therefore unless using a dedicated player transport that already has either of these outs, you'd need a DDC (Domain Digital Converter 'USB component') in order to get sound into it from your computer. For me that's probably a deal-breaker though because I already have a top-flight DDC with 4 different output types but none are supported with the Hugo 2.

 

[tjw321]

  trying not to derail this thread so I'll answer here, but probably this would go better on the Hugo 2 thread. Anyway as is the trend for exhibitors, Chord only displayed their latest models, so only the Hugo 2 was on display, along with their Mojo, and DAVE at another table. I recall trying the Hugo 1 two years ago and was gobstoppingly more impressed with the Hugo 2, and I've also read similar sentiments that basically every aspect is greatly improved on the Hugo 2 vs. 1. 
 
Also @hypnos1 did you happen to notice the Hugo 2 only has coax and optical inputs? Therefore unless using a dedicated player transport that already has either of these outs, you'd need a DDC (Domain Digital Converter 'USB component') in order to get sound into it from your computer. For me that's probably a deal-breaker though because I already have a top-flight DDC with 4 different output types but none are supported with the Hugo 2.

It says that it has USB input on the Chord site. It seems to be a micro USB port on the same side where there is a separate micro USB for power.