[Bonesy Jonesy]

Hi Head-Fi.org Members,

I have been thinking about whether I should upgrade to a higher end Chord Electronics DAC.

I currently (owned for last 3 months) have a Hugo 2 at the moment (mainly linked to my Chord Blu MK1 dual BNC to give me 176kHz) and although it sounds amazing (especially with my new Grado 3000e's and my go-to for travelling Beyerdynamic T5P Gen2's) and have been thinking should I buy a M Scaler first (or even a second hand Blu MK2 which would replace my MK1) to use with my Hugo 2, or do I change my Hugo 2 first for a TT2 or spend more and get a second hand Dave ?. Then after buying the TT2 or Dave get an M Scaler or Blu MK2.

My dilemma is that I already have a full Chord Choral Speaker system in Spain (Blu MK1, QBD76 DAC, Prima Pre-Amp and two Mezzo 140 amps complete with the full tier high standing Aspire Rack) and a smaller version in my UK base (just one Mezzo 140).

Problem is I travel a lot for my work (mostly by car around the UK) and more often living in digs for long periods of time ( 6 months to one year) therefore I needed a really good headphone based system (to help me from missing my speaker systems too much) hence getting the Hugo 2 and bringing my Blu MK1 with me (as the Blu is far superior to Macbook and Audivana software playing 44.1 kHz files).

The other issue is do I get a second hand Dave soon (knowing the headphone amp is the weakest link compared to the Dave's other attributes) or wait till a Dave 2 comes out hopefully with a much better headphone amp built in.

Also as I don't really need full portability / transportability as I am travelling by train or plane that often at the moment these attributes are not top of my list.

I love the Chord Electronics house sound and the Chord Electronics components and their customer aftercare is great. So want to stay with them.

Would sincerely appreciate Head-fi.org Members advice if you have experiences with the Chord Hugo 2, TT2, Dave & M Scaler.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Bump.
Cant anybody help me decide ???

 

[alexl993]

Bump.
Cant anybody help me decide ???

I'm kind of on the same path. I bought a Qutest (which is the same DAC as your Hugo2) a month ago and have enjoyed it so much I've now decided to get a TT2. Since I have a really nice headphone amp (Violectric V281) I did seriously consider getting an Mscaler first to use with my Qutest but I read here: https://www.13thnote.net/2019/06/12/chord-hugo-tt2/ that a TT2 on it's own is 'better' than a Qutest+Mscaler. Hopefully, I will be able to borrow an Mscaler in the future to see if the improvement is a good enough value proposition to me. I briefly thought about a Dave but it's close to 4yrs old now and I have to think that a Dave2 is not far off. Since I always buy used, the step by step upgrade path is easier.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I'm not really familiar with Blu MKII and MScaller. Heard them few times at 2019, and I can not memorise well their sound now.

However, I think I understand well enough the sound from Hugo 2, TT2, and Dave. Direct from their headphone output, Dave is the clear winner by margin in term of technicality. Soundstage, micro detail, separation, sharp imaging, black background, effortless feel, literally everything. TT2 able to "fight back" with more musical character, slight warmer and softer presentation that people may refer as "lifelike" feel. I like them both, but if I can afford Dave, I will chose this path.

I looked your profile, and they are consider as easy to drive headphones. Amplification power from these chord products won't be a problem. I do think that if you go even higher end headphones like PS2000e or Utopia, it will able to reveal even bigger gap between Dave and TT2 in technicality.

True, Dave is already 4 years, but if you think about second hand products, then no need to worry much about the next release Dave 2 (that no body knows when).

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

I'm not really familiar with Blu MKII and MScaller. Heard them few times at 2019, and I can not memorise well their sound now.

However, I think I understand well enough the sound from Hugo 2, TT2, and Dave. Direct from their headphone output, Dave is the clear winner by margin in term of technicality. Soundstage, micro detail, separation, sharp imaging, black background, effortless feel, literally everything. TT2 able to "fight back" with more musical character, slight warmer and softer presentation that people may refer as "lifelike" feel. I like them both, but if I can afford Dave, I will chose this path.

I looked your profile, and they are consider as easy to drive headphones. Amplification power from these chord products won't be a problem. I do think that if you go even higher end headphones like PS2000e or Utopia, it will able to reveal even bigger gap between Dave and TT2 in technicality.

True, Dave is already 4 years, but if you think about second hand products, then no need to worry much about the next release Dave 2 (that no body knows when).

Hi TheMiddleSky, Thank you for your information and experience. Very much appreciated. Yes I agree with you. The more I think about that I already have two full Choral Speaker systems, the Dave will fit into each of these systems as it is also a Choral product plus I will use it as my headphone amp too. I can also sell one of the Chord QBD76 DAC's and one of the Prima Pre-amps towards the cost of the Dave.