Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[559938]

Enjoying my TT-2 and M Scaler. Absolutely love it.

My cat loves it, too..

 

[Reactcore]

Enjoying my TT-2 and M Scaler. Absolutely love it.

Center speaker is also on while using TT2?

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Center speaker is also on while using TT2?

No, that's only used when watching movies, I have a separate home theater processor for that.

 

[MgMGM]

That's right, it was disconnected entirely, and reconnected for each track. We didn't change the scaling settings in the demo. He did offer to cycle through, but I listening to each track 3 times (scaled-not scaled-scaled) burnt through 4 hours very quickly.

Thats great service from your dealer. 4 hour demos and letting you borrow an m scaler for a few weeks to see if you can justify the expense.... Want to give them a shout out for the rest of us here in the UK.?........

 

[headmanPL]

Thats great service from your dealer. 4 hour demos and letting you borrow an m scaler for a few weeks to see if you can justify the expense.... Want to give them a shout out for the rest of us here in the UK.?........

Absolutely. I went to Audio T in Reading. Rishi arranged the demo after a detailed conversation about musical taste, current system, what I'd heard already etc.
Gareth hosted me on the day. I had a good feeling within minutes of arriving. Audio T doesn't sell the speakers I have, so they tried to get a close match. I commented that they were bassy, Gareth apologised & said he could swap them if I wanted. It turned out as part of their playlist to warm up the system, I'd arrived in the middle one of the bass heavy tracks.

Unlike some other demo's, I didn't have anything pushed at me, but Gareths experience was obvious as he could knowledgeably talk about vendor's he didn't stock. He also gave the simplest explanation of Roon & how useful that can be.
I didn't mention this in my earlier post as I wanted to share my experience with the Chord products, but I also bought a new amplifier (Naim) as the individual components were amazing together, so I'd say the effort they put in was certainly rewarded.

 

[creativepart]

Two newbie questions about my new (used) TT2:

1. Best to turn it off with the remote at the end of a listening day... or just leave it ON?
2. My TT2 says it is version 1.3 and I know that there were new versions distributed to at least v1.9. What are the differences I don't see firmware updates. What is going on with updates?

Thanks much

 

[miketlse]

Two newbie questions about my new (used) TT2:

1. Best to turn it off with the remote at the end of a listening day... or just leave it ON?
2. My TT2 says it is version 1.3 and I know that there were new versions distributed to at least v1.9. What are the differences I don't see firmware updates. What is going on with updates?

Thanks much

Embedded within the thousands of posts in this thread are mentions of some minor tweaks to the hardware.
Some of these were the consequence of the disrupted component supply chain during covid, needing alternative parts etc.

The tweak for the current inrush limiters, springs to mind, but hopefully some of the other posters can remember some of the others.

 

[559938]

Two newbie questions about my new (used) TT2:

1. Best to turn it off with the remote at the end of a listening day... or just leave it ON?
2. My TT2 says it is version 1.3 and I know that there were new versions distributed to at least v1.9. What are the differences I don't see firmware updates. What is going on with updates?

Thanks much

Aside from the two streamers, Chord don’t do firmware updates. From memory it’s all physical parts, but I’m happy to be corrected. I think the code is the code and hasn’t changed. No need to, really, it’s still market leading (like Hugo2 is also) after six years. Some companies are sort of catching up and producing equal-but-different products. Nothing to really knock Chord DACs off the podium.
It’s wonderful that in this hobby of almost constant updates and new editions from many companies, Chord has been steadfast in releasing their best work first up so your DAC isn’t devalued by TT3, TT4…that might be the smallest of incremental improvements.

 

[Reactcore]

The following reasons i can think of contribute to the fact they dont do upgrades.

• They thoroughly test their product before release, remember the listening tests being conducted optimising the code
• Its only one man who can change the code for the DAC's and he is very busy with the development of next products
• Chord would like to save new features and innovations for a next product to keep those interesting
• It saves alot of resources to handle firmware updates and no need for hosting Q/A procedures
• They aready have an upgrade path in the form of added specialised streamer or mscaler.

I actually dont like manufacturers who release their product too soon just to be the first and come with loads of bugfixes later on.

 

[Meridian7]

@Reactcore: makes fully sense, except for the DX bnc ports. Wondering what the potential idea behind it looked like, they label as 'output'.
Is it gone on the newest designs now?

 

[MgMGM]

Would like some thoughts from you good people out there. Its about time I sorted my front end out. Ive kind off been waiting for Spotify to release there promised hi res tier, but there dragging there heals and ive lost patience. Upgradeing to quobuz or apple music is the easy bit. My 'dilemma' is whether to invest in a dedicated streamer or stick with my (dedicated) iphone. My feeling is with a streamer im paying for stuff i wont need, ssd slots roon ready and other stuff im not clued up on at all. I simply just need a streaming service. In this use am I gaining in sound quality with a streamer.?. Then of coarse there is the rabbit hole of power conditioners and aftermarket IEC cables to go down.!. Any pointers be much appreciated........Cheers

 

[rocketron]

Would like some thoughts from you good people out there. Its about time I sorted my front end out. Ive kind off been waiting for Spotify to release there promised hi res tier, but there dragging there heals and ive lost patience. Upgradeing to quobuz or apple music is the easy bit. My 'dilemma' is whether to invest in a dedicated streamer or stick with my (dedicated) iphone. My feeling is with a streamer im paying for stuff i wont need, ssd slots roon ready and other stuff im not clued up on at all. I simply just need a streaming service. In this use am I gaining in sound quality with a streamer.?. Then of coarse there is the rabbit hole of power conditioners and aftermarket IEC cables to go down.!. Any pointers be much appreciated........Cheers

Hi there.

I used my iPhone as streamer into TT2.
No it’s not as good as a dedicated streamer but it’s not a million miles away.

I also tried my Astell & Kern SR35 .
This surprised me as it was a jump up from my phone and iPad.
Some higher end daps even have optical out put.

Do you have a dap to try?

Can wholeheartedly recommend Auralic streamers they work fantastically with their own IOS app.
You could also try the cheaper WIIM streamers ?

 

[559938]

Would like some thoughts from you good people out there. It’s about time I sorted my front end out. Ive kind off been waiting for Spotify to release there promised hi res tier, but they’re dragging there heals and ive lost patience. Upgradeing to quobuz or apple music is the easy bit. My 'dilemma' is whether to invest in a dedicated streamer or stick with my (dedicated) iphone. My feeling is with a streamer im paying for stuff i wont need, ssd slots roon ready and other stuff im not clued up on at all. I simply just need a streaming service. In this use am I gaining in sound quality with a streamer.?. Then of coarse there is the rabbit hole of power conditioners and aftermarket IEC cables to go down.!. Any pointers be much appreciated........Cheers

Streamers are great! If you want to give it a try for not much outlay, give the WIIM mini or pro a try. Spotify connect, AirPlay…easy. Very convenient.
From there on it can get as expensive as you want. You start paying for better sound, more features and better apps.

 

[Reactcore]

@Reactcore: makes fully sense, except for the DX bnc ports. Wondering what the potential idea behind it looked like, they label as 'output'.
Is it gone on the newest designs now?

Dave's (and Mscaler's) DX outputs are for a future dedicated power amp or mono's which are pending for quite some time now.
(This is another form of upgrade/addon)

The DX output BNC's are 2x 352.8/384k L and R channel with volume information embedded.

Those amps will do the final digital filtering, pulse array D/A stage and amplification in one. Hence why Rob calls them power pulse arrays.

I would love to get my ears on them when they get released..

 

[Vamaa]

Is TT2 still relevant price wise in 2023 for the best neutral DAC/headphone amp combo at around 4K€ ?
Thanks