Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread
Apr 7, 2019 at 2:06 PM Post #5,221 of 18,854
I figured that it might of been one of those psu’s in a plug type deal.

However I cannot force myself to say wall wart, it’s too american, which is too much for me to deal with on a saturday night.

Speaking of power supplies.......

Once I get my TT2, I was intending to keep the Hugo 1 as my second DAC for both on the road and as a source in my old HiFi system. The issues with this are lack of a desktop mode and the need to keep removing the PSU to take with me (or buy another one).

Mojo would solve both of these issues, but I've never had one. I notice a lot of you still do have a Mojo, whereas the the original Hugo seems to be fading into obscurity. If I sold my H1 and bought a Mojo, would I suffer much in terms of SQ? How do they compare? Reading between the lines, it seems like the difference was less than the selling prices suggested.

Sorry for the OT question - I thought this would be the best thread to get some impartial opinions!
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 2:38 PM Post #5,222 of 18,854
. . the original Hugo seems to be fading into obscurity.

On here perhaps but it is still very popular indeed and there is a very healthy market for them on eBay uk.
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 2:52 PM Post #5,223 of 18,854
Speaking of power supplies.......

Once I get my TT2, I was intending to keep the Hugo 1 as my second DAC for both on the road and as a source in my old HiFi system. The issues with this are lack of a desktop mode and the need to keep removing the PSU to take with me (or buy another one).

Mojo would solve both of these issues, but I've never had one. I notice a lot of you still do have a Mojo, whereas the the original Hugo seems to be fading into obscurity. If I sold my H1 and bought a Mojo, would I suffer much in terms of SQ? How do they compare? Reading between the lines, it seems like the difference was less than the selling prices suggested.

Sorry for the OT question - I thought this would be the best thread to get some impartial opinions!
The Mojo thread would be the best place, because it still averages 40 posts/week, whereas the Hugo thread averages 1 post in a good week. I think there must still be thousands of happy Hugo owners, but it has been out of production for 4 years, so not surprising there are not many new posts.
The Mojo and Hugo do sound slightly different, because of the different emphasis given to various stages of the overall dac processing. Some owners prefer Mojo sound and some prefer Hugo sound, so you will not get 100% consensus.

A few months ago, it was revealed that you can take the battery out of a Mojo, and it will still work just powered by the charger - this does mean that you could buy an ex-demo or second hand Mojo, remove the battery, and use it without having to worry about damaging the battery.
Occasionally I did use my Mojo as the input to my amplifier - knowing how good the Mojo sounded through headphones, i was disappointed when i heard just how badly my amplifier handled music transients. It did make me wonder about upgrading the amplifier, because that had become the weak link in the system.
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 3:35 PM Post #5,224 of 18,854
That's interesting, thanks Mike.

I expect I'll stick with the safe option and keep my H1. A spare PSU is all I need, and the original is nothing exotic. I've also done the battery replacement before and wouldn't be afraid to do it again. I even keep a sticker on the underside to remind me of the correct stock no. at RS :)
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 3:51 PM Post #5,225 of 18,854
That's interesting, thanks Mike.

I expect I'll stick with the safe option and keep my H1. A spare PSU is all I need, and the original is nothing exotic. I've also done the battery replacement before and wouldn't be afraid to do it again. I even keep a sticker on the underside to remind me of the correct stock no. at RS :)
Yes, if you like the H1 sound signature, buying a spare PSU is the simplest option.
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 5:06 PM Post #5,226 of 18,854
Speaking of power supplies.......

Once I get my TT2, I was intending to keep the Hugo 1 as my second DAC for both on the road and as a source in my old HiFi system. The issues with this are lack of a desktop mode and the need to keep removing the PSU to take with me (or buy another one).

Mojo would solve both of these issues, but I've never had one. I notice a lot of you still do have a Mojo, whereas the the original Hugo seems to be fading into obscurity. If I sold my H1 and bought a Mojo, would I suffer much in terms of SQ? How do they compare? Reading between the lines, it seems like the difference was less than the selling prices suggested.

Sorry for the OT question - I thought this would be the best thread to get some impartial opinions!

Mojo is very good, for it's size and with poly it's a little power house of a design, on it's own it's still a great little dac.

For iem use, it's very very good, but using it with big headphones can be a hit or miss, my audio technica headphones work great with it, my sennheiser hd800s don't, it seemed extremely dull and unmusical, but the Audio technicas are 32-64 ohm and the sennheisers are 300ohm.

I've never had or heard a hugo 1, but I have a hugo 2 and to be honest, with iem's you would find it hard pressed to tell each other apart. With headphones it's a different story.

If you will be using iem's, then go for a mojo, you probably won't even notice the difference, between it and hugo with iem's.

Mojo and Hugo 1 are supposedly very close SQ wise, I'm just surmising, but, I think the only difference is hugo having more power to deliver the goods when using full size headphones and not iems.
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 5:55 PM Post #5,227 of 18,854
Mojo and Hugo 1 are supposedly very close SQ wise, I'm just surmising, but, I think the only difference is hugo having more power to deliver the goods when using full size headphones and not iems.

I have had Hugo1 and Mojo but have never used them with iem or headphones ‘cos I’m a speaker guy. Using them as DACs into a speaker amp they sounded a fair bit different to me.
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 6:40 PM Post #5,228 of 18,854
I caved yesterday and couldn't wait any longer for the TT2. There is still no word from Blue Bird on when they will ship units I don't think that they even can provide an estimate. The funny thing is that the store got an mscaler in after 3 weeks. I ended up trying the scaler with a Hugo2. It sounded great I ended up buying both I am interested to see what I am missing by using the Hugo2 instead of the TT2 with the Mscaler. None of the cans that I own are particularly power hungry the one that requires the most power is probably the LCD 4Z. I will get those back on wednesday and see how they sound with the combo. I really liked the clears with this combo they came to life compared to how they sound straight out of my sp1000 and much better than they did driven by the idsd bl. I tried the Abyss Diana Phi with the combo at the store and they sounded incredible ( I am tempted to pick one up). The Mscaler improves the sound of everything that I throw at it. Feed from the SP1000cu it is remarkable.

Who else is using the mscaler with the hugo2? If you have had a chance to compare it against the TT2 what would you say is the main difference?


Now I am just waiting on the Black Dragon BNC cable from moon audio to come. It was the only option that I could find for a cable that was dual BNC to 3.5mm. I am using a adapter now but look forward to a cleaner setup with the cable.
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 7:54 PM Post #5,229 of 18,854
Mojo and Hugo 1 are supposedly very close SQ wise, I'm just surmising, but, I think the only difference is hugo having more power to deliver the goods when using full size headphones and not iems.

Sorry, no.

Mojo and Hugo(1) have the exact same power output as mentioned by Rob many times. The Mojo, Hugo(1), and TT(1) have the same power output but the TT(1) has a higher Current bias as noted in this post.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-hugo.702787/page-954#post-13070560

Power isn’t the big differentiator between them.

Edit: This just emphasis the ongoing fact that there are many other things in an audio equipment design, sometimes small, that can have large perceived differences. Frankly it seems all Head Fi wants to talk about is power power power as the difference between perceived sound.
 
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Apr 8, 2019 at 1:01 AM Post #5,230 of 18,854
Sorry, no.

Mojo and Hugo(1) have the exact same power output as mentioned by Rob many times. The Mojo, Hugo(1), and TT(1) have the same power output but the TT(1) has a higher Current bias as noted in this post.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-hugo.702787/page-954#post-1

Power isn’t the big differentiator between them.

Edit: This just emphasis the ongoing fact that there are many other things in an audio equipment design, sometimes small, that can have large perceived differences. Frankly it seems all Head Fi wants to talk about is power power power as the difference between perceived sound.



Why does all my iem's and 5 other headphones that are between 32 - 64ohm sound great on mojo, and only my 300 ohm hd800s sound pitiful, unlistenable, thats how bad they sound on mojo.

If it's not the processor, as it's the same one in h2 albeit crippled, and if it's not the output power, what else is making the hd800s sound half muted and neutered on mojo ? When I say half muted I mean that, even at high volumes it still sounds bad.

Why does it sound so bad compared to 5 of my other headphones which sound great but are nowhere near 300 ohms ?


P.S

I would still advise the dude to buy a mojo, as it is a great little dac, albeit not with the hd800s and I surmise again, with headphones with similar or higher specs.
 
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Apr 8, 2019 at 1:53 AM Post #5,231 of 18,854
I have had Hugo1 and Mojo but have never used them with iem or headphones ‘cos I’m a speaker guy. Using them as DACs into a speaker amp they sounded a fair bit different to me.

Ya, thats the thing, mojo and hugo 2, with iem's I'm extremely hard pressed to notice any differences between them, but, with full sized headphones, the difference between the two is startling, I guess it would be the same with speakers.

It's just that iem's never let you hear what the dacs are really capable of, as iem's are limited by design and it's a trade off if you want to use them.
 
Apr 8, 2019 at 2:00 AM Post #5,232 of 18,854
Why does all my iem's and 5 other headphones that are between 32 - 64ohm sound great on mojo, and only my 300 ohm hd800s sound pitiful, unlistenable, thats how bad they sound on mojo.

If it's not the processor, as it's the same one in h2 albeit crippled, and if it's not the output power, what else is making the hd800s sound half muted and neutered on mojo ? When I say half muted I mean that, even at high volumes it still sounds bad.

Why does it sound so bad compared to 5 of my other headphones which sound great but are nowhere near 300 ohms ?


P.S

I would still advise the dude to buy a mojo, as it is a great little dac, albeit not with the hd800s and I surmise again, with headphones with similar or higher specs.

I can't answer your question as I don't own the HD800, but there's more than just the same chip used for the filter programming at play. The WTA filter is different between the Mojo and the Hugo(1) and the Hugo(2). The output stage is different between them and Rob tuned the Mojo warmer for OTG listening. You made a general statement that the Mojo is weaker than the Hugo(1) and it simply isn't. Maybe if you described in detail what you mean by 'pitiful' then it would help to understand your comment better.

Lot's of people enjoy the HD800... I hate it every time I listen to it and would never try to match the rest of my gear for one headphone. YMMV. The 300 Ohm HD800 is actually a very easy electrical load for the Mojo and people constantly think that the higher the impedance then the harder it is to drive but it just isn't always the case. You aren't the first to mention the HD800 sounds bad with Chord gear and I don't doubt your impressions, but power isn't the reason. One sample won't be the end-all-be-all of how a device performs with full sized headphones in general. All my full sized headphones play very well with the Mojo, including the Utopia which has an impedance of over 300 Ohms at 50-60Hz. Again, power doesn't always equal quality, but quality power matters.
 
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Apr 8, 2019 at 4:01 AM Post #5,233 of 18,854
I can't answer your question as I don't own the HD800, but there's more than just the same chip used for the filter programming at play. The WTA filter is different between the Mojo and the Hugo(1) and the Hugo(2). The output stage is different between them and Rob tuned the Mojo warmer for OTG listening. You made a general statement that the Mojo is weaker than the Hugo(1) and it simply isn't. Maybe if you described in detail what you mean by 'pitiful' then it would help to understand your comment better.

Lot's of people enjoy the HD800... I hate it every time I listen to it and would never try to match the rest of my gear for one headphone. YMMV. The 300 Ohm HD800 is actually a very easy electrical load for the Mojo and people constantly think that the higher the impedance then the harder it is to drive but it just isn't always the case. You aren't the first to mention the HD800 sounds bad with Chord gear and I don't doubt your impressions, but power isn't the reason. One sample won't be the end-all-be-all of how a device performs with full sized headphones in general. All my full sized headphones play very well with the Mojo, including the Utopia which has an impedance of over 300 Ohms at 50-60Hz. Again, power doesn't always equal quality, but quality power matters.

I didn't make a generalisation, I surmised that it could of been due to more power on hugo, surmise basically means to think something which may or may not be true. I have no idea whether mojo and hugo have he same power output, but you nit picked and took one sentence out of my entire post to quote.

Within my post, it's in context, and I only meant that surmising the situation, maybe it was due to more output power.

My "pitiful" comment means what it means, it's like the headphones are sounding atleast 50% worse than what it sounds like on TT2 and H2, it's veiled and muffled on mojo. Thats using a supplied adapter from chord, my other headphones all use 3.5mm jacks.

On H2 and TT2 the HD800S sound great. I know "folk" don't like the HD800 or 800S, but it would be obtuse of anyone to solely buy what 1 or 2 people say, as everyones hearing is different and although I suffer from tinnitus, I have bloody good hearing and I'm positive that I hear better than say for example, those in their 50's 60s, 70's.

I'm not saying that the HD800S sound bad on Chord gear, I'm just saying it sounds bad on mojo, which to be fair, was probably designed with iem's and smaller headphones in mind, although Chord do say mojo is good for big headphones also.

From my point of view and I've only got 6 pairs of headphones, but all 5 lower than 100ohm sound great, they work perfect, but the HD's sound as though your listening to them from behind a lump of sound proofing foam, and thats saying something.

I have no problems with my hd's not sounding even half decent on mojo, because I didn't buy it with the intention of using it with headphones, only iem's and thats probably what chord envisaged with mojo.

If I was surmising yet again, I would say that they maybe made hugo with iem's and big headphones in mind. Again, I surmised, which only means I think it may be this way, but I have no proof to say for sure.

Truth be told, the HD800S were an impulse purchase, I hated the look of them and bypassed them for ages, but I was speaking to someone who owned a pair and I decided why not. Do I regret my impulse purchase, no, because I could of sent them back for a refund if they sounded schit, but they sounded good, and I don't regret buying them at all.
 
Apr 8, 2019 at 4:41 AM Post #5,234 of 18,854
@Amberlamps, I 'nit picked' false info (or surmising) and corrected you. Simple as that. Others reading can now benefit from knowledge.

I have no idea why the HD800 sounds like poo from the Mojo and I'm not debating your impressions or your tastes.
 
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Apr 8, 2019 at 5:52 AM Post #5,235 of 18,854
@Amberlamps, I 'nit picked' false info (or surmising) and corrected you. Simple as that. Others reading can now benefit from knowledge.

I have no idea why the HD800 sounds like poo from the Mojo and I'm not debating your impressions or your tastes.

I have exquisite tastes, like snake skin pant's and alligator skin cowboy boots.

And a feather boa.

Thats how I roll.

Wait, the feather boa's not mine.
 

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