Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread
Jul 22, 2020 at 9:04 AM Post #10,006 of 18,991
Absolutely not! Class D would destroy the transient timing accuracy, making the WTA filters almost worthless.

Their is only (for SE) one amplifier in the DAC, which combines the DAC current to voltage (I to V), filtering and output drive into one amplifier with a single global feedback path - and this path only has two resistors and two capacitors. This simplicity means that the output is extremely transparent.

Even though the global feedback path is short and direct, the amplifier itself is quite complex with a second order analogue noise shaper topology. Conventional amplifiers have poor feedback at 20kHz, and so it suffers with increasing distortion at high frequencies. But my second order noise shaping approach does not suffer with this, as the open loop gain at 20kHz is 120dB - that's a 20GHz gain bandwidth product for the technically minded - this means that there is no increase in distortion at high frequencies.

This is a particular problem with conventional power amps - as current is drawn from the output, the output stage switches from class A to class B, and then creates crossover distortion - which is very nasty, as it can extend to infinite frequencies, and can cause timing problems too due to delays changing with signal level.

Talking of output stages, the OP stage in TT2, like all my designs, use discrete transistors. The transistors used are very high speed (30nS) high power (10A) devices, with 4 devices used per output.

You can see the measured benefits of this approach from the slide below:

Slide13.JPG

In this case the balanced outputs is used with 12W into 8 ohms. You can see no noise floor modulation, and absolutely no distortion above 3 kHz, proving that there is no crossover distortion at all. Indeed, when you remove the 8 ohm load, nothing changes at all - except for a small improvement in second harmonic distortion.

Eliminating noise floor modulation, and high frequency distortion in a DAC is unique - let alone one that can drive significant power into 8 ohms.

So no it's certainly not Class D...
Thanks for clarity.
 
Jul 22, 2020 at 10:00 AM Post #10,007 of 18,991
I finally got around to making up a pair of XLRs terminated with bannana plugs, via a short length (~10cm) of QED silver annivery speaker cable soldered onto the XLR pins. I've gone single ended (pins 1 and 2).
Running Monitor Audio Silver 10s no issue. Volume at +0H, plenty loud enouh and no heat issue on the TT2.
Sounds good :)


IMG_20200721_212531411.jpg
Hi, to clarify is pin 1 +ve and pin 2 -ve for the single ended XLR outs?

thanks
 
Jul 22, 2020 at 10:04 AM Post #10,008 of 18,991
Hi, to clarify is pin 1 +ve and pin 2 -ve for the single ended XLR outs?

thanks

pin 1 is 0 (ie ground), pin 2 is 'hot' (ie positive) and pin 3 is 'cold' (ie negative).
So, yes single ended connection is pin 1 and pin 2.
 
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Jul 22, 2020 at 1:04 PM Post #10,009 of 18,991
Guys, a little bit off topic but I have to ask. Question for the cable masters:

For directional RCAs, the common ground (grounded shield) is the end of the source or the amplifier?

I use TT2 with an external amplifier and the cables have the shield grounded only at one end.
 
Jul 22, 2020 at 1:28 PM Post #10,010 of 18,991
Guys, a little bit off topic but I have to ask. Question for the cable masters:

For directional RCAs, the common ground (grounded shield) is the end of the source or the amplifier?

I use TT2 with an external amplifier and the cables have the shield grounded only at one end.

The grounded end of the shield is normally at the source end of the cable but in contradiction of this I'm not sure that the TT2 is grounded so there might be an argument for having the grounded end of the cable at the amplifier end on the basis that the amplifier will be connected to ground.
 
Jul 22, 2020 at 1:54 PM Post #10,012 of 18,991
i was skeptical. but after listening to wave stream the music revealed another way of presenting itself. digs deeper. more refined. i was convinced. a very beautiful thing and the effort was worth the final result. that finality is what i was working towards all this time.
I know Wave (https://www.wavehighfidelity.com/) makes cables specifically for Chord HMS and Dave, but being in Canada, trying them out is very troublesome. How would audioquest cables do (RCA with RCA/BNC adaptors)?
 
Jul 22, 2020 at 3:27 PM Post #10,013 of 18,991
I know Wave (https://www.wavehighfidelity.com/) makes cables specifically for Chord HMS and Dave, but being in Canada, trying them out is very troublesome. How would audioquest cables do (RCA with RCA/BNC adaptors)?
@dmance of Audiowise is in Canada and his opto-dx solution is just as effective and he can offer demo’s I believe.
 
Jul 23, 2020 at 1:07 AM Post #10,014 of 18,991
Hi, I need some help using my TT2 with a CD transport. I got the optical cable going from the CD transport into the TT2's OPT1 input. OPT1 is selected along with DAC on the TT2. The TT2 is then going to my AMP. However, I'm getting an "x IP' indication on the TT2. I think this means that no input signal coming into the TT2 from the CD transport. I'm not sure why. I swapped the TT2 and the optical cable using another DAC with same cable and everything works fine. I just can't get the TT2 to work with the CD transport. Am I doing something wrong with the TT2? TIA!
 
Jul 23, 2020 at 3:51 AM Post #10,015 of 18,991
Hi, I need some help using my TT2 with a CD transport. I got the optical cable going from the CD transport into the TT2's OPT1 input. OPT1 is selected along with DAC on the TT2. The TT2 is then going to my AMP. However, I'm getting an "x IP' indication on the TT2. I think this means that no input signal coming into the TT2 from the CD transport. I'm not sure why. I swapped the TT2 and the optical cable using another DAC with same cable and everything works fine. I just can't get the TT2 to work with the CD transport. Am I doing something wrong with the TT2? TIA!
Might be worth checking OPT 2
 
Jul 24, 2020 at 3:21 AM Post #10,018 of 18,991
Yup, I tired both OPT inputs. Makes me wonder if there is something wrong with my OPT inputs or the TT2 is just not meant to be used with a CD transport this way. My Topping d(0 DAC works fine with the CD transport. Thanks!

Also, try making sure the optical cable is securely seated into the inputs on the TT2. Some optical plugs have extra decorative casings which make them too wide to properly seat into the socket. There should be a pronounced click when the plug clicks into place in the socket. I have had to trim quite a few optical connectors to get them back to an acceptable width.
 
Jul 24, 2020 at 12:08 PM Post #10,019 of 18,991
Also, try making sure the optical cable is securely seated into the inputs on the TT2. Some optical plugs have extra decorative casings which make them too wide to properly seat into the socket. There should be a pronounced click when the plug clicks into place in the socket. I have had to trim quite a few optical connectors to get them back to an acceptable width.

Cool. Will do. Thanks guys!
 
Jul 25, 2020 at 1:31 PM Post #10,020 of 18,991
Every now and then I get a surreal experience when listening to tunes, and today I had that experience, I had the proclaimers physically in my ears, it was a surreal.

I will walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more. I blame roon radio as I decontaminated my self from the proclaimers way back in the 1980s I think it was ? Still, today I got the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!
 

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