[alekc]

In today's review we give the mighty Hugo TT2 "a spin". The TT2's long term comprehensive review, now on Headfonia!

https://www.headfonia.com/chord-electronics-hugo-tt2-review/

Good review. What I am always missing from such reviews is how Hugo TT2 measures against other FPGA based DACs. I know it is not easy to get few of those at one time to do some listening but from a consumer point of view who is almost convinced to go after TT2 would love to see such review. Anyone cares to pick up a challange?

Second question: some describe Hugo 2 to be more relaxed than TT2. Would love to hear your opinion on this topic, especially from long term H2 owner and fan.

 

[Whazzzup]

Tt in all its reiteration has more slam, is slightly darker, but with same detail as any hugo

 

[GreenBow]

@Mediahound

(EDIT note: I am wiring single ended with XLR.)

I just partly completed making my XLR speaker cable adapters. If you look at the following two pictures, you will see why making XLR cables is easier, from a perspective. That perspective of being easier to solder XLR plugs, than making RCA cables.

This is what it would be like trying to solder an RCA plug. Plus great care would be needed to ensure not one whisker of cable was shorting.




Whereas the XLR plug allows space to work. The black cable solder to the pin on the other side to red. Leaving a nice gap between cabling.



Can be seen easily in the following picture, how simple the soldering space is.






Anyway, I didn't quite finish my cables because I need to think of some cable sleeves. For now the speaker cable socket ends are covered with Gorilla Tape.





At the moment, the cables are just nipped in the screw clamp area. Whereas I intend to solder into the ends of the female speaker sockets. The Gorilla tape covers the metal exposed areas. (Gorilla Tape so it won't come off.)


I have used Audioquest Rocket 22, and it's a little warm. Either that or I need time to adjust. I might look for something more neutral. Or maybe a (1M) bit of real quality audiophile cable, like Atlas Mavros. It has to better than my old cable though.

My previous adapters were made with any old copper wire, as shown in first pic. (Not audiophile grade in anyway.) It was just a test cable to see what TT2 driving speakers was like. They might have made it a touch brighter. Or I just need to adjust to my new adapter cable. … However a few weeks ago, I took the old adapters off my TT2, and switched back to using an amplifier. Meaning I am not going straight from my old adapter cable to the new cable.


If anyone is thinking of doing this, it is far easier that it looks. I was incredibly scared of trying. However once I plucked up courage to order some XLR plugs, I noticed how much easy it would be. The reason was that the XLR plug pins are number both inside and outside. Thus making highly unlikely to solder cable to the wrong pins by accident. (Red to pin 2, black to pin 1.) Just keep checking regularly what you are doing while soldering. Just think how precious your TT2 is, and that works to make observation high priority.

Anyway as a last aspect for surety. If you have a multimeter, you can check your wiring with the continuity test. Poke one prong of the multimeter into pin 2 of your completed plug. Then the other end to the red wire connector. The continuity test checks that the circuit is complete, and the meter beeps. If the wiring was wrong. E.g. I solder red cable to the wrong XLR pin, there would be no continuity in the wiring, and no beep.

Hope this helps folks.

My cables so far.

 

[420204]

Good review. What I am always missing from such reviews is how Hugo TT2 measures against other FPGA based DACs. I know it is not easy to get few of those at one time to do some listening but from a consumer point of view who is almost convinced to go after TT2 would love to see such review. Anyone cares to pick up a challange?

Second question: some describe Hugo 2 to be more relaxed than TT2. Would love to hear your opinion on this topic, especially from long term H2 owner and fan.

Thanks for the kind words. You're right, it would've been great to compare the TT2 against other FPGA DACs, I would have loved to include one from PS Audio, but they are incredibly hard to obtain for reviews and comparisons. If I could afford to buy another DAC it would probably be one from PS Audio. Or the DAVE. Sadly my family needs food... haha
I wouldn't particularly say the Hugo2 is more relaxed than the TT2. At least not in the my two channel system with the LS50's. With headphones it can come across as that though in my opinion.
Not sure if that helps... But I hope it did.
Cheers!

 

[GreenBow]

I think the TT2 leaves the Hugo 2 sounding just a little smooth. .... Not that the TT2 is in any way bright. The TT2 is just that bit more dynamic, and has faster transients. ………. (All other qualities aside.)


Going back to the Hugo 2 is no bad thing though, not in any respect.

 

[InstantSilence]

I thought H2 was definitely the more forward, incisive, brighter dac.
With tt2 besting it by quite a margin in overall quality of sound

 

[GreenBow]

@Mediahound

I just partly completed making my XLR speaker cable adapters. If you look at the following two pictures, you will see why making XLR cables is easier, from a perspective. That perspective of being easier to solder.

This is what it would be like trying to solder an RCA plug. Plus great care would be needed to ensure not one whisker of cable was shorting.




Whereas the XLR plug allows space to work. The black cable solder to the pin on the other side to red. Leaving a nice gap between cabling.



Can be seen easily in the following picture, how simple the soldering space is.






Anyway, I didn't quite finish my cables because I need to think of some cable sleeves. For now the speaker cable socket ends are covered with Gorilla Tape.





At the moment, the cables are just nipped in the screw clamp area. Whereas I intend to solder into the ends of the female speaker sockets. The Gorilla tape covers the metal exposed areas. (Gorilla Tape so it won't come off.)


I have used Audioquest Rocket 22, and it's a little warm. Either that or I need time to adjust. I might look for something more neutral. Or maybe a (1M) bit of real quality audiophile cable, like Atlas Mavros. It has to better than my old cable though.

My previous adapters were made with any old copper wire, as shown in first pic. (Not audiophile grade in anyway.) It was just a test cable to see what TT2 driving speakers was like. They might have made it a touch brighter. Or I just need to adjust to my new adapter cable. … However a few weeks ago, I took the old adapters off my TT2, and switched back to using an amplifier. Meaning I am not going straight from my old adapter cable to the new cable.


If anyone is thinking of doing this, it is far easier that it looks. I was incredibly scared of trying. However once I plucked up courage to order some XLR plugs, I noticed how much easy it would be. The reason was that the XLR plug pins are number both inside and outside. Thus making highly unlikely to solder cable to the wrong pins by accident. (Red to pin 2, black to pin 1.) Just keep checking regularly what you are doing while soldering. Just think how precious your TT2 is, and that works to make observation high priority.

Anyway as a last aspect for surety. If you have a multimeter, you can check your wiring with the continuity test. Poke one prong of the multimeter into pin 2 of your completed plug. Then the other end to the red wire connector. The continuity test checks that the circuit is complete, and the meter beeps. If the wiring was wrong. E.g. I solder red cable to the wrong XLR pin, there would be no continuity in the wiring, and no beep.

Hope this helps folks.

My cables so far.

I think I was right in guessing that the Audioquest Rocket 22 seemed a bit warm on first impression. (Rocket 22 used for my TT2 adapters.) I checked the What HiFi review, and it says, quote,

"The ’22 isn’t a cable you should judge on an initial quick listen. Straight out of the packaging it sounds a little thick and murky, obscuring low level dynamics and some higher frequency detail behind an unusually smooth and full-bodied presentation. ….. But given a few days of use, the Rocket’s sonic presentation opens up considerably."
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/audioquest-rocket-22

I will give it some time then, and to be honest it seems to have opened up a bit already. Will see how it goes. What strikes me most is how only a 30cm section of wire can be so noticeable in the TT2 driving speakers. (What with my speaker cables being a 3m pair.) Compared with the bits of blue coated wire I had before, in the first picture. What it does mean however is that using cheap cabling in adapters, is doing the TT2 no favours. The adapters that can be bought online, appear to use cheap wiring. I think it would be better to home make adapters. Plus at least you can be sure they are wired/soldered the way you want. If needed, buy something like an Antex soldering iron; which is both quality and budget.


There is one other aspect with using Rocket 22 though. When I bought it, I noticed it looked double wired, and thought it was for bi-wiring. It meant that I got twice the cabling for my money. However again when I just checked the What HiFi website, the picture shows both sides of the cable used for SE. Like double wiring.

This is the cable:
(I have split the end of it so you can see the two parts. Each half of the split has both a red positive and a black negative.)



When Audioquest make up that cables though, they use both sides. Meaning two reds and two blacks.



I can't say I am bothered now that I used only one side of the cable. As can be seen in the pics I added above.


The crux of the matter is even a short piece of cable has a strong impact on the audio presentation. Maybe using cheap adapters like the following picture, is not a good idea.



I said way back that using a piece of cheap cable would drop sound quality. Now I have first hand experience it in this context, that is. If you must use cheap cable, use a short a piece as possible too, I guess.

I think it is most likely best to use the same cable to make adapters with, as your speaker cable. Or cable that is at least audiophile for the adapters.

Or just go all in and buy the Atlas cables.



Or a last resort would be have some speaker cables made, and have only one end terminated. Then put XLRs on the unterminated end.

 

[Triode User]

@Mediahound

I just partly completed making my XLR speaker cable adapters. If you look at the following two pictures, you will see why making XLR cables is easier, from a perspective. That perspective of being easier to solder.

This is what it would be like trying to solder an RCA plug. Plus great care would be needed to ensure not one whisker of cable was shorting.




Whereas the XLR plug allows space to work. The black cable solder to the pin on the other side to red. Leaving a nice gap between cabling.



Can be seen easily in the following picture, how simple the soldering space is.






Anyway, I didn't quite finish my cables because I need to think of some cable sleeves. For now the speaker cable socket ends are covered with Gorilla Tape.





At the moment, the cables are just nipped in the screw clamp area. Whereas I intend to solder into the ends of the female speaker sockets. The Gorilla tape covers the metal exposed areas. (Gorilla Tape so it won't come off.)


I have used Audioquest Rocket 22, and it's a little warm. Either that or I need time to adjust. I might look for something more neutral. Or maybe a (1M) bit of real quality audiophile cable, like Atlas Mavros. It has to better than my old cable though.

My previous adapters were made with any old copper wire, as shown in first pic. (Not audiophile grade in anyway.) It was just a test cable to see what TT2 driving speakers was like. They might have made it a touch brighter. Or I just need to adjust to my new adapter cable. … However a few weeks ago, I took the old adapters off my TT2, and switched back to using an amplifier. Meaning I am not going straight from my old adapter cable to the new cable.


If anyone is thinking of doing this, it is far easier that it looks. I was incredibly scared of trying. However once I plucked up courage to order some XLR plugs, I noticed how much easy it would be. The reason was that the XLR plug pins are number both inside and outside. Thus making highly unlikely to solder cable to the wrong pins by accident. (Red to pin 2, black to pin 1.) Just keep checking regularly what you are doing while soldering. Just think how precious your TT2 is, and that works to make observation high priority.

Anyway as a last aspect for surety. If you have a multimeter, you can check your wiring with the continuity test. Poke one prong of the multimeter into pin 2 of your completed plug. Then the other end to the red wire connector. The continuity test checks that the circuit is complete, and the meter beeps. If the wiring was wrong. E.g. I solder red cable to the wrong XLR pin, there would be no continuity in the wiring, and no beep.

Hope this helps folks.

My cables so far.

You might be better off using inline banana connectors like the ones I used here. They are readily availabe. Notice I used short cable length and also used 4mm2 cable.

 

[GreenBow]

You might be better off using inline banana connectors like the ones I used here. They are readily availabe. Notice I used short cable length and also used 4mm2 cable.

Yeah, your adapters are very nice. ….. The female z-plugs look like a viable option for this. …. I didn't know the search of "inline banana connectors". I never even heard of inline. (Finding loads now.)

The ones I used are all I could find on Amazon. They are actually all but identical to the ones on my Dynaudio Special Forty.
Mine from Amazon:



Special Forty plugs.






One other option for wire I figured was, I might just buy some Neotech wire. Then thought again, at least if we buy reviewed speaker cable then we can choose sound signature.

 

[GreenBow]

When you think about it, we buy whatever, e.g. single draw UP-OCC copper for cables. Then attach a piece of rogue cable to it, between TT2 and speaker.

Plus the connection in the cable, and connections do cause a drop in sound quality.

 

[Triode User]

Yeah, your adapters are very nice. ….. The female z-plugs look like a viable option for this. …. I didn't know the search of "inline banana connectors". I never even heard of inline. (Finding loads now.)

The ones I used are all I could find on Amazon. They are actually all but identical to the ones on my Dynaudio Special Forty.
Mine from Amazon:



Special Forty plugs.






One other option for wire I figured was, I might just buy some Neotech wire. Then thought again, at least if we buy reviewed speaker cable then we can choose sound signature.

My adapters use about 4 inch length of cable. I can assure you that as long as the cable is thick enough you will not hear any difference in sound due to that length. Just consider that the signal possibly travels along a thin track on the printed circuit board inside the TT2 for a not dissimilar length. Also look inside your speakers and you will find cables much longer than that and which are not any exotic brand. If you are concerned then Rob Watts posted how he makes his own cables.

I would say to abandon the speaker connections you are trying to use. They are meant for mounting on a cabinet and are inappropriate for an inline use.

Pictured below is one of the black version in line ones I use in its bag with part numbers. Do a search for those numbers to find a stockist local to you.

 

[GreenBow]

My adapters use about 4 inch length of cable. I can assure you that as long as the cable is thick enough you will not hear any difference in sound due to that length. Just consider that the signal possibly travels along a thin track on the printed circuit board inside the TT2 for a not dissimilar length. Also look inside your speakers and you will find cables much longer than that and which are not any exotic brand. If you are concerned then Rob Watts posted how he makes his own cables.

I would say to abandon the speaker connections you are trying to use. They are meant for mounting on a cabinet and are inappropriate for an inline use.

Pictured below is one of the black version in line ones I use in its bag with part numbers. Do a search for those numbers to find a stockist local to you.

I know Rob posted his own adapters. However early on, I brought up the subject of using cheap adapters and a subsequent drop in audio quality. Rob Watts acknowledged that to me, which was very fair of him.

I can find inline connectors now if I want. Have an RS page open with them on. There is nothing wrong with mine though, other than the conducting parts would need secure covering. Will make up my mind. The inline ones seem the easier option though.

Am definitely happier with audiophile grade cabling though. Not sure what to do right now, as it's not a priority anyway. Either buy some TT2 cables. Or just carry on with making adapters, and one day buy a short length of really tasty cable for it.



You won't convince me to use cheap cable for the adapters. I just changed from that, and the difference is obvious. Just did whole post on it.

I know manufacturers use what looks like basic cable inside equipment. Picture of the Naim Supernait 3 below is a bit of a shock to see.



With my experience of cable change with the TT2 adapters, with quality cable there is good improvement to be had.

My adapters that sounded a bit too warm at first, are sounding better after a few hours. Either that or I am adjusting.

 

[Triode User]

(You won't convince me to use cheap cable for the adapters. I just changed from that, and the difference is obvious. Just did whole post on it.)

Just trying to be helpful and be aware that the mind is a powerful thing when it sees a brand name on a cable. For instance on the Dave thread it regularly pops up that people say they can hear a difference between Dave Preamp Mode and Dac Mode when in reality there is no difference. I use that same unbranded good quality hook up copper cable between my amp and speakers (doubled up to make 8mm2) because it sounds the same or better than branded speaker cable (and certainly over a 4 ins length for the TT2 adapters). Do look inside your speakers and you will probably find quite thin unbranded cables.

 

[Progisus]

Ordered a Supra .75m usb cable to replace a 2m AQ Cinnamon. This will go between the Antipodes server (roon, hqplayer) and the TT2 which sit side by side. I just want to make the connection as short as possible. This is an endgame haha pairing. Once the tunes have been started you can remove the ethernet cable and be totally isolated from any electrical noise be it network or power supply as that is all taken care of by Antipodes or Rob’s power supply. I’ve found that I cannot hear any network noise so cable stays in.

I still ponder over leaving the TT2 on or switching off at night with the remote. I don’t like to stress the relays or unit with power up surge but some say the super caps may degrade if left on. This is an endgame dac for me for sure.

 

[GreenBow]

Just trying to be helpful and be aware that the mind is a powerful thing when it sees a brand name on a cable. For instance on the Dave thread it regularly pops up that people say they can hear a difference between Dave Preamp Mode and Dac Mode when in reality there is no difference. I use that same unbranded good quality hook up copper cable between my amp and speakers (doubled up to make 8mm2) because it sounds the same or better than branded speaker cable (and certainly over a 4 ins length for the TT2 adapters). Do look inside your speakers and you will probably find quite thin unbranded cables.

I would never dispute that buying hook-up wire is a good idea.

However it hit me straight way that the new cable I am using is different to the old. Even when I said that I put the amplifier back into the mix for a few weeks. Then just yesterday went back to TT2 driving speakers with the new wire. … I am not sure why you would say you can hear the difference between wire. Then you think I might not be doing the same. I know exactly how relevant placebo is in this.

E.g. I realise that it's possible to complicate things. Like to hear one track with old wire, then try another track with new wire. Then think one wire expands the sound stage, while it might be the track is wider. Or one track is well recorded, and another not.

With this cable the first thing I noticed was immediate. When ever I went back to driving TT2 direct from using an amplifier. With the old cable, it took me a week to adjust. It had a larger sound stage, and apparent brighter tonality until I adjusted. .... The new cable is nothing like that. The soundstage is a different prospect, and it does not sound bright. Straight off I thought what What HiFi said of first impressions. Not brightness like and need time to adjust. More warmth with the new cable, if not a bit murky. It's not What HiFi leading me either, because I looked at the review again after I made the adapters. However now the new adapters are either running in, or I am adjusting. As What HiFi said, it has opened up. The new adapter cable is faster also in some regard. … You know it's right when you just switch off and listen. It doesn't sound murky any more. It sounds impactful and resolute. The TT2 is just drifting away over the air-con. Very smooth - but not fall asleep smooth. Not heavy warm - 'hell's teeth' cymbals are off the charts.

In other words a completely different immediate impression between my previous electrical copper wires, and Audioquest Rocket 22. Unmistakable.

However it's like I concluded before. At least if you buy reviewed cable, and all reviewers are the same, then you know what you're buying. .... Nothing wrong with buying something like Neotech hook-up cable though. Had my eyes on it for a long time. … If I buy more expensive cable to make adapters in the future, I will not use unreviewed hook-up cable. I will buy reviewed cable so I know exactly what I am getting.