[dawktah2]

They did make an announcement recently saying it invalidated the guarantee. They may not have updated the manual yet.

I've never connected speakers to mine and poignant never will.

If I was going to use an amp with the TT2, it would be something with tubes and color. That would make a lot more sense to me given my experience with it. I would then be able to use the TT2 for that clean solid state sound and the tube amp for something different.

It doesn't make sense to add something like a monoprice THX amp in front of the TT2. Why would you add power to something already more than powerful enough and then just end up attenuating the source signal? Surely you are hearing less of what the TT2 is putting out in that case. If you enjoy that, more power to you, but it's not wrong to advise against it.

If you're going to use an amp with the TT2 and use the amp's volume control, you might be better off getting a MScaler+Qutest, that would make more sense to me.

I'm planning on Woo Audio 3ES

 

[nwavesailor]

Forgive a silly question, but you are saying you have an adapter that connects your headphones to the back of the TT2 via XLR? You then use the TT2 in AMP mode, correct? Are these adapters available commercially or is it more of a homemade workaround? So, to clarify it is like a Y-Connector with 4-Pin XLR to a L and R XLR?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Balanced-4...var=471539187252&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

@InstantSilence had this E-Bay version. I am having Trevor at Norne make one for my TT2

 

[ra990]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Balanced-4-Pin-XLR-Female-to-DUAL-3-Pin-XLR-Female-Adapter-OPTIONS-cable/172753914520?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=471539187252&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

@InstantSilence had this E-Bay version. I am having Trevor at Norne make one for my TT2

Whatever cable you get, just make sure they don't short pins 1 and 3 together on the 3pin XLR. Some adapters (from ebay and amazon) do that and I've had a previous TT2 unit literally crackle and pop when I plugged it in. Probably a good idea to ensure whoever is building your cable knows that. Just use two pins on the TT2, specifically 2 and 3 for balanced.

 

[nwavesailor]

mistake post

 

[nwavesailor]

That’s been my strategy too, as I mostly have 300ohm ZMFs and Sennheisers. While they all sound great directly, I like them even more on the Pro iCAN solid state mode, so I will probably hold onto it for that reason, and move up to a better tube amp eventually, like the Pendant or the Glenn OTL I ordered long ago.

My Pendant paired nicely with the TT2 and ZMF VO but was a bit short of power using susvaras. I sold the Pendant and bought the Biggerr Ben

 

[jarnopp]

I prefer a TT2’s with a high-quality tube amp over the internal amp.

You mean “ in addition to” since you cannot bypass the internal D/A “amp” stage.

 

[ra990]

There's a nice thread on headphones dot com about the TT2 with a review that tried all the outputs, which I haven't seen before.
https://forum.headphones.com/t/chord-hugo-tt-2/2436/136

 

[Audioraider]

You mean “ in addition to” since you cannot bypass the internal D/A “amp” stage.

All Dacs have an analog amp stage.

 

[rkt31]

I agree. There are benefits to both depending on the headphones and the impedance of those headphones. Because of the low impedance of the internal amp, the TT2 is not always going to be the best choice with all headphones.

Rather low output impedance can drive any headphones. High output impedance can't drive all headphones specially low impedance headphones. It's like you are trying to start your car from 8xAA cells instead of your 12v car battery.

 

[Audioraider]

There's a nice thread on headphones dot com about the TT2 with a review that tried all the outputs, which I haven't seen before.
https://forum.headphones.com/t/chord-hugo-tt-2/2436/136

It’s an interesting review, seems a little strange to use a Kludge DIY OTL amp. Not surprising it sounded rolled off. A lot of it was also regurgitated information from the Chord website. There are two other very interesting reviews above that I find dead on to what I’m hearing with a TT2. It’s A great thread overall as I believe it gives a far more balanced view of the TT2 then what I’m reading on headfi. I encourage anyone contemplating the purchase of a TT2 to read that thread all the way through.

 

[Audioraider]

My Pendant paired nicely with the TT2 and ZMF VO but was a bit short of power using susvaras. I sold the Pendant and bought the Biggerr Ben

Absolutely phenomenal amplifier! Congratulations

 

[Audioraider]

Rather low output impedance can drive any headphones. High output impedance can't drive all headphones specially low impedance headphones. It's like you are trying to start your car from 8xAA cells instead of your 12v car battery.

Just because low impedance can drive a headphone doesn’t mean it can do it well. Along with that almost all high end tube headphone amps can switch between low and high impedance. A perfect example of this is the Utopia. Out of a low impedance solid-state amp it is unlistenable in my opinion. Metallic tone, rolled off bass and a ridiculously small soundstage. Run it out of a high-quality tube amp with 10 to 20 ohms output impedance and the instruments lose their metallic tone and sound more realistic, the measured bass extends 4-6db and the soundstage expands substantially. Another example would be most Sennheiser‘s and once you hear a ZMF headphone out of a good tube amp you can never go back.

 

[ra990]

Just because low impedance can drive a headphone doesn’t mean it can do it well. Along with that almost all high end tube headphone amps can switch between low and high impedance. A perfect example of this is the Utopia. Out of a low impedance solid-state amp it is unlistenable in my opinion. Metallic tone, rolled off bass and a ridiculously small soundstage. Run it out of a high-quality tube amp with 10 to 20 ohms output impedance and the instruments lose their metallic tone and sound more realistic, the measured bass extends 4-6db and the soundstage expands substantially.

Agree with you on Utopia really coming alive out of tube amps. My favorite pairing was driving them out of the Woo WA8, made them sound like the top tier headphone they are supposed to be.

 

[Audioraider]

Agree with you on Utopia really coming alive out of tube amps. My favorite pairing was driving them out of the Woo WA8, made them sound like the top tier headphone they are supposed to be.

It sounds amazing out of the Woo WA8! I have never owned WA8 but was able to spend a few days with that combination and that is what convinced me to buy the utopia in the first place. Best portable setup I have ever heard.

 

[rkt31]

Just because low impedance can drive a headphone doesn’t mean it can do it well. Along with that almost all high end tube headphone amps can switch between low and high impedance. A perfect example of this is the Utopia. Out of a low impedance solid-state amp it is unlistenable in my opinion. Metallic tone, rolled off bass and a ridiculously small soundstage. Run it out of a high-quality tube amp with 10 to 20 ohms output impedance and the instruments lose their metallic tone and sound more realistic, the measured bass extends 4-6db and the soundstage expands substantially.

So you mean to say they design headphones to be driven by high output impedance amp that's why chord dacs low output impedance does not sound good ? Rob watts once said through chord dacs your headphones has just been driven correctly due to ultra low output impedance. Imo it's only the matter how early you get accustomed to uncolored sound of ultra low distortion ultra low output impedance chord dacs. It can be calculated that how increase of even few ohms of output impedance can change the frequency response of headphones depending upon the frequency vs impedance curve of that headphones. So ultra low impedance of chord dacs ensures that there is no affect of output impedance on headphones. Through other dacs/amps, having more output impedance what you here is the change in frequency response which you can't avoid except to have very low output impedance.