Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[Pashmeister]

Upgrade cables do make a difference in my listening. THAT BEING SAID: This part is the audiophile/trying to reach nirvana in us. Is the difference night and day? NO. Is it subtle. Probably. To parrot others. If it works for you go with it.

Speaking of cables, I see you use a Wave Stream for TT2. I am not yet ready to spend that much on bnc cables but I am interested in finding out what are good cost effective alternatives. Have you tried less expensive alternatives that sounded also very good in comparison to wave cables?

 

[Icenine2]

These did make a difference that I could hear and significantly. That goes for quality USB cable too. Of course this is me. Someone else will tell you they bought all on Amazon for under $100 and makes no difference.
What I did was keep an eye on used Wave's which is what I bought. Did the same for USB. Saved myself a ton of money.
Right before I decided to buy the MScaler I started looking. Took a few months.

 

[Gadget67]

Speaking of cables, I see you use a Wave Stream for TT2. I am not yet ready to spend that much on bnc cables but I am interested in finding out what are good cost effective alternatives. Have you tried less expensive alternatives that sounded also very good in comparison to wave cables?

I’m a big fan of batteries and optical cable. Once I began using a battery for my M-Scaler, I couldn’t go back. It may be a bit inconvenient for some but the improvement is very significant IMHO.

 

[Icenine2]

Doesn't that void the warranty?

 

[Pashmeister]

I’m a big fan of batteries and optical cable. Once I began using a battery for my M-Scaler, I couldn’t go back. It may be a bit inconvenient for some but the improvement is very significant IMHO.

I definitely believe that clean power such as those from batteries can really make a difference. I don’t use M Scaler though, as I have gone the route of HQPlayer + SRC-DX dual bnc into TT2 and this has been one of the more significant SQ upgrades I made recently. And I dare not use a different power supply for TT2. I am aware though that upgrading my furutech bnc cables to a Wave or Black Cat can result in improvements, but I am just not yet ready to jump to 1k+ cables yet. I know I will get there eventually when the hobby poison spreads further but I hope to be able to first try to find a way to test one my BNC cables are built locally with excellent parts and I would love/hate to eventually find out that my inexpensive bnc cables have been super excellent all along!

 

[zenlisten]

Upgrade cables do make a difference in my listening. THAT BEING SAID: This part is the audiophile/trying to reach nirvana in us. Is the difference night and day? NO. Is it subtle. Probably. To parrot others. If it works for you go with it.

Same here. Cables definitely make a subtle difference which can be in specific cases really beneficial.

I'm not great at A/B testing as music effects me in present time so much I cannot fully recall a previous memory and compare the current experience to it. However, when looking for specific parts of tracks I could easily hear cable differences via the M Scaler + TT2. I find it surprising that this is even a question.

 

[RCC HD Sound]

I am aware though that upgrading my furutech bnc cables to a Wave or Black Cat can result in improvements, but I am just not yet ready to jump to 1k+ cables yet. I know I will get there eventually when the hobby poison spreads further but I hope to be able to first try to find a way to test one

It is the same that happens to me with the cable for the headphones, ..... I knew you understood.
The big difference is that I live at the end of the world, in CHILE, where it is impossible to do a hearing test of this cable, because they do not exist in any market ...
And I'm not ready to jump to 1k on headphone cable either

 

[Pashmeister]

It is the same that happens to me with the cable for the headphones, ..... I knew you understood.
The big difference is that I live at the end of the world, in CHILE, where it is impossible to do a hearing test of this cable, because they do not exist in any market ...
And I'm not ready to jump to 1k on headphone cable either

Yes I absolutely understand and I apologize if I sounded like I wasn’t welcoming of your asking of people’s opinions on headphone cables. Do cables help improve the sound quality — This is where there’s plenty of opposing opinions and it’s easy to get lost. My opinion is that there can be sonic differences depending on the quality of the cable, material (copper vs silver), quality of the connectors, etc. Before discussing ‘improvements’, the audiophile community cannot even agree yet on whether there are any audible differences at all.

How much of an improvement, if any? - While I think there can be sonic differences, whether it is an improvement can also be subjective e.g. some people feel that a change in cable may affect the warmth of the sound signature. For this subset of audiophiles, some will view this difference as an improvement and some won’t like it. And then there’s the question of whether this level of improvement is commensurate to the cost of the cable. I think those who invest in headphone cables are aware that any improvements are really very minimal compared to changes to the rest of the chain. For me, even if I feel that cables make a difference, I’d say that the (debatable) sonic difference is really minimal for the price one will pay. But as with the hobby people seem to become more willing to shell out 1k on cables when they already spent ~15k on everything else.

Also, for those who think headphone cables make a difference, there’s discussion on synergy with headphones as well. I have not owned any LCDs, so I cannot say. But there are those who prefer upgraded copper cables in their Empyrean, and those who prefer silver Norne Cables for their Susvaras. I think each dedicated head-fi forum topic on these cans would have some discussion on cable pairings as well. What I notice though is there’s little discussion on how a headphone cable pairs to a DAC/Amp; perhaps because any effect a headphone cable will have will be on the headphones themselves, while cables that can affect the sound for TT2 would be the choice of USB cables, interconnects, optical or coax cables (and that’s an even bigger can of worms!).

 

[GreenBow]

Of course cabling makes a difference, or we'd all be using old-fashioned wire coat-hangers.

 

[RCC HD Sound]

Yes I absolutely understand and I apologize if I sounded like I wasn’t welcoming of your asking of people’s opinions on headphone cables. Do cables help improve the sound quality — This is where there’s plenty of opposing opinions and it’s easy to get lost. My opinion is that there can be sonic differences depending on the quality of the cable, material (copper vs silver), quality of the connectors, etc. Before discussing ‘improvements’, the audiophile community cannot even agree yet on whether there are any audible differences at all.

How much of an improvement, if any? - While I think there can be sonic differences, whether it is an improvement can also be subjective e.g. some people feel that a change in cable may affect the warmth of the sound signature. For this subset of audiophiles, some will view this difference as an improvement and some won’t like it. And then there’s the question of whether this level of improvement is commensurate to the cost of the cable. I think those who invest in headphone cables are aware that any improvements are really very minimal compared to changes to the rest of the chain. For me, even if I feel that cables make a difference, I’d say that the (debatable) sonic difference is really minimal for the price one will pay. But as with the hobby people seem to become more willing to shell out 1k on cables when they already spent ~15k on everything else.

Also, for those who think headphone cables make a difference, there’s discussion on synergy with headphones as well. I have not owned any LCDs, so I cannot say. But there are those who prefer upgraded copper cables in their Empyrean, and those who prefer silver Norne Cables for their Susvaras. I think each dedicated head-fi forum topic on these cans would have some discussion on cable pairings as well. What I notice though is there’s little discussion on how a headphone cable pairs to a DAC/Amp; perhaps because any effect a headphone cable will have will be on the headphones themselves, while cables that can affect the sound for TT2 would be the choice of USB cables, interconnects, optical or coax cables (and that’s an even bigger can of worms!).

Thank you very much for your opinion, is what I imagined about it

 

[robo24]

I'm cable agnostic primarily because I don't trust my memory in the time it takes to swap cables, which is also an issue for me in evaluating tubes and different pads but with those I can usually detect some differences despite the time gap. I have a science background and understand the ideal comparison would be double-blind, with 2 exact same headphones with only different cables (which the TT2 makes easy with 2 1/4" ports) swapped very quickly. But when I read things like because of measurements, all DACs should sound about the same, well that's complete nonsense and the differences either can't be measured objectively or simply are not as if the other measurements suffice. I can also compare 2 headphones or DACs using iPhone db meter apps, and for me, there was no trouble detecting significant presentations and jumps in overall enjoyment from the Mojo to H2 to TT2 and several other DACs I've had. Just increasing volume on the inferior DAC has never changed the presentation and staging and therefore has never just fooled me into thinking it's better because it's louder, so I don't feel something more precise to volume match is really needed.

However, what I don't understand, is if the metal used from where the cable attaches to the headphones and goes to the driver is just whatever it is, why would properties of the cable up until that point be retained once the signal passes to different metal/cable material inside the headphone? Is the thought that signals arriving at the connector would be fundamentally different based on cable material/shielding/etc. and that difference would remain to some degree because there would be differences in signals from the connectors to the drivers just from how it arrives at the connector?

 

[AudioCats]

..... if the metal used from where the cable attaches to the headphones and goes to the driver is just whatever it is, why would properties of the cable up until that point be retained once the signal passes to different metal/cable material inside the headphone? Is the thought that signals arriving at the connector would be fundamentally different based on cable material/shielding/etc. and that difference would remain to some degree because there would be differences in signals from the connectors to the drivers just from how it arrives at the connector?

it is more than just the conductor material. The capacitance makes as much different as well. I guess a cable is an infinite # of LRC elements linked together:
....-L-R .....
.... |
.....C.....
.... |
....-L-R-....

when conductor is changed, every section's inductance and resistance element changes. Change insulation or thickness of it changes the Capacitance. It acts as a filter. what is filtered out is no longer there in the next stage.

 

[DJJEZ]

Selling my TT2 if anyone is interested

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/chord-tt2-black-mint-condition.7894/

 

[Slim1970]

Selling my TT2 if anyone is interested

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/chord-tt2-black-mint-condition.7894/

You choose the Dave?

 

[DJJEZ]

You choose the Dave?

Yes i love the DAVE But I also have a holo may KTE incoming so gonna spend alot of time comparing lol