[DJJEZ]

I'm not sure I'm looking for a single "right" headphone, but instead several that each do a couple things well. I'm really happy with vocals and instrumentals on the HD650, and I may get an HD800 for resolution and soundstage and LCD-2 (possibly closed) for thunderous bass and relaxed sound. I've demoed the Empyreans and liked them, but I'd have to put almost all my eggs in a basket to afford it, kind of like I did with the 1266. If you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

I agree with you. It's better to have a few headphones to cover bases not just 1. Have you considered hifiman? I'm a massive fan of their comfort and sound quality

 

[rkt31]

This is misconception that expensive source requires expensive headphones. Source should be as transparent as possible without being analytical which tt2 is. Now you need a headphone which is able to reproduce all the details without making the details analytical. Hd650 and hd600 are perfect for that, even though slightly on warmer side. R70x is even better match with tt2 and can be the end game for perfect musical journey. Abyss headphones were measured by asr and those performed extremely poor specially in distortion. So expensive is not always better. If at all one want to have planar sound, hifiman arya abd susvara are better and even lot cheaper gold planar offerings are even more vfm.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I'm not sure I'm looking for a single "right" headphone, but instead several that each do a couple things well. I'm really happy with vocals and instrumentals on the HD650, and I may get an HD800 for resolution and soundstage and LCD-2 (possibly closed) for thunderous bass and relaxed sound. I've demoed the Empyreans and liked them, but I'd have to put almost all my eggs in a basket to afford it, kind of like I did with the 1266. If you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

ZMF Aeolus and Verite if you prize that natural sound, great vocals. I've pretty much kept only Sennheisers and ZMFs. They pair very well with the TT2 amp.

 

[Mh996]

ZMF Aeolus and Verite if you prize that natural sound, great vocals. I've pretty much kept only Sennheisers and ZMFs. They pair very well with the TT2 amp.

I've heard that they're great counterparts to Sennheisers, plus the driver reliability on ZMFs are second to none. Unfortunately, no one in the Atlanta area has demo units available. Hey, maybe my next impulse purchase will be airfare to Irvine for next month's CanJam, lol. But thank you for the recommendation!

I agree with you. It's better to have a few headphones to cover bases not just 1. Have you considered hifiman? I'm a massive fan of their comfort and sound quality

Despite the migration to the Arya, I've stayed interested in the HEKV2, both for aesthetics and their supposedly etching out the Arya while having a smoother signature. But I'd probably buy used. I know a lot of people don't have issues with driver failures in the higher end models, but I'm hesitant to buy something out-of-warranty and have something break a year down the road. Have you owned the V2?

 

[miketlse]

I've heard that they're great counterparts to Sennheisers, plus the driver reliability on ZMFs are second to none. Unfortunately, no one in the Atlanta area has demo units available. Hey, maybe my next impulse purchase will be airfare to Irvine for next month's CanJam, lol. But thank you for the recommendation!


Despite the migration to the Arya, I've stayed interested in the HEKV2, both for aesthetics and their supposedly etching out the Arya while having a smoother signature. But I'd probably buy used. I know a lot of people don't have issues with driver failures in the higher end models, but I'm hesitant to buy something out-of-warranty and have something break a year down the road. Have you owned the V2?

You have my sympathies during this covid impacted period.
Probably an airfare to Irvine is the best/cheapest option solution for you.
It could certainly pay for itself, by preventing you buying headphones about which you are unsure (ie not 100% sure) about, and narrowing your search to a few specific models or vendors.

 

[dcpillai]

Thanks for the suggestion to get in touch with Chord. I have done so and am waiting for them to revert. As for your suggestion to use TOSLINK, I will try that out too in the meantime. Once I find out what the issue is, I will post an update here.

I did not find the manual very helpful. It is a tad light on detail. I also found it strange that the light blue / cyan light (which was activated when I plugged in two digital sources via BNC 1 and BNC 2) is not specifically addressed in the manual.

Appreciate the suggestions!

This was the reply that I got from Chord:

"The M-scaler is detecting them as dual data because they have the same clock speed. To remedy this, you can’t have them both running on BNC at the same time and would need to use another input option on M-scaler for one of them. Performance on toslink should be identical for a CD player."

I will try this out and hope it works!

 

[Malevolent]

I'd just like to say that I'm a proud and delighted owner of a new Chord Hugo TT 2. Long story short - I actually purchased an Yggdrasil and a Ragnarok 2 from Schiit in February of this year. However, owing to an incredible chain of delays, I have since cancelled my order, and I purchased the Chord instead; the latter arrived within 3 days.

I have a Mojo and a Hugo 2, too, so the Hugo TT 2 is a natural evolution of my listening preferences (as far as DACs are concerned). So far, I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.

 

[Slim1970]

I'd just like to say that I'm a proud and delighted owner of a new Chord Hugo TT 2. Long story short - I actually purchased an Yggdrasil and a Ragnarok 2 from Schiit in February of this year. However, owing to an incredible chain of delays, I have since cancelled my order, and I purchased the Chord instead; the latter arrived within 3 days.

I have a Mojo and a Hugo 2, too, so the Hugo TT 2 is a natural evolution of my listening preferences (as far as DACs are concerned). So far, I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.

Congrats on the purchase!

 

[mammal]

I have a Mojo and a Hugo 2, too, so the Hugo TT 2 is a natural evolution of my listening preferences (as far as DACs are concerned). So far, I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.

So, when are you getting Dave then?

 

[silversurfer616]

So, when are you getting Dave then?

Natural progression would be Mscaler.
It was for me…within 4 week of purchase of TT2, I got the Mscaler as well. Dave is too ugly for me…there’s a limit!

 

[Rebel Chris]

Dave is too ugly for me…there’s a limit!

Haha...no that knob..

 

[mammal]

Dave is too ugly for me…there’s a limit!

I just wish Chord digital gear had more consistent UX. Take their balls for example. Mojo's balls rotate on all axis and glow in colour, like Hugo 2's, except those only rotate on 1 axis, and TT2 rotate on all axis, but don't glow. Why don't all of them have Mojo's balls, I don't understand.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I'd just like to say that I'm a proud and delighted owner of a new Chord Hugo TT 2. Long story short - I actually purchased an Yggdrasil and a Ragnarok 2 from Schiit in February of this year. However, owing to an incredible chain of delays, I have since cancelled my order, and I purchased the Chord instead; the latter arrived within 3 days.

I have a Mojo and a Hugo 2, too, so the Hugo TT 2 is a natural evolution of my listening preferences (as far as DACs are concerned). So far, I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.

Me too. I just bought a Chord Hugo TT2 and I absolutely love it. I, too, started with a Chord Mojo and Hugo 2. This is so well designed and the sound is phenomenal. Seriously thinking about picking up an m scaler as well now.

 

[silversurfer616]

I just wish Chord digital gear had more consistent UX. Take their balls for example. Mojo's balls rotate on all axis and glow in colour, like Hugo 2's, except those only rotate on 1 axis, and TT2 rotate on all axis, but don't glow. Why don't all of them have Mojo's balls, I don't understand.

Yes, we Europeans like consistency in our product evolution. Dave just doesn’t cut it for me in the looks department…no matter how good the sound.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I just wish Chord digital gear had more consistent UX. Take their balls for example. Mojo's balls rotate on all axis and glow in colour, like Hugo 2's, except those only rotate on 1 axis, and TT2 rotate on all axis, but don't glow. Why don't all of them have Mojo's balls, I don't understand.

Owning all three, I don't have a problem with it. Having the balls at all is its signature. I had no problem understanding all of the features without having to read the manual.