Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[dawktah2]

nice one, thanks.

Surely it depends on the size of the plane and number of passengers? If it's a heavily booked domestic flight they may ask for volunteers or insist passengers store cabin luggage in the hold if space is tight. I would not assume they will let you put it overhead on board. This situation happened to me many times virtually always on short flights. It's unlikely but imagine your TT2 being bashed about downstairs. I would opt for a courier. You may think i am exaggerating but i'm not.

Do you know airline, route and cabin if you want to disclose. I'm aviation enthusiast so I can give you a good idea of overhead size. Feel free to PM

 

[k3kz]

Argh. I use an integrated amp that shorts its inputs when turned off or switched to a different input.
I noticed yesterday that when i turned the amp off while music was still playing on the TT2, it began clicking and displayed "OT L" - it apparently was overheating from playing into a short circuit. Immediately turned the music off.
Hope i didnt break anything...

 

[jarnopp]

Argh. I use an integrated amp that shorts its inputs when turned off or switched to a different input.
I noticed yesterday that when i turned the amp off while music was still playing on the TT2, it began clicking and displayed "OT L" - it apparently was overheating from playing into a short circuit. Immediately turned the music off.
Hope i didnt break anything...

Which outputs were connected to the amp inputs?

 

[k3kz]

Which outputs were connected to the amp inputs?

The rca line outs.

 

[jarnopp]

The rca line outs.

If it sounds fine now, then probably not. Is it possible to mute the amp before you turn it off?

 

[k3kz]

If it sounds fine now, then probably not. Is it possible to mute the amp before you turn it off?

If you mute the amp it also shorts the input. just have to remember not to do this (turn off amp while tt is playing into it)...
It sounds fine. Couldn't hear a difference so far.

 

[rkt31]

As a future user of tt2 with HMS I am planning to get furutech FX alpha AG coaxial cable made with furutech FP110 G RCA plugs as BNC connectors of furutech are not available easily. I will then use BNC to RCA adaptors. Will these adaptors degrade sound quality ? Anybody using these BNC to RCA adaptors ?

 

[Triode User]

As a future user of tt2 with HMS I am planning to get furutech FX alpha AG coaxial cable made with furutech FP110 G RCA plugs as BNC connectors of furutech are not available easily. I will then use BNC to RCA adaptors. Will these adaptors degrade sound quality ? Anybody using these BNC to RCA adaptors ?

Furutech make good quality BNC connectors at a variety of price points but the cheaper FP-3-117(R) have the same internals as many of the more expensive varieties and are a very good BNC connector. They are usually readily available.

 

[Qute Beats]

Do you know airline, route and cabin if you want to disclose. I'm aviation enthusiast so I can give you a good idea of overhead size. Feel free to PM

thanks for offer, PM sent

 

[Qute Beats]

Surely it depends on the size of the plane and number of passengers? If it's a heavily booked domestic flight they may ask for volunteers or insist passengers store cabin luggage in the hold if space is tight. I would not assume they will let you put it overhead on board. This situation happened to me many times virtually always on short flights. It's unlikely but imagine your TT2 being bashed about downstairs. I would opt for a courier. You may think i am exaggerating but i'm not.

I've had aggro with RyanAir (as have many I'm sure!). Going with Flybe for this one, been OK with them before so fingers crossed.

 

[George Hincapie]

I've had aggro with RyanAir (as have many I'm sure!). Going with Flybe for this one, been OK with them before so fingers crossed.

This is all getting very complicated. Make it simple. Buy one of these in the correct size, put it in the hold and stop stressing.

Ryan Air are crap - you couldn't pay me to fly with those clowns.

 

[Qute Beats]

This is all getting very complicated. Make it simple. Buy one of these in the correct size, put it in the hold and stop stressing.

Ryan Air are ****e - you couldn't pay me to fly with those clowns.

Nice case.

 

[dawktah2]

This is all getting very complicated. Make it simple. Buy one of these in the correct size, put it in the hold and stop stressing.

Ryan Air are ****e - you couldn't pay me to fly with those clowns.

Qute Beats, I sent you a PM. I use Pelican Cases very similar to above, have close to 20 of them of various sizes and uses. I was considering using www.pelicanfoam.com to have one to carry-on the TT2 they just don't have one close enough to its size. I'm planning on going to CanJam London and originally was going to take it with, until I learned you cannot buy anything at show.

 

[musickid]

I finally got to have a good listen to an mscaled TT2 last Friday at Nintronics in Welwyn Garden City U.K. A big thankyou to Adam and all the staff at Nintronics for a wonderful sunny musical afternoon without any trace of artificial sales pressure. My game plan was very simple. My PM1 (which is widely documented to give LCD3 performance at a fraction of the weight hence being 2014/15 headphone of the year was my reference). If the TT2 brought with it only differences that were subtle and wanting to keep my PM1 as one of my main headphones i would then purchase a Sony mdr z1r headphone to compliment the PM1 and use both with my mscaled Hugo2 and not purchase a TT2 for now. The sony has a wider soundstage. This was the expected outcome but boy was i so wrong. The PM1 was also designed to run balanced off the Oppo HA1 amp and so the extra power in high gain on TT2 was to make my PM1 sing like never before. Before the main course if i were to use hugo 2 indefinitely i would be overjoyed as it sings so perfectly. However if in the future i was offered a BMW 1 series vs a BMW 2 series by a prospective company then of course i would go with series 2 but of course the series 1 is also a fine and wordly piece of Deutche engineering. So let us leave the hugo 2 is inferior argument in the bin where it belongs. I can't think of a compact dac of its size anywhere that equals it.


The silver hugo TT2 initially struck me as being rather beautiful and far more than any photo that strained to do it justice. My initial listening was with an mscaled Hugo 2 as this is what i use at home and i need a fresh audible reference in my mind to compare directly with an mscaled TT2. After trying to set up a TT2 which had something wrong with the HP output a brand new one went from cardboard packed to singing in under 2 minutes. I was expecting a subtle difference with my PM1. I was expecting to be slightly moved but in fact the PM1 not only differentiated nicely between mTT2 vs mH2 but brightly illuminated the advantages that TT2 holds over its younger brother. Every thing written here came alive. The PM1 changed from being a passive hyena to a stalking cheetah. I was quite astounded. I was not expecting this. It was just minutes between transferring from mH2 to mTT2. If TT2 was a stunning lady she would be asking me 1) why is my love affair with H2 over and why that heartbreak with that last look? What can one do? Okay the tracks tested on both rigs were as follows. Ana Moura the Portugese fado sensation for female vocals. Yo Yo Ma, Dvorak album, slavonic dance. Esperanza with If That's True a very demanding 7 minute instrumental jazz piece. Finally Mahmut Orhan Turkish Euro house DJ sensation 'Feel' for EDM. That should push things nicely testing most outcomes.


So what does the TT2 do that H2 doesn't do. TT2 plays all genres of music whereas H2 only plays certain genres. Not really this is an 'on' topic joke. The TT2 advantages now listed below are for real:

1) The music is just more dynamic. I can't feel it slowing down or speeding up like i sometimes do with H2 which can strain here or feel like it's walking uphill. The presentation is and demands the listener to accept what he is listening to as real even if the artist is on another planet. The extra current and supercaps implementation result in a very smooth and natural feel to the music.

2) I know this is tongue in cheek but yet another veil is lifted from and as compared to H2. How many veils are left? Seriously though i am totally real here. I have never heard music sound so crystal clear. Shining.

3) Power wow. But not an audible increase in electrical energy as i move the volume ball (so much smoother than H2 volume ball) and as the music became louder it was more than that. With more volume comes more control, more controlled and tight bass at just the right amount. It is visceral and anatomical as i actually felt an adrenaline rush. The musical control was outstanding never faltering. But here comes the good bit. On lowering the volume you loose nothing even if that seems contradictory to what i have just written here. Magic.

4) Ana Moura's vocals were crystal clear. Another level up and something new to me. So this is when Rob talks about more transparency and added warmth.

5) What a refined beast TT2 is. (listening to Sinatra/Jobim 50th anniversary edition right now on mH2). Thanks for reading and thanks to all at Nintronics. (Should have a new TT2 by September to go with my HMS and all looks good and will be using my PM1 with mscaled TT2 and no upgrades for 12 months at least.....!) (Adrian go for a TT2...).

 

[betula]

I finally got to have a good listen to an mscaled TT2 last Friday at Nintronics in Welwyn Garden City U.K. A big thankyou to Adam and all the staff at Nintronics for a wonderful sunny musical afternoon without any trace of artificial sales pressure. My game plan was very simple. My PM1 (which is widely documented to give LCD3 performance at a fraction of the weight hence being 2014/15 headphone of the year was my reference). If the TT2 brought with it only differences that were subtle and wanting to keep my PM1 as one of my main headphones i would then purchase a Sony mdr z1r headphone to compliment the PM1 and use both with my mscaled Hugo2 and not purchase a TT2 for now. The sony has a wider soundstage. This was the expected outcome but boy was i so wrong. The PM1 was also designed to run balanced off the Oppo HA1 amp and so the extra power in high gain on TT2 was to make my PM1 sing like never before. Before the main course if i were to use hugo 2 indefinitely i would be overjoyed as it sings so perfectly. However if in the future i was offered a BMW 1 series vs a BMW 2 series by a prospective company then of course i would go with series 2 but of course the series 1 is also a fine and wordly piece of Deutche engineering. So let us leave the hugo 2 is inferior argument in the bin where it belongs. I can't think of a compact dac of its size anywhere that equals it.


The silver hugo TT2 initially struck me as being rather beautiful and far more than any photo that strained to do it justice. My initial listening was with an mscaled Hugo 2 as this is what i use at home and i need a fresh audible reference in my mind to compare directly with an mscaled TT2. After trying to set up a TT2 which had something wrong with the HP output a brand new one went from cardboard packed to singing in under 2 minutes. I was expecting a subtle difference with my PM1. I was expecting to be slightly moved but in fact the PM1 not only differentiated nicely between mTT2 vs mH2 but brightly illuminated the advantages that TT2 holds over its younger brother. Every thing written here came alive. The PM1 changed from being a passive hyena to a stalking cheetah. I was quite astounded. I was not expecting this. It was just minutes between transferring from mH2 to mTT2. If TT2 was a stunning lady she would be asking me 1) why is my love affair with H2 over and why that heartbreak with that last look? What can one do? Okay the tracks tested on both rigs were as follows. Ana Moura the Portugese fado sensation for female vocals. Yo Yo Ma, Dvorak album, slavonic dance. Esperanza with That's True a very demanding 7 minute instrumental jazz piece. Finally Mahmut Orhan Turkish Euro house DJ sensation 'Feel' for EDM. That should push things nicely testing most outcomes.


So what does the TT2 do that H2 doesn't do. TT2 plays all genres of music whereas H2 only plays certain genres. Not really this is an 'on' topic joke. TT2 advantages now listed below are for real:

1) The music is just more dynamic. I can't feel it slowing down or speeding up like i sometimes do with H2 which can strain here or feel like it's walking uphill. The presentation is and demands the listener to accept what he is listening to as real even if the artist is on another planet. The extra current and supercaps implementation result in a very smooth and natural feel to the music.

2) I know this is tongue in cheek but yet another veil is lifted from and as compared to H2. How many veils are left? Seriously though i am totally real here. I have never heard music sound so crystal clear. Shining.

3) Power wow. But not an audible increase in electrical energy as i moved the volume ball (so much smoother than H2 volume ball) and as the music became louder it was more than that. With more volume comes more control, more controlled and tight bass at just the right amount. It is visceral and anatomical as i actually felt an adrenaline rush. The musical control was outstanding never faltering. But here comes the good bit. On lowering the volume you loose nothing. Magic.

4) Ana Moura's vocals were crystal clear. Another level up and something new to me. So this is when Rob talks about more transparency and added warmth.

5) What a refined beast TT2 is. (listening to Sinatra/Jobim 50th anniversary edition right now on mH2). Thanks for reading and thanks to all at Nintronics. (Should have a new TT2 by September to go with my HMS and all looks good and will be using my PM1 with mscaled TT2 and no upgrades for 12 months at least.....!) (Adrian go for a TT2...).

Made me even more excited for my arriving TT2. Glad I didn't settle with H2 for another 6 months and just went for it.