Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[musickid]

is there much difference between leather vs suede pads on empyrean with regards to comfort? suede didn't do it for me but i'd like to try leather to see if there's an improvement.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

is there much difference between leather vs suede pads on empyrean with regards to comfort? suede didn't do it for me but i'd like to try leather to see if there's an improvement.

Both pads are comfortable. Leather sounds better to me.

 

[betula]

@N Quarter

Give Empy a chance, it worth it. Empyrean is a great example of how TOTL headphones could be comfortable and forgiving for bad recordings. Most comfortable, very enjoyable and absolutely all-purpose high-end headphones to me.

TH-900 were my favorite headphones for few years. Fostex have the biggest and meatiest subbass ever, big and open soundstage and bright treble. If anything in the record is less than ideal, they would scream about it. Although V-shaped sound signature is very fun to listen to, it`s not really natural. I listen to classical music more and more these days and at some point I realized that I need more realistic sound. Empyrean is much more natural when it comes to live performance.

All old flagships like Fostex TH-900, Sennheiser HD800s, Beyerdynamic T1 Gen2 are great headphones. They are the best when it comes to price-performance ratio. But headphone market is developing and those companies don't keep up with it. Focal Utopia, Meze Empyrean, Audeze LCD4, Hifiman HE1000se and other "newer flagships" are much better in regard of pure sound quality. Also, there are even more advanced headphones ("super-flagships"?) like Abyss 1266 and electrostatic like Stax 009s, but I'm not familiar enough with those to give any opinions.

Agreed. Empyrean with a silver cable and a really good DAC/amp is pretty much the best you can get if you are after high performance/detailed sound and musical enjoyment at the same time. With the proper source the Empyrean is really an endgame option with musical enjoyment.

 

[betula]

Both pads are comfortable. Leather sounds better to me.

I prefer leather pads too.
Leather is tighter, punchier, cleaner. It is better with modern music genres.
Alcantara softens the sound and takes away from bass authority. Alcantara is more even, but IMO it is only superior with orchestral and instrumental music due to its softer presentation.
Leather pads rock with modern music for sure. My preference is leather.

 

[tradyblix]

Listen to meze oops that’s for 99 not emporium. before buying. I found it unappealing on chord dacs, and in general. I love my modded th900 and hd800S fantastic compliment.

Yeah, as an owner of both the 99 classics and the Empyrean, they're not comparable. Empyrean actually sounds amazing with a Hugo2, it really helps tame it. Still use warm filter tho.

 

[Afsa]

Agreed. Empyrean with a silver cable and a really good DAC/amp is pretty much the best you can get if you are after high performance/detailed sound and musical enjoyment at the same time. With the proper source the Empyrean is really an endgame option with musical enjoyment.

I have read about the silver cable improving the Empyrean by a lot a few times. Do you know a good cable maker that makes silver cables?

 

[tesarpa]

https://www.lavricables.com
I do not have any of their products, but I heard some good references.

 

[Thieliste]

Did any of you try the Sbooster mkll psu on the TT2 and is it really worth it compared to the original psu ?

 

[musickid]

voids the warranty.

 

[TSAVAlan]

I have had a customer with consistent issues on his Hugo 2 and the only constant was his using and aftermarket PSU. When I spoke with USA distro they confirmed using that voided the warranty. Swapping back to the stock and included PSU resolved basically all his issues.

He commented that the sound wasn't as nice but he would have rather use a H2 that sounded a little worse than one that would constantly stop working and did not want to pay an out of warranty repair.

 

[miketlse]

I have had a customer with consistent issues on his Hugo 2 and the only constant was his using and aftermarket PSU. When I spoke with USA distro they confirmed using that voided the warranty. Swapping back to the stock and included PSU resolved basically all his issues.

He commented that the sound wasn't as nice but he would have rather used a H2 that sounded a little worse than one that would constantly stop working and did not want to pay an out of warranty repair.

Did he also claim that with the supplied PSU, his music sounded dull, and lacked the bright sharp resolution/attack (or words to that effect) provided by the aftermarket PSU?

 

[TSAVAlan]

Did he also claim that with the supplied PSU, his music sounded dull, and lacked the bright sharp resolution/attack (or words to that effect) provided by the aftermarket PSU?

Been over a year since the issues arose so I don't recall his exact comments about the difference in PSU.

 

[miketlse]

Been over a year since the issues arose so I don't recall his exact comments about the difference in PSU.

No problem.

 

[musickid]

where is the search the thread box. it seems to have vanished since the facelift. i am quite reliant on that.

 

[Whazzzup]

Top right