[Ragnar-BY]

I wouldn't be surprised if I found similar results using ZMF VO or Empy's

Same here. I use my Empyreans with SE 1/4 output - plenty of power. But when it comes to inefficient headphones rear XLRs are doing better job.

 

[ra990]

The XLR outs definitely are better if you have headphones that like power. I did plenty of A/Bing when I had the Abyss and now with the Susvara. They're noticeably more punchy with the additional power that you can tap into. I do wish the TT3 would just put a balanced output on the front and leave it up to the user to choose.

 

[jrakesh]

From all possible upgrades ferrited BNC cables is one of the most effective.

What kind of improvement did you notice with those cables? And what brand of BNC cables are you referring to?

 

[Ragnar-BY]

What kind of improvement did you notice with those cables? And what brand of BNC cables are you referring to?

Ferrited cables give you darker tonality, better dynamic, better articulated lows, smoother highs and very well defined small details. With HMS ferrited cable pair is a game changer.

I use Wave Storm now. I’ve made DIY cables earlier. My DIY cables had similar effect, but not to the same extent.

 

[Amberlamps]

I would suggest contacting Chord directly on this. Constantly bringing this up in the forum no longer seems helpful since Chord appears to have decided not to provide any information here. (If you do contact Chord, please feel free to share the information they provide.)

I would love to hear from Anyone at @ChordElectronics or @Rob Watts as to what is the cause of this LOUD clicking sound, I’ve narrowed down the location, it seems to come from the right hand side, beside the supacaps, or possibly just behind them, or where the power cable enters TT2. I’ve had over a year of it clicking and then “repaired” and it’s pissing me right off now.

I do not believe that nobody at chord knows what the cause is, as the clicks are so loud it’s impossible not to know, could it be relays ? if the relays are what we hear when turning TT2 on, then no, the clicks I’m hearing are not those.

Think of a Zippo lighter, play with the lid and snap it back and forth and then you get an idea of how loud the clicks are.

I’ve said my piece, and if chord are happy to keep handing out new motherboards for TT2 for the next 5 years, I would be happy with that as a solution, as by then it will go in beside all of my other old schit that never gets used again. Or I could get money for recycling the case, it’s just a pity that its AL YOU MIN YUM and not made of copper.

 

[Hooster]

I’ve had over a year of it clicking and then “repaired” and it’s pissing me right off now.

If you were in my home town I would buy you lunch. You have saved me a lot of money and possibly aggravation. Thank you.

 

[nwavesailor]

The XLR outs definitely are better if you have headphones that like power. I did plenty of A/Bing when I had the Abyss and now with the Susvara. They're noticeably more punchy with the additional power that you can tap into. I do wish the TT3 would just put a balanced output on the front and leave it up to the user to choose.

Gotta like 'More Punchy'!

 

[varadero xl1000v]

My experience with it connected to the Pro iCAN via RCA & XLR at the same time, in DAC mode is that I can't hear any difference. When I switch inputs it is instantaneous. A couple times I convinced myself that maybe there's a little something extra via XLR but then I switch to the single ended input and it's exactly the same. Since I just got an adapter, tried in amp mode high gain via XLR direct to headphones and didn't see any benefit with the headphones I have.

The same thing happens to me. I connected the Chord Hugo tt2 with my integrated amplifier with xlr, and at the same time with rca. During my momentary shift I did not hear any difference. I used all the dac configurations, the result was the same.

 

[Hooster]

Driving an integrated amplifier which should have an input impedance of tens of thousands of ohms is easy and it stands to reason that no difference between the single ended and balanced outputs is audible. Driving headphones with an input impedance of less than 50 ohms is something else entirely and the benefits reported by users of low efficiency low impedance headphones are entirely plausible. All the more reason to have a balanced headphone output on the front of the unit where it would actually do some good, rather than sticking a balanced output the back where it is almost pointless and forces headphone users who want to take advantage of it to use special cables/adapters.

 

[Whazzzup]

Clearly not, since:
a) To many people it sounds best using the balanced outputs.
b) It has a redundant 1/4 socket on the front.
c) Wiring up a balanced headphone output on the front would be a piece of cake and to not have done so from the get go is to me an oversight.
d) A future version will most likely have a balanced headphone output on the front. (Why? Because it sounds better and is that not the whole point?)
e) "Chord is an se dac, end of. It’s designed like this on purpose". Who cares? This is about getting the best possible sound out of the equipment, not design dogma.

Who cares have at it, one year you will own a Dave or a tt, no 4 pin, both se dac. or maybe rob designers a balanced dac? Either way it’s neither here nor there,

 

[griff500]

If you were in my home town I would buy you lunch. You have saved me a lot of money and possibly aggravation. Thank you.

You realise there are huge numbers of people that have had no issues...

 

[GreenBow]

Guys, reasonably, after selecting the headphone(s) you want (50% - I am going to arbitrarily assign this percentage to the difference it makes to the sound quality), the amp you want (30%?), the DAC you want (15%), the upscaler (4%), just how much "significant improvement" can there be left?

I mean, with the M-Scaler the improvement is audible, but we are talking about the very last percentage, pretty much last percentage on some tracks. I am wondering what on Earth is left to still allow for audible, let alone "significant" improvements via ferrites with garden hose accessories, linear PSUs, power conditioners, and now... Ethernet regenerators!

Don't get me wrong, I asked about after-market PSUs because safety could be a consideration (does the stock one cause TT2 failures), I know there are aesthetic and ergonomic reasons for changing other stock parts in the chain, cables etc., but I think with the Ethernet regeneration unit at €600 I reached some sort of disbelief point. And then there's some older Dutch fellow on YouTube speaking with authority making it sound like without it you might as well listen to AM radio...

Unless you genuinely have a crap electrical system in your house that is adding noise, etc., are you sure these things are not just changing the sound signature, adding distortion as Rob says with adding external amplifiers, instead of actually "significantly" improving sound quality?

Not sure anyone has any info on the stock TT2 PSU being the cause of any problems.

Having said that, Rob told us it may be related to instances of the PSU putting out more than 4A. What I meant was, no-one has shown any info that shows it's the PSU that caused the fault. Without the perceived fault, it would not matter if the PSU was giving more than 4A.

 

[nwavesailor]

You realise there are huge numbers of people that have had no issues...

I'm sure that is true. My TT2 was flawless for 8 months......... and then it wasn't!
I expect the repair to resolve my no start issue and my unit will operate flawlessly once again. I have been fine using a Qutest for a fill in DAC, but will be happy to have my TT2 back.

Anything can fail at anytime in life.

 

[griff500]

Anything can fail at anytime in life.

Very true, which is why good Companies are defined by how they handle such issues.

 

[Gadget67]

You realise there are huge numbers of people that have had no issues...

I was very reluctant initially to purchase my Focal Utopia headphones because of the relatively high instance of driver failures. They extended the warranty to five years and have (to my knowledge) worked diligently to address all the issues. Chord (to my knowledge) has been addressing customer issues. I’ll be upset (ok...furious) if my Focal headphones fail, but I know they will be fixed. I WASN’T aware of issues with the TT2 when I purchased that, but I’m confident the issues will (eventually) be addressed. For many, this is a significant purchase and they have every right to be upset with device failure especially if it’s a known issue that goes unaddressed while the device is still for sale.

I accept that any electronic device can fail; Chord is well aware of the clicking/inrush limiter/power supply problems and I’m sure Covid is impacting their ability to solve this as quickly as they would like. So far I have no issues and I’m fortunate to have back up devices to use if something does happen. Now, for those who really had to extend themselves financially I can totally understand their angst. Complaining in forums like this is to be expected, even encouraged. Chord knows users are unhappy and will take their business elsewhere if things don’t improve; it doesn’t hurt to remind them of that.