Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[MichRT]

it would be nice to remember that TT2 is a DAC amplifier and that if the amplifier does not receive power, then there will obviously be no sound

That's exactly what I'm saying

It's an assumption, but the missing black box that you referred to as the "remote module" previously, likely has to do with the lack of sound and the lack of the 15v rails. It's all assuming at this point, but my money is on part of the power delivery circuit you need is tucked away in there. Be it transformers, LDOs, heck PNP/NPN transistors - no idea. Since you want the device to work, it would be a good start to put all the pieces together.

Unless you know the circuit and logic well enough, the DAC may hard-mute when it can't find the display. It helps to go over all the possibilities, and that's one I've seen first hand.

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

missing black box that you referred to as the "remote module" previously,

that black thing has a bluetooth antenna and nothing else

ir is located in the same place as the screen

there is nothing else there

and it absolutely does not affect the sound

 

[MichRT]

that black thing has a bluetooth antenna and nothing else

ir is located in the same place as the screen

there is nothing else there

and it absolutely does not affect the sound

all these tips and suggestions are hard to take seriously

This looks more like a joke than a serious discussion.

You're forgetting the 4x solder points on the board as well, underneath the magic black box.

I'm sorry you're having difficulty taking these things seriously. I wish audio system repair was as easy as licking a 9v battery but there's only so much anyone here can do to help you if you don't want to (or can't, which I also understand) provide more background on the system.

Speaking only for myself, I mentioned I do not have intimate knowledge of the TT2 board and schem, but you talk as if you do. If so, great! I wish you luck. If you do not, my suggestion in this and future diagnostics is to only rely on the absolute facts you know. Otherwise you're only hurting yourself and potentially overlooking a solution.

Check the power delivery rails and ICs. Check for test points silk screened on the DAC. The unpopulated pin connector is likely a JST/JTAG/serial interface. You could try probing there. Good luck

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

You're forgetting the 4x solder points on the board as well, underneath the magic black box.

I'm sorry you're having difficulty taking these things seriously. I wish audio system repair was as easy as licking a 9v battery but there's only so much anyone here can do to help you if you don't want to (or can't, which I also understand) provide more background on the system.

Speaking only for myself, I mentioned I do not have intimate knowledge of the TT2 board and schem, but you talk as if you do. If so, great! I wish you luck. If you do not, my suggestion in this and future diagnostics is to only rely on the absolute facts you know. Otherwise you're only hurting yourself and potentially overlooking a solution.

Check the power delivery rails and ICs. Check for test points silk screened on the DAC. The unpopulated pin connector is likely a JST/JTAG/serial interface. You could try probing there. Good luck

those dots are just control points and nothing more

if you open any photo on the internet about tt2
you will see that those dots are not connected to anything at all

there is nothing inside that plastic black thing except a bluetooth antenna

 

[MichRT]

there is nothing inside that plastic black thing except a bluetooth antenna

Funky. Sometimes it helps to work backwards.

You mentioned it doesn't have the "amp", correct? And that it's missing +/- 15v power rails? How did you come to this conclusion? Does the volume LED illuminate correctly when you turn the rotary encoder you added? Might give a clue of where to go next. Another clue would be how this board ended up like this in the first place; We are working with very limited info here

If you mentioned this previously somewhere then please forgive me, I'm only just now seeing this thread.

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

Funky. Sometimes it helps to work backwards.

You mentioned it doesn't have the "amp", correct? And that it's missing +/- 15v power rails? How did you come to this conclusion? Does the volume LED illuminate correctly when you turn the rotary encoder you added? Might give a clue of where to go next. Another clue would be how this board ended up like this in the first place; We are working with very limited info here

If you mentioned this previously somewhere then please forgive me, I'm only just now seeing this thread.

the amplifier is a bunch of transistors on the board - it is there

what is not - is datasheets and documentation about
where +15v and -15v come from

without this information it is difficult to understand what to do next

the encoder works correctly, the colors change correctly
in TT2 there is absolutely the same green encode \ as with and hugo2 \ as hugo1 \ in general, it is not about the encoder

the problem is in the power supply and the fact that there are a bunch of large supercapacitors that do not charge

but how to make them charge I don't know
it seems to me that they should always be charged while it is on

 

[meomap]

T

 

[spanyam]

Hey folks, so I got in a demo unit TT2 earlier this week in awesome condition to see if I should purchase it. Unfortunately, I had the same thing happen that happened to @yaps66 and @meomap, where I started seeing smoke in the unit as soon as I powered it on with nothing but the USB connected and no audio playing (windows drivers installed). I had no headphones or outputs connected in the back.

When I did plug in headphones, all I heard was a loud static, and the whole unit smelled of smoke. Display showed the "DC L" error on power up after each reboot. I'm certain the damage happened after I received it and plugged it in. Thankfully, the owner is able to process the warranty.

But we had a discussion that it could have been an issue with where I plugged it into, which is this Pyle Surge protector I've had for 3+ years: https://pyleusa.com/products/pco860. I got it because of the flexibility and its claim to filter EMI / RFI. It's had no issues thus far, and I have a ton of things connected to it (PC, Monitor, Glenn OTL, Bifrost 2, Phonitor XE, and a couple of peripherals).

I'm ok to replace it with something that offers more guarantees (per-socket fuses, EMI / RFI filtering, and generally being more sturdy), but I don't want to break the bank. At this point, I do have over $10k worth of gear plugged into it if counting headphones, so I am ok to get something better. Any recommendations?

 

[meomap]

Hey folks, so I got a second hand TT2 earlier this week in awesome condition from a trusted community member. Unfortunately, I had the same thing happen that happened to @yaps66 and @meomap, where I started seeing smoke in the unit as soon as I powered it on with nothing but the USB connected and no audio playing (windows drivers installed). I had no headphones or outputs connected in the back.

When I did plug in headphones, all I heard was a loud static, and the whole unit smelled of smoke. Display showed the "DC L" error on power up after each reboot. I'm certain the damage happened after I received it and plugged it in. Thankfully, the seller has been awesome with helping me process the warranty (which is still under their name).

But we had a discussion that it could have been an issue with where I plugged it into, which is this Pyle Surge protector I've had for 3+ years: https://pyleusa.com/products/pco860. I got it because of the flexibility and its claim to filter EMI / RFI. It's had no issues thus far, and I have a ton of things connected to it (PC, Monitor, Glenn OTL, Bifrost 2, Phonitor XE, and a couple of peripherals).

I'm ok to replace it with something that offers more guarantees (per-socket fuses, EMI / RFI filtering, and generally being more sturdy), but I don't want to break the bank. At this point, I do have over $10k worth of gear plugged into it if counting headphones, so I am ok to get something better. Any recommendations?

For me, I think Chord has a QC problem.

Right now, I am afraid to open the 3rd shipment TT2....

1st time...Smoke
2nd time....DC R or DC L

HiFi vendor tried to blame on customer.....The way we use?
Sxxx, I have other 4K DACs plugged into all kinds of plugs. WITHOUT ANY ISSUE FIR YEARS......

 

[qboogie]

Wondering if you folks can help me out.

I've got a faulty second-hand TT2 I bought in 2020 that started doing this rapid power on/off hiccuping that has been reported on here before and was linked to a faulty in-rush limiter or overvoltage phenomenon. Recently the hiccuping turned into it not powering on at all.

I reached out to Chord and they referred me to their stateside distributer Soundorg. They are saying that I would need a total PCB replacement for $1200. I can't afford that.

I am wondering if anyone has overcome this issue with a DIY approach (fuse replacement?). PM me if you have any ideas.

 

[spanyam]

For me, I think Chord has a QC problem.

Right now, I am afraid to open the 3rd shipment TT2....

1st time...Smoke
2nd time....DC R or DC L

HiFi vendor tried to blame on customer.....The way we use?
Sxxx, I have other 4K DACs plugged into all kinds of plugs. WITHOUT ANY ISSUE FIR YEARS......

I would agree here. I'm surprised a $5.5k unit would simply just burn itself. The fact that this TT2 has been used for a year or two without issue by another person and suddenly has this problem in a different set up means Chord may not be accounting for or clearly giving instructions to handle different power sources. "Don't fry yourself" should be pretty basic.

While this unit burned, my PC, monitor, Phonitor, etc remained connected and happily running without issue. Maybe my power strip does indeed have some imbalances, but none of my other devices for 3 years have shown anything.

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

For me, I think Chord has a QC problem.

Right now, I am afraid to open the 3rd shipment TT2....

1st time...Smoke
2nd time....DC R or DC L

only in this thread there are more than 5+ of them for sure
there's something clearly wrong with the TT2 in the design
Also, Chord doesn't provide any boardview or anything for repair
and it seems to me that for $6000 device - this is simply unacceptable

 

[jjazzy]

only in this thread there are more than 5+ of them for sure
there's something clearly wrong with the TT2 in the design
Also, Chord doesn't provide any boardview or anything for repair
and it seems to me that for $6000 device - this is simply unacceptable

That’s sounds worrying… any idea what triggers it? And for what the tt2 costs, it is unacceptable yes. I love my tt2+mscaler, hope it lasts.

Tried many many sometimes double the price of tt2+MS dacs…. But everytime I end up with that combination sounding the best to my ears, the right balance in musical and extreme detail without getting analyticall or harsch…

So if there is a way to keep it working for a long time I would love to know

 

[Daorom]

That’s sounds worrying… any idea what triggers it? And for what the tt2 costs, it is unacceptable yes. I love my tt2+mscaler, hope it lasts.

Tried many many sometimes double the price of tt2+MS dacs…. But everytime I end up with that combination sounding the best to my ears, the right balance in musical and extreme detail without getting analyticall or harsch…

So if there is a way to keep it working for a long time I would love to know

Perhaps it's worth taking Rob's advice and using only the stock pulse power supply?

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

Perhaps it's worth taking Rob's advice and using only the stock pulse power supply?

I personally know two owners of TT2 whose units burned out on their own with "standard chord power supplies"
there are problems with TT2, obvious problems that everyone turns a blind eye to
and the fact that they do not provide any documentation for repair does not put them from the best side
and it seems to me that for $6000 device - this is simply unacceptable

@qboogie
>They are saying that I would need a total PCB replacement for $1200. I can't afford that.

I would probably buy a board from them for $1200 - good price - if it comes with a screen and encoder