[geoffalter11]

Chord Hugo TT2 Impressions:

Hi all... First I wanted to thank Todd for his generosity in providing me the opportunity to use the TT2. In addition, Todd was extremely flexible in dealing with my busy travel schedule, which I really appreciate.

This is my first review I have posted on a piece of equipment like this. I have reviewed headphones, but never a $5800 DAC/AMP. After unboxing, I took a few pics to show Todd it had arrived without issue and immediately set it up in my system. I used the TT2 3 different ways. 1. As an all-in-one plugged into my iMac using a Moon Audio Silver Dragon cable through my Schiit Wyrd. 2. As a DAC only using my THX AAA 789. 3. As an amp only connected to my Vinshine R2R Reference DAC via balanced Cardas interconnects.

Build:
The TT2 is a beautiful, sturdy and creative product. The design is both minimalist and complicated simultaneously. I find that to be extremely difficult to pull off. It gives it a level of class and sophistication I have yet to encounter in a DAC/AMP. It took me about an hour to learn how to use it and then I was off to the races. Once I had a hang of it, all 18 watts of power were at my disposal. There has been a lot written about it's build, and how it connects so I will leave that to the experts.

All-In-One:
I immediately started with my Quad ERA-1's and my jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe how much better they sounded than through my system, which I consider to be extremely capable. The TT2's PRAT was off the charts. If I were to characterize the sound in a couple words, they would be Pristine, Musical and Balanced. I could hear the pluck of the bass strings. The front and back of the note. Instruments sounded extremely natural with the right pace and timing. The TT2 is extremely fast and subtle. It has no trouble unfolding complex passages of music with a smooth yet incisive tone. The TT2 throws off in impeccable soundstage of width and depth and a tonal richness that belies it's evenhanded approach at portraying music.

DAC:
As a DAC I found the TT2 to be a touch leaner than neutral. Or at least a touch leaner than my Vinshine. However, the image it conveyed was complex, concise, nuanced and undeniably clearer than any DAC I have ever heard. Bass was extremely fast with almost no bloom. Just clean, deep and extremely accurate to my ears. The midrange sounded extremely even and clean. I could hear everything within the soundstage exactly as it was supposed to be. I had absolutely no issue placing instruments and musicians in the soundstage. My favorite part as a DAC was the treble, which I found to have almost no roll off with the right amount of shimmer and air to open up the music. Cymbals sounded lifelike and the upper registers of a hammond organ seemed to linger forever. My only niggle was that the DAC sounds a touch lean at times. Perhaps a bit of a trade-off for such incredible clarity.

I love my Vinshine R2R, which conveys a musical picture in a much different way to the TT2. However, the level of detail and clarity with the TT2 was exponentially better. Although, I prefer the warmth and musicality of my Vinshine, I could easily live with the TT2.

Dedicated Amp:
Honestly, the amp section of the TT2 is insane. It is so powerful and it took my Quad ERA-1 headphones to a level of competency I didn't know possible. The TT2 grabbed hold of the drivers and showed me why innerfidelity gave it their product of the year in 2018. As an amp, the TT2 is extremely clean sounding. It allowed me to pick out nuances from my DAC that I hadn't heard before. I wish I had more to say here, but I only got about an hour or two with the TT2 as an amp only. I can say that it is a much better amp to what I currently have, but I didn't like the amp section as much as I like The Wells Audio Milo. The midrange of the Milo had a touch of magic I simply adored.

In the week I used the TT2, I found it to be an extremely versatile, powerful, delicate and nuanced product. As a DAC it resolves FLAC, CD and Highres digital with breathtaking clarity. It has fantastic timing, punchy bass and a wonderful top end. As an amplifier, it transformed every headphone I own into reference level. Its ability to portray an accurate and musical soundscape was so much fun to enjoy for 1 short week. What it ultimately taught me is that it may be time to move from mid-fi to hi-fi in the near future.

I look forward to spending more time with the TT2 in 2020.

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Chord Hugo TT2 - Final Audio D8000 Pro - Audeze LCD-4 using my Wells Audio Milo as an amp.

I am combining my review of the Chord and the Final D8000 Pro and the Audeze is here for a reference against the Final Audio, in one post, instead of doing separate reviews for each unit.

I would love to thank a few individuals for providing the products to me in such a nice timely fashion. @Todd for providing the Chord TT2 and my friend @TSAVAlan for sending me the LCD4 and @jwbrent for hooking me up with @kyo.melody at Final Audio and providing me the D8000 Pro "which is awesome". I love the connections this community provides and the opportunities you receive. They're awesome and with guys like these, you can truly get stuff in-home and see what floats your boat. This is also helping me choose my next can that I'm purchasing very soon. Because like you guys in these forums, I love this hobby. It's truly addicting and music Is one of the reasons my heart continues to tick.

Chord Hugo TT2


Build quality/design -

I think the design of this unit, or any Chord product screams quality, it looks super-cool, and has night weight to it and feels tough with it's brushed metal design. I love the led lights that change color with the different file types that are played out of your source. I used to own the Chord Mojo, so I know what it's all about.

Final Audio D8000 Pro


Build quality/comfort -

The Final Audio D8000 Pro comes in a nice hard clamshell-style case that's used for transporting the headphones. The headphones have a pretty nice and sturdy build. All metal and leather/fabric designs, but they don't scream $4300 retail price. The cushions are made out of some kind of suede/fabric, that is nice to the touch and pretty comfortable on my head. The weight of the headphones aren't an issue for me being a little over "500" grams in weight. They fit nicely on my rather "large" head, lol. But, the sound is where these bad boys really shine! Comfort 8/10.

Audeze LCD-4


Build quality/comfort -

The Audeze LCD-4 comes packaged in a nice large pelican style transporting case, it's not as sleek as the Final case, but I'm pretty sure it's tougher to break and built like a tank. The headphone is made out of wood, metal, carbon fiber on the headband. I love the designs of the Audeze cans, especially the TOTL versions. These do look like $4000 headphones. Comfort, Is like a 6/10. I usually lay in bed and the weight "700+" grams doesn't bother me much, I have quite a diesel neck going on here, lol. But, sitting upright after a while you can sense that you have heavy cans on your head and it's a relief to take them off your head. These things are "HUGE".

Sound quality

Boy, where do we start? I own the Wells Audio Milo amp, and I received the Audeze cans first, without having the Chord at the house yet or have the Final audio in house. And I connected the Milo to my phone direct and the amp fed the Audeze and shockingly it sounded good. The amp has more than enough power to handle the LCD4. The soundstage was pretty nice with the LCD4, low bass, not a lot of slam in the drums. Smooth mids, and very nice highs. I didn't like the vocals that much. They had a lot of body to the vocals, but not a lot of texture to them. Once I received the TT2 in the mail and got everything all setup I was rather disappointed in the sound coming into the LCD4. Everything just felt congested and it didn't seem like the synergy was there.
Once I got the Final Audio D8000 Pro in the mail and started using them with the system that is when I heard some truly awesome sound. I was starting to lose faith in how the TT2 sounded with the LCD4 and was wondering If I truly just don't like Chord sound. But, the Final cans changed everything, and everything sounds so life-like. The vocals on songs like California Dreamin sung by Diana Krall was out of this world awesome. It's like this woman was sitting next to me giving me my own personal concert. The vocals are played where the sound is coming from the front of your head, while the rest of the sound is on the sides of your head. Bass on both cans sounds very good. The LCD4 can be played louder with the bigger drivers, but the Final Audio has better bass, that digs deeper, and has better texture to it. The separation on both cans is top/quality, but better on the Final can, by a small margin. The soundstage is wider on the Final can and the music is played on the sides of you. The LCD4 is a little smaller in the stage area and it sounds more intimate. I listen to all kinds of music ranging from the '70s, 80's rock, and electronic music like DNB, trance. Not a lot of hip-hop tracks anymore. Unless it's old, the new stuff Isn't something I'm a fan of. The Final can have more slam, not in the same league as the Focal Utopia, which I used to own. But it's definitely better than the LCD4. I can't really talk technical about the Chord Hugo TT2 in the DAC section because I don't quite have familiarity with other DACS in the market and don't understand technical lingo with DACs. I'm a little newbie in the DAC/amp department. But, I did own some nice cans so far. And I'm slowly growing that list this year.

Conclusion -

I would love to own both the D8000 and the TT2, but you can't always afford everything. There were times at night I had a hard time shutting this system down and going to bed. I was hooked to the sound. It was glorious. The minute I wake up I'm ready to have another crack at it. The sound is more e-stat like on the Final than the Audeze. The Audeze does sound good. But not with this DAC.

 

[buffer]

I'd like to start by thanking Todd from TTVJ Audio. Todd graciously lends his personal equipment to others so they may listen to and possibly buy equipment that they would not otherwise have an opportunity to experience.

I typically focus my evaluations on headphones, knowing that headphones have a more dramatic effect on sound than amps, DACs, and other accessories. When functioning correctly, I believe amplifiers sound similar ...maybe within +/- 5% of each other. But the 10% swing is significant enough to me that I have a serious collection of solid state and tube headphone amplifiers. In other words, I am willing to go beyond diminishing returns to get the last ounce of quality and I also recognize that system matching is also a thing.

So what about DACs? I don't have much experience with high end DACs, but I have heard a number of them ranging from $50 to a couple of thousand. Generally, I do not dwell on the money aspect. It's just that I've heard so much about these rarified DACs of renown reputation and design that I wondered just how different they would be from a mere 'average' DAC. The best stand-alone DAC I own, and I use it all the time, is an OPPO HA-1. During this review, I will draw comparisons to that DAC because I spent considerable time comparing the Oppo to the TT2.

During the review I listened to music from Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD, and Youtube. I listen to rock, classic rock, easy listening, jazz, and even some orchestral. Also, I used two headphones - Final Audio D8000 and the Hifiman Susvara (which the TT2 drove with ease and to great effect). The final Audio naturally MAY have a hint of warmth so that may color some of my thoughts as you read below, but overall, I consider these headphones to be relatively neutral.

I must say this review was hard work. I'm not complaining about the opportunity, but there are so many modes, connections, and options that effect perceived sound. I did not try them all but I will run through the experiences in the order I tried things.

First, I compared the Oppo DAC (using fixed outputs) plugged into an Apex Teton amp against the Chord Hugo TT2 DAC/headphone amp. The Chord cast a warmth I did not care for, but had better dimension and a sense of separation between instruments. The Oppo sounded a touch cleaner/sharper and more crisp, but more 2 dimensional. It was hard to put my finger on it, but the Hugo also seemed to be more musically engaging and convey more emotion. The Chord may have been just a touch richer in timbre and may have been even more resolving in a sense. I know that sounds a little contradictory when I state the Oppo was more clear and sharp, but there is, to my thinking, a difference between clarity and resolving capability. The vocals on the TT2 stood out without being overly forward. You could really hear the body and lifelikeness of the vocals and instruments. I did get the sense the Teton headphone amp was better than the Chord's headphone amp, but overall I enjoyed the dimensionality of the Chord. That said, the overwhelming warmth and lack of sharpness / clarity bothered me. Bass on the Chord was actually more commanding and firmer than the Oppo, but not excessive in any way, shape, or form.

A friend of mine said – you really need to do an apples to apples comparison. So I next used the Oppo and TT2 purely as a DAC, plugging them into the GS-X Mk2 headphone amp. This closed the gap considerably. I mean to say that the depth and dimension of the TT2 seemed to come more from the headphone amp portion of the TT2, and these advantages were minimized when bypassing the headphone portion of the TT2 by using DAC-only mode. There may have still been a hint of warmth in the lower registers of Hugo TT2, but it was barely noticeable. For some headphones, people might like the warmth, but I was glad to see it reduced. Unfortunately, some of the other attributes of depth and separation and richness also diminished. The unit sounded more like the Oppo DAC. So in my mind, some of the attributes (positive and negative) were associated more so with the headphone amp portion of the Hugo TT2, while the DAC itself was pretty neutral. If I could have had the dimension of the amp, with the clarity and lack of warmth associated with the DAC that would have been ideal. The Hugo was sharper and cleaner in DAC-only mode than when using the combo of Hugo TT2 DAC and TT2 headphone amp. So in comparison, when using DAC-only modes of the TT2 and Oppo, I still think the TT2 had a very slight advantage in several key areas (timber, richness, spaciousness/depth of sound, and maybe as good, or even slightly better clarity than the OppoHA-1). Perhaps the most noticeable advantage was slightly better microdynamics of the TT2. But in each area the difference was very slight, so much so, that the overall advantage was only slightly superior. You might be thinking – does the difference warrant thousands more dollars?

It was at this time when I asked myself that exact question that I realized something else. I was using a hardwired USB connection to the TT2 but I was using Bluetooth on the Oppo HA-1. So I switched both to bluetooth and I found that though older, the Oppo HA-1 implementation seemed better. I actually preferred the Oppo to the TT2 when using both in bluetooth. Admittedly, I did not listen in this mode very long. I decided for the remainder of the comparison, that I was going to use both with a hardwired usb connection. Once I made that change, any difference between the two units all but evaporated. I guess I never completely lost the feeling that the TT2 was adding a bit of warmth in the lower midrange, which I did not like. And I felt the bass in the TT2 may have been a bit more commanding. And the TT2 may have still had a slight edge in dynamics, but at this point the differences were so small that I walked away feeling that I was completely satisfied with the Oppo and I wasn't even entirely sure that I could tell the difference when listening blindly. Unlike my statement earlier about going beyond for diminishing returns, I would not be willing to pay substantially more for the difference I was hearing between the two units in DAC-only mode. And I did not like the warmth I was hearing when using the TT2 as DAC and headphone amp.

So I concluded as I originally suspected, that the differences in DACs are probably to a lesser degree than even amp differences. Certainly, headphones and recording quality make the bigger difference. In conclusion, I ended the comparison feeling the TT2 was probably the superior DAC, but by an almost imperceptible margin. I couldn't quite pinpoint what I liked better, probably because it did several things better, but only by the slightest degree. Overall tonal balance between the TT2 and Oppo was almost identical, though the Oppo treble may have had a touch more sparkle.

So hearing about taps and programmable arrays vs. off-the-shelf chips, and minimizing jitter – after knowing all that went into the design of the TT2, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. The Oppo was probably its near equal in terms of pure DAC sound quality. In this case, unlike differences I heard with amps, the law of diminishing returns was in play. I had no regrets in sending the TT2 on its way. Don't get me wrong. The DAC is outstanding, but not worth the additional coin to me over what I got from my Oppo DAC. I enjoyed the Oppo every bit as much.

This brings me to a few other notable points. 16 seconds of delay to change certain modes on the TT2 or to swap headphones was not acceptable to me. Admittedly, this probably wouldn't normally be a big deal, but when doing comparisons it certainly is. The Oppo had minimal delay. On the TT2, changes in cross-feed were neat, but I always preferred no cross-feed as it had a wider soundstage. The filters were maybe helpful in filtering out some hashy noise present in higher frequencies in some YouTube videos but I always settled on using the neutral filter. If the cross-feed and selectable filters (filter differences were subtle) are of great importance than by all means the TT2 gives these features and the Oppo does not. But for me, these were non-factors. The Oppo, no longer available new, was a fraction of the price even when it was new ...and it delivered 99% of the performance. One other point – the Chord nearly damaged my hearing and my headphones and doing so was almost unavoidable. It has a memory and one of the things it remembers is volume. So if I switched modes and/or headphones, even with the 16 second delay, I sat their trying to lower the volume before the sound came on, but to no avail. Fortunately, I had a feeling this could happened and I had removed the headphones from my ears. The only way to avoid this would be to stop playing music while switching modes or headphones.

Am I jaded when it comes to DACs? Maybe. After hearing the TT2, I don't know that I would spend $5000+ for a DAC because the experience reinforced my concern that in this day and age, a $5000 DAC might not offer a substantial performance improvement over other respectable DACs that are considerably cheaper. But I do think I would consider spending up to $3000 on a DAC if it hits me just right. And more to the point, my experience would probably encourage me to consider looking for DACs in this price range or even higher so long as the unit provides integrated Streaming capabilities.

 

[jp11801]

First I would l would like to thank Todd for his generous loaner of the Hugo TT2. Todd has always been a great asset to the community.

Ok I am not going to go too deep into fit finish and set up as the previous reviewers did a great job. I will say that I did not use the manual (OMG like 6 point font printed faintly). Right out of the box the TT2 was very intuitive to set up. I quickly steered away from active preamp and volume control to focus on the DAC only setting. The headphone inputs once they sense a set of headphones are plugged in immediately launch the headphone amp. The roller ball that controls the volume is super easy to use. I opted for no cross feed and set the dac to the #3 filter.

90% of my listening was as a standalone dac feeding my Eddie Current Balancing Act to Utopias. It is not as if the TT2 headphone amp is not good it just can’t compare to.a $3800 tube amp. If I was downsizing I could live with the TT2 as an all in one DAC/HP amp. I did feel the treble was less natural and the sound stage was flattened when compared with the Eddie Current. Again I am not saying the treble and soundstage are bad they are just not as good as a top tier amp.

Equipment Used:
Headphones - Sony MDR Z1R, Focal Utopia and Audeze LCDi4

Source: Mac Mini running Roon/Nuc Roon Rock

Headphone Amp - Eddie Current Balancing Act 45/2a3

Other DACs - Mytek Brooklyn Plus (shipped right before TT2 arrived), Chord Qutest, Metric Halo ULN - 3 3d and Schiit Yggdrasil GS

While I listened to many different tracks during my time with the Hugo TT2 I used these tracks for my notes during comparisons

James Taylor Flag (mofi sacd ripped to 24/176) - Millwork and Up On a Rook
Steely Dan - Aja Deacon Blues and Dr Wu and Gold Teeth
Elton John - Madman Across the Water (24/96) Tiny Dancer - Levon
Miles Davis KOB 24/192 Freddie Freeloader


Overview

Strengths - This dac is a detail monster and did a great job providing gobs of detail. It is not as if I heard things I haven’t heard per say but they way they were portrayed had greater micro detail. Think reed sound on a sax, overtones on a piano or cymbals really being able to hear the detail of the strike where on the cymbal it is occurring and decay and overtones. Bass and drums sounded immense and had plenty of slam.


Good but not best in class areas - there was no glaring issues at all but a few nit picks. The playback emphasizes each player and as such not the sum total of the players as well as other best in class DACs. Again when saying this the TT2 is in the upper leagues of dacs and on whole is an amazing sounding piece of gear. I do feel that part of this would be resolved through longer term listening.


Compared to the Qutest the TT2 is noticeably better. I had seen somewhere that the comparison was Dave 100 - TT2 90- Qutest 75%. I have not heard the Dave but I would say the Qutest is a bit away from the TT2 and that 15% spread sounds about right to me. I do think that in a less resolving system with headphones more forgiving that the Utopia the gap may be less. I heard the TT2 as far more dimensional spatially and the Qutest having a flatter stage. The Qutest was not as clean in the treble and was slightly less natural sounding. At one third the price (or less) that’s a pretty solid price to performance ratio.


I also have a Metric Halo ULN8 studio interface that is an ADC, mic pre amp and a killer DAC. This is a bit closer in price to the TT2 at $4500 it is within a $1000 of the Chord MSRP. Here the sounds had greater detail out of the TT2 with extension at both ends being greater. The Metric Halo unit presented the players as playing more together with a slightly more natural tone coherence. I am not sure which I preferred as I swapped back a forth a few times and always loved the sounds I was hearing from wither unit. In the end they were just different and might appeal to two different listeners. If I were to use a speaker comparison the Chord is would be a Wilson Audio and the Metric Halo a Sonos Faber. Both great speakers that sound world class and appeal to different preference camps.

I was able to compare the TT2 to the somewhat oddball Schiit Yggy GS and overall the Yggy to my ears sounded best with a USB convertor with AES being preferred. This match up was more horses for courses with the Chord holding an edge in total resolution and was a bit more dynamically explosive on the leading edge of notes. The Yggy had a slightly more natural presentation to my ears and I was more involved with the music overall whereas with the Chord TT2 I was drawn to instruments within the mix and other micro detail. I think over time with brain acclamation the TT2 would settle in as amazingly detailed and musical once my brain was burned into the sound.


The overall value strength of the Hugo TT2 is I the sum of the parts. While I used it primarily as a stand alone dac if I did not have the Eddie Current Balancing Act I would be all over this as a small footprint world class dac and very good headphone amp. You’d have to get spendy to better it likely a Headamp GSX or $2k + tune amp.

The Hugo TT2 is a strong recommend from me if using as an all in one. For the asking price to get an awesome dac and very good HP amp. The ability to drive studio monitors or reasonably efficient speakers with this unit is a slam dunk bonus. Now I do feel you lose a small bit of resolution using the power amp functionality but it’s a small price to pay while you put together the funds for a high end power amp.

Once again thanks Todd for the ability to hear this in my home.

 

[geoffalter11]

I'd like to start by thanking Todd from TTVJ Audio. Todd graciously lends his personal equipment to others so they may listen to and possibly buy equipment that they would not otherwise have an opportunity to experience.

I typically focus my evaluations on headphones, knowing that headphones have a more dramatic effect on sound than amps, DACs, and other accessories. When functioning correctly, I believe amplifiers sound similar ...maybe within +/- 5% of each other. But the 10% swing is significant enough to me that I have a serious collection of solid state and tube headphone amplifiers. In other words, I am willing to go beyond diminishing returns to get the last ounce of quality and I also recognize that system matching is also a thing.

So what about DACs? I don't have much experience with high end DACs, but I have heard a number of them ranging from $50 to a couple of thousand. Generally, I do not dwell on the money aspect. It's just that I've heard so much about these rarified DACs of renown reputation and design that I wondered just how different they would be from a mere 'average' DAC. The best stand-alone DAC I own, and I use it all the time, is an OPPO HA-1. During this review, I will draw comparisons to that DAC because I spent considerable time comparing the Oppo to the TT2.

During the review I listened to music from Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD, and Youtube. I listen to rock, classic rock, easy listening, jazz, and even some orchestral. Also, I used two headphones - Final Audio D8000 and the Hifiman Susvara (which the TT2 drove with ease and to great effect). The final Audio naturally MAY have a hint of warmth so that may color some of my thoughts as you read below, but overall, I consider these headphones to be relatively neutral.

I must say this review was hard work. I'm not complaining about the opportunity, but there are so many modes, connections, and options that effect perceived sound. I did not try them all but I will run through the experiences in the order I tried things.

First, I compared the Oppo DAC (using fixed outputs) plugged into an Apex Teton amp against the Chord Hugo TT2 DAC/headphone amp. The Chord cast a warmth I did not care for, but had better dimension and a sense of separation between instruments. The Oppo sounded a touch cleaner/sharper and more crisp, but more 2 dimensional. It was hard to put my finger on it, but the Hugo also seemed to be more musically engaging and convey more emotion. The Chord may have been just a touch richer in timbre and may have been even more resolving in a sense. I know that sounds a little contradictory when I state the Oppo was more clear and sharp, but there is, to my thinking, a difference between clarity and resolving capability. The vocals on the TT2 stood out without being overly forward. You could really hear the body and lifelikeness of the vocals and instruments. I did get the sense the Teton headphone amp was better than the Chord's headphone amp, but overall I enjoyed the dimensionality of the Chord. That said, the overwhelming warmth and lack of sharpness / clarity bothered me. Bass on the Chord was actually more commanding and firmer than the Oppo, but not excessive in any way, shape, or form.

A friend of mine said – you really need to do an apples to apples comparison. So I next used the Oppo and TT2 purely as a DAC, plugging them into the GS-X Mk2 headphone amp. This closed the gap considerably. I mean to say that the depth and dimension of the TT2 seemed to come more from the headphone amp portion of the TT2, and these advantages were minimized when bypassing the headphone portion of the TT2 by using DAC-only mode. There may have still been a hint of warmth in the lower registers of Hugo TT2, but it was barely noticeable. For some headphones, people might like the warmth, but I was glad to see it reduced. Unfortunately, some of the other attributes of depth and separation and richness also diminished. The unit sounded more like the Oppo DAC. So in my mind, some of the attributes (positive and negative) were associated more so with the headphone amp portion of the Hugo TT2, while the DAC itself was pretty neutral. If I could have had the dimension of the amp, with the clarity and lack of warmth associated with the DAC that would have been ideal. The Hugo was sharper and cleaner in DAC-only mode than when using the combo of Hugo TT2 DAC and TT2 headphone amp. So in comparison, when using DAC-only modes of the TT2 and Oppo, I still think the TT2 had a very slight advantage in several key areas (timber, richness, spaciousness/depth of sound, and maybe as good, or even slightly better clarity than the OppoHA-1). Perhaps the most noticeable advantage was slightly better microdynamics of the TT2. But in each area the difference was very slight, so much so, that the overall advantage was only slightly superior. You might be thinking – does the difference warrant thousands more dollars?

It was at this time when I asked myself that exact question that I realized something else. I was using a hardwired USB connection to the TT2 but I was using Bluetooth on the Oppo HA-1. So I switched both to bluetooth and I found that though older, the Oppo HA-1 implementation seemed better. I actually preferred the Oppo to the TT2 when using both in bluetooth. Admittedly, I did not listen in this mode very long. I decided for the remainder of the comparison, that I was going to use both with a hardwired usb connection. Once I made that change, any difference between the two units all but evaporated. I guess I never completely lost the feeling that the TT2 was adding a bit of warmth in the lower midrange, which I did not like. And I felt the bass in the TT2 may have been a bit more commanding. And the TT2 may have still had a slight edge in dynamics, but at this point the differences were so small that I walked away feeling that I was completely satisfied with the Oppo and I wasn't even entirely sure that I could tell the difference when listening blindly. Unlike my statement earlier about going beyond for diminishing returns, I would not be willing to pay substantially more for the difference I was hearing between the two units in DAC-only mode. And I did not like the warmth I was hearing when using the TT2 as DAC and headphone amp.

So I concluded as I originally suspected, that the differences in DACs are probably to a lesser degree than even amp differences. Certainly, headphones and recording quality make the bigger difference. In conclusion, I ended the comparison feeling the TT2 was probably the superior DAC, but by an almost imperceptible margin. I couldn't quite pinpoint what I liked better, probably because it did several things better, but only by the slightest degree. Overall tonal balance between the TT2 and Oppo was almost identical, though the Oppo treble may have had a touch more sparkle.

So hearing about taps and programmable arrays vs. off-the-shelf chips, and minimizing jitter – after knowing all that went into the design of the TT2, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. The Oppo was probably its near equal in terms of pure DAC sound quality. In this case, unlike differences I heard with amps, the law of diminishing returns was in play. I had no regrets in sending the TT2 on its way. Don't get me wrong. The DAC is outstanding, but not worth the additional coin to me over what I got from my Oppo DAC. I enjoyed the Oppo every bit as much.

This brings me to a few other notable points. 16 seconds of delay to change certain modes on the TT2 or to swap headphones was not acceptable to me. Admittedly, this probably wouldn't normally be a big deal, but when doing comparisons it certainly is. The Oppo had minimal delay. On the TT2, changes in cross-feed were neat, but I always preferred no cross-feed as it had a wider soundstage. The filters were maybe helpful in filtering out some hashy noise present in higher frequencies in some YouTube videos but I always settled on using the neutral filter. If the cross-feed and selectable filters (filter differences were subtle) are of great importance than by all means the TT2 gives these features and the Oppo does not. But for me, these were non-factors. The Oppo, no longer available new, was a fraction of the price even when it was new ...and it delivered 99% of the performance. One other point – the Chord nearly damaged my hearing and my headphones and doing so was almost unavoidable. It has a memory and one of the things it remembers is volume. So if I switched modes and/or headphones, even with the 16 second delay, I sat their trying to lower the volume before the sound came on, but to no avail. Fortunately, I had a feeling this could happened and I had removed the headphones from my ears. The only way to avoid this would be to stop playing music while switching modes or headphones.

Am I jaded when it comes to DACs? Maybe. After hearing the TT2, I don't know that I would spend $5000+ for a DAC because the experience reinforced my concern that in this day and age, a $5000 DAC might not offer a substantial performance improvement over other respectable DACs that are considerably cheaper. But I do think I would consider spending up to $3000 on a DAC if it hits me just right. And more to the point, my experience would probably encourage me to consider looking for DACs in this price range or even higher so long as the unit provides integrated Streaming capabilities.

I like your review of the TT2. At first blush I found the TT2 to be significantly better than my current DAC. Over the course of the week it leveled out some. The immediacy of the sound stayed throughout for me. Thx for your thoughts

 

[Forward Focus]

Chord Hugo TT2 impression:

Thanks to Todd for the opportunity to audition the Hugo in my system.

I stream Roon and local files through my Roon Nucleus to my Kii Three Control and Kii speakers. The Hugo was installed with balanced XLR to the analog inputs on both speakers. Kii DSP resamples all input signals so yes I have a double DAC conversion with the Hugo. I was curious to know that even with the very capable Kii internal DAC would an external DAC make any sound difference? The answer is YES, the Kii Three speakers sounded better with the Hugo.

Instruments, musicians and vocals had more separation and were better defined in the sound-stage. A bit more micro dynamics with decays lasting longer. More relaxed and natural sounding overall. The Kii Three by themselves sounds great but a bit fatter, diffused, fuzzy compared to the having the Hugo upstream.

So yes, my time with the Hugo was enlightening and I learned more about my current set-up. I would recommend anyone looking for a top line DAC to consider the Hugo TT2.

 

[Todd]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for some reviews here... the TT2 has a few more folks to review it and then it comes back to me. I hope you are all enjoying your time with the TT2!

Todd

 

[ra990]

As an amp only connected to my Vinshine R2R Reference DAC via balanced Cardas interconnects.

How are you using the TT2 as a dedicated amp? There are no analog inputs?

 

[musickid]

thats impossible.

 

[ra990]

thats impossible.

Exactly

 

[musickid]

 

[Law87]

I'm interested, I have a Hugo 2 pair with THX 887 for amping power. as far as headphone, I will have the HE1000SE, Meze Empyrean and Beyerdynamic T1 1st gen to try.

 

[ra990]

thats impossible.

It is impossible. I'm just trying to point out that portion of the review where he connects his DAC to the Hugo TT2 to use as an amp is fantasy. Can't be done unless I missed something in my time with the TT2.

Chord Hugo TT2 Impressions:

As an amp only connected to my Vinshine R2R Reference DAC via balanced Cardas interconnects.

Dedicated Amp:
Honestly, the amp section of the TT2 is insane. It is so powerful and it took my Quad ERA-1 headphones to a level of competency I didn't know possible. The TT2 grabbed hold of the drivers and showed me why innerfidelity gave it their product of the year in 2018. As an amp, the TT2 is extremely clean sounding. It allowed me to pick out nuances from my DAC that I hadn't heard before. I wish I had more to say here, but I only got about an hour or two with the TT2 as an amp only. I can say that it is a much better amp to what I currently have, but I didn't like the amp section as much as I like The Wells Audio Milo. The midrange of the Milo had a touch of magic I simply adored.

cool, would love to see how you did this!

 

[bobfa]

Many thanks to Todd from TTVJ Audio for setting up his loaner program.​

Just a little background to start. I have two Chord DACs, the Mojo and the Hugo 2. They both perform very well, and while they target the same use case, I use them differently. I use the Mojo for portable situations and the Hugo 2 as my desktop playback system. The Mojo attaches to my iPad Pro and either my LCD-i4 headphones or SE535 IEMs as a mobile system. The desktop system is an Allo USBridge Signature with Shanti Power supply. The Shanti powers both the Allo and the Hugo 2. My regular headphones on this system are my HD800's.

My primary speaker system is a pair of Kii Threes with the BXT modules. The speakers are fed via USB from an Antipodes CX+EX Pair running as my Roon Server and Roon Bridge, respectively.

How does the Chord Hugo TT2 operate?

I have a couple of observations on the UI/UX of the TT2. The digital display is a very welcome feature. I know that Chord Company likes their color coding scheme for the LEDs, but the digital display is a nice improvement. When encoding changes, the digital display does an excellent job of providing that information. The automatic switching between DAC and Headphones makes the TT2 a candidate for a dual-mode system of headphones and speakers. The operation of the TT2 is clean. The remote fits the hand well but does feel like it belongs with lesser components. The operation of the remote is exactly what I would expect.

The Hookup


For my listening, I am using the TT2 on my primary speaker system. I usually have my turntable connected to the balanced input now connected to the TT2. I am using the factory AC power supply. My headphone cable is the Sennheiser supplied one. The balanced cables to the Kii Three speakers are Mogami Studio GOLD. The TT2 USB input from the Antipodes EX is a Moon-Audio Silver Dragon USB cable.

How does it sound?

My wife immediately noticed the difference. With just a little listening, I can confirm a couple of things. The Kii Three system does pass through the improved sound quality from the TT2.

On the Kii Three Analog input, the TT2 has a more vibrant feel. I hate the term musical, but that might be the right for this experience. Some use the term PRAT. I do not want to overstate this, but it is noticeable and pleasant. I do not want to over or understate the difference here. It is easy to be too emotional in these reviews. There is an improvement in dynamics, the sense of staging, and vocal separation.

The second round of listening was a direct comparison between my Hugo2 and the TT2 using the Antipodes CX+EX. The Chord Hugo 2 has been a pinnacle for me, and it is the right fit. The TT2 brings a new dimension to listening. In my HD800's, the staging of vocals improves; the bass is tighter; the music feels more "alive." Logically the TT2 is around twice the price of the Hugo 2, and it should sound better. Chord TT2 goes beyond that, it absolutely flourishes. I know that we are getting into diminishing returns and costs that are beyond the norm. I am not the least disappointed with the Hugo 2, but as I box up the TT2 to send along to the next person in the group, I feel a loss!

Stepping through the Mojo, Hugo 2, TT2, I can highly recommend any of them. They each fill a niche in our listening systems.

 

[Law87]

Many thanks to Todd from TTVJ Audio for setting up his loaner program.​

Just a little background to start. I have two Chord DACs, the Mojo and the Hugo 2. They both perform very well, and while they target the same use case, I use them differently. I use the Mojo for portable situations and the Hugo 2 as my desktop playback system. The Mojo attaches to my iPad Pro and either my LCD-i4 headphones or SE535 IEMs as a mobile system. The desktop system is an Allo USBridge Signature with Shanti Power supply. The Shanti powers both the Allo and the Hugo 2. My regular headphones on this system are my HD800's.



My primary speaker system is a pair of Kii Threes with the BXT modules. The speakers are fed via USB from an Antipodes CX+EX Pair running as my Roon Server and Roon Bridge, respectively.

How does the Chord Hugo TT2 operate?



I have a couple of observations on the UI/UX of the TT2. The digital display is a very welcome feature. I know that Chord Company likes their color coding scheme for the LEDs, but the digital display is a nice improvement. When encoding changes, the digital display does an excellent job of providing that information. The automatic switching between DAC and Headphones makes the TT2 a candidate for a dual-mode system of headphones and speakers. The operation of the TT2 is clean. The remote fits the hand well but does feel like it belongs with lesser components. The operation of the remote is exactly what I would expect.

The Hookup


For my listening, I am using the TT2 on my primary speaker system. I usually have my turntable connected to the balanced input now connected to the TT2. I am using the factory AC power supply. My headphone cable is the Sennheiser supplied one. The balanced cables to the Kii Three speakers are Mogami Studio GOLD. The TT2 USB input from the Antipodes EX is a Moon-Audio Silver Dragon USB cable.

How does it sound?

My wife immediately noticed the difference. With just a little listening, I can confirm a couple of things. The Kii Three system does pass through the improved sound quality from the TT2.

On the Kii Three Analog input, the TT2 has a more vibrant feel. I hate the term musical, but that might be the right for this experience. Some use the term PRAT. I do not want to overstate this, but it is noticeable and pleasant. I do not want to over or understate the difference here. It is easy to be too emotional in these reviews. There is an improvement in dynamics, the sense of staging, and vocal separation.



The second round of listening was a direct comparison between my Hugo2 and the TT2 using the Antipodes CX+EX. The Chord Hugo 2 has been a pinnacle for me, and it is the right fit. The TT2 brings a new dimension to listening. In my HD800's, the staging of vocals improves; the bass is tighter; the music feels more "alive." Logically the TT2 is around twice the price of the Hugo 2, and it should sound better. Chord TT2 goes beyond that, it absolutely flourishes. I know that we are getting into diminishing returns and costs that are beyond the norm. I am not the least disappointed with the Hugo 2, but as I box up the TT2 to send along to the next person in the group, I feel a loss!

Stepping through the Mojo, Hugo 2, TT2, I can highly recommend any of them. They each fill a niche in our listening systems.

what is the gap between the Hugo 2 and the TT2? I know numbers is hard to quantify, but is it worth it to buy the HUGO TT2 if you already own the Hugo 2?