[junix]

I dunno what many people see in Hugo 2 and Hugo. Its way overpriced... you always have to stack something and there is no big deal in the sound. well, it can play way ****ing louder then AK1000 or sony 1z.
imho, both sony and Ak have better dac and sound qualities.

I'm currently using Hugo 2 in my trans-portable desktop setup and I honestly think it can rival much more expensive non-transportable rigs.
I personally think it is underpriced, but everyone is entitled to his opinion..

The H2 is a trans-portable DAC while the SP1000 and 1Z are portable DAPs, the H2 is useless and cannot even play music if it is not connected to "something".. I don't see the point in comparing them..

Having said that I cannot "compare" anymore the SP1000 to the H2 as my SP1000 died, while the H2 is still working..
(damn statistics, if it happens to me it is almost 100% of the relevant people in my life! )

 

[Dvdlucena]

I'm currently using Hugo 2 in my trans-portable desktop setup and I honestly think it can rival much more expensive non-transportable rigs.
I personally think it is underpriced, but everyone is entitled to his opinion..

The H2 is a trans-portable DAC while the SP1000 and 1Z are portable DAPs, the H2 is useless and cannot even play music if it is not connected to "something".. I don't see the point in comparing them..

Having said that I cannot "compare" anymore the SP1000 to the H2 as my SP1000 died, while the H2 is still working..
(damn statistics, if it happens to me it is almost 100% of the relevant people in my life! )

which more expensive gear did you compared hugo? please describe your comparisons. cheers

 

[jlbrach]

I dunno what many people see in Hugo 2 and Hugo. Its way overpriced... you always have to stack something and there is no big deal in the sound. well, it can play way ****ing louder then AK1000 or sony 1z.
imho, both sony and Ak have better dac and sound qualities.

AK1000 is almost twice as expensive as the Hugo 2 and it cannot drive many top HP's so it will require a portable amp...so there is that....as far as the DAC goes i strongly disagree and think the hugo 2 DAC is wonderful but thats why we have a variety of choices..I bought a used AK100 with 2 micro SD slots for a couple of hundred dollars and use it with my hugo 2....marvelous

 

[wldcohso]

I’m really trying to decide... decisions decisions.. impressions of them both to follow soon.

 

[junix]

which more expensive gear did you compared hugo? please describe your comparisons. cheers

I didn't critically compare Hugo 2 to any more expensive gear but I really honestly think it can rival them.
..briefly compared it to Hugo TT and Dave (at my dealer, this sounds weird..) and yes, it can rival them (as previously wrote - rival, not beat..), mind you Dave is more than x5 pricewise.

I’m really trying to decide... decisions decisions.. impressions of them both to follow soon.

I'm in the same boat, looking forward to your impressions!
I only managed to listen to the U18t, and I loved it paired with SP1000Cu+EA Lionheart..

 

[hattrick15]

Yep, I wrote a quick review for a forum in Polish, a quick translation, pardon for rookie English. Before we start, I'll only answer that I have probably only about 50h on my WM1Z and installed 2.0 roughly from the start, so had no time to analyze firmware differences unfortunately - however it sounded great from the start. So, let's quote myself:

Thanks so much for translating your review. It is really insightful and very helpful. Please do post any additional thoughts once your WMZ1 gets to 200+ hours, as Sony says the final sound isn't reached until then. Will be interesting to see if you hear any difference between the DAP now and at 200 hours.

 

[moemoney]

I Purchase this about a year ago to use with by Sony DAP, but now that I have the SP 1000 this works excellent with it and I can keep my IEMs in side it as well as my cell phone. and all for $13.99

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011BN2C50/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Dvdlucena]

I didn't critically compare Hugo 2 to any more expensive gear but I really honestly think it can rival them.
..briefly compared it to Hugo TT and Dave (at my dealer, this sounds weird..) and yes, it can rival them (as previously wrote - rival, not beat..), mind you Dave is more than x5 pricewise.


sorry, i did compared critically, and hugo can't touch dave or hugo tt, or metrum pavane or any model of Total dac

 

[MRT-Man]

To sum this up, if I had to choose one, I would choose WM1Z without hestitation. Especially with the price difference.

Then I would try to make it work with KSE1500

Thanks for the comparison, I appreciate your thoughts. But what you seem to be saying, is that, if we put aside the price difference, the SP1000 is a better match for the KSE 1500 (not necessarily due to sound characteristics, but due to the output level). Correct?

 

[Piotr Michalak]

Thanks for the comparison, I appreciate your thoughts. But what you seem to be saying, is that, if we put aside the price difference, the SP1000 is a better match for the KSE 1500 (not necessarily due to sound characteristics, but due to the output level). Correct?

I have to correct myself. My test was probably on some very quiet music, probably it was "Requiem for a friend" by Preisner, where there are often parts with only one instrument in a huge space. Then, truly, WM1Z output may be not enough. But, for most classical music, it will be enough. I listened all day today and KSE1500 pairs beautifully with WM1Z. I've managed to find another album with such a problem, again: only organs, recorded from many feet away, an old master tape moved into DSD files. Again WM1Z was not loud enough and KSE1500 was on a brink of distortion. But I have to correct myself, that for most music, WM1Z is enough to drive KSE1500.

 

[Malevolent]

I dunno what many people see in Hugo 2 and Hugo. Its way overpriced... you always have to stack something and there is no big deal in the sound. well, it can play way ****ing louder then AK1000 or sony 1z.
imho, both sony and Ak have better dac and sound qualities.

Sorry to say, but I disagree. The Hugo 2 actually sounds a lot better than its price suggests, especially if you compare it against its chief rival in the portable TOTL space, the SP1000. Yes, both devices are not exactly similar in their respective use-case scenarios, but on raw sound output alone, both deserve to stand at the summit of portable-fi. It manages to sound exceedingly detailed, yet entirely natural in its tonality. Bloody awesome, if you ask me.

 

[bflat]

I continue to wonder why Hugo or any Chord product for that matter, keeps coming up in DAP comparisons. It also seems to only be with AK DAPs too. But this is how the community has chosen to discuss ever since Hugo 1 and AK240 so I guess we keep going out of tradition. If we are only talking about sound impressions, then I also wonder why it's only Chord that gets compared. Why not Schiit, iFi, Audio GD, Holo Spring, Metrum, PS Audio, etc? Are we saying AK DAPs should be compared with any $3000+ DAC or are we saying Chord DACs should be compared with any $3000+ DAP? Neither makes sense to me.

 

[TYATYA]

On this 25. Nov I will take one H2 or Sp1000. There's a chance I can hear both together to do A/B test. Last time I compare Sp1000 to my Ak120ii (dont laugh, some tracks clearly sp1000 was loser). Maybe that is a defective one.
So pls help me verify that :
1)Sp1000 doest have problem off LR balance spl with dsd?(demo unit I heard has envidence of a light drop/fall)
2)Its eq mostly not working (no effective)? I think there's fw update in future to fix
For H2,
1)Does H2 drive directly HD800s with full power and SQ?
2)If must drive by HDVD800 amp, H2 or Sp1000 will give better sq?
For outgoing I use kse1500 so Sp1000 is max size limit for me.
Hard to make a choice

 

[Giraku]

On this 25. Nov I will take one H2 or Sp1000. There's a chance I can hear both together to do A/B test. Last time I compare Sp1000 to my Ak120ii (dont laugh, some tracks clearly sp1000 was loser). Maybe that is a defective one.
So pls help me verify that :
1)Sp1000 doest have problem off LR balance spl with dsd?(demo unit I heard has envidence of a light drop/fall)
2)Its eq mostly not working (no effective)? I think there's fw update in future to fix
For H2,
1)Does H2 drive directly HD800s with full power and SQ?
2)If must drive by HDVD800 amp, H2 or Sp1000 will give better sq?
For outgoing I use kse1500 so Sp1000 is max size limit for me.
Hard to make a choice

I have both Hugo 2 and SP1000Cu. At home I use Hugo 2 most of the time, which clearly beats my TA-ZH1ES and HDV820. On the road, I use SP1000Cu or X7mk2 with RE2000.
Now, interesting comparison is between SP1000Cu and X7mk2. For pure audiophile aspects, SP1000Cu clearly wins in all departments, but not with a huge margin. Actually, the difference is not so big.
But overall, I prefer X7mk2 because of the amp (I use AM5 module instead of the stock AM3A). I tested using various HPs (please see my profile for the details) and preferred X7mk2 80% of the time to SP1000Cu.
And I believe it's because of the amp section. AM5 is very powerful (not to the level of Hugo 2, though) and can drive large cans nicely, like HE1kv2. Even with RE2000, I enjoy most of my music better with X7mk2 than SP1000Cu. Considering the price difference, I think X7mk2 does an excellent job for the price (1/5 of SP1000Cu).

Now, to your questions:
SP1000
1) Are you sure that the LR balance problem is because of the SP1000 not the HPs/IEMs (including cables)?
2) EQ is not a strong suit for AK DAPs. I don't think it will improve even with firmware updates.
Hugo 2
1) Yes. Hugo 2 has enough driving power with authority for HD800S and HE1kv2.
2) With HDV820, when I use analog input, Hugo 2 has better SQ to my ears.

Hope this helps. YMMV.

 

[wldcohso]

I have both Hugo 2 and SP1000Cu. At home I use Hugo 2 most of the time, which clearly beats my TA-ZH1ES and HDV820. On the road, I use SP1000Cu or X7mk2 with RE2000.
Now, interesting comparison is between SP1000Cu and X7mk2. For pure audiophile aspects, SP1000Cu clearly wins in all departments, but not with a huge margin. Actually, the difference is not so big.
But overall, I prefer X7mk2 because of the amp (I use AM5 module instead of the stock AM3A). I tested using various HPs (please see my profile for the details) and preferred X7mk2 80% of the time to SP1000Cu.
And I believe it's because of the amp section. AM5 is very powerful (not to the level of Hugo 2, though) and can drive large cans nicely, like HE1kv2. Even with RE2000, I enjoy most of my music better with X7mk2 than SP1000Cu. Considering the price difference, I think X7mk2 does an excellent job for the price (1/5 of SP1000Cu).

Now, to your questions:
SP1000
1) Are you sure that the LR balance problem is because of the SP1000 not the HPs/IEMs (including cables)?
2) EQ is not a strong suit for AK DAPs. I don't think it will improve even with firmware updates.
Hugo 2
1) Yes. Hugo 2 has enough driving power with authority for HD800S and HE1kv2.
2) With HDV820, when I use analog input, Hugo 2 has better SQ to my ears.

Hope this helps. YMMV.

the HDV820 hasn't had a mass release yet, were you able to listen to it and compare to your H2?