For all its technical greatness, however, the Hugo 2 simply doesn’t sound musical. Vocals are that one degree too cool, the treble is that little touch too sharp and punchy, and the balance is simply off. There’s no humanity to the music that comes from the Hugo 2, and that becomes apparent over a longer listening session with good headphones. I write after weeks of accumulated experience with everything from the cheap in-ear 1More Triple Drivers to the epic Focal Utopia, Final D8000, Klipsch HP-3, and Audeze MX4, among others.
Like a perfectly sharp chef’s knife, the Hugo 2 leaves me awed by its precision but also bruised by its merciless sharpness. On Banks’ “Mother Earth,” for example, every pluck of a guitar string is crystal clear and identifiable, but the singer’s vocals lack their natural huskiness, and high notes seem to jump out from the backing track. I just can’t relax while listening to the uptight and regimented sound of the Hugo 2. Switching to the Woo Audio WA7 tube amplifier feels like a warm hug from an old friend by comparison, and the Schiit Jotunheim and DragonFly Red DAC/amps each produce a more listenable and enjoyable output than the Hugo. Call my tastes plebeian if you must, but I can only relay what I’ve experienced: the Hugo 2’s technical superiority doesn’t translate to better music.
Initially, I was unwilling to accept that it was the Hugo 2’s fault, so I spent many weeks trying to train myself to like it. But over that period of time, I lost much of my enthusiasm for testing headphones, and I was left with the impression that the new Audio-Technica X5000, Audeze LCD-2 Classic, and Final D8000 each had an unpleasant treble edge. It wasn’t them, it was the Hugo 2.
