I disagree.
Here's why. The best amp is no amp. (I'm speaking from own experience.)
Hi
JaZZ, great article and thanks for the link.
My only caveat with the article is that most audio designers have very credible theories for why their design will be an improvement on others. That probably would include the people at Sennheiser who thought the best result with their own headphones called for their own DAC/Amp. There are plenty of listeners on Head-Fi who say, for example, that balanced output to the HD800 produces better sound -- something not possible with the Hugo and not covered in Rob Watt's explanation.
I did not expect my comment to provoke 2-3 pages of 'anti-Hugo' remarks thereafter, however!
I have not auditioned either the Hugo or the HDVD800 at this stage. I was just curious how they would compare and asked
pumpe19 if he was going to include the Hugo in his explorations. Maybe 'consensus' was too strong a term but the Hugo has certainly gathered a massive amount of praise. Not least on this forum where there are several threads dedicated to the Hugo and Hugo TT with 100s of posts from enthusiastic users.
Both the Hugo and the HDVD800 will be on my list to audition. I have been paying attention here to learn from others which units are the front runners and what to expect when I come to listen for myself. I have owned my HD800s since Easter and love them. At the moment I play them through a Weiss DAC-202 and they sound great. However, the Weiss is the centrepiece of my living room stereo (Mark Levinson No. 95 and No. 380S and ATC-SCM50A speakers). The Weiss needs to return there and be replaced by a dedicated HP DAC/Amp to use with the HD800s. I purchased the Weiss in 2012 and other DACs I listened to at the time all had different characters. To my ears the Weiss had the best blend of smoothness and detail -- able to immerse you in the sound world and yet forgiving of mediocre source materials. The man who sold it to me was surprised I preferred it over the Bel Canto DAC3.5. But I found the Bel Canto un-listenable with all but the very best source materials -- it was so dry you could strip paint with it. The Weiss came with Amarra Hi-Fi software. I begged to disagree with Daniel Weiss and chose Pure Music as the better source for his DAC. Happy ever since.
Will certainly come back and post my own impressions here once I have had direct listening experience. In the meantime I look forward to hearing more from
pumpe19 about his explorations. And others, of course. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.
Cheers
Robert