[castleofargh]

arf yeah I didn't read right and lost myself in your last sentence I guess. sorry for the misunderstanding guys. hdcd I really don't know what it is ^_^

 

[Roly1650]

arf yeah I didn't read right and lost myself in your last sentence I guess. sorry for the misunderstanding guys. hdcd I really don't know what it is ^_^

No worries, you're right much more than you're wrong and your post pretty much nailed it anyway with respect to dsd v PCM.

 

[tanglewire]

I had the opportunity of having CHORD HUGO for one week and really rather than the amazing technical specification on paper and the brand fee cost of Chord electronics on top I didn’t hear or even perceive a real difference that might justify the price tag.

I’m strongly believe this is the Emperor’s new clothes story. If an egocentric engineer says his design is the best ever made, technical breakthrough, at the point of stamping his name in the mainboard then...everybody believes it... and follows...pretentious marketing strategy

I real technological breakthrough made by real engineers/Scientifics (no marketing gurus)... even in consumer electronics. Let the community decide how important and good might be. Have you ever seen a real engineer trying to justify his design… or convincing people that price is actually correct?

Per the product itself... it’s declared as portable... but is not...you can move it from point A to point A easily... but cannot imaging using it “on the go”... commuting every day? Is not practical at all..You might call it transportable.. but not portable..

So well.. we can use it as a Desk DAC… even worse..industrial engineers made a very bad work for either application. Even for the desk is very limited..the Christmas tree approach just didn’t work out.. connections are too small..no input identifications.. tiny switches, not standard USB connector for high end cables, and so on.. For main system in rack.. forget it.. it doesn’t have remote control..cannot imaging going back and forth to my coach.. trying to switch inputs..with its tiny switch. Is it a fair trade off for the “amazing sound”? No to my taste.

So back to the thread title: What is the special sauce behind the Chord Hugo? Rather than Emperor’s new clothes effect…really don’t know. Very poor industrial design, very cheap feeling on packaging and accessories, sound is as good as many others in the market for a fraction of the price. What is then?

What I do believe. It is special and unique in this product is the fact that doesn’t fit in any particular category and this is quite controversial these days.. (marketing speaking).. and of course that calls the attention of many people.

I just remember products that changed people’s relation with music and even life style worldwide such Sony Walkman TPS-L2 back in 1979, or the first portable CD Player, or the first MP3 player and so on..I’m wondering how important and revolutionary could be to somebody’s life to have 26,368 taps?

 

[RollingStone]

There's full technical measurement in the Hi-World review using Rohde and Schwarz measurement which is among the most advanced in the world: http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/reviews-info.asp?id=92

 

[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

 

[Head Injury]

  There's full technical measurement in the Hi-World review using Rohde and Schwarz measurement which is among the most advanced in the world: http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/reviews-info.asp?id=92

I'll be sure to read the review once I don't have to pay for it! 

 

[tanglewire]

guess how much cost that ad in this magazine.. and who pay for it....   HUGO OWNERS!!...

 

[AnakChan]

  guess how much cost that ad in this magazine.. and who pay for it....   HUGO OWNERS!!...

 
Your former post. OK. I'd have a few disagreeing points on your justifications but still fair enough as a consumer with an opinion. Your 2nd post though is ourtight trolling. However, taking off my moderator hat and putting on my regular member hat, I'd like to request a little more background information about yourself to help me understand why you think so of Hugo & its designer (referring to the 1st post naturally).
 
I'm not going to address every point you've written but to the main ones I feel worthy of further debate.
 
Although I won't call Rob Watts egocentric (venture to the Stax thread...) but I do feel it's normal that he defends his design. What kind of message would he send if he was publicly not confident of his latest product? I wouldn't buy a product if it's own maker wouldn't endorse (although I'd give him/her full credits for being honest).
 
Now I don't own a Chord and actually I agree with you the design is uncomfortable for portable use and not to mention awkwardly design. To me in fact, these are traits of designs by an engineer - something that techincally works but with little thought to non-techical user interface. So I'd actually beg to differ that the Hugo was not designed by "real engineers" as you've  termed it.
 
About how important 26,368 taps are to one's life? Probably not much for consumers, but could potentially be important to either a Chord employee's career or even job status. it doesn't take much to kill a business and organisation. Anyway how many people are working for, promoting &/or selling something that is "important to their audience's life"? Chord is a product company just like all others.

 

[joeexp]

  guess how much cost that ad in this magazine.. and who pay for it....   HUGO OWNERS!!...

 
Can you please tell me what you consider a good sounding DAC so that I can understand what sonic qualities you prefer....
And yes I totally agree with you about the product design of the Hugo as I mentioned in this forum already.
 
But remember how big and heavy the first portable Sony CD players were. You had to carry them around your neck with a strap.
 
And yes engineers like to but their names on their products - nothing new there. (Diesel engine,  Bugatti cars, etc )

 

[castleofargh]

And yes engineers like to but their names on their products - nothing new there. (Diesel engine,  Bugatti cars, etc )

the worst is that hello kitty guy.

 

[cjl]

   
Can you please tell me what you consider a good sounding DAC so that I can understand what sonic qualities you prefer....

I personally prefer sonic transparency, which means that I'm fine with nearly every dac on the market. There are a lot out there that sound exactly the same.

 

[tanglewire]

guys guys.. really sorry for my passion here... I didn't mean to troll. I can refer to every point I said. But the bottom line is: This industry is trying to add value to their products in a none fair way to consumers electronics.(Artificially). I know hi-fi market is a very particular and reduced niche... but here we are not talking about jewlery, or swiss watches. Indeed we all know that there is a brand fee, quality, performance, material, distribution chain and so but in the other hand we all know that a good thing about electronics is its massive production capabilities, as well...

I’ll pay more than happy a premium price for a product as a whole. But no for an electronic board with an amazing technology . I mean a real high-end product would consider premium industrial design, haptic concepts, thinking in demanding potential consumers. How the product is going to seduce you to get your money out of your packet by it self. No because somebody else said is the best ever made.

The thread title is What is the special sauce behind the Chord Hugo? I don’t see nothing else rather than the technology inside the chip. To me Chord Hugo is a limitted product
If you open another thread called What is the special sauce behind FPGA DAC and its 26,368 taps. My approach would be very differente cause I found it really amazing and a real game changer of the industry. But as a product called Chord Hugo.. I believe it needs several more iterations and consumer focus

I will not refer about sound because this is about personal taste. Every DAC about US$1K do sound great. The extra cost of many more K$$ for little improvements is everyone’s decision and depending on his budget.

 

[bigshot]

I haven't found a DAC chip at any price point that doesn't sound great. I have a $40 Walmart Coby CD player that sounds the same as my Oppo. In order for a DAC to NOT sound good, you need to really mess up the implementation of it.

 

[tanglewire]

  I haven't found a DAC chip at any price point that doesn't sound great. I have a $40 Walmart Coby CD player that sounds the same as my Oppo. In order for a DAC to NOT sound good, you need to really mess up the implementation of it.

 
I'm completely agree with you bigshot. I just finished watching to an amazing documentary available on NETFLIX called "The Zen of Bennett". You can see there what a real passion for music it's all about. It's far beyond buying expensive gear. Consumerism is killing the most sensitive feelings of human being. Not only the music. Right now while I'm writing I'm listening to Oscar Peterson Trio Album: "We get requests". It really amaze me every time I do and gives me goosebumps. No matter if I'm listening with my fancy LCD-3, or the piece of crap that came with my cell phone

 

[joeexp]

   
I'm completely agree with you bigshot. I just finished watching to an amazing documentary available on NETFLIX called "The Zen of Bennett". You can see there what a real passion for music it's all about. It's far beyond buying expensive gear. Consumerism is killing the most sensitive feelings of human being. Not only the music. Right now while I'm writing I'm listening to Oscar Peterson Trio Album: "We get requests". It really amaze me every time I do and gives me goosebumps. No matter if I'm listening with my fancy LCD-3, or the piece of crap that came with my cell phone

 
I think you are on the wrong forum here.
You should head over to "cheap and cheerful"!
 
Because the last time I looked this section here is about "What is the special sauce behind the Chord Hugo?"....