[dawktah2]

I have to try and find a dealer to audition the WA33. The way I have designed our wine/listening loft I really need a remote. A table top tube amp doesn't mix with my soon to be 6 year old daughter. So I have installed in a rack with a locking door. I am deciding on the Chord Hugo TT2 as an alternate.

 

[Rhamnetin]

I have to try and find a dealer to audition the WA33. The way I have designed our wine/listening loft I really need a remote. A table top tube amp doesn't mix with my soon to be 6 year old daughter. So I have installed in a rack with a locking door. I am deciding on the Chord Hugo TT2 as an alternate.

Hugo 2 TT will of course have the benefit of being a stellar DAC. A step up from your Qutest while also being a significant step up vs all of your amps I would imagine. And if you really wanted, you can add a WA33 into the chain later on down the line.

 

[andyschaub]

Hugo 2 TT will of course have the benefit of being a stellar DAC. A step up from your Qutest while also being a significant step up vs all of your amps I would imagine. And if you really wanted, you can add a WA33 into the chain later on down the line.

We all have opinions so just please take this as mine, but I have yet to a hear a Chord DAC that I really like. I've only heard two, the Mojo and the original TT. The Mojo sounded OK, maybe a bit warm and soft for my tastes.

The TT sounded "off" to me in a way I can't describe, but I really preferred the Ayre QB-9 DSD, the Ayre Codex, and the Woo Audio WDS-1, all of which do pretty much the same thing with different inherent limits.

I think Chord made a very poor choice in using a switching power supply with inadequate battery buffering instead of a linear PSU for the TT. I can also say--by way of direct comparison--that the Woo WA8 Eclipse DAC with a vacuum-tube amp section has an analog input that sounds much better that the TT's headphone output alone.

Also, I've only owned DAC's that design their own D/A-conversion firmware and load it onto an FPGA: the dCS Debussy, the Chord Mojo, and the Chord TT. D/A-firmware is really not that easy to build. dCS relies heavily of FFT analysis and I don't know what Chord does, but I think that there might have been better strategies.

That's just my opinion and I mean it in no way as an objective assessment.

I hesitate to mention this, but I was about to publish an unrelated review in Headphone Guru when I made a similar comment about the TT around two years ago. I commented that I personally thought the TT's RCA (single-ended) outputs sounded better than its XLR (balanced) outputs, something that Chord had agreed with and publicly posted in more than one place.

However, the the-technical-editor for Headphone Guru, Eric Neff, saw my post on head-fi and asked me to delete it because he claimed, if I understand what "balanced" meant, I would see that I could not be right, that balanced meant you always had twice the amplitude of single-ended and greater amplitude always sounds better, that he knew this for sure because he was an engineer and, "engineers rule the world". a direct quote.

I tried to explain that, while balanced cables may carry double the voltage or current, the two "sides" are 180 degrees out of phase so, when recombined, cancel noise picked up along the way.

Plus, I had adjusted for any amplitude differences with the "volume control" on my Cavalli Liquid Gold anyway and felt pretty sure that at least I personally thought the RCA (single-ended) outputs sounded better than the XLR (balanced) outputs on the TT all other things being equal.

Eric hammered me with emails while I was at work demanding that I remove the comment from head-fi because my, "lack of knowledge", spoke poorly for Headphone Guru.

I politely declined again and again until, eventually, the EIC Frank Iacone--a former insurance salesman--emailed me saying that he wasn't publishing my review, was removing me from the Headphone Guru staff, and immediately took me off their private FaceBook chat list.

He claimed it had nothing to do with Eric Neff but was because I had only put two pictures in my article and was supposed to put three (???), at which point Eric's emails to my personal account also ceased.

Frank also chastised me at the time for "condemning" his preference for APS-C CMOS sensors (14-bits of color, 25.1 X 16.7mm) in mirrorless digital cameras all because I said that full-frame CCD sensors (16-bits of color, 45 X 60mm) in medium-format DSLR cameras *might* look better in some situations, which I took as a kind of, "... and your mother, too".

As it happened, I was working on the Sony Playstation engineering team during that conversation, although I didn't get a chance to bring that up, not that it really matters in the context of basic single-ended or balanced analog cable design and topology, not to mention having a "volume control" to make things sound louder or softer.

I later heard that exact same physical TT (down to the serial number) at Moon Audio in Cary, NC after always-kind Drew Baird let me return it, using RCA (single-ended) cables into a Pass Labs HPA-1 and it sounded really good specifically with DSD files.

With regards to Eric, Frank, and Headphone Guru, the Latin phrase, "caveat emptor", comes to mind, meaning, "buyer beware", although--in this case--I think the following expression seems more apt, "Non credo quod principes terrarum assecurationis exigo", or, "never trust world rulers and insurance sellers".

 

[Rhamnetin]

We all opinions so just please take this as mine, but I have yet to a hear a Chord DAC that I really like. I've only heard two, the Mojo and the original TT. The Mojo sounded OK, maybe a bit warm and soft for my tastes. The TT sounded "off" to me in a way I can't describe, but I really preferred the Ayre QB-9 DSD, the Ayre Codex, and the Woo Audio WDS-1, all of which do pretty much the same thing with different inherent limits. I think Chord made a very poor choice in using a switching power supply with adequate battery buffering or just a linear PSU. Also, I've only owned DAC's that design their own D/A-conversion firmware and load i onto an FPGA: the dCS Debussy, the Chord Mojo, and the Chord TT. D/A-firmware is really not that easy to build. dCS relies heavily of FFT analysis and I don't know what Chord does, but I think that there might have been better strategies. That's just my opinion and I mean it in no way as an objective assessment.

The gen 2 Chord DACs are not in the same league as the gen 1s FYI. You're in the same boat as a lot of people; listened to the Mojo and TT or original Hugo and was unimpressed (I was unimpressed by the original Hugo), but the gen 2s seem to impress almost everyone who listens to them.

 

[andyschaub]

For me, Chord DACs are the only delta sigma DACs that I really like.

Thanks, I appreciate that. FWIW, since Chord writes their own DAC firmware and loads it onto an FPGA, no one outside of Chord really knows how it works, so it's not necessarily a Delta-Sigma DAC. It might be, or it might use a different algorithm / type of DAC design altogether. That's neither good nor bad, just an assumption we can't really make even if we all agree that the TT 2 sounds better than the TT. Cheers.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Thanks, I appreciate that. FWIW, since Chord writes their own DAC firmware and loads it onto an FPGA, no one outside of Chord really knows how it works, so it's not necessarily a Delta-Sigma DAC. It might be, or it might use a different algorithm / type of DAC design altogether. That's neither good nor bad, just an assumption we can't really make even if we all agree that the TT 2 sounds better than the TT. Cheers.

Good point, I don't want to mislead people. Perhaps I should have said "non-R2R DAC" since that's what I was really getting at.

 

[andyschaub]

Perhaps I should have said "non-R2R DAC" since that's what I was really getting at.

OK, thanks. I'm sure that an-FPGA-based solution would not use a resistor-based DAC, neither an R/2R nor a true binary-weighted-resistor design (if such a thing could be built for more than about three bits at a time right now under varying temperature conditions, etc., cost-effectively).

 

[dawktah2]

We all have opinions so just please take this as mine, but I have yet to a hear a Chord DAC that I really like. I've only heard two, the Mojo and the original TT. The Mojo sounded OK, maybe a bit warm and soft for my tastes.

The TT sounded "off" to me in a way I can't describe, but I really preferred the Ayre QB-9 DSD, the Ayre Codex, and the Woo Audio WDS-1, all of which do pretty much the same thing with different inherent limits.

I think Chord made a very poor choice in using a switching power supply with inadequate battery buffering instead of a linear PSU for the TT. I can also say--by way of direct comparison--that the Woo WA8 Eclipse DAC with a vacuum-tube amp section has an analog input that sounds much better that the TT's headphone output alone.

Also, I've only owned DAC's that design their own D/A-conversion firmware and load it onto an FPGA: the dCS Debussy, the Chord Mojo, and the Chord TT. D/A-firmware is really not that easy to build. dCS relies heavily of FFT analysis and I don't know what Chord does, but I think that there might have been better strategies.

That's just my opinion and I mean it in no way as an objective assessment.

I hesitate to mention this, but I was about to publish an unrelated review in Headphone Guru when I made a similar comment about the TT around two years ago. I commented that I personally thought the TT's RCA (single-ended) outputs sounded better than its XLR (balanced) outputs, something that Chord had agreed with and publicly posted in more than one place.

However, the the-technical-editor for Headphone Guru, Eric Neff, saw my post on head-fi and asked me to delete it because he claimed, if I understand what "balanced" meant, I would see that I could not be right, that balanced meant you always had twice the amplitude of single-ended and greater amplitude always sounds better, that he knew this for sure because he was an engineer and, "engineers rule the world". a direct quote.

I tried to explain that, while balanced cables may carry double the voltage or current, the two "sides" are 180 degrees out of phase so, when recombined, cancel noise picked up along the way.

Plus, I had adjusted for any amplitude differences with the "volume control" on my Cavalli Liquid Gold anyway and felt pretty sure that at least I personally thought the RCA (single-ended) outputs sounded better than the XLR (balanced) outputs on the TT all other things being equal.

Eric hammered me with emails while I was at work demanding that I remove the comment from head-fi because my, "lack of knowledge", spoke poorly for Headphone Guru.

I politely declined again and again until, eventually, the EIC Frank Iacone--a former insurance salesman--emailed me saying that he wasn't publishing my review, was removing me from the Headphone Guru staff, and immediately took me off their private FaceBook chat list.

He claimed it had nothing to do with Eric Neff but was because I had only put two pictures in my article and was supposed to put three (???), at which point Eric's emails to my personal account also ceased.

Frank also chastised me at the time for "condemning" his preference for APS-C CMOS sensors (14-bits of color, 25.1 X 16.7mm) in mirrorless digital cameras all because I said that full-frame CCD sensors (16-bits of color, 45 X 60mm) in medium-format DSLR cameras *might* look better in some situations, which I took as a kind of, "... and your mother, too".

As it happened, I was working on the Sony Playstation engineering team during that conversation, although I didn't get a chance to bring that up, not that it really matters in the context of basic single-ended or balanced analog cable design and topology, not to mention having a "volume control" to make things sound louder or softer.

I later heard that exact same physical TT (down to the serial number) at Moon Audio in Cary, NC after always-kind Drew Baird let me return it, using RCA (single-ended) cables into a Pass Labs HPA-1 and it sounded really good specifically with DSD files.

With regards to Eric, Frank, and Headphone Guru, the Latin phrase, "caveat emptor", comes to mind, meaning, "buyer beware", although--in this case--I think the following expression seems more apt, "Non credo quod principes terrarum assecurationis exigo", or, "never trust world rulers and insurance sellers".

Being old enough to remember when audio went from tubes to solid state being cold and sterile was generally how it was described. Irony...

 

[Rhamnetin]

Thanks for the honesty andyschaub and Dubstep Girl. That's exactly what consumers need to see. Don't trust every article and review out there, as many of these sites (I'd guess most) are more focused on maintaining their own relationships with partners and their own business than providing honest reviews.

 

[dawktah2]

Reviews: Its to me the same as being a passenger blindfolded in a car and being told what kind of car you're in. Your own impressions are the equivalent of taking the blindfold off

 

[omniweltall]

Thanks, I appreciate that. FWIW, since Chord writes their own DAC firmware and loads it onto an FPGA, no one outside of Chord really knows how it works, so it's not necessarily a Delta-Sigma DAC. It might be, or it might use a different algorithm / type of DAC design altogether. That's neither good nor bad, just an assumption we can't really make even if we all agree that the TT 2 sounds better than the TT. Cheers.

Andy,

As far as I know, Chord Dacs are Delta-Sigma, even if it is custom. Chord uses a lot of taps to reduce the potential inaccuracies in Delta Sigma modulation.

 

[isquirrel]

I have been using a WA 33 Elite for the last month for long term review. The best valve combination I have found is 4 x Gold Plate 6C45 Electro Harmonix from Woo, 4 x Quad matched KR 2A3 HP and 1 x Takatsuki 274B rectifier. I have tried the following rectifiers:

KR 274 HP
Elrog 274B
Takatsuki 274B

I also have a set of 234 Mono's however the WA 33 is not full burned in yet so hard to draw any definate conclusions about SQ, however I have found the amp to be highly rectifier dependant. The Elrog gave a great sense of Transparency however the bass was nowhere as solid or deep as the Takatsuki 274B.

My next valve move is to try 4 x quad matched EML 2A3 Mesh Plates, I have ordered 1 x 5U4G & 1 x 274B Mesh Plate rectifiers to test.

I am running in balanced using the new Shunyata Sigma IC's and Digital cables AES 110 ohm & 75 ohm BNC word clock which replaced Transparent Gen 5 Ref XL. To my surprise the Shunyata cables were a nice improvement in terms of clarity, speed, depth and richness. The musicality I was not expecting, Shunyata cables have previously been accurate and somewhat lean IMO. The new Sigma's are great value for money compared to the top end cables of pretty much any high end manufacturer.

The amp + valves has changed SQ pretty much constantly during break in, its now settling down and I am really enjoying it. I have gravitated towards the LCD-4Z's set on Lo Z and Lo Level. Using my DAC as the pre amp and volume control.

Has anyone else tried the EML Mesh plates in the WA 33 yet?

 

[isquirrel]

With the Takatsuki 274B, also using the HRS Vortex Footers which have helped.

 

[joseph69]

Has anyone else tried the EML Mesh plates in the WA 33 yet?

I'm waiting for my WA33 (standard) to arrive with EHX 6C45Pi drivers from Woo/EML 2A3-S power tubes & I'll be using my NOS UE-USAF 596 rectifier tube.
I chose the Solid plate EML 2A3-S's on Jack Wu's recommendation over the EML Mesh plate. Jack is in possession of all the tubes I mentioned to check in my WA33 before shipping. I'll only have the stock tubes to do any comparisons, though.

 

[isquirrel]

I'm waiting for my WA33 (standard) to arrive with EHX 6C45Pi drivers from Woo/EML 2A3-S power tubes & I'll be using my NOS UE-USAF 596 rectifier tube.
I chose the Solid plate EML 2A3-S's on Jack Wu's recommendation over the EML Mesh plate. Jack is in possession of all the tubes I mentioned to check in my WA33 before shipping. I'll only have the stock tubes to do any comparisons, though.

I have tried both stock and Mesh plates from EML, always preferred the sound of the Mesh plates. I have a Mesh Globe 45 which is in my top 5 tubes of all time. Good thing about EML is that they have a 5 year warranty. I don't believe any other Tube Manufacturer offers such a long warranty period.