Chord Hugo 2

I actually saw those as well, and I have a Chord 2 Demo with me now... that I am supposed to be listening to... actually. Need to finish up my thoughts on the NFB10ES2 the iCan Micro SE and the Ember II [dac vs dac] then I start my Hugo 2 vs NFB10ES2 thoughts... an thank GAWD I have an Etir... I only need to swap out the coax from it into what ever dac, no more fussing with Drivers for everything

 

Hi Allan, how does the Bifrost Multibit fare against chord mojo?

 

Comparing as just a DAC feeding the Auralic Taurus II, comparing to the Bifrost Multibit. very hard to tell, for me, but the Bifrost Multibit seems a tad smoother than the Hugo 2. The reverse might be that the Hugo 2 has a bit more extension into the upper range. Not harsh at all, and possibly a bit more detailed, but hard for me to tell. The difference becomes more apparent with a piano solo

As for the filters, they do nothing for me. I had a friend with much better ears (he's a musician and sound mixer) and he also could not hear any difference with the filters. The crossfeed is well implemented, but all the "on" settings for the crossfeed sound the same to me. It should have been an on/off switch. The whole colored balls thing is stupid, and the bare LED in the middle can be very distracting. Sure, it can all be dimmed, but then it's hard to see how it's set.

Overall, unless you need a small DAC, or the portableness, I would recommend a Modi Multibit or Bifrost Multibit, or even and iFI black iDSD or a mojo if you need portable. Only reason I have a Bifrost Multibit over a Modi Multibit is because it's black and I got a great deal on it here.

My write up for the Hugo will not be nearly as glowing as others, but it will not be negative. I just think it's quite expensive for what it is. Take this with a grain of salt as my ability to distinguish plankton is nonexistent.

 

That is very unfortunate to hear about the Hugo2 and one of the concerns I have had about the Mojo and DAVE. My Mojo battery failed within one year and the repair process in the United States was very poor. In fact, that experience is the reason I will never again purchase a Chord product with a battery. Chord needs to improve their service and warranty program for US customers.

 

These have never struck a... chord with me.

 

I think this is an example of the reviews we are going to see for the Hugo 2 from the "audio media"

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0817/Chord_Hugo_2_DAC_Headphone_Amplifier_Review.htm

 

Not a review but my initial impressions on it's functionality aren't great

First off I wrongfully assumed the Remote was a convenience, I didn't realize the ONLY volume buttons are mapped to it, secondly that set, it is/was set to an absurdly loud level when I did get the input channel adjusted correctly, which is ok I guess, it's not super powerful so no harm no foul but it was unpleasant to say the least,

while my demo unit doesn't rattle the chassis is pretty cheaply assembled, especially compared to the cleaner more together Geek Out v2+, I will by the way be comparing these two. Going back to just quality of life usage, while it is annoying, I appreciate that the Geek Out v2+ with 2.1 firmware is set to very low levels, I can always turn it up by holding the button so it's no issue,

Vs what was a LOUD start with the Hugo 2, the little Remote is neat I guess not crazy about how literally make or break important it is to the function of the device as a whole,

non of the Cross Feed options provided any improvements for me they only compress the sound stage, though I'm listening to what I've found to be very well recorded material,

in terms of sound quality I don't mind a colder more digital sound, ESS Sabre 9018 Duals run my at home Dac, in fact I have another set of ESS Sabre 90XX chips in the GeekOut as well so that's two dacs running that colder signature, though I do like the warmth I get from my TDA Chip set in the HM 601 and the PCM chip in my Behringer UAC 202 [Line out]

That said, I'm not disappointed, it's not as cold and digital as the internal dac/amp of my v20 so that's a positive! I'll have some impressions of how it sounds as the day progressives, I was hoping to use my HE 4 but... it won't drive it, so I'll be using my Nhoord Red V1 since @Bill-P has our ES10 for upgrades this month, the Nhoord Red V1 sounds simmilar to the Grado RS1i but with the hump at 70hrz instead of 100, so better low bass response, more fun than it is resolving but it'll work for now

Feeling better about how boring my blog is looking after looking over that layout, still

Really love that statement! Gawd PRAISE Chord! FINALLY A dac that resolves the ambient detail, NOTHING I've EVER OWNED has been able to do that! FINALLY I CAN HEAR IT ALL*

*but seriously every dac I've ever listened to does this... some better than others but even my UCA 202 can resolve ambient room acoustics, granted it's a bit fuzzier than the NFB10ES2 or mt Geek Out v2+... but never vague

 

The old changstar crew that moved here know what to expect from a Jude video. Response is a slight eyeroll and a shrug.

 

It's interesting to read the various "defenses" for odd behavior of the Hugo 2. Much the same thing happened in the big Mojo thread. Chord Defense Force in full swing; or "business as usual". Who the hells puts up with sticking things, especially portable, things on their side to get around apparently poor thermal design? Who wants to use a DAC on a desktop that requires babying to charge and listen at the same time (Mojo was already a pain in the arse for desktop use)? Strange noises when charging again? All rather sad.

Tempting to put the cat among the pigeons a bit and point out that the black unit might radiate heat more effectively than the silver and see what shit that stirs up and/or see how long that takes to become "a thing" with the "we believe everything we're told" crowd (as long as it's accompanied by enough pseudo-scientific twatwaffle).

Of course, to do that legitimately, I actually have to get my unit and a silver one. And the former is proving to be enough of a challenge as it is. Holy-missed availability estimates. Though I might have a path to grab a unit locally today, will see in a bit.

 

Cross feed is really only useful for music that has overly left/right separation. A lot of 60's and early 70's rock was like that. For example, a lot of Beatles. For music has has guitar one playing in the left speaker and guitar 2 playing in the right speaker, headphones cannot present the correct stage, so crossfeed helps. The Hugo 2 crossfeed is implemented well, but most people won't use it. I won't say it's a gimmick, but it's close.

 

You can adjust the volume by rolling the little ball...

 

Seriously, well I guess I'll keep my eye's on the Hugo 2. I'm charging it while I listen at the moment, no odd noises or excessive heat as of yet. My only gripe thus far has been the lack of volume controls mounted do the device it self. I guess I'm... old fashioned. I like to have both in the rare case I lose the remote, or for some reason it fails on me...


OK Let's talk PURELY about the sound

level matched the Chord Hugo 2 to my NFB10ES2, RIGHT off the bat what I notice is the Chord sounds more narrow, not quite as deep an not as defined in the bass, I test dac/amps with 2 songs and 4 "around the mix" tracks for sound stage, Miles Davis's So What is my go to! Now the Nhoord Red V1 is lacking a little sub bass, and this track is interesting... the Sub Bass is stronger in the right channel, with the mid bass more focused on the left... maybe some Crossfeed might benefit the Nhoord Red in this instance but when I tried I didn't particularity enjoy it as it narrow's the sound stage as a whole

but I've got a more defined bass with the NFB10ES2, I can actually feel some of the low bass on the right channel, where as with the Hugo It's more so limited to the left, there's not much action from the right, really ever,

Yea I understand that, Crossfeed has it's use's. I don't have any music that benefits from it at the moment, but occasionally I do. I actually like a little cross feed with some of my EDM, but I don't do critical listening with EDM

 

There is a volume control on the device itself. It's the ball on the top of the unit, behind the little transparent window.

Now, I've seen a couple or three reports of this being broken on receipt and of it failing within a couple of days, so you may have a bad unit (especially if it's a tour unit), but it's definitely there - I've used it.

 

Yes, this is what it looks like on a broken unit (... doing the same on yours should change the volume and color of the ball, as long as it still works):
https://d.pr/v/bOhnMJ

 

Brillance! A color'd ball to adjust the volume... I guess I feel stupid for not figuring that out? I hope other companies also adopt the color'd volume schematic as well, heck maybe even my car will start displaying my speed in color too!

Non the less, my Nhoord Red V1 just underwent some repairs, the head band assembly was lop sided... so I dis assembled it... realized it's not super well put together... threw some loctite to hold everything in place and now I no longer have this left leaning bass problem, it happily's goes between the two channels as it should!

YAY so let's start some NEW listening IMPRESSIONS,

Never-mind... same as before, my initial impressions still stand. With the headphone corrected the bass does move from left to right but it's very limited... the internal stock amp is not impressive at all,

the Hugo 2 compared to the NFB10ES2 is quite a bit more narrow and shallow, doesn't image nearly as well

that's the BIGGEST difference I notice from my first listen of the two,

also my Volume ball does work

I should note that I am using Coax from the Etir into my NFB10ES2 and optical out of my iRiver H140 into the Hugo 2, I also ran optical from the iRiver H140 into the NFB10ES2 and the Coax input is by far blacker and more resolved, the optical was a bit nosier and not as clearly defined, but still moving from Optical into Hugo2 to Optical into NFB10ES2 [with the same transport] the Hugo does provide a blacker background with optical in, but still falls short on the overall image and sound stage

 

There is no internal amp in the Hugo 2 (or any of Chords DACs with headphone out). headphones don't need much power for basic listening, so what you are getting when you use the headphone out from the Hugo 2 is essentially variable line out, controlled by the volume ball. To use it as a DAC only with line out, you hold down the crossed when you turn it on, and the volume is set to a specific level. Do NOT have headphone plugged in when you do this, and the level is quite loud. This is all in the very short card that came with the hugo. Once you know what that volume is, you can just set it there manually.

 

About 50% more than the "defacto standard" line-level in fact. Which obviously feeds the "louder sounds better" perspective - for those that aren't paying attention and just assume that "line level" is "line level". No other reason I can think of for it to be this much higher than what has become typical for other components.

 

My anticipated local source for acquiring a Hugo 2, faster than my UK dealer can provide (forget the US dealers ... hopeless so far, not that the UK ones are fairing any better), turned out to be a complete f'ing idiot.

His idea of a "Hugo 2" was an original Hugo with the larger RCA cut-outs.

Quite why he thought I was going to pay more for one of those than is easily had new is beyond me. Maybe he's been subscribed to the clown-fest that has them for $1995. You'd have to be a total tit to buy one from there, or at that price, at this point. Or, well, ever.

 

Huh well that's nifty, so it's just a variable line level output through the Headphone Jack... neato!

Then I guess I'll start my listening with the line out and yes I understand not to have a headphone plugged in, I did read the card

also @Torq your not a Cat any more... took me a second