Will a Chord Hugo 2 make a music streamer addition obsolete?

I would not say that a streamer is equally as important as a DAC but it is important. I tried to use a PC, MAC etc and it was noisy.  I went with a BlueSound Node 2i and had that for years and it was great, then I upgraded the DAC....then upgraded the streamer.  I prefer Auralic due to build quality and user interface.  I won't spend money on Roon so a strong user interface is great and Auralic has one. Also out of all the major streamers only Auralic provides all three: Qobuz, Tidal, & Amazon. About to make one more tweak to the DAC section and then I should be calling it... Used Bluesound nodes are a good place to start and they are rock solid....  They also support all three major services!   (Auralic G1, Denafrips Ares II)

@alerrico 

@dinov 

Your input is rock solid. I’m going to pull the trigger on a Bluesound Node this week. Guys from Chord will demo gear in my area in May, with special pricing, at which time I’ll buy the Qutest, and a LPS+ LINEAR POWER SUPPLY from LTA.

I attended a demo session recently and it blew me away, can barely listen to my own system anymore. Im very excited to make these key updates so I can enjoy music again!

OP,

I have the Node N130 with a linear power supply and a good USB cable and am surprisingly pleased. Even without the the power supply, it’s hands down better than using a Desktop/Laptop.

All the best!

@teh_chucksta 

Stay with your original choice of the Hugo2 or if you can swing the extra $, the Hugo TT.  They are much better than the QuTest.  As others have informed you all of the Chords are not streaming DACs.  You will realize better sound with a streamer over a PC. You can do with the Chord 2Go or an Auralic or Aurender …. or one of the two latter’s streaming DACs.  If you go with a streamer look at connections.  I believe the Hugo does not have a USB in and some lower model Aurenders do not have a SPDIF out.  You will need a USB-SPDIF converter going that route.  Depending on your budget, a Hugo with a good streamer is approaching $7 preowned.   If you can swing another $3k you can get a preowned DCS Bartok streaming DAC without a headphone amp and not have to look back because of DCS’s upgrade policy and having one of the best DACs available.   The Bartok is in the league of preowned  Chord Dave for the same $ preowned but gives you streaming as a plus.   I am saving my pennies for the DCS but it’s a lot of pennies.  

Bought the Node! (Step 1 of the master plan)

@jsalerno277  With this purchase, the Chord Hugo2/ 2Go route is off the table. My system adheres to a budget ethos (for any one component that is) so the TT2 isn’t an option but compared to my current DAC (Ifi Zen 1), the Qutest should make me quite happy. Until then, I’ll use the Node’s DAC and enjoy a much better sound 🤞