Chord Hugo ?

Guys,

I know much more about this Dac and its development than you can imagine. I do not speak out of turn. If you do enough reading about to, other than the HF thread, you will understand and yes MORE taps are in the works.

Let me make it clear no way in hell it is better than a Lampi Big7!!!!

Now a tapped up QBD with LPSU who knows?

And let me restate, i think the Hugo is a wonderful and significant development.

Wisnon, so, you've made your point that you are positive that the Hugo is not better than a Big7. I'll concede since I've never heard a Lampizator and likely never will. Once again, no one is saying that it is! It's probably not competitive with a DCS stack either....nor an ARC reference dac.....nor many others.

The point I believe we are trying to make here is that in general there are some really cool developments happening in the digital world right now. Specifically we are saying that the Hugo moves the needle in what may be possible at a reasonable price point presently. the qute dacs, while very good are not at the level at which the Hugo performs. You may disagree, which is terrific....especially in light of the fact that I can not possibly imagine the depth of your immense knowledge of the development of this DAC. Be sure to pick up your telephone when called upon by Chord's r&d department, your input will likely be crucial to their very survival. peace.

Where did I disagree with the digital advances of Hugo???
If I somehow gave you that impression I apologise.

Also, the snide R&D comment is uncalled for. I merely tried to show you guys that I have my own contacts from long ago and I had long ago read the HF thread. I am NOT new to Chord nor to Hugo developments. i was Chord when Chord was yet cool! LoL

I have a Qute precisely because of the FPGA tech. The only point of small disagreement with the tech is that I dont think its the best DSD approach to decimate to 2048FS PCM!

The analog side of Hugo is the weakpoint and its not a real issue as it's a portable battery powered Dac. In full blown desktop version, those shortcomings will very likely be solved and we will see the full potential. Rob Watts is VERY talented. The Qute/QBD currently have the advantage of better power supply and that is half the battle in Digital audio. It seems people forget that analog is the end goal of digital audio and that even the digital data is physically represented by analog constructs (electricity).

I am a fan of Hugo too, but i think the Head-fi site has it overblown as much as this site has it disrespected and ignored (relatively)

Wisnon, I was snide toward you for a couple of reasons.

First, your comment touting your expertise when it is obvious you haven't personally listened to a Hugo. That doesn't help your credibility.

Second, in reviewing your participation with these forums, you tend to shill a few products BEFORE ever hearing them, which you have done with both Lampizator dacs and Job amps. Both I'm sure are fine products, I'M JUST NOT QUALIFIED TO COMMENT BECAUSE I HAVEN'T HEARD THEM PERSONALLY.

I have no vested interest in whether you listen to a Hugo or not, couldn't care. Prior to commenting on performance though it would probably be commendable if you had listened to a product in advance of doing so.

I have had a Lampi for years and I "shill" as you say for Chord too.

I have many trusted pals with the Hugo and one is getting ready to sell it.
There are many convos with influential people behind the scene.

The Job was a no brainer, but I never commented on the sound, just the pedigree. In addition, people were staved for info on this mythical amp and I was the only "layman" to see the relaunched first production batch. Until I recently moved 2 months ago, i lived 5 mins drive away from Goldmund and have developed some good contacts there. Finally, I solicited design feedback from 2 MEGA ULTRA high-end designers in the industry (one workd on the Job circuitry years ago) and both gave the amp rousing paise, especially for the price!

In any case, there is never any reason to be snide. That is unbecoming and you seem classier than that.