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Chord Hugo ?

Has anyone (or could anyone) try the Chord Hugo as a DAC in their system. It's getting tremendous attention in the headphone community as a revolutionary DAC that competes way beyond its 2400-dollar price that is up there with the best DACs at any price. I have never heard it so I don't know if this is true, but buzz about it is striking.
I see little about it here, so I thought I would ask. Thanks.
rgs92
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
Well, now that I have my hands on it, I would say it I enjoy
what I'm hearing quite a bit more than the Playback Designs
MPS5, Burmester 001, and original EMM CDSA and
Modright-Sony 5400ES cd players
I used to own a few years ago. It has more refinement, less
glare (especially in vocals), less digital pain from
something suddenly jumping forward unnaturally, a more
balanced sound from the nice deep transparent bass to the
sweet highs, and lots of detail and focus. The soundstaging
is good too, with good layering, and decent depth. (I would
not call the staging excellent, but certainly very good and
not compressed at all.) But the tonality is superb, along
with image definition and silky but well defined boundaries.
I was listening to some vintage live Joni Mitchell (BBC
1970), live Beach Boys, and live Beatles on youtube, and it
was entrancing. It's amazing I could get sound like this
from youtube. I'm just mainly using this thing as a DAC with
and external headphone amp/preamp (along with Fostex TH900
phones and Quad 12L speakers), an Audioquest Carbon USB
cable, Stealth Indra ICs, and a Shunyata Anaconda Alpha
powercord to my (ancient) Headroom Max amp. I have a Windows
7 desktop. It combines great detail without fatigue to my
ears, which I think is always the primary goal of digital
components.
It's kind of a pain with the usb cables and power wire
coming out of one side and the interconnects on the opposite
side, but maybe there will be a better future bigger version
with a more elegant design for desktop/home use. And the
micro-usb input is also a pain (the Audioquest cable needs
an adapter and is a bit awkward).

I should mention that my main system has an EMM Xds1, and
that to my ears it is the best I have heard, with so much
insight, layering, depth, and ambiance I am not considering
replacing it ever. I have not used it as a dac, just for
cds.
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
Rgs92 - thanks for the observations. FYI - you can get a micro usb Carbon cable so you do not have to use the adapter.
ghasley
2,507 posts
 
Wisnon, certainly no offense was intended personally with my snide commentary tossed your way. I use sarcasm often as a way of pointing out something that should be called out for its disconnect with logic. I was merely trying to point out that your hyperbole was a stretch in light of the fact that you have never even listened to a Hugo. Your intense desire to be a contributing poster to this thread that solicited hands on feedback on a product you have absolutely no experience with deserved mention, although I probably could have communicated in a better way. In addition, your statement that your friend may sell his Hugo, when balanced with your interraction with "Mega Ultra" equipment designers taken in the context of your own assertions that "we have no idea" the depth of your qualifications makes me chuckle.

I tend to trust my ears, in my system. I have no axe to grind, no financial motives in the industry. I care not whether one person buys one dac, amp, speaker or what have you. I enjoy tinkering with equipment. Ive never owned Goldmund, Job, Tekton, Lampizator or the other brands you mentioned and mention often. They all have great commentary by those who have heard them so I can only assume that for many they fill the need. But, and this is a big but.....you should not be analyzing the performance of a component you have never heard. It lacks credibility in every way.
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
Dtc, thanks for the tip, but I did not see an AQ Carbon
cable with a USB micro-B 2.0 plug anywhere in my websearch,
just the 3.0 micro-B plug, which is the wider one that will
not fit in a 2.0 B port.
But thanks anyway and please correct me if I'm mistaken.
Best to you.
wisnon
700 posts
 
Ghasley, we are cool.

My pal who is selling the Hugo is doding so for precisely the reasons I gave and he intends to get the desktop Hugo when it comes out next year! Others are employing every tweak they can to get more heft via the battery powered Hugo. Not everything is posted online. There are emaoils and phone calls detailing this stuff and not just for Hugo.

You dont have to own all those brands to have an idea. How many brands do reviewers (pro and amateur) own? You dont even have to own a particular model ton understand house sound and to gain insight from trusted pals who have similar experiences and tastes.

Finally, only 6 of us have actually posted on this thread and certainly you and I have contributed the most and managed to widen the debate.

I, like you, have no financial stake in the game, so we are free to say what we like with impunity.

I live in Switzerland, close to some of the mega ultras, as you call them, so is it a stretch to understand that I may just actually know some of them well? LoL
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