Chord Hugo ?

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.

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.

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

Rgs92 - I did not know the 3.0 micro did not fit. I assumed 2.0 and 3.0 were the same size. Thanks for the tip.

Wisnon, thanks for the clarification.

To recap: your friend is selling his Hugo because he believes it to be a little
lean (his opinion matters in his system) however he is going to purchase
the desktop version of the Hugo when it comes out because he, like you
with the portable Hugo apparently, can reasonably guess how it will sound?
I guess he is guessing it will sound pretty good? It probably will! Heck, he is
probably already thrilled in advance with how nicely the midrange is fleshed
out.

Next, is your assertion that many reviewers don't own every product out
there, of course, is true. They do, however, typically have a couple of
references from which they can compare the sound, as they perceive it, of
a given product in for review. I know of no CREDIBLE reviewer who
reviews a product without first hearing it. You are not the first though I'm
sure who has somehow developed this skill. I must say though that I
sincerely believe you to be an honorable person. Someone otherwise might
have taken their preconceived negative biases that were based on
assumption, not experience, and then demoed the equipment in question
after the fact to confirm their preconceived bias. At least you have shown
the character to not do that and to continue to hold those biases without
firsthand knowledge.

You live in Switzerland, which is very cool (thanks for keeping the Pope
safe) and due to the fact that you know some mega ultra equipment
designers (as you refer to them, not me) is also cool. You are correct in
your supposition that you can, through conversations with highly skilled
experts in a specific field, learn a great deal. I'll wager though that none of
those "mega ultra" friends of yours evaluate any audio product
without first listening.