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
In-show - I would not dismiss the Head HiFi discussion because it is long and the one here because of RGS92's and other's comments.

The large number of posts on Head HiFi are largely about hole sizes, cables, and portable players. The ones about the actual sound are small. It just takes a while to get through all the clutter that happened when people were waiting for their units.

There are a relatively small number of people who actually have them and have commented on their sound. Many of who have them are from the UK or Asia, where is seems the product has been more available than in the US. That is partially why there are not as many comments on this forum.

The whole comparison with Lampi 5 and Lampi 7 is overblown. There is not any real talk on Head about that. There is a comparison to the Direct Stream, but that is also twice the price of a Hugo. And it is only 1 person.

The general belief on Head HiFi and other places is that the Hugo is probably as good as anything in its price range and is better than many at higher prices, but as always it depends on the type of sound you like. Unfortunately, there are very few comparisons to similarly priced units, like PS AUdio, MyTeK, Bryston, the new Sony etc. And, there probably will not be until the Hugo is more generally available.

The comments above about the Hugo being "thin" have generally been refuted. It does have a very clean and detailed sound, which may be thin to people who want a big tubey sound. But on Head, the idea that Hugo is thin has been pretty pretty well refuted.

Wisnon's discussion of the Hugo being limited by its battery may be true. However, to include a high quality power supply will greatly change the form factor and the price. Chord will do that, but probably at a much different price. But the comparisons being made are again to units that cost twice as much. Will a big box, linear power supply, more taps version sound better? Most assuredly so, but at a big price jump. It is pretty clear that the portable form factor was not the design goal for the new chip, but that is what was available, so they went with it.

Personally, I am disappointed that the discussion here went down so many rat holes. But that can happen when people have not actually heard and compared the piece being discussed themselves. I hope the discussion will get better once people actually hear the Hugo.

Don't dismiss the Hugo because of the discussion on Head HiFi or here. But all accounts, it is an excellent DAC at its price point. If you are looking at double the price, then there are other options, although Hugo may compete well with some of them. But, at its price point and with the type of sound it provides, most reports say it is a really fine unit.

If you want some other reading, keep an eye on the thread on Computer Audiophile. It is much shorter, but more reviews are expected soon. The main discussion is at the end of the Qute review. There are also many other reviews of the Hugo that are extremely positive.

I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on one. Unfortunately, I buy from a brick and mortar store and most of those types of stores have had a very hard time getting their hands on them. Chord underestimated that number of units for the US and has also had distribution problems here.

The full Hugo story is yet to be told and I think in the end it will be very positive.
I love my Hugo. I prefer it to a Metrum Octave or Weiss Dac2 that I owned previously.
Hi DTC understood,,,,however I never read a single thing on the Cord though I have waded threw some of Headfi's large site from time to time.
You are correct ,evaluations of sound ie recorded quality , quality of Hi-res down loads ect ,chat is near non existent if it exists at all on that site even here on Audiogon threads started on the subject little participation happens.....However I get the notion reading threw profiles of members that low res streaming is just fine .

In shore - One of the common comments on the Hugo is that 16/44 sounds extremely good. Rob Watts, the designer, has said that as his algorithms evolve the difference between 16/44 and higher rez gets less and less. With Hugo he thinks 16/44 and 24/96 are often very close. He believes that the need for high rez has been largely driven by less than optimal designs for 16/44. Since most people have a lot more 16/44 than high rez, its 16/44 quality can be a significant advantage for the Hugo.

If you are at all interested in the technical aspects of Hugo, Watts' comments on the long Head thread are very interesting.
DTC, your comments are generally spot on and I agree with most of them. It is possible that Chord will make QBD and Qute versions of the Hugo (reference digital section with Spartan 6) and prices will likely be a bit over the current Generation products. this couls mean that we see a Qute Hu-Stay(LoL for a slight premium over the current EX, which would mean a similar price to the Hugo, supplied with the current wallwart. This would mean that one could use an outboard PSU like a Hynes SR3.

This would take us out of battery dependence for those looking for an afforable deskbound solution with a great L-PSU. Of course if you want Balanced config and internal PSU, then it have to be the QB-Stay.

The digital section of the Hugo is certainly pushing the envelope with its bespoke design....and SQ is reportedly very good from the owners I know. However, comparison to Mega buck dac is overblown for now. Let's leave that for the desktop versions that Chord will likely come out with next....at least that is the logical unfolding of events as I see them.

Rob Watts and Chord are certainly moving in the right direction.