I have had the Hugo for over a year now. The Hugo sound to my ear is neutral. There is no excess warmth, no brightness, detail presentation is unforced, and the ambience does not possess any hint of digital glare. The Hugo is dynamic and the soundstage is what the recording presents, not what the dac device thinks it should be. That means the presentations can be forward, palpable, huge, small, or emanate concert hall depth. I'm very sensitive to the harmonics of the instruments and especially piano sound, and I mean all of it. Hugo gets this absolutely right. By comparison, I cannot even listen to a piano sonata at background levels via the Oppo.
My listening has been strictly as a redbook decoder with either a Sony ES779 or Oppo 105D as a transport. Cd's through the Hugo sound closer to an analog sound than either the Oppo 105D or the VAC 22.1 tube dac. The VAC 22.1 is better than the Oppo. The difference between Sabre dac in the Oppo and the PMD 100 dac in VAC dac are relatively small in overall non audiophile terms. However, the difference between Hugo and the others jumps out even to the non audiophile. For me, it represents a huge increase in musicality.
So, how does Hugo make you feel? How is the music making? First thing, you can't read a magazine and listen. There is always something happening sonically to divert your attention from the written word. You find you want to drum, play air guitar, or conduct. You might find yourself thinking of what to play next, ultimately forgetting what that was, then thinking of two more discs. You find that you want to turn the volume up instead of down. You might also notice the listening session lasted longer, just one more song, oh crap, maybe just one more after that.
Every cd sounds better through Hugo, even ones that you know suck. Hugo simply presents more information that is musically consonant. Some cd's become very listenable, others still suck but not as much as they do through other dacs.
I prefer the sound via battery power. Once the power light is green/amber there is a loss of dynamics and recharging or AC connection is necessary. My estimate is around 5-6 hrs to reach this point although it will play longer at reduced performance levels. Power on into full dac mode is a bit inconvenient requiring two hands, one to push an eensy teensy button while the other moves a semi stiff slide switch to on. I am quite adept at this sequence now and I like the lights to indicate battery level, charging status, and signal mode.
Overall, Hugo is one of the most impressive audio products I have purchased. I would rate it an outstanding value. Not only do you get a dac with Chord's proprietary technology but a free headphone amp that sounds great as well.
