Chord Hugo / 2Qute

[Ninanina]

Just wondering if anyone has experience of the Chord Hugo or 2Quote Dac

I have read lots about Chord Dacs and most seem to like them at lot

[r100]

too expensive IMHO.

[Ninanina]

What did you think of the sound though Rupert, any good ?

[JohnJo]

I might know where there's a Chord Hugo at a very reasonable price :)

Never seen or heard one though!

[Jimbo]

Hugo is very good indeed and sounds great if you like detail and great resolution. Not in the same league as DAVE though which sounds super smooth and very analogue! Hugo gives you a taste though and Hugo 2 will give you 75% of DAVE.

[Ninanina]

I might know where there's a Chord Hugo at a very reasonable price :)

Never seen or heard one though!

I'd be interested John

Maybe PM me with the details, thanks

[JohnJo]

I'd be interested John

Maybe PM me with the details, thanks

You got mail :)

[ReggieB]

I'm very pleased with my Chord Mojo. If that's anything to go by, they certainly know how to make a nice sounding dac.

[Clive197]

I'm very pleased with my Chord Mojo. If that's anything to go by, they certainly know how to make a nice sounding dac.

I concur ��

[Ninanina]

Well I have a Hugo coming Thursday so I can see what all the fuss is about :eek:

[jandl100]

I had a Hugo2 with a view to buying it.
I was expecting great things from the reviews.
But I couldn't bear it after about 2 hours.

Great rez and transparency. I mean, really great.
But I suspect it failed the microdynamics hurdle for me - the subtle musical inflections in the musicians' playing that bring the music to life and convey emotion were badly lacking.
A very frustrating product, I would have loved to have loved it.

Interesting comments from Jimbo above about the Chord DAVE - it seems that may have sorted the issue, but not at a price that I am willing to pay!

[Ninanina]

Unfortunately the Hugo I received did not have enough clearance around the phono sockets to fit my interconnects so I had to send it back

I didn't realise that there were two versions of the original Hugo; one which has very little clearance and an improved version with better clearance

I have now ordered the slightly later Hugo which addressed the problem with the clearance and it should be with me on Monday as well as a BNC to RCA cable from Mark Grant which will be used from the CD5 XS output into the Hugo

[Ninanina]

I've had a 'good grief!' moment with the Hugo. It is so real sounding

I can't ever remember having such a reaction to any piece of hifi gear before, can the Hugo really be that good ?

It is such a tiny thing as well ;)

[Jimbo]

I've had a 'good grief!' moment with the Hugo. It is so real sounding

I can't ever remember having such a reaction to any piece of hifi gear before, can the Hugo really be that good ?

It is such a tiny thing as well ;)

Even the Chord Mojo sounds extremely good so not surprised to your reaction to Hugo. When I first heard Hugo I was deeply impressed, then along came DAVE. That was an OMG moment in my hifi experience. Pity it's so expensive!

Glad you enjoying Hugo :)

[walpurgis]

Glad you're enjoying it Bev.

The last "good grief" moment I recall was a cartridge. The ZYX R50 Bloom H. I just did not believe an MC costing less than £500 could possibly be that good!

[r100]

haha

[Ninanina]

The little Hugo continues to amaze me and I wasn't expecting that ;)

It sounds nothing like anything I've heard before so maybe all the fuss about it was correct

I've unplugged the mains so it's running off the battery at the moment

A truly amazing piece of kit

[struth]

Glad your happy with it. If I win the lottery I might get one

[Montanari]

it s a great dac
from when i got it i didn t have the itch to change my digital source anymore (usb)
a + is to be plugged trough spdif to a marantz cd6003 (i dont listen to cd anymore so often..)
it s pretty small so very easy to move from a system to another, compared to the qute2 and i din t notice any differences
the 2qute looks more solid, but need to be plugged to the electrical ... don t know the word! to work, hugo battery can works for more then 8 hours without any cable around
great headphone amp inside for low impedance/high sensitivity headphone like many dynamics or in ear (i t s a top source amp for any in ear, even top of range ones)
i enjoyd it very much with fostex th900 when i dont want to switch on all the other amps..
if you re going to use it only in a classical setup (amp speaker whithout the need of moving it and use it unplugged) you can save money with qute2, or even qute hd, that i also had and sound great for its price especially now if you can find a second hand one

[Ninanina]

it s a great dac
from when i got it i didn t have the itch to change my digital source anymore (usb)
a + is to be plugged trough spdif to a marantz cd6003 (i dont listen to cd anymore so often..)
it s pretty small so very easy to move from a system to another, compared to the qute2 and i din t notice any differences
the 2qute looks more solid, but need to be plugged to the electrical ... don t know the word! to work, hugo battery can works for more then 8 hours without any cable around
great headphone amp inside for low impedance/high sensitivity headphone like many dynamics or in ear (i t s a top source amp for any in ear, even top of range ones)
i enjoyd it very much with fostex th900 when i dont want to switch on all the other amps..
if you re going to use it only in a classical setup (amp speaker whithout the need of moving it and use it unplugged) you can save money with qute2, or even qute hd, that i also had and sound great for its price especially now if you can find a second hand one

Thanks Dani for your message

The reason I didn't got for the 2Qute is that it has 3v output which is far too high for my amps and the Hugo has a volume control so the output can be raised/lowered to suit the amp

[Montanari]

No wait
Using it like this i don't think is the proper way
In fact when you use the volume you are using the preamplifier of the Hugo well
So you are passing the signal trough 2preamplifier..
You can just lower the volume from the amplifier..easier
And use the chord whatever as a pure dac. The sound changes very much, in worst if you pre pre the music..
By the way : I used Hugo as a dac/pre to a pair of amplified Adam speaker with great results
So that object is very flexible

[Ninanina]

The little Hugo is such a frustrating piece of kit... :doh:

I love the sound of the Hugo but I really hate it's aesthetics; all the bright lights and colours and tiny on/off switch. It looks and feels nothing like it's high price would suggest and to be honest I don't think on looks and operation it represents good value for money, but the sound is so amazing

However I couldn't resist the temptation to try the Naim Dac as I'm using a Naim amp and cd now so I have one coming very soon. What I do know is that the Naim Dac will be well made and operate faultlessly but to be honest it's going to have to be very good indeed to better the frustrating Hugo.. ;)

[Ninanina]

The Naim Dac arrived today and it is in absolutely as new condition which is nice for a used item..

The sound is amazing... it has a lovely richness to the sound and like most Naim gear it does have a certain boogie factor to it which is quite addictive

I won't decide between the Naim Dac and the Hugo until I have used the Naim for some time, but initial thoughts are very good indeed

[Ninanina]

I am now listening at low levels as it's getting late and the Naim Dac still sounds very good indeed, I'm well pleased with it

[Fourlegsgood]

I am now listening at low levels as it's getting late and the Naim Dac still sounds very good indeed, I'm well pleased with it

I will be very interested to see what your final conclusion is having bought and sold my way up the Chord range ie Mojo, Hugo1, Dave and now Dave with Blu2 CD/MScaler. Along that way I tried various other DACs including the Bricasti M1 but ultimately was always left feeling that they all glossed over huge amounts of detail/information in the music compared to the Chord DACs. Large scale orchestral works with the Chord DACs still retained the ability to hear each instrument rather than just a coalesced overall sound.

I have to admit though that I didn’t try the Naim.

[Jimbo]

I will be very interested to see what your final conclusion is having bought and sold my way up the Chord range ie Mojo, Hugo1, Dave and now Dave with Blu2 CD/MScaler. Along that way I tried various other DACs including the Bricasti M1 but ultimately was always left feeling that they all glossed over huge amounts of detail/information in the music compared to the Chord DACs. Large scale orchestral works with the Chord DACs still retained the ability to hear each instrument rather than just a coalesced overall sound.

I have to admit though that I didn’t try the Naim.


The Naim Dacs are not even in the same league Nick

[Ninanina]

When trying to decide between the Hugo and the Naim Dac I said to myself "Which one would I miss the most?" and I have to say the Naim Dac won that argument quite convincingly

Yes the Hugo is very good and on some cd's it's excellent but I think the Naim Dac is more even-handed across the range of cd's I've thrown at it... also the Naim Dac has a certain 'something' that's tricky to put my finger on sound wise but I love it to bits

So my source is sorted: CD5XS into Naim Dac

The only thing I might try in the years to come would be the Chord Hugo TT but that can wait