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Darko Chord Hugo 2 review


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I switched to Wtfplay  running on a fanless PC with RBCD music on SD card (rather than my Bryston BDP used above).  Hugo2 is sounding a lot better - refined and much less bright, seems quite source dependent.  As WtFP is so good with PCM, I suspected it would partner H2 well,  certainly Hugo1 was at its best with PCM and RBCD in particular.  My impression is also that H2 sounds quite a bit better than its predecessor on DSD.  For me its also a big plus that it plays DSD256 from Linux too, albeit DoP.

 

It's clearly a great buy at its price point, but to my ears I'm not sure it's anything more than that.

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14 hours ago, Norton said:

I've had a few hours listening to Hugo2 in my system.

 

I'm a big fan of Chord DACs, I owned  a DAC64 for 11 years and latterly Hugo1 and was hugely impressed recently with a borrowed DAVE.

 

However, my initial impression when used as a desktop machine is that Hugo2 is certainly a competent <£2k DAC but no giant-killer.  Purely in comparison with the Mirus also currently in my system, H2 sounds rather bright and lightweight  with less well-defined bass and lacking texture to lower registers.  To my ears, the Mirus just sounds more like live music and by some margin.

 

Of course this is an unfair comparison, as you could buy 3.3 H2s for the cost of the Mirus, and H2 is not primarily intended as a desktop machine. I should also add that while everything else was the same, I had to use H2 via the supplied USB cable, while the Mirus was connected via a Supra item. 

 

But to my ears at least, anyone ( like me) thinking about buying the H2 on the hope  that it is a cut-price DAVE and up there with the very best of the desktop competition regardless of price, will be disappointed.

When the TT2 comes out you'll have to try it and let us know what you think.

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On 2017-09-24 at 4:42 AM, Norton said:

However, my initial impression when used as a desktop machine is that Hugo2 is certainly a competent <£2k DAC but no giant-killer.  Purely in comparison with the Mirus also currently in my system, H2 sounds rather bright and lightweight  with less well-defined bass and lacking texture to lower registers.  To my ears, the Mirus just sounds more like live music and by some margin.

 

Hmmm... are you playing Mirus directly from your SD card and then comparing that to Hugo 2 with your Bryston or PC with SD card? Because if you are, as you pointed out, you’re really hearing more the difference in the source (your PC with SD card vs Resonessence’s SD card implementation) than the DAC. That said, if that’s how you like to use your DAC, it’s a valid comparison for your use case.

 

I’ve compared Hugo TT and Mirus and I definitely prefer Hugo TT but my dealer thought it was a toss up because he sells both probably. We used the same USB/CD transport (S/PDIF) for the comparisons. But then maybe some people prefer Mirus sound over Chord DACs. 

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Comparison was using a Bryston BDP1 to feed both DACS via USB.  The only difference  was that H2 was via  supplied USB cable and Mirus with a Supra.

 

Not a fair comparison given the difference in price  and purpose, but driven by my curiosity as to whether,  on the basis of Darko's  review and similar views elsewhere, H2 really competes successfully with the best desktop DACS.  I like Chord DACS as much as I like a bargain, so I'd hoped it would be true.  To my ears it isn't, but as ever YMMV.

 

Whether it might be the current best sub-£2k DAC is probably the more realistic question - from what I heard I'd be unsurprised at that as a test verdict.

 

I've not heard TT but having heard both in my system, my impression is that  Mirus is in DAVE territory when used with its SD card transport.

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6 hours ago, ecwl said:

I’ve compared Hugo TT and Mirus and I definitely prefer Hugo TT but my dealer thought it was a toss up because he sells both probably. We used the same USB/CD transport (S/PDIF) for the comparisons. But then maybe some people prefer Mirus sound over Chord DACs. 

The other part of this comparison which would be good to know is if we are talking about driving a power amplifier input directly, or with a preamp or integrated amplifier in the chain.

In my experience, smaller, more portable DACs just do not have the power supply/output stage to really excel driving a power amp directly (lets not debate whether or not this is a good idea here, that is for other threads, but just to be clear, in my system amp direct is better than any additional preamp added, as long as the DAC has a good output stage).

 

BTW, with the Mirus Pro I do not find big differences in performance via SD card vs USB, at least not with the Signature Rendu SE, and no differences in terms of body, weight, and dynamic contrast.

SO/ROON/HQPe: DSD 512-Sonore opticalModuleDeluxe-Signature Rendu optical with Well Tempered Clock--DIY DSC-2 DAC with SC Pure Clock--DIY Purifi Amplifier-Focus Audio FS888 speakers-JL E 112 sub-Nordost Tyr USB, DIY EventHorizon AC cables, Iconoclast XLR & speaker cables, Synergistic Purple Fuses, Spacetime system clarifiers.  ISOAcoustics Oreas footers.                                                       

                                                                                           SONORE computer audio

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