Article: My Quest for a New DAC, Part 5: Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler & Hugo TT 2

[bobfa]

Rajiv; thank you for the hard work you put into this.

 

This has been like a broadcast TV series.  We had to wait till after Christmas for the finale!  Thanks again for the reporting.  We have so much going on right now that I can hardly keep up.  

 

Bob

[bobfa]

Rajiv,

 

This is one of the really nice touches in your review.  This covers a very broad range of great material to listen to.  I am playing with it on my systems this weekend.

 

Bob

 

 

Review Playlist
 
HMS/TT2 Review Playlist on Qobuz (US)
 
To enable you to listen to the same tracks (see caveats) I did, I created a public playlist on Qobuz USA. This playlist includes the tracks mentioned in this review, as well as others I listened to in the course of this evaluation. Please note that in some cases, the Qobuz track will only stream at 16/44.1, whereas I may have used a local hi-res version. Still, this gives you a sense for the music I listened to for evaluation.

[bobfa]

I had a week with the TT2 in my systems and driving both my HD-800 and my LCD-i4 was a joy!  I love my Hugo 2 but the TT2 is another level of fun!  

[bobfa]

3 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I’d say the opposite of that assumption. Clocks/crystals can take quite a while to completely stabilize. 

Leave it on!!!

[bobfa]

I have had quite a few DACs in my systems over time.  One of the BEST was the Schiit Yggdrasil.  I live in the Midwest and when we have bad weather I would unplug everything “just in case”.  That DAC did not stabilize for at least two days.   I have had others tell me that the YGGY takes even longer in their systems.  On the analog side I used the Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amp and if it was off you could hear it change over a couple of hours, from standby it would take maybe 5 min.

 

As a side note I am now using Kii Three speakers in my main system and they automatically switch to standby after about 15 minutes.  I Think that I can hear a little difference in the first few minutes of operation.  

 

It is fun to actually test this in a system...