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Chord Hugo, overrated or DAC of the century

old thread I know, but relevant to me now as I am in the market for a decent headphone amp/DAC and the hugo is supposedly brilliant.

Im eager to perhaps try another Chord product as I did own the QBD76 for a short time. It did absolutely nothing for me, and reading the reviews led me to believe it was the best DAC in the world bar the DAVE. I have listened to the DAVE and I thought that was impressive but out of my price range for toys. I didnt think the QBD was anything special and aside from the sound it made a really annoying clicking sound every time you used the Bluetooth signal, and it would click loudly again when the signal stopped (an arcam irdac V1 did the same also). I might have put up with it if the sounds was jaw dropping but I found it far from it.

Hugo might be worth a go though. Or anyone any other suggestions of a similar small portable DAC/Headphone device that you've found that sounds simply amazing and mesmerising.

I still haven't heard much to de-throne my trusty Trichord Pulsar one with power sup (that I enjoy as much anyway) but thats 20+ year old, things have moved on, plus Id like the portability/headphone aspect with modern technology such as DSD conversion, and something to get even more from my digital collection.
 
Chord Mojo? Does all you ask, inc DSD if you want it; drives anything; compact and battery powered up to 8-10hrs at a time. Total jack-in-the-box, and might be all you need to spend.

ETA: NB no Bluetooth (but then Bluetooth isn't much more than a convenience, rather than any test of a dac; added compression for a start.)
 
old thread I know, but relevant to me now as I am in the market for a decent headphone amp/DAC and the hugo is supposedly brilliant.

Im eager to perhaps try another Chord product as I did own the QBD76 for a short time. It did absolutely nothing for me, and reading the reviews led me to believe it was the best DAC in the world bar the DAVE. I have listened to the DAVE and I thought that was impressive but out of my price range for toys. I didnt think the QBD was anything special and aside from the sound it made a really annoying clicking sound every time you used the Bluetooth signal, and it would click loudly again when the signal stopped (an arcam irdac V1 did the same also). I might have put up with it if the sounds was jaw dropping but I found it far from it.

Hugo might be worth a go though. Or anyone any other suggestions of a similar small portable DAC/Headphone device that you've found that sounds simply amazing and mesmerising.

I still haven't heard much to de-throne my trusty Trichord Pulsar one with power sup (that I enjoy as much anyway) but thats 20+ year old, things have moved on, plus Id like the portability/headphone aspect with modern technology such as DSD conversion, and something to get even more from my digital collection.

Perhaps it was system related but the QBD 76 transformed my system and the difference was huge. Prior to the QBD 76 I was using a lowly Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and it sounded flat and digital when compared to the Chord. I am using a mid-end Naim amplification. A member here also uses the QBD76 with his top-flight Naim 500 series amps with great success. There are few who compared the Hugo to the QBD76 and yes, it might be worth to give the Hugo a try.
 
ETA: NB no Bluetooth (but then Bluetooth isn't much more than a convenience, rather than any test of a dac; added compression for a start.)

Bluetooth Aptx sounds very good to my old ears via Oppo HA1, certainly via HD800s phones I can hear no issues with it - much better than I remember BT being a year or two back.
 
Steve, what aptX equipped source are you using. I don't believe ny Apple devices use it, so I never use Bluetooth in the Hugo.
 
I use the built in Dac in my Tascam. Most of the time the system runs A/D/D/A/A/D/D/A

Still sound better than any overpriced "Dac" I've heard.

To me, the days of charging a fortune for digital to analogue converters are coming to an end. The source is the recording. It will be preserved by most digital playback systems nowadays. The differences are, to me, further down the chain in the analogue domain.
 
Yep, and to me it makes relatively tiny differences to your enjoyment in 2017 TBL. I would spend the money on upgrading elsewhere personally, although the portable Chord is quite nice with it's DSD capability - otherwise my iPhone sounds great these days.
 
Steve, what aptX equipped source are you using. I don't believe ny Apple devices use it, so I never use Bluetooth in the Hugo.

Devices may not Dec, but I stream from the MacBook with Bluetooth Explorer to the HA1, using the iPhone merely as a remote control. Just make sure you have the AptX option checked in audio options of Bluetooth Explorer.
 
Perhaps it was system related but the QBD 76 transformed my system and the difference was huge. Prior to the QBD 76 I was using a lowly Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and it sounded flat and digital when compared to the Chord. I am using a mid-end Naim amplification. A member here also uses the QBD76 with his top-flight Naim 500 series amps with great success. There are few who compared the Hugo to the QBD76 and yes, it might be worth to give the Hugo a try.
I've the QBD76HDSD, and have had DAVE in my system for a while on a couple of occasions. Despite liking some aspects of DAVE's sound, I much preferred the QBD, and without exception so did everyone else who heard the comparison.
 
I've the QBD76HDSD, and have had DAVE in my system for a while on a couple of occasions. Despite liking some aspects of DAVE's sound, I much preferred the QBD, and without exception so did everyone else who heard the comparison.

Tony, I'm not surprised, your DAC sounds excellent. Did the DAVE have proprietary drivers for USB?
 
I bought a used Chord 2Qute on this very site and am very happy with it I chose it over the Hugo purely for build quality and because of the latters dodgy battery.

I switched my Naim ND5XS internal dac off and connected up the 2Qute and the improvements were instant I don't claims of night & day and all that but the Chord was much better.

It has also freed up the money tied up in the ND5XS so that I could trade that and my 250-2 for a Nap 300. I have just bought a Raspberry Pi/Digi+ Pro to replace the ND5XS and although have not heard it my main system yet I already have it streaming Tidal, iRadio and playing High Res from a usb stick so it is basically doing everything the ND5 did and all of this was made possible by the introduction of the little Chord 2Qute!!
 
Tony, I'm not surprised, your DAC sounds excellent. Did the DAVE have proprietary drivers for USB?
Not necessary with it for Mac Steve, but I guess needed for Windows 'puters. My QBD's compatible with the Melco's USB feed - something to do with Alan Ainsworth, the head honcho for Melco UK, being previously employed at Chord.
 


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