chord hugo TT v MDAC - surprising
- Thread starter davidismynaim
- Start date
I tried two M-DACs, and I've owned a Chord Hugo (and a Lavry DA11 and both Benchmarks) and I now own a Hugo TT. I thought the M-DACs were easily the worst of the lot - thin, glassy and "hifi" sounding. The TT is wonderful, in a completely different league, something very special. All used into active ATCs. I'm not saying that the M-DAC isn't good value for money, but imo it isn't remotely comparable to a Hugo TT.
jamjar784
Heavy Up
Well everyone's entitled to their opinion. I've heard the original Hugo and Aurilac Vega versus my Fusion MDAC and I've still got the MDAC. The only DAC made me think twice was the Devaliet 120 - 4x the price but with free amp
There's a long thread on CA about the Hugo and some people report that it's sensitive to cables and source (no galvanic isolation) so benefits from Regen or Intona High Speed USB Isolator.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/chord-hugo-re-examined-20739/
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
Is it worth pointing out the DAC is a digital to analogue converter, I wouldn't expect two well engineered over sampling designs to sound very different.
When you compare two products look at their output voltages, ie Auralic 6 volts the average generally around 2 ,accurate level matching is essential.
If you want your dac to be an effects box look at 'other' dac designs.
Keith.
When you compare two products look at their output voltages, ie Auralic 6 volts the average generally around 2 ,accurate level matching is essential.
If you want your dac to be an effects box look at 'other' dac designs.
Keith.
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
Yes,unless you deliberately engineer the dac to sound 'different' , I would choose a dac on facilities and go to a proven manufacturer who's history is solely in digital engineering, or at least a manufacturer that has the sense to 'buy in' good digital design.
Keith.
zippy
pfm Member
also: As we all know when one (either one) was raised in volume a fraction, it sound more lively and engaging.
This to me is the main reason why people hear differences in A/B comparisons - unless you have a decibel meter it's difficult to get an exact volume match.
Having said that I do not subscribe to the theory of 'all DACs sound the same'.
Unlike the Hugo and the MDAC, the Hugo TT is galvanically isolated, and (again unlike the plain Hugo), the USB input sounds just slightly the best according to its designer, Rob Watts. Check out his many posts on headfi here. Rob recommended an Olimex for the Hugo, as did JohnW for the MDAC and has also said that the Intona seems to be a decent device. I tried an Olimex with the MDAC and it still sounded pretty poor to me. The TT is in a totally different league ime. But it is a lot more money. You really should try one, rather than forming opinions based on people who post in forums.
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
It really has to more accurate than an SPL meter, there is an explanation on exactly how here,
http://www.puriteaudio.co.uk/blog?page=2
Keith.
John_73
pfm Member
Ignoring price & internet hyperbole, what's actually different between the Hugo and the Hugo TT? I've seen photos of the inside and it's exactly the same Hugo PCB inside, but with four batteries in TT instead of the two in Hugo, and the addition of balanced outputs. I assume the only other difference apart the casing and display is the galvanically isolated usb input then?
As for M-Dac, I owned one for a few months also found it hard-edged sounding, mechanical. But, in that epic thread I'm sure it was mentioned that a few of the earlier units (silver) were substandard resulting in a more detached musical presentation. Wish I could find the post now... I sold mine on anyway I just couldn't enjoy music through it.
Wasn't blown away by the Chord Mojo - whilst insightful in certain areas, it had a very strange way of making some parts of the music sound 'airbrushed' or smoothed over for want of a better word. I returned it & kept my Marantz HD-DAC1. But very keen to try a Hugo.
John.
davidismynaim
pfm Member
Interesting comments. A bit more detail. The joggler was connected via a usb that has a galvanic connector. The Hugo was connected to the transporter with a coax.
We initially did not spend much time to level set and set both DACs to 100%. In that configuration the Hugo was quite a bit louder than the MDAC. The MDAC is powered by a 3rd party linear power supply build for it. Can't remember the make while making this post. While the Hugo was louder it clearly sounded better. We then spend a bit of time turning down the Hugo with its volume to about 90%. Could this have degraded the sound quality? This got the levels to both our ears the same (no spl meter or other measurements used). From that point on we listened for another 2-3 hours to both. Mostly 24/96 and some CD flac rips. We could not hear any difference. And honestly I would be amazed if anyone could.
I was surprised and I suppose a little disappointed. My friend had an MDAC and was even more surprised as he 'heard' a big difference when swapping out the mdac for the Hugo in his system. But he was not able to hot swap instantly with synchronized sources in the way we did that night. Maybe his brain was hearing great things from his expensive new purchase? Or maybe with his room and amp/speakers there really is a step change.
All we can both say in my room with my amp and speakers there was no obvious difference once the volume was set really close. Best upgrade ...turn up the volume a smidge ��
We initially did not spend much time to level set and set both DACs to 100%. In that configuration the Hugo was quite a bit louder than the MDAC. The MDAC is powered by a 3rd party linear power supply build for it. Can't remember the make while making this post. While the Hugo was louder it clearly sounded better. We then spend a bit of time turning down the Hugo with its volume to about 90%. Could this have degraded the sound quality? This got the levels to both our ears the same (no spl meter or other measurements used). From that point on we listened for another 2-3 hours to both. Mostly 24/96 and some CD flac rips. We could not hear any difference. And honestly I would be amazed if anyone could.
I was surprised and I suppose a little disappointed. My friend had an MDAC and was even more surprised as he 'heard' a big difference when swapping out the mdac for the Hugo in his system. But he was not able to hot swap instantly with synchronized sources in the way we did that night. Maybe his brain was hearing great things from his expensive new purchase? Or maybe with his room and amp/speakers there really is a step change.
All we can both say in my room with my amp and speakers there was no obvious difference once the volume was set really close. Best upgrade ...turn up the volume a smidge ��
Switching between synchronised sources is a lousy way of comparing two things ime. It's ok for level differences and balance differences, but not much else. Think about it. You play a section of music from one source, then a different section of music from the other source. How can you compare them?
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
You compare them unsighted and level matched, and then you swap the dacs so any difference in source can be removed.
Keith.
Keith.
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
Andy how does the TT compare sound wise with the Hugo?
More of everything.
Rob Watt gives some technical reasons why he thinks the TT is better than the Hugo here. I suspect in my situation I also benefit from the balanced outputs. Again I'd just suggest to anyone that if you really love your music, try one out. I was more than happy with my plain Hugo, but in an idle moment I wondered what a TT might sound like, couldn't really see that it would be much different, got one on trial from Fanthorpes Audio and kept it. If you like reviews, there is an outstanding one in Stereophile here.
jamjar784
Heavy Up
You're selectively quoting my post to promote your TT crusade. ... forming opinions based on people who post in forums ... I don't think so! On the contrary I had demos of the equipment I compared my MDAC to. The link I posted to on CA shows divided opinion/experience with the Hugo possibly resolved using USB clean up devices. Anyone interested in the Hugo may want to take this on board when evaluating it, and would still be a much cheaper option than the TT. If you're sure of your opinion organise a bake off!
- and yet persuasion by review is fine if it suits your cause? As always I'll take note of forum posts and reviews but with a pinch of salt and trust my ears.