Tír Na HiFi

I finally succumbed to upgrade fever and purchased the Chord Hugo DAC based on reviews and posts here on this forum. I had spotted some reviews in various mags but dismissed them and some species of portable player so didn't even read them. Hugo is both a DAC and a headphone amp. The headphone amp is not of interest to me but it is defeatable to give a line output to preamp. It takes USB, SPDIF Coax and Toslink, and Bluetooth inputs although at this point I've only tried the USB. It's about half the size of a paperback and is battery powered (charger supplied). It plays all manner of material from 16/44.1 through to 24/384 and also DSF files. The file selected is reflected in a coloured lamp e.g red for 16/44.1 but IMO it's not obtrusive.

I purchased it from Jim Moore in http://www.mooreshifi.co.uk/ in Newtownards,Co Down. Jim has a tiny shop packed with top class gear and is the only agent for Chord Electronics in Ireland, he's a gentleman and a pleasure to deal with.

I brought it round to Tony's last night for a run with the Lampizator and Meitner thoroughbreds and I think it was up to the challenge, I'm sure the guys will give their impressions. It works perfectly on MQN from 16/44.1 to 24/192 and using Jplay on DSFand 24/384(of which I only have one track). It has an excellent sound overall with superb detail and I would highly recommend it. I think there are one or two more on this forum so maybe they'll add their comments.


KM

what did you use before ?

would the monitor work better if it was headless ?

Hi Gordon, I used a JK Ciúnas DAC before this one , it was excellent and up there with the big boys, it's for sale on another thread. I might consider moving the monitor and see if it makes a difference.
KM

Ken Moreland wrote:Hi Gordon, I used a JK Ciúnas DAC before this one , it was excellent and up there with the big boys, it's for sale on another thread. I might consider moving the monitor and see if it makes a difference.
KM

running headless was a joke, there's a little head on the monitor stand.

Ken arrived weighted down with his Chord Hugo last night. First view it looks like a sony cd walkman! Borrowing on the John Kenny inspired idea of battery power it is certainly a neat device. Preamp and Headphone amp also and has a different colour light depending on resolution.

Great dac for the price giving a full bodied delicate sound . Really nice detail and sonic signature that I think will appeal to many. Pearse had commented on the developments in the Dac world previously and the Chord proves his point about leaps in quality being delivered at ever cheaper/reduced prices.

Comparing it to my new dac Lamp Level4 it comes across as a different presentation.
Kinda got to the point with these devices that the sonic presentation dictates one's choice.

Pearse's 'new' zuma was the other talking point to me and I will comment on that in the auld 'buildanaudiopc' thread.

Congrats Ken on the new dinky purchase no doubt it will give you hours of pleasure.

tony wrote:Ken arrived weighted down with his Chord Hugo last night. First view it looks like a sony cd walkman! Borrowing on the John Kenny inspired idea of battery power it is certainly a neat device. Preamp and Headphone amp also and has a different colour light depending on resolution.

Great dac for the price giving a full bodied delicate sound . Really nice detail and sonic signature that I think will appeal to many. Pearse had commented on the developments in the Dac world previously and the Chord proves his point about leaps in quality being delivered at ever cheaper/reduced prices.

Comparing it to my new dac Lamp Level4 it comes across as a different presentation.
Kinda got to the point with these devices that the sonic presentation dictates one's choice.

Pearse's 'new' zuma was the other talking point to me and I will comment on that in the auld 'buildanaudiopc' thread.

Congrats Ken on the new dinky purchase no doubt it will give you hours of pleasure.

speaking of new dacs, there is also the new idsd http://www.head-fi.org/t/711217/idsd-mi ... t_10528165

sbgk wrote:

Ken Moreland wrote:Hi Gordon, I used a JK Ciúnas DAC before this one , it was excellent and up there with the big boys, it's for sale on another thread. I might consider moving the monitor and see if it makes a difference.
KM

running headless was a joke, there's a little head on the monitor stand.

Ha! Spent 1000 euro on the daughter's school trip to Italy and that's what she brought back. Not for sale, but I'll move it around and see if it makes any difference. KM

Nice review there Ken, certainly a better effort than Tony's Lampi4 review. :-) Lovely system you have and good taste in amps too! ;-)

Thought you sold that Teac transport though. Obviously not.

ill be down to hear that ken
disappointed i couldn't get last night

looking forward to a review on the new zuma too

im building a new pc atm gave it a pre assembly blast earlier
ill say it again there is absolutely no comparison between a dedicated audio pc build and laptops etc, its a world away

all the best with the hugo ken

nige2000 wrote:ill be down to hear that ken
disappointed i couldn't get last night

looking forward to a review on the new zuma too

im building a new pc atm gave it a pre assembly blast earlier
ill say it again there is absolutely no comparison between a dedicated audio pc build and laptops etc, its a world away

all the best with the hugo ken

that DAC looks amazing!

hey nige, z97 boards are coming out.