Chord Hugo 2 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

[KxDx]

Yes. Even at that price I'd be hard pressed to find a use for it. Does anyone still use wired headphones for mobile listening? When travelling on public transport all I see is the ubiquitous Apple wireless earbuds or wireless noise-cancelling headphones from mostly Sony and Bose ...

Yep! My wife bought me a Pixel 6 for xmas last year and I had her send it back and get a 5a instead because of the headphone jack.

In anticipation of THE FUTURE™ I did buy a couple of USB-C dongles just to try out, but if anyone thinks wired headphones are clumsy, adding 2 extra hard points with a dongle takes it to another level.

 

[balletboy]

This is an enduringly popular product because people who try it, buy it or review it, or a combination of these options - just love the sound it produces. I don’t care for individual subjective listening tests, but there seems to be a broad consensus on this one.

I would expect anyone who designs a really popular product to maximise the profit margin. Chord may be doing that, good luck to them. It’s called COMMERCE. I would do the same.

I suppose it is logical that if you believe based on measurements a perfect DAC can be made for $200 retail, then anything costing significantly more is poor value. Add $50 for this thanks to the batteries. I wonder what measurements you would need to see to justify $3,000 for any DAC/headphone amp. Maybe some people would never spend that money, however good. I wouldn’t simply because I prefer wireless headphones and only for travel and gardening. I have a good pair of wired planar headphones, collecting dust. I no longer even have the means to use them.

 

[Rednaxela]

I wonder what measurements you would need to see to justify $3,000 for any DAC/headphone amp.

At US $2,950 I expect a DAC topping (no pun) absolutely every ASR chart in existence.

 

[holbob]

Doesn't even look expensive - it actually looks like a £15 Dac special from Amazon.

 

[AudioSceptic]

The micro-USB is automatically enough to make me hate something, and gives pretty much any device a distinctly "cheap" feel to it now that USB-C has been around for a while. For the cost they should convert it over since its fairly minor changes to the tooling for the enclosure and the PCB. Its hard to find a reason not to given how loathsome those connectors are.

Is it possible that the crappy µUSB ports are the cause of the performance issues over USB?

 

[AudioSceptic]

Maybe I am just too narrow-minded - but what would be the "portable DAC&Headphone Amp" intended use?
I associate "portable" with smth you either carry in your backpack, or are able to use in plane/train. So I assume you need some player/source on top of this thing so that you are able to enjoy your big planars travelling in TGV. And if we are talking train scenario - you would most probably use your laptop and USB out, and not Toslink, so poor USB performance is kind of weird. Hotel/Office - why not have smth proper with you?

Not a headphone specialist - while in the plane, I am happy to connect myself to Iphone/Ipad via dongle[Hifiman headphones].

I couldn't agree more. You've got this rather large lump AND you still need a source. I'd also be scared of losing or damaging such an expensive item while out-and-about, and doesn't ambient noise make a mockery of SOTA performance in a portable anyway?

 

[Jimbob54]

This is an enduringly popular product because people who try it, buy it or review it, or a combination of these options - just love the sound it produces. I don’t care for individual subjective listening tests, but there seems to be a broad consensus on this one.

I don't think anyone here thinks this should sound anything other than good. But that's not the point.

If a similar or better performing Topping unit was placed inside the Hugo case, they would love it just as much. But give them the Topping in its own case and have them listen to the 2 units, they would, I guarantee, prefer the Chord if sighted.

 

[F1308]

What are the four distinctive choices?

It is been said that...

"I can't figure out what the cryptic explanation means for each filter. They certainly not reflected in the measured performance."

 

[xaviescacs]

While measurements are good, I don't understand how a $3k product have such poor finish, not centered RCA plugs and the upper and lower casing parts are not perfectly aligned:

View attachment 218929

I haven't touched or seen any Chord product in person, but from pictures, this aluminum case looks like plastic and all this irregularities you point out enhance this appearance of cheap plastic pretending to be metal.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I need to disagree. This product costs 3000$ and offers marginally better performance than Topping NX4 for less than 200$ !! And it has 2 micro USB!! What year is it? For this kind of money I expect top desktop performance, or at least top desktop performance in the IEM department. I would love to see topping refreshing NX4, focusing on iems. Let's not kid ourselves, driving Ethers, or stealths on the go won't be a thing for years to come. I'm sure however that topping could make ultimate portable iem dac/amp with BT that would put to shame this thing. Also, who figured out, that this sharp aluminum object is something anyone would like to keep in their jeans pockets?

Yep, and don't forget that you need to connect it to a source via cable too.

 

[AudioSceptic]

No need for a laptop. If you can afford £2k for a portable dac/amp, another £450 for an add on streamer/DAP without a screen should seem like a bargain!
Hugo 2go
View attachment 218934View attachment 218936

I have to confess that I like this add-on. It makes a lot more sense than the Hugo itself.

 

[AudioSceptic]

My guess is they aren't firmly attached and wiggle a bit under pressure. I'd guessed they were mounted to the circuit board. I don't think he meant floating as in loosely hanging by wires or some such.

Perhaps the whole board is compliantly mounted in the case?

 

[thewas]

I haven't touched or seen any Chord product in person, but from pictures, this aluminum case looks like plastic and all this irregularities you point out enhance this appearance of cheap plastic pretending to be metal.

Thats also the impression I get when I look at those images.

 

[hsertic]

I haven't touched or seen any Chord product in person, but from pictures, this aluminum case looks like plastic and all this irregularities you point out enhance this appearance of cheap plastic pretending to be metal.

Not at all, actual feel is very sturdy, it is made from aluminium, reminds me of the old electronic cases from the 80s.

 

[hsertic]

I don't think anyone here thinks this should sound anything other than good. But that's not the point.

If a similar or better performing Topping unit was placed inside the Hugo case, they would love it just as much. But give them the Topping in its own case and have them listen to the 2 units, they would, I guarantee, prefer the Chord if sighted.

But there is no topping A/D 90 so small that work on battery power.
I agree that the RME ADI 2dac is similar/better for 1/3 of the price, but you can not take it with you (easily).
It is the combination of the sound quality and portability that made me buy one.

 

[Jimbob54]

But there is no topping A/D 90 so small that work on battery power.
I agree that the RME ADI 2dac is similar/better for 1/3 of the price, but you can not take it with you (easily).
It is the combination of the sound quality and portability that made me buy one.

The other question is, do you need the power it outputs or could you do with one of the uber dongle plus power pack.

 

[hsertic]

The other question is, do you need the power it outputs or could you do with one of the uber dongle plus power pack.

Not at all, I use mostly 20-30% of the power (yellow color on the volume knob) for my IEMs (Audeze Euclid).
But (to my poor ears) it sounds so much better than Ifi xdsd Gryphon that I use it most of the time.

 

[Jimbob54]

Not at all, I use mostly 20-30% of the power (yellow color on the volume knob) for my IEMs (Audeze Euclid).
But (to my poor ears) it sounds so much better than Ifi xdsd Gryphon that I use it most of the time.

I'm sure you've been on here long enough to know what the cure for that is.

 

[hsertic]

I'm sure you've been on here long enough to know what the cure for that is.

There is no cure for me, I am thinking about buying another one...

 

[Jomungur]

Maybe I am just too narrow-minded - but what would be the "portable DAC&Headphone Amp" intended use?
I associate "portable" with smth you either carry in your backpack, or are able to use in plane/train. So I assume you need some player/source on top of this thing so that you are able to enjoy your big planars travelling in TGV. And if we are talking train scenario - you would most probably use your laptop and USB out, and not Toslink, so poor USB performance is kind of weird. Hotel/Office - why not have smth proper with you?

Not a headphone specialist - while in the plane, I am happy to connect myself to Iphone/Ipad via dongle[Hifiman headphones].

It's a fair question. When I used to travel more for work, I used them a lot. They powered my Stellias/Utopias nicely. As for source, I would use the Chord 2go which attaches right on it and connect to it via Airplay or shared wireless connection. Or, absent the 2go, I would just use Bluetooth from my phone or laptop which connects right to Hugo2. Battery lasted quite a long time. I thought the setup was very convenient actually if you wanted to listen to something like the Utopias at night while travelling.

(Once I was pulled over by airport security that was very skeptical as to what is was, since they had never seen something like it. Here the glowing balls weren't helpful.)

But you are right that it's a niche product: a portable Roon ready audiophile DAC/headphone amp that makes sense only if you have headphones that can benefit from it. You do pay a hefty premium, but I couldn't find a better combination of quality and convenience in that niche.

The filter point was interesting. They are extremely subtle for sure and I can't say 100% that I hear a difference between them (I don't have them on me but I wouldn't put good odds on being able to pass a blind test with them). I believe the high frequency ones are the same that the DAVE uses. Amir, if you have time you might want to try listening and see if you hear a difference in the filters. There is almost no pause when switching them. But if you do hear a difference, then something is happening that is not being picked up at the measurements.