Chord Hugo 2 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

[Garrincha]

Brilliant. Which brand do you use as shorthand for objectively poor measuring electronics that will cost you £000s? I could make a guess ...!

PS Audio and AudioQuest are strong contenders. Add some nice GR Research speakers and Nordost cables and you can built up a marvelous system for $50,000 with Radioshack sound!

 

[pablolie]

The Chord stuff mostly strikes me as something sprinkled with British eccentricity. I absolutely don't get the design and buttons, find the filters a silly gimmick. But I don't think they market the Hugo 2 as a portable DAC (I mean, just look at it), that would be their Qutest.
At least it measures decently apart from USB, but yeah, it's too weird for me to ever consider it as a stand alone DAC.

 

[dc655321]

One of the things I learned way back when was use of multivariate analysis (SPSS - does it still exist?), where you designed questionnaires, plug in the results, use regression analysis to pull out factors relating to groups of questions and try and understand their relationships. This was often used to analyse consumer behaviour.

Do you believe any of that is relevant to judging a device who's sole purpose if to synthesize an analog voltage from its digital representation?

The reason why consumers may appear stupid is because you don't know why they make decisions. It is also possible they are stupid, but I usually think not.

Or perhaps they're uninformed, or more likely in audio, misinformed...

 

[MenloBob]

It's ridiculous that a $3k device doesn't have acceptable noise isolation through USB.

 

[Jimbob54]

Brilliant. Which brand do you use as shorthand for objectively poor measuring electronics that will cost you £000s? I could make a guess ...!

Please do.... You seem very keen on doing that.

 

[PeteL]

Brilliant. Which brand do you use as shorthand for objectively poor measuring electronics that will cost you £000s? I could make a guess ...!

That product measure objectively perfectly and beyond what the human ear can detect at any metrics you trow at it. Suggesting it measures poorly is the absolute opposite of objectivity, it’s being strongly biased toward considerations that have nothing to do with audio performance. Unless your « guess » was not related to the discussion at hand, if so, sorry for the misjudgement.

 

[Katji]

This just gets better and better, a laugh a minute.

 

[Inner Space]

Wow, that's a ridiculous price for this item ($2950)!

But suppose it isn't what it appears to be? I think this is an open-ended, real-time experiment in expectation bias. An expensive investment by someone. The item has four filter options that promise a range between incisive and warmer with HF rolloff. Yet all four are measurably identical. I think @amirm helped design the experiment. I think this review is a sophisticated ruse to throw us off his trail.

 

[DanielT]

What of the nice things I've said about Scandinavia and Scandinavians am I lying about? How about their music venues and great writers (Erlend Loe, Jonas Jonasson, Halldor Laxness and old man Ibsen)? You may remember when the UK voted out of the EU the UK government looked very closely and had a lot of interest in the Scandinavian countries, because of their various half-in/half-out relationships with the EU and the Eurozone.

p.s. I did live with a Swede for a couple of years, lovely girl, but I can't say much for the food she cooked. Maybe she was just a bad cook. That's my only complaint.

And Tell.Skip the talk about Scandinavia. That in itself is for the thread so OT.

Edit:
But most of the Chord Hugo 2 itself is perhaps said now in the thread so it does not really matter.

 

[Doodski]

What of the nice things I've said about Scandinavia and Scandinavians am I lying about? How about their music venues and great writers (Erlend Loe, Jonas Jonasson, Halldor Laxness and old man Ibsen)? You may remember when the UK voted out of the EU the UK government looked very closely and had a lot of interest in the Scandinavian countries, because of their various half-in/half-out relationships with the EU and the Eurozone.

p.s. I did live with a Swede for a couple of years, lovely girl, but I can't say much for the food she cooked. Maybe she was just a bad cook. That's my only complaint.

Sigh* I lived with a Ukrainian and all she could cook was a turkey...lol. Serious!

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

The Chord stuff mostly strikes me as something sprinkled with British eccentricity. I absolutely don't get the design and buttons, find the filters a silly gimmick. But I don't think they market the Hugo 2 as a portable DAC (I mean, just look at it), that would be their Qutest.

Yeah I think if they skipped the whole portable add-on bit and simply had it like it is as a small form factor desktop unit it makes more sense since it just gets plugged in and doesn’t have to tolerate any real abuse. Edit: But thinking about it that would probably conflict with some of their other products. It’s an odd ball half breed. Sort of like they want to go portable, but still have a longing to be able to be used as a regular DAC as well. Sort of like those evolutionary missing links that go extinct early on

 

[Trell]

Sigh* I lived with a Ukrainian and all she could cook was a turkey...lol. Serious!

I prefer chickens myself, especially the tasty legs, just saying.

 

[Jomungur]

Very recognisable.

Another reason for me personally is the acceptance of and cult building around subjective, unverified claims. I truly see that as the opposite of progress. Almost everything that I love about living where I live in the 21st century, is the result of someone somewhere at one point insisting on backing up claims - including their own - with data. Car safety, medicine, construction, agriculture, water management, just to name a few fields the advancement of which I can happily take for granted in my day to day life and greatly benefit from. Historically this has not always been the case and these fields did not get to the level they’re at now without people relentlessly doubting and verifying every belief they held about something and demanding others to do the same.

I know audio is just a hobby and it’s all about enjoyment etc., but products like these never fail to trigger with me a feeling that there is something that has to be defended. I think ultimately, for me, this feeling is about defending progress.

FWIW and (again) sorry for the rant.

Well said. If you can get past the finger pointing that often occurs on audio forums, I think even subjectivists will realize they benefit from more transparency. There will always be room for subjective differences in taste and opinion in audio, just like there are with art, cuisine, etc. The problem with the current state of affairs is subjectivists lack an adequate vocabulary to even explain what quality sound sounds like, that's why you always hear the stock phrases "more dimension to the bass, fuller sound, blacker background, less fatiguing...", which pretty much comes down to "I know it when I hear it."

It's exacerbated because sonic qualities are attributed to things like audio cables and DACs which really should be the most amenable to objective measurements. After all, they have a specific job to do, transmit the signal with as little distortion and noise as possible, all of which should be measurable. Somehow these items became audio "works of art" by themselves, because of the money involved. If you're a subjectivist, it will make your life *a lot* easier if you can eliminate worries about DACs, amps and cables from how you judge the quality of sound. You can focus on speakers and source material, and rest assured you will not cede that ground to the objectivists unless you want to.

Further, because audio equipment is expensive and the most high end equipment is only sold at specialized dealers, it's really difficult for someone to find the best, say, DAC in terms of price to performance ratio. There are few measurements out there- and trying and returning a bunch of expensive audio equipment is really time consuming.

When a product type gets a lot of transparency and objective testing, brand power goes down. That's why most people aren't tied to their brand of laundry detergent. And conversely, when it's an opaque market, brand becomes overly important, because it's all most people can rely on. When I bought a Chord Hugo2, it was really simple: I can afford it, I like the DAVE, why not go with the brand that worked for me? I was paying for the convenience but also for the knowledge that it was a brand I had liked in the past. I wasn't about to try and audition a bunch of portable DACs and test which worked best! At least someone can look at this site and get a better sense now, even if it's imperfect.

 

[Doodski]

I prefer chickens myself, especially the tasty legs, just saying.

I buy a flat of chicken legs and they are d e v o u r e d ! Baked with lots of basil and olive oil all over. GarooWLZZzzzz Chicken rules! On Topic @pablolie nail'd the Chord product. It's weird, has candy buttons that make it look cheap and juvenile.

 

[Trell]

Well said. If you can get past the finger pointing that often occurs on audio forums, I think even subjectivists will realize they benefit from more transparency. There will always be room for subjective differences in taste and opinion in audio, just like there are with art, cuisine, etc. The problem with the current state of affairs is subjectivists lack an adequate vocabulary to even explain what quality sound sounds like, that's why you always hear the stock phrases "more dimension to the bass, fuller sound, blacker background, less fatiguing...", which pretty much comes down to "I know it when I hear it."

It's exacerbated because sonic qualities are attributed to things like audio cables and DACs which really should be the most amenable to objective measurements. After all, they have a specific job to do, transmit the signal with as little distortion and noise as possible, all of which should be measurable. Somehow these items became audio "works of art" by themselves, because of the money involved. If you're a subjectivist, it will make your life *a lot* easier if you can eliminate worries about DACs, amps and cables from how you judge the quality of sound. You can focus on speakers and source material, and rest assured you will not cede that ground to the objectivists unless you want to.

Further, because audio equipment is expensive and the most high end equipment is only sold at specialized dealers, it's really difficult for someone to find the best, say, DAC in terms of price to performance ratio. There are few measurements out there- and trying and returning a bunch of expensive audio equipment is really time consuming.

When a product type gets a lot of transparency and objective testing, brand power goes down. That's why most people aren't tied to their brand of laundry detergent. And conversely, when it's an opaque market, brand becomes overly important, because it's all most people can rely on. When I bought a Chord Hugo2, it was really simple: I can afford it, I like the DAVE, why not go with the brand that worked for me? I was paying for the convenience but also for the knowledge that it was a brand I had liked in the past. I wasn't about to try and audition a bunch of portable DACs and test which worked best! At least someone can look at this site and get a better sense now, even if it's imperfect.

TL;DR

You bought the Chord Hugo2 because you could and valued what the company offered, but not for any improved performance as I can read from your posts. This is in line with other things you've bought from Chord as well as offered for measurements at your expense (thank you, again).

Not to be that combative, but what is that you're trying to tell us?

 

[Jomungur]

TL;DR

You bought the Chord Hugo2 because you could and valued what the company offered, but not for any improved performance as I can read from your posts. This is in line with other things you've bought from Chord as well as offered for measurements at your expense (thank you, again).

Not to be that combative, but what is that you're trying to tell us?

I see it more like my process of learning about audio through things like this website. I bought Chord products because they were recommended to me and I liked their sound. I still do. But, as I reconsider, I believe I didn't have to pay so much for that performance and I was naive. I hope I don't sound bitter, I'm not. Just learning.

It's not just Chord, in fairness. I've spent a lot on audio gear over the years, and I think probably 30-40% of it was wasted. I have things like the Phoenix USB reclocker I'll probably send in at some point if it hasn't been reviewed.

I haven't given up entirely on Chord- the DAVE is my last refuge! I'm just kidding, if the DAVE tests poorly, so be it. Still, I'm listening with the Topping 90SE DAC right now and it is also quite nice, I have to admit.

 

[Bear123]

Here is an example of what I would buy with 3k usd:

RME ADI-2 DAC fs for desktop: 1k.
Hifiman Edition XS planar headphones: 500.
Moondrop Kato dynamic IEMs: 200.
Moondrop Moonriver 2 dongle: 200.
And a generic power bank and Y cable.

And still have 1k usd left for music and beer!

Here is an example of what I would buy with $3k USD:
Bose QC35 II: $299..I mean, these are for "on the go", maybe in a noisy environment, noise cancellation FTW?
FXAIX: $2701

 

[audiotron]

Get rich quick scheme product!

 

[57gold]

Industrial design----fail.

It's like most modern jewelry, it's different and its kinda ugly.

So for $3K you get a $500 unit in a $2500 box with goofy colored lights.

 

[Peternz]

Would I want that if someone gave it to me for nothing? No, I honestly would not know what to do with it. I have a nice DAP with USB C, a screen and an Android operating system. Why in the hell would I want that thing, much less pay some ridiculous amount of cash for it?