NDX and Chord Hugo
Posted by: Foxman50 on 18 April 2014
I have been contemplating adding a DAC to my NDX/XPS2 to see (or should that be hear) what it can bring to the party. And so thought it about time i made inroads into Having a few home demos. After looking around at products that are within my budget i came across the Chord Hugo DAC.
Although it is meant to be a portable headphone unit, it can be used as a full line level fixed DAC.
The dealer lent me a TQ black digital coax lead, which have twist grip plugs. This was required as the present batch of Hugo's have a case design fault that wont allow any decent cable to fit, soon to be rectified. Thankfully the TQ just manages to hang on to the coax port.
Once all connected and gone through the minimal setup procedure of the Hugo, what does the red LED mean again, i left it to warm up for half an hour.
Poured a beer and sat down for an evenings listening.
What was that, where did that come from, that's what that instrument is. OMG, as my little'n would say, Where is it getting all this detail from.
After spending last night and today with it, all i can say is that it has totally transformed my system from top to bottom. I never considered my NDX to be veiled or shut in, not even sure that's the correct terms. All i can say is its opened up the sound stage and space around instruments. Everything I've put through it has had my toes, feet and legs tapping away to the music.
Even putting the toe tapping, the resolution the clarity to one side, what its greatest achievement for me has been in making albums that I've had trouble listening too enjoyable now.
One added bonus is that it has made the XPS redundant. I cannot hear any difference with it in or out of the system.
While i thought a DAC may make a change in the degree of the jump from ND5 to NDX, i was not prepared for this. Anyone looking at adding a PSU to there NDX may want to check this unit out first.
For me this has to be the bargain of the year.
nbpf I will follow up on that kit recommendations, I suppose (he says with a shudder) I might even consider an Apple Mini - but that may be a move too far into the Dark Side. 
Many Naim users are very happy with a Mini Mac as a source. The optical SPDIF of the Mini is told to be high quality. The fit-PC3 has an electrical SPDIF out which should work up to 24/192 but, on my device, turned out not to work for 24/88.2 (although at 24/192 it was fine). I think there are pros and contras on both sides and it very much depends on which OS you feel comfortable with and which device you want to connect to. If your want to serve a streamer (I mean a device running a UPnP client) a viable option is also to run a file server on a NAS and a UPnP server on a raspberry pi. The advantage is that you are not limited in the choice of the UPnP server by the NAS and you can play around with whatever you like on the raspberry pi. This is the architecture I would implement if I wanted to stream. If you are interested in this solution you will find very helpful and authoritative posts by Simon-in-Suffolk in this forum.
nbpf I will follow up on that kit recommendations, I suppose (he says with a shudder) I might even consider an Apple Mini - but that may be a move too far into the Dark Side.
Bill,
I've just set up a MacMini/Raid/DAC system and it's so easy. It's the best sounding digital system I've heard, although I'm not giving away which DAC, Hugo or PS Audio, I think is best just yet. 
Steve
You little tease Steve! 
I know which one I think is best and it was an easier decision than I thought even though they are both excellent DACs. I'm busy this evening and I would like to give my reasons for the judgement I made. I'll do a write up tomorrow. Patience. 
What do you think I'd be most likely to choose Graeme?
What do you think I'd be most likely to choose Graeme?
Go Hugo!
Stave J when you say MacMini/Raid/DAC, I assume you mean RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) and not Raid? Or is it another Apple acronym I have never come across? 
How quiet is the Mac Mini? Can it play FLAC to your DAC? Will it connect OK to my QNAP NAS - I suspect via Samba only? How big is it?
My big worry with a Mac is that I get frustrated when I can't get behind the scenes and fiddle about with the settings. On a Windows PC that can keep me occupied from breakfast to dinner time some days. I peer into my screen, intermittently effing and blinding at the Gods and Bill Gates (are the two different I ask) 
. I go crazy with my iPad at times when it won't do what I want and I can't make it do what I want. It's bad enough not having a Right Mouse button, but not having a mouse at all....... I truly hate Touch Screens, OK for my sat-nav, but for a computer.
But I guess a Mac Mini is an alternative, may well be cheaper than building my own Linux PC.
btw if anyone is interested, I can now read a FLAC file! Well the metadata blocks anyway and that is all I need - for the moment. The documentation at xiph.org is pretty good but there are always pitfalls. The FLAC standard typically stores a field by allocating a number of bytes to hold the field length, for example if it's 2 bytes then the field length is stored high byte first - ie field length = (byte1 * 256) + byte2 - Simple you can now read that number of bytes following the length and that is your data.
But the FLAC Tags are stored in a format designed by Ogg Vorbis called: "Ogg Vorbis I format specification: comment field and header specification". I do love a catchy name. This is similar in many ways. It has a field length and data, but in this case it's low bytes first - (byte2 * 256) + byte1 and that caused a bit of a ruckus at Big Bill Manor I can tell you.
There were one or two other little surprises. But when this is done I will be able to completely manage my Tags. At the moment I have a couple that I want to rename and I can't find a way to do that. There are another couple that I want to combine etc.
Is all this work worthwhile? Probably not but it is fun.
Well, over the weekend I've had time to do the bake-off between the PS Audio DirectStream DAC (£5250) and the Chord Hugo (£1400).
I was keen to demo the PSA DAC given the reports and the fact it converts all files to single bit DSD on the fly giving a much more analogue presentation. I'm a vinyl junkie and have always found it hard to live with a digital source in my system so this seemed to offer the chance to have a secondary digital source to listen to music I don't have or is hard to get on vinyl.
As the reports of the Hugo, here and elsewhere, were very favourable I thought it would be a good idea to compare it with the PSA DAC. I've had the PSA in my system for six days and the Hugo for four.
My set up is MacMini/WD RAID, iTunes/Audinirvana, 552, 500, B&W 802 Diamonds. The DACs were connected to the 552 via a phono-DIN Hiline. The PSA DAC was connected to the MacMini with Chord Silver USB but, as the Hugo uses a micro USB connection, I could only use a basic USB cable with a female adaptor connected to an Apple USB-micro USB cable.
My music library is predominantly ALAC files ripped from CD but I had a few hi res FLAC albums and to test 'pure DSD' I downloaded a few tracks from Blue Coast Records.
Until Thursday I had been playing the PSA DAC exclusively and it needed a few days to come on song. When the Hugo arrived on Thursday I played it then and Friday. Saturday was bake-off day.
It was a quick procedure to change the phono-DIN and USB cables between the two DACs. I could have connected them separately to different inputs on the preamp but I only had one Hiline that would do the job and I wanted to make sure I used the same USB socket, preselected, on the MacMini. The only variable was the USB cables, favouring the PSA with the Chord Silver.
As regard music selection for the test I purposely selected a wide variety of musical genres. It was interesting when the PSA rep delivered the DAC he was keen to hear acoustic music and female vocals. All well and good but that only makes up a small proportion of the music I listen to.
Tracks I listened to for the test included;
DSD
"Play With Fire" by Jez.
"Ananda" by Gregory James.
24/96 FLAC
"Pink Moon" by Nick Drake.
"Kreen-Akrore" by Paul McCartney.
"Starman" by David Bowie.
ALAC
"Black Mountain Side", "The Battle of Evermore" and "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin.
"Kettle" by Colosseum.
"Barbarian" by ELP.
"Fresh Garbage" by Spirit.
"Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull.
"Come Together" by The Beatles.
"Watch Out" by Peter Green's FM.
"The Ballad Of Easy Rider by Sandy Denny.
"Blue Train" by John Coltrane.
"Needle And The Damage Done" by Neil Young
"The Race" by Yello.
For the moment I will refer to the DAC's as "A" and "B".
Each track was played alternately with A and B twice.
Both DACs gave very good presentation and each was enjoyable on it's own but there was one clear winner for me. With 'soft' acoustic music like Neil Young and the two DSD tracks both faired very well with good tonality and presence. DAC B slightly outperformed DAC A with the DSD files but not by much, it just seemed to have a smoother presentation. The main difference came with music with more pace like rock and jazz. DAC B sounded flat and veiled in comparison to DAC A and more importantly DAC A had much better rhythm and timing. It rocked more than any other digital system I've heard. This wasn't file specific and I felt I wanted to crank up the volume with DAC B but this only resulted in painful ears!
I selected a number of the tracks not only because they were familiar to me, apart from the DSD files, but also because I have them on vinyl. After the test I played a few of the tracks on vinyl and I have to say that DAC A achieved approximately 90% of what the full spec LP12 can do. I still prefer the vinyl but the gap is definitely closing. One also has to consider that my LP12 costs over £20,000 which is considerably more than either DAC. DAC A sounded better than any CD/streaming replay I've heard.
Unfortunately I suffer very easily from digital fatigue. I don't know if my ear drums have a certain resonant frequency that they are sensitive to but, especially at the volume I listen at, both DACs gave me fatigue. The degree was much less with DAC A though.
So which DAC came out as, for me, the very clear winner?
Sorry I just have to do something for the wife. I'll be right back.
Jude,
It's 'integer' mode with Audirvana.
Now for the winner of the DAC bake-off.
This little box punches so much above it's weight and it's versatile too.
I still want to listen to a few more alternatives but this Hugo is everything that the two Graeme's and Simon have been waxing lyrical about. Remember also the Hugo was connected using a very basic USB cable compared to the more expensive PSA so there could be more improvement with a better one.
Steve
It is very quiet on stand by the NAP200 is louder), when playing music who cares ( to be less flippant, even when listening at low volume I do not hear the Mini). Also, the fan never gets used as the processor is only using c5% less of capacity and unless the Mini is in a closed cabinet or something similar).
I use AIFF files with the Mac. Downloaded FLACs are easily converted to AIFF with XLD. For example, downloaded Deep Purple's FLAC from Linn Muisc yesterday and in AIFF it sound amazing. I keep a copy of the downloaded FLAC so no issue for whatever the future may behold.
I also use Audivarna as the player that controls Mac OS and iTunes for managing the catalogue. This is automatic and seamless with Audivarana in 'integrated mode'.
For tinkering the yellow brick road is as long as Linux and, possibly, Windows OS'. They ate plenty of Mac audiophile sites that give clear and easy paths for Mac OS optimisation for audio (Audivarna does the majority on its own).
Hardware mods are also a growth industry to the Mini.
Disks and storage - well each to their own but the great thingis that you have all the options with the Mac Mini: DAS (via USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt) or NAS (no experience of this but there will be constraints as most NAS's are SMB based).
You could even install two internal disk drives in the latest version of the Mini.
HTH
Jude
NO FLAC? That is a killer for me, I have ripped everything to FLAC and it's on my NAS. If it can't play what is on my NAS then that is it. Also the fact it has a fan is also a worry, it might quiet when new but one thing you can guarantee is that it will get noisy when it gets older!
Thanks Jude.
Bet you wish you hadn't coughed up for the silver USB cable now Steve! Good work btw.
Steve, very good.. I guessed your A & B on the energy and timing bit
BTW I know what you mean about fatigue.. I think much digital content contains more HF energy than many analogue sources, and I find some speaker/room combos fatigue greatly with it whilst others don't or significantly less so... Fatigue and bass bloat really grate with me. Vinyl and FM radio seem not to be as sensitive to speaker/room fatigue IMO, but then their HF attenuates off relatively early on..(or at least for most standard shaped stylus)
PS are you a fan of Wilkie Collins? 
I am impressed that is does 90 % of LP12, but still the fatigue issue means it's a no go for me at least.
Well, over the weekend I've had time to do the bake-off between the PS Audio DirectStream DAC (£5250) and the Chord Hugo (£1400).
I was keen to demo the PSA DAC given the reports and the fact it converts all files to single bit DSD on the fly giving a much more analogue presentation. I'm a vinyl junkie and have always found it hard to live with a digital source in my system so this seemed to offer the chance to have a secondary digital source to listen to music I don't have or is hard to get on vinyl.
As the reports of the Hugo, here and elsewhere, were very favourable I thought it would be a good idea to compare it with the PSA DAC. I've had the PSA in my system for six days and the Hugo for four.
My set up is MacMini/WD RAID, iTunes/Audinirvana, 552, 500, B&W 802 Diamonds. The DACs were connected to the 552 via a phono-DIN Hiline. The PSA DAC was connected to the MacMini with Chord Silver USB but, as the Hugo uses a micro USB connection, I could only use a basic USB cable with a female adaptor connected to an Apple USB-micro USB cable.
My music library is predominantly ALAC files ripped from CD but I had a few hi res FLAC albums and to test 'pure DSD' I downloaded a few tracks from Blue Coast Records.
Until Thursday I had been playing the PSA DAC exclusively and it needed a few days to come on song. When the Hugo arrived on Thursday I played it then and Friday. Saturday was bake-off day.
It was a quick procedure to change the phono-DIN and USB cables between the two DACs. I could have connected them separately to different inputs on the preamp but I only had one Hiline that would do the job and I wanted to make sure I used the same USB socket, preselected, on the MacMini. The only variable was the USB cables, favouring the PSA with the Chord Silver.
As regard music selection for the test I purposely selected a wide variety of musical genres. It was interesting when the PSA rep delivered the DAC he was keen to hear acoustic music and female vocals. All well and good but that only makes up a small proportion of the music I listen to.
Tracks I listened to for the test included;
DSD
"Play With Fire" by Jez.
"Ananda" by Gregory James.
24/96 FLAC
"Pink Moon" by Nick Drake.
"Kreen-Akrore" by Paul McCartney.
"Starman" by David Bowie.
ALAC
"Black Mountain Side", "The Battle of Evermore" and "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin.
"Kettle" by Colosseum.
"Barbarian" by ELP.
"Fresh Garbage" by Spirit.
"Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull.
"Come Together" by The Beatles.
"Watch Out" by Peter Green's FM.
"The Ballad Of Easy Rider by Sandy Denny.
"Blue Train" by John Coltrane.
"Needle And The Damage Done" by Neil Young
"The Race" by Yello.
For the moment I will refer to the DAC's as "A" and "B".
Each track was played alternately with A and B twice.
Both DACs gave very good presentation and each was enjoyable on it's own but there was one clear winner for me. With 'soft' acoustic music like Neil Young and the two DSD tracks both faired very well with good tonality and presence. DAC B slightly outperformed DAC A with the DSD files but not by much, it just seemed to have a smoother presentation. The main difference came with music with more pace like rock and jazz. DAC B sounded flat and veiled in comparison to DAC A and more importantly DAC A had much better rhythm and timing. It rocked more than any other digital system I've heard. This wasn't file specific and I felt I wanted to crank up the volume with DAC B but this only resulted in painful ears!
I selected a number of the tracks not only because they were familiar to me, apart from the DSD files, but also because I have them on vinyl. After the test I played a few of the tracks on vinyl and I have to say that DAC A achieved approximately 90% of what the full spec LP12 can do. I still prefer the vinyl but the gap is definitely closing. One also has to consider that my LP12 costs over £20,000 which is considerably more than either DAC. DAC A sounded better than any CD/streaming replay I've heard.
Unfortunately I suffer very easily from digital fatigue. I don't know if my ear drums have a certain resonant frequency that they are sensitive to but, especially at the volume I listen at, both DACs gave me fatigue. The degree was much less with DAC A though.
So which DAC came out as, for me, the very clear winner?
Sorry I just have to do something for the wife. I'll be right back.
The main difference came with music with more pace like rock and jazz. DAC B sounded flat and veiled in comparison to DAC A and more importantly DAC A had much better rhythm and timing. It rocked more than any other digital system I've heard.
Hi Steve
Like Simon this part gave it away to any of us that have heard Hugo. Great write up, so maybe digital audio is allowed now in your setup
Graeme