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.
Posted on: 02 July 2014 by Marky Mark
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Posted on: 03 July 2014 by Big Bill
Originally Posted by Simon-in-Suffolk:
Calling all Hugo users connecting into Naim (or anything else) has anyone had any success with the Bluetooth audio from Apple devices. It sounds better from Android devices, but is still miles away from the performance of USB or even more SPDIF from the NDX. I wonder if the Bluetooth audio format is just too compromised and a quality audio system just shows it up for what it is?
Simon
You can bet your life on that. We have one of those Bose SoundLink boxes and it sounds pretty good. We take it with us when we go away in our campervan for two reasons (a) the TV in the camper sounds awful, so we plug it into the Bose and you can understand what is being said, and (b) we plug in my Wife's Android device or my iPad and play some music. It is battery or mains powered so on a nice summer evening we can sit outside and play some Debussy or the Grateful Dead.
BUT when we connect up my Wife's Android device to it via Bluetooth it sounds noticeably inferior to a wired device. And I know I said the Bose sounds pretty good but it isn't very revealing, so on a decent system I would expect it to sound even worse. The Bose does not have any other digital input so I have no idea what DAC is being used when using Bluetooth - probably something not very good.
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by Aleg
Originally Posted by Foxman50:
Why do apple do this. They always seem to want to do everything opposite to others just for the sake of it.
The technical term for this is Vendor lock-in.
once you buy Apple stuff you have to keep buying the Apple stuff otherwise it won't work together (so nicely).
it is all about the money (with an Italian accent ;-))
Cheers
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by Big Bill
Originally Posted by Foxman50:
Friend of mine bought a Bose SoundLink Mini and i was amazed by the quality of sound coming from it. Yes rubbish in hifi terms but very entertaining for the garden or out and about. Would like to hear its bigger brother.
It just suits us when we are out in the camper, just perfect. As you say sound is not there in HiFi terms but it is good enough to enjoy and it is small and rugged. The big brother sounds better, still not very revealing but a bit more slam, but too big for us. btw don't ever go into a forum or Amazon reviews and say 'it ain't good in HiFi terms'. You get people coming back saying it is good as HiFi gets and they mean it too!
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by Bart
Originally Posted by Wat:
Yes a commercial practice learned from Microsoft who in turn learned it from IBM (anybody remember them, they used to make computers).
I too was wondering what became of IBM. It looks like they've done ok over the years. It's a bit small to read, but IBM is the blue line, the Dow Jones is the red, and the S&P 500 is the green.
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by jalfraag
A few pages back someone asked if any body has tried the hugo directly into a power amp. I have done this using a toshiba encore windows tablet running foobar & foobarcon to control it from my android phone. The hugo feeds a nap100 into leema xones.
The result is much better than my previous UQ/Nap100 and the interface is as good as n-stream.
The added bonus is I can sell the ipad.
Anyway this may help if you don't want to use a pre-amp with the hugo.
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by whsturm
Having had a Chord Hugo on demonstration for a few days I have just replaced my nDAC/XPS with the Hugo.
I have terrifically enjoyed the nDAC presentation over the past few years but new technology does seem to have taken things forward a stride. Whilst I never considered the nDAC's sound to be 'murky' the Hugo brings out details which previously lurked at the back. For example the 'ting' of a cymbal becomes a fully fledged sound with natural decay. The double bass also seems to go lower and is more formed and voices gain a more realistic midrange (for example in the introduction to Forcione on the 'Live' album the presenter's voice is more 'real'). It like a 'veil' has been lifted to allow you to hear more of the detail.
In my classical collection (Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' for example) you can more clearly discern the instruments and hear the 'fret work' on the violins.
Sorry all...another convert to the Chord DAC at least until Naim (or Burr Brown) respond with their next iteration. It is worth noting that Chord, I believe, are adding the DAC parts of the Hugo into their digital amplifier (the 2800) which at more than £6k is a clear vindication of its ability.
The Hugo doesn't look as good on my rack though and the nDAC/XPS have left a large 'hole'....
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by analogmusic
I think that's missing the whole point of Naim
For these kind of details, Linn sources may be more resolving too than Naim
But I like Naim sources because they bring music to life.
I had a Linn Sneaky, but I could not get on with it musically and sold it in a month.
I purchased a DAC V1 and instantly it just added musicality in spades and brought even movies to life, and I must say, even rivals and exceeds with considerable ease movies in my Cinema (source first !)
Isn't bringing songs and movies to life the whole point of Naim in the first place?
Originally Posted by whsturm:
Having had a Chord Hugo on demonstration for a few days I have just replaced my nDAC/XPS with the Hugo.
I have terrifically enjoyed the nDAC presentation over the past few years but new technology does seem to have taken things forward a stride. Whilst I never considered the nDAC's sound to be 'murky' the Hugo brings out details which previously lurked at the back. For example the 'ting' of a cymbal becomes a fully fledged sound with natural decay. The double bass also seems to go lower and is more formed and voices gain a more realistic midrange (for example in the introduction to Forcione on the 'Live' album the presenter's voice is more 'real'). It like a 'veil' has been lifted to allow you to hear more of the detail.
In my classical collection (Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' for example) you can more clearly discern the instruments and hear the 'fret work' on the violins.
Sorry all...another convert to the Chord DAC at least until Naim (or Burr Brown) respond with their next iteration. It is worth noting that Chord, I believe, are adding the DAC parts of the Hugo into their digital amplifier (the 2800) which at more than £6k is a clear vindication of its ability.
The Hugo doesn't look as good on my rack though and the nDAC/XPS have left a large 'hole'....
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by cvrle
I used to owe V1, but Hugo now...
I'm sorry "analogmusic", but it's pointless to say that there is a very serious gap between those too.
My wife actually can't believe how much better that little box is, not even asking how much I paid for.
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by George J
Originally Posted by analogmusic:
I think that's missing the whole point of Naim
For these kind of details, Linn sources may be more resolving too than Naim
But I like Naim sources because they bring music to life.
I had a Linn Sneaky, but I could not get on with it musically and sold it in a month.
I purchased a DAC V1 and instantly it just added musicality in spades and brought even movies to life, and I must say, even rivals and exceeds with considerable ease movies in my Cinema (source first !)
Isn't bringing songs and movies to life the whole point of Naim in the first place?
Dear Analogmusic,
My experience of the DAC V1 is that it is the most involving and enjoyable source component that I ever had. As you say it is just as good at digging out the sound tracks of films [DVDs in my case] as it is at music.
It is certainly resolving enough for me!
Sometimes I think there can be too much resolution, and this often runs with a disengagement with the music as the sonics are [of themselves] distracting. Most recordings are designed for less resolving replay than we have today, and so can still be optimally and musically replayed on less than stellar replay devices with enjoyment. The V1 bring all the details, but "in proportion" to the bigger musical message.
ATB from George
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by fatcat
Originally Posted by analogmusic:
I mean try to tell the wife that the little hugo costs 1400 GBP
Why not look at it a different way.
Stick a black box with a Naim logo in the rack, she''ll know it cost thousands. Stick a shiny, silver, cig packet sized box in the rack, she'll quite happily believe it cost a couple of hundred.
Posted on: 03 July 2014 by George J
Originally Posted by Wat:
Sometimes I think there can be too much resolution,
but you can't fool the children of resolution
i think everybody agrees the Doodlebug is a fine DAC, but some (most?) who have heard Hugo the upstart, the changer of games, prefer it. It will always be subjective in the end. And even if I heard the MSB Diamond IV Ladder DAC and agreed it was much better than anything else i had ever heard, i just cannot imagine buying a £50,000 DAC. So for all of us there is a DAC that is ideal.
It may false, it may be true, but nothing has been proved.
Dear Wat,
I preferred the CDS 3 to the CD 555, and so it goes.
I personally find the most enjoyable replay to be the kind that is undemonstrative. But good, definitively, it must be good. Good at musical balances, articulation [a Naim strength] and also at precise pitching, as well as communicating the sense of ensemble between players and singers [the musical performance swing] ...
While I can imagine the sense of space is not the V1's biggest plus, it gives enough for the acoustic of the recording to allow perspective without ever over-shadowing the crucial element that is the music and performance itself.
Of course the ESLs help as they are far from forward, often giving the impression of a perfectly placed performance some fifty or one hundred feet behind the apparent speakers. BBC continuity voices seem just across the dining table, which brings a nice intimacy ...
The V1 can do all this naturally without false artefacts.
ATB from George
