Chord Hugo with USB-SPDIF convertor

Yes, I definitely prefer it to the USB interface of the Hugo.

My USB/SPDIF converter is a Sonicweld Diverter HR2.

As to why it sounds better, I don't know. I do know the Sonicweld Diverter is a very high quality design and build and well above many other USB/SPDIF implementations.

When I had a Chord Hugo here, I preferred it with my Stello U3 feeding the Spdif input rather than the Hugo's own (HD) USB.

Joe

Seems strange, though the Hugo was never meant to be their Statement product...maybe they are saving the excellent USB-SPDIF implementation for the next Reference product (gotta leave yourself room to improve, no?).  Is it true that Naim V1 DAC uses an implementation of Audiophileo?  I just purchased a used Bryston BUC-1 (USB-SPDIF) to see if its better than my JK MKIII (I paid about the same used for both), otherwise, I'll have to go with Audiophilleo or similar.

BTW, listening to UQII with HifiMan HE500 lossless streaming from MacPro right now, had it for 3 months...I'm ashamed to admit that I used to speculate that Naim was overpriced.  Now I just admit that its expensive...though I think its on par with that really stupidly-expensive gear! (here I go again generalizing)

Yes, on Windows 7 it mentions Audiphileo as part of the DAC-V1 interface.

I am sure I have read somewhere that Rob Watts says the Hugo USB interfaces are not galvanically isolated, therefore that would imply it's down to the host to do the isolation.

However, Rob does discuss this lack of of galvanic isolation as a path of RF ground current and common mode RF current, but depending on the method of galvanic isolation, stray RF currents may not be impeded. Galvanic isolation in my world is usually about DC decoupling rather than higher frequency AC decoupling. In other words galvanic isolation doesn't neccessarily prevent RF interference. Life would be so much easier if it did.

FWIW I prefer SPDIF (RCA and  Toslink ) over async audio USB on the Hugo.. Whether this is due to the digital source or interface limitations I don't know..

Simon

fwiw, I believe Rob Watts has said that the USB input of the Hugo sounds better if a an Olimex USB isolator is used. He says "Yes isolating the USB really helps; its smoother (lower RF noise) and with much better sound stage depth (this is normally an indication of correlated noise degrading small signal fundamental linearity - so as the PC is processing the data, it is adding audio related in-band noise into the ground, so isolating the ground stops this)"

The hires input won't work with such an isolator. An Olimex is about £30 - a lot cheaper than most USB-SPDIF converters.

Folks over at computeraudiophile tested different usb transports and on top came Gustard U10 with XMOS chipset (I think Hugo uses the same chip). Gustard came over Stello U3, Audiophilleo 2 and Berkley. The best thing is its price of $180. It can be ordered on ebay.

The secret is its powersupply and suggestion to keep it always on as it helps in stabilising its internal clock. Did not try the Gustard, but I'm about to order one.

I have played with different cables and inputs on Hugo an this is my order of preference:

USB < USB - Hiface 2 < Toslink. I think that Rob Watts said that his development was done on toslink input and that he did not bother much with coax. This came as surprise to me at first because until Hugo all digital HIFI equipment worked better on coax than on toslink. In my tests I can confirm that coax does have nore dynamics but it seems a bit artificial after comparing it to toslink. Toslink is more mature with more depth into the music. If your system has enogh dynamics than toslink would be my suggested connectivity method.

Hope this helps

J

Try putting a ferrite choke(s) on your coax - I did that here and SPDIF coax beautifully took the lead (!) over Toslink in terms of transparency and naturalness - but then I stream my coax SPDIF from a quality player - an NDX.

Simon

Can you expand on this, as I'm currently playing with the different Mac mini - Hugo connections?

I thought I was pretty mac savvy and technical, but this ones new to me!

Here's a screenshot to show you. You don't want to use a USB port that is shared with IR/Bluetooth.

If that's hard to see, try this.

Great, thanks - I had no idea they were shared, and I didn't dig down quite deep enough when I saw the comment!  Will be interesting to see what port I'm using when I get home. 

Just to be nosey - I recognise the others, but what's the icon for the music player with notes coming out?

Now, back to trying to work out what's happened to my sound after a complete system rejig of box stacking order, cable tidy, and flatcap rearrangement. Urgh. 

It's Audirvana +. TBH I'm finding the SQ of iTunes has improved to a similar level since Yosemite but Audirvana is useful for playing FLAC hi res files.

Steve

I cannot find the computeraudiophile test with the Gustard U10. Can you post the link please?

Fabio

I've been reading a few posts about the Gustard U12 (recent U10 replacement) over at head-fi and computeraudiophile.

I've taken the plunge and ordered one.  ebay and a few other places do them, but they're all imports. The best value seemed to be a Hong Kong based ebayer, as you don't pay duty from HK and it was barely more expensive than ordering from China.

As Josipo said, according to some posters, it ranked higher than many converters at multiple times its price like the Hiface and Audiophilleo's, so we'll see.

For 120 quid its not much of a gamble and while I'm in tinkering/experimenting mode I might as well try it - so many people say Hugo is best with spdif, including Rob Watts himself, and the mac mini's optical is unlikely to be better than a dedicated unit - albeit with this the chain is more complex.

Josipo, did you order one yourself in the end?  If so what did you think?

I'm building at the moment a dedicated audio PC with linear power supply with seperate rails for motherboard, SSD and USB card (everything passively cooled) and USB cards from Paul Pang which have a strong impact on SQ. That I will connect the PC to Hugo via USB.

My next plan is to get the U12 and decent Chord spdif cable to connect to Hugo and compare them to the USB connection. Paul pang is btw doing excellent USB cables that fit Hugo (USB micro). His products can be ordered by UK dealer with free shipping to EU. I'm awaiting his v4 USB card and SATA cable that together cost 500 pounds. Definitely pricey but folks at computeraudiophile think it's the best thing in computer audio (except perhaps two PC audio configuration). Will post my findings as I assamble everything and let it run in for a few days (together with my new acquired Audio physics).

BR

Josip

Wow, makes my tweaking seem really tame by comparison - let us know how the finished setup sounds.

It's funny, I went the mac mini route because I thought that would reduce the tinkering/experimenting which isn't what I want to do with music - I like music being an escape from technology (past the obvious investment in time etc setting everything up).

But once you start it's hard to stop, especially knowing some quite cost effective changes can make big improvements.  I'm hoping to settle it down very soon and just enjoy listening for a while. I'm not quite there yet though.

My biggest issue SQ aside, is having a decent setup where I can have Qobuz and my own streamed library - but without having to keep logging in through VNC/screen sharing to switch between Qobuz player and Audirvana.  Apparently there's something in the pipeline for Audirvana to integrate it but who knows when, and if it will be any good.  Right now I still use iTunes mode for Audirvana because I want the remote and frankly the Audirvana interface doesn't do it for me.  

The Auralic Aries seems to have the Qobuz/streaming thing sorted out nicely, and it looks decent, but that's another dedicated unit where you're tied to the manufacturers ideas/timescales.  And of course we all want the best of both worlds.

Back on topic, hopefully the USB-spdif will bring some more improvements, and I'll report back on the U12 once it arrives.