Disappointed by chord hugo

Why weren't you connecting the Hugo directly to the Melco via USB?

Hmmm - despite what Chord say, in my experience of owning both the Hugo and Mojo, they do benefit from a few months of running in.

My Hugo sounds fantastic in my car, with my Yamaha home cinema  amp and with my Naim amps.

Hope this helps.

tonym posted:

Why weren't you connecting the Hugo directly to the Melco via USB?

I already own a NDX and like it, with its ipad app.

I wanted only to improve it, if possible, do not to sell it.

analogmusic posted:

Hmmm - despite what Chord say, in my experience of owning both the Hugo and Mojo, they do benefit from a few months of running in.

My Hugo sounds fantastic in my car, with my Yamaha home cinema  amp and with my Naim amps.

Hope this helps.

I dont want to wait months.

Without doubts, for the price, sounds good in car or home cinema and maybe sounds good also with Naim amps, I have only experienced it in my system and I think my amps are quite good.

A question: with naim amps do you need to increase volume with Hugo in the chain?

alessandro posted:

.....

A question: with naim amps do you need to increase volume with Hugo in the chain?

No, I don't. That is, I believe, due the high input sensitivity of the NAC-282 and the (relatively) high output level of the Hugo.

I have to reduce the Hugo volume to about turquoise to keep a normal (08:30 - 09:00) volume position on my NAC.

Fortunately this turquoise level also gives the best quality sound IMO.

Cheers

well, My hugo sounded great/fantastic from day 1, and sounded even better to me after a few months.

Not sure what can be done in your situation, other than to say to try another Hugo and see if it sounds similar?

Personally I love the Hugo and will never part with it.

And Hugo doesn't "maybe" sound good with my Naim amps, it positively sounds very amazing with my 202/200, my 282/250DR and with my friends 552/500 also that I have tried it with.

I agree with Aleg on the turquoise level of volume. 

Definitely something amiss somewhere. I've never subscribed to the idea that a hi-fi component, be it cabling or boxes, can sound cr*p to start with and then sound marvellous. I'd  certainly try another unit. Not sure whay you are reluctant to bypass the NDX; if it sounds better without then job done. Plenty of control apps for the Melco.

There is no one size fits all solution.

You prefer the NDX to NDX-> Hugo, and you're right. Whatever you prefer is correct for you.

In the rarefied atmosphere of hifi costing £1000s there is no leap like the one from £50 to £500 or £500 to £5000. It is down to personal preference and subtle changes. Subtle changes that can hugely affect your enjoyment of music but IMHO are incorrectly described as "night and day" "old one sounded broken" etc.

SJB

tonym posted:

 Plenty of control apps for the Melco.

But where's the Melco control app? And how would I stream 24-bit Qobuz Sublime using a Melco?

I understand from my dealer that the Melco app's imminent. I recall there's something about streaming services available, not interested myself so can't answer any more definitively. 

I've owned a couple of Hugo's and it amazes me what all the fuss is about. To my ears, it really wasn't all that spectacular at all.

Kermit posted:

I've owned a couple of Hugo's and it amazes me what all the fuss is about. To my ears, it really wasn't all that spectacular at all.

Fair enough, we all hear differently but why then did you buy the second one?

tonym posted:

I understand from my dealer that the Melco app's imminent. I recall there's something about streaming services available, not interested myself so can't answer any more definitively. 

Sorry for my abrupt tone - I wasn't getting at you Tony . I like the idea and sound of Melco but feel they've released an unfinished product...

The Melco app has been 'imminent' for about a year and the majority of my listening time is spent with Qobuz - I streamed 3 new recordings from them today and it's high priority for me.

dayjay posted:

Kermit posted:

I've owned a couple of Hugo's and it amazes me what all the fuss is about. To my ears, it really wasn't all that spectacular at all.

Fair enough, we all hear differently but why then did you buy the second one?

Changed my headphones, but still sounded uninspiring.

Kermit,  Its with the SPDIF i think it sounds amazing into a Naim NAC - with its output  level at turquoise... but clearly we all hear things differently - and its way of digital audio reconstruction is somewhat different and arguably evolved from many traditional DACs resulting in a very clear and open sound in most set ups I have heard - and so I can imagine some not getting in with it. But at least you have tried - and thats the main thing

Simon

Mine sounded good from the off and improved over a couple of weeks.  Sounds fantastic into  my SN2 and I was gob smacked when I recently tried it with my new Meze 99 Classics.  I compared it over a couple of weeks to the Naim dac and there was no comparison for me, but I can understand if others prefer a different way to get their musical fix.

tonym posted:

I understand from my dealer that the Melco app's imminent. I recall there's something about streaming services available, not interested myself so can't answer any more definitively. 

The app should have come half a year earlier, but the delay has been dissapointing. I hope I will get it when I get my new Melco the 6tb one.

Last night I have tried a couple og hours with Melco usb out > Hugo usb in and the difference is great versus Melco > NDX > Hugo. (better without NDX)

I need more time to investigate and let you know.

Thank you all for suggestions, specially Tonym for usb suggestion.

BTW i am  using Plugplayer with my iphone for Melco.

Apologies for being off topic - I have tried nearly all well-known DACs/Streaming devices, but to my ears, nothing can beat a good old LP12/Ekos with a good cartridge/phono amp/Lingo XX.

I have done some days of trials.

I must admit that with Melco - NDX - Hugo the best combination is Melco usb Hugo without NDX.

The SQ i better in every aspect.

You might want to delay judgement until after the forthcoming  NDX firmware updates 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

You might want to delay judgement until after the forthcoming  NDX firmware updates 

Thank you very much for your tip!

Maybe you saved me from a hasty decision?

I hope the wait is of days, not months.