Hugo woe

Maybe it's dead.

It's happened to a lot of them - the battery won't recharge. Mine went back to Chord for a free replacement - took two weeks.

Yep, the same happened to my Hugo twice... The non user-replaceable batteries need replacement. 

Same here... Died 8 months ago but I haven't sent it in yet...

nickpeacock posted:

Bah - to cap off a bad week, my Hugo is playing up. No sound, and the volume and two led's are just flashing intermittently.

Chord website says connect to mains and turn off for 10 hours min, which I have done. (Incidentally, although connected to mains, there's no light on at all...)

I fear it's dead. Any thoughts?

I suspect it is dead... as much as I enjoy my Hugo mine has failed twice now like this... in fact it is  being repaired now again free of charge.. but I have asked for a checkup to be performed as well as I wondered if some other issue had contributed to the same failure twice.

Thanks Simon - I wondered why (from another thread) you weren't currently using yours!

 Thanks all.

Reading all this must be quite annoying for you Hugo owners. I guess it has to do with the fact that the original proposition is a mobile proposition in which you use the battery in a different manner. But still shouldn't happen at that price level.

Hope for you all that Chord defines a more permanent solution than just repairing it free of charge....

Bert Schurink posted:

Hope for you all that Chord defines a more permanent solution than just repairing it free of charge....

They did; they produced the 2Qute and Hugo TT for static use in HiFi systems.

'Hugo is the bestest thing ever in the history of the world' to 'Hugo woe' in two years....

Well there was that Tellurium Q black bestest thing ever in the history of the world and then back to NACA5 five months later thread a while back, but in fairness speaker cables don't require a battery.

You're right, Joe, though the cable change coincided with a change of speakers, so it's not quite the same. At least a dead Hugo can be used as a statement necklace, whereas a 4m pair of TQB would look weird. 

I just thought one douchey response deserved a douchey follow up. Now we've two pairs of them.

cat345 posted:

Yep, the same happened to my Hugo twice... The non user-replaceable batteries need replacement. 

Anyone any idea what type of battery the Hugo uses? The "non-user replacement" label always triggers off a challenge with me. I've successfully replaced batteries in a couple of remotes. If Chord can replace them then it can't be too much of a job to do the same, can it? 

Hungryhalibut posted:

'Hugo is the bestest thing ever in the history of the world' to 'Hugo woe' in two years....

Bit beneath you, that one, HH.

Bert Schurink posted:

Reading all this must be quite annoying for you Hugo owners. I guess it has to do with the fact that the original proposition is a mobile proposition in which you use the battery in a different manner. But still shouldn't happen at that price level.

Hope for you all that Chord defines a more permanent solution than just repairing it free of charge....

Bert - I suspect it was less to do with being designed for mobile and static use - it was probably more a case of early design issues. I suspect the Hugo 2 won't suffer from such issues or even the later Hugo 1s. To be fair it was/is a radical new design that sounds way ahead of most things around it and that was achieved using new unestablished technologies - including its innovative power supply regulation and management which is so important - but it still is frustrating... I guess it must be costing Chord Electronics in managing this. Given the choice between a boring uninspiring steady eddy and the incredible sounding but slightly questionably reliable Hugo I would still go for the latter - especially as the after sales support so far has been first class and Naim-like.

nickpeacock posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

'Hugo is the bestest thing ever in the history of the world' to 'Hugo woe' in two years....

Bit beneath you, that one, HH.

It was just the thread title that gave me a wry smile. I'm sure you'll admit that the admiration of the Hugo has been rather overdone. Anyway, the good thing is that Chord are able and willing to fix them so readily. 

Must be an epidemic - mine is also at the Chord battery clinic for its 2nd visit. Hope to have it back next week, but can see now that there is a queue so maybe not. Still a great DAC and agree with Simon that the SQ out weighs the inconvenience. Simon is correct that Rob Watts has improved the battery performance for Hugo 2 - I posted the below in the Hugo 2 thread some time ago:

"It would appear that Rob Watts has taken on board the battery issues from Hugo 1 and users penchants for keeping the Hugo permanently plugged in for use in a main system in his design of the Hugo 2.  Detail on page 131 of the Head-Fi Hugo 2 thread .

In brief,  he has put in a desktop mode for when the charger is connected for more than 24 hours, which reduces the battery voltage for longer life. He claims that in this mode, the battery doesn't use up the charge/discharge cycles - so it should last practically indefinitely. 

Time will tell."

tonym posted:

cat345 posted:

Yep, the same happened to my Hugo twice... The non user-replaceable batteries need replacement. 

Anyone any idea what type of battery the Hugo uses? The "non-user replacement" label always triggers off a challenge with me. I've successfully replaced batteries in a couple of remotes. If Chord can replace them then it can't be too much of a job to do the same, can it? 

The batteries are Enix Energy  Ref. : MGL 2811 and are available in the UK. Of course, opening the Hugo case will void the warranty!

Given this issue will continue and at some point  Chord will stop replacing the battery for free plus the inconvenience  only a fool would buy a Hugo Mk1 S/H.

Same problem here Nick , I called Chord directly their number is easy to find , they sorted it quickly no questions asked and free of charge . The only 'Woe' I felt was being without it for a week !

Was that HH in overdone admiration critic ? Blimey ... Kettle Pot Black .. Cough 272  

Thanks Pete - sent them an email and will sort it out next week.

I only said 'woe' because it rhymes with 'Hugo'...!

Hungryhalibut posted:

'Hugo is the bestest thing ever in the history of the world' to 'Hugo woe' in two years....

That's a little bitter Nigel, as long as they keep replacing the batteries I can live iwith it because it sounds better than anything else I can afford.  Still the best piece of hifi I have ever bought bar none

tonym posted:

Anyone any idea what type of battery the Hugo uses? The "non-user replacement" label always triggers off a challenge with me. I've successfully replaced batteries in a couple of remotes. If Chord can replace them then it can't be too much of a job to do the same, can it? 

Not sure why you'd want to when Chord is continuing to do the replacement pro bono. Unless you absolutely cannot be without your Hugo. I'd have to assume that once you do it yourself Chord will no longer honor the warranty and it seems in their own best interest to use longer lasting batteries. Maybe Chord ought to offer a 'trade-in your dead Hugo and upgrade' option.

Disappointing when it happens but can't moan at the free of charge repair despite it being out of warranty. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

'Hugo is the bestest thing ever in the history of the world' to 'Hugo woe' in two years....

It is still the best headphone DAC I've heard. It just isn't perfect.