Why is a Chord Hugo better than a Naim DAC

No real conclusion, I was happy to return to the S3 and haven't given it much thought since. It would have suited my smaller office system more in terms of its size and direct connection to the UnitiQute and 'amp' for SL2. This was the system where i previously tried it, but this time round did not have time. I would say that it was more enjoyable this time round than before, but difficult to make a definitive conclusion due to being used in a different system/room. As a Dac, i am not convinced i prefer it to the bare NDac i tried, but may return to the Hugo for another try in the SL2 system as there are too many variables in this one, and i think there's more to come. 

In 78' fire took all my LP's and HI-FI. Spent years replacing then CD came along. Slowed down during the kids years and have spent major $ on HI-FI the last four years.... all Naim except for the speakers. Recently I pulled out my 19 year old Nait 3r and was blown away how good it sounded. Sure not as slick as the 282/250 but all the emotion one could ask for and drives like hell. For fun I'm going to feed it with MacBook Pro/Audirvana/2Qute when I get time. I have discovered that the veiling I was hearing was the NDAC and not the 282/250.2.

In my case (NDX 4.3/2Qute plus have US) NDX/US anything to the 2Q vs. the bare NDAC is in texture, layering and believability, red book or hi res (PCM or DSD). Best way I can describe it is listening to Led Zeppelin I (original CD release or latest 96/24 release) Communication Breakdown. Jimmy's lead on the NDAC you hear a guitar and a good one... on the 2Q it's easy to tell he is playing a modified Telecaster. This is how I hear it, but we all hear differently so experiment and pick your poison.

Both are good DAC's just different signature. The 2Q also provides simple Mac/PC adaptation via USB. 

M

Long break-in period for the 2Qute. There was quite a bit of treble harshness that is all gone now. Quite an amazing DAC for the price. 2Qute + NDX is a nice setup.

Hi, when you say long period,  how long are you talking about? A week or longer? 

Thanks

Really depends on how much you have it on .... Had mine playing just about 24/7 for the first two weeks and after that it's real character started to come through.

Soundstage has a more 3D sound to it, far more separation of voices and instruments.

Music has become even more textural (sorry is that even a word) over time, what I'm trying to convey is on both voices ( Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems) have now more detail in them, you here more rasp and gravel in his voice easy to hear that he doesn't sing with a mic guard on and any nuances of how words are sang (spoken in LC case) are easier to make out.

Bass control and texture is something that surprised me' as above now there's a far better reproduction of bass not only did it firm up a slightly wooly and bloated bass to now give far more slam and attack of lower notes (Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight OST) but also let me hear on drums more stick hitting skin of the drum etc.

Overall a great sound is evolving.

Which input are you using on 2Qute?  On reflection I found the 2Qute SPDIF a bit crisper and flatter (more digital?) than the same input on a Hugo.  The reverse is apparently true of USB input on the Hugo which is not as convincing as the isolated USB on 2Qute.

On extended listening, and as I don't use USB, I prefer Hugo over 2Qute.

G

I'd say mine needed a good week of being on 24/7 before it started to really stretch it's legs.

I would run it 24/7 to break it in. That's what I would do, as my mine took much longer (3-4 weeks) as I was turning it off in between listening sessions.

It's opened up dramatically and is a lovely dac. I'm using the BNC digital input.

Well here's the latest. I had a good listening session yesterday comparing with 2qute with my audiolab. It wasn't an exact comparison as i was playing CD'S on the Audiolab but using the USB on the qute. The main thing is really at this stage the results are mixed.  Overall the dac sounds more natural but doesn't have quite the same level of detail. At least on some tracks e.g. Paul Simon Grace land,  the Audiolab has the better definition on bass which is easier to follow. But it also sounds brighter. My purpose of the exercise was to take away some of the forward nature of my system and it has certainly done that.  However, I was hoping the difference would be night and day and it isn't.  

I've spent more time tonight with similar results.  I feel like I'd like to give the dac some more time to bed in but unfortunately I am out of the country from Thursday so I need to make a decision by Wednesday as I can still return it if I want to at this stage.  If I do that I'll need to think how I can get the improvement I seek as I am really unsure of where to go next.  I want a more natural and less forward sound than I have currently.  Do I accept a grand only gets me a subtle improvement and keep the qute? Or look for other,  possibly more costly,  alternatives. 

Cheers

SPDIF Hugo if you have this option.

G

It could be but i thought reviews suggested the 2 qute was the equal particularly on USB connection. I might see if that's an option in store for a demo but I suspect the differences between coaxle and USB will be marginal? 

I think at this level you have to compare within your own system Douglass.  If you can demo a Hugo then I'd say it is worth a try.

G

Also with the Hugo, to get optimum bass slam and definition you appear to need to ensure the Naim NAC is properly grounded on the input

Yea that's t rue enough. I'll have a chat about that possibility when I pop in Wednesday. I think maybe I'm struggling with the fact at this end of the market small gains are not cheap. Perhaps the change the 2 qute brings is as good as it gets for a grand. In some ways I'm interested to know what £2k brings to the party but looking at this thread I don't think it automatically means better. The NAIM steamer and DAC don't seem to come out on top against the cord products. 

Cheers

I had the Hugo TT at home for a couple of weeks and Naim is clearly the winner when it comes to the user manuals.

The one from Chord fails to mention that leaving the unit powered drains the battery after a day or so. As you can probably guess, this is just what I did. Imagine my delight when the TT seemed to be nearly dead, some LEDs were still glowing, just a day after my dealer handed me the loaner. It took me two days to get that sorted out.

After I began turning the DAC off after listening, I found out that the variable output always returns to the same (high) level. So each listening session started with me lowering the volume. This is obviously doable, but still somewhat annoying.

And yes, the thing sounds really well, even not completely broken in.

With my Hugo I used to power it up and turn off regularly, to 'exercise' the battery in keeping with normal good practice, but similarly I inevitably got it wrong from time to time, ending up with a flat battery and having to turn Hugo on again, with the annoyance of having to select the input and volume setting.. I can live with it, though shouldn't have to, and the result is that I now generally simply leave it powered up - which I guess will have a negative effect on battery life and an earlier battery replacement  needed than should be the case.  

i had had imagined the TT might be immune, but clearly not - oh well, on both machines I suppose it's a small price for the delight that is Hugo.  Now Dave might prove different, but the cost difference somewhat rules it out.

Hi Wat, I fail to see how a PS can't be as important as the aspects you merntion. Both Naim and Chord pay close attention to internal decoupled power supplies each independently powering different parts of the DAC system.

Simon

The 2qute sounds much better left powered on all of the time, so if Hugo owners can leave theirs on 24/7 that would be the way to go.

Finally have a proper digital cable with BNC connectors (Ziro audio) for the 2Qute and NDX.

The uptick in performance was much more than I expected ditching the RCA to BNC adapters.

With a properly BNC terminated digital cable, I don't find a bare NDX to be close at all to a 2Qute/NDX setup. In fact, now that the 2Qute/NDX setup is dialed in, there's no going back.

Can the Hugo be left on all of the time? The 2Qute sounds much better left on 24/7.

I spoke to Chord when I got my Hugo and they advised that it was fine to leave it on all the time but just allow the battery to run down every now and again so that it goes through a recharge cycle.  I leave mine on all the time with no issues and it sounds fantastic

I was stunned by the jump in performance with a properly terminated BNC digital cable. The designer of my cable told me BNC to BNC is the way to go with SPDIF, as it stops any bouncing or jitter of the signal. In any case, the 2Qute/NDX combo sounds fabulous via BNC 75ohm.

My comparisons are based upon the latest Naim firmware.

Hmm - yes but RCA on a 75ohm cable although not ideal is adequate. The reflections will come from both the socket and plug connection (not just the plug).. However there will need to be a significant impedance mismatch to significantly raise the SWR (Standing wave ratio) such as to cause a corruption of the transport clock. However these days sample jitter is not typically directly derived from the transport clock and so is unlikely to cause sample jitter issues. However having significant SWR can increase the amplitude of  SPDIF transport carrier and cause increased RFI - as well as produce intermodulation RFI from constructive and destructive frequency modulation.