Why is a Chord Hugo better than a Naim DAC

I've been waiting six weeks for the 2Qute to arrive, the delay being put down to a shortage of black aluminium casings. When it does eventually arrive it will be interesting to hear for myself the difference, if any , between it and the Hugo. The 2Qute could sound better utilising a standard USB cable with a USB hub with galvanic isolation and unencumbered with a headphone amp and battery supply, but I have a sneaking suspicion the battery could be the Hugo's hidden asset. We'll see. 

You can try the MCRU Linear PS for 2Qute on a return basis Steve...I'm keeping mine.

Why is your 2Qute taking such an age? Mine, also black, arrived in 24h.

G

It's odd Graeme but I'm buying through my dealer who didn't have a black one in stock and when he asked Chord they said the black cases should be in next week. I'm in no rush as I still have the Hugo. I'm also still waiting on the Super Lumina RCA - Din IC which was ordered at the same time. 

Steve

For use with the Hugo/2Qute? 

Yes Chris. My dealer will need the (his) Hiline when he has my Hugo.

for me Hugo is brilliant with my iPad and any variety of cans that happen to be to hand but NDAC sits happily in main rig, with CDX2, Apple TV, MacBook Pro, DVD and some other digital sources. 

Better is so subjective, I'm just happy to hear so much music so well. At some point, the rest is just arsing about for the sake of it. 

I well remember our CDX2/DAC/XPS2. Huge fun and a lot of performance for the money. 

I found the CDX2 almost unlistenable. It was the worst investment I made in my system. I'm delighted to say it ended up in China a couple of years ago. Although the resolution wasn't as good my old CDI was more enjoyable. 

I'm with you on the CDX2. That paint-stripping sound, and a CD5X that wouldn't recognise many of my discs made me look elsewhere for a source. Fortunately, I caught these issues at audtion.

Interesting that this is the one CDP that seems to divide the hifi world - a real marmite player, love or hate & nothing inbetween.

It has a dead flat frequency response but did something to the top end that made it unkind to speakers & room set ups that were on the bright side. I ran mine on a pair of small AE something speakers one afternoon, & boy did that treble stand out,  it was OK on FM radio (15kHz pilot tone limit). 

I liked my CDX2,  but liked it even more once it had an XPS.

(apologies for thread hijack) 

As was the CD5 and as was frequently the CDS3. There will always be fans and not. Ears first.

The Chord Hugo is an excellent DAC.

The Naim DAC V1 is also a good DAC, but the Chord is able to get more details, and therefore more music off each file.

The Naim DAC V1 does the things that Naim is known for, PRAT. It is always exciting and involving to listen to, so I use it for Video as a source for tv shows and movies because like all naim sources It has an excellent bass control and output.

I use the Hugo with my 202/200

Maybe it doesn't render the how of the musician or instrument as well as the DAC V1, but there is more music extracted, and it is very enjoyable, and musical. The Hugo also has much better timbral accuracy than DAC V1 and even the mighty Linn KDS/1. Timbral accuracy means the music just sounds more like the real thing.

In a way the Hugo is quite bad for health, because it has me up late enjoying music and not getting enough sleep.

I do not know what "most people" and "THAT much better" mean but what is your problem ? Hugo, second hand Naim DAC, Mirus DAC and a number of other DACs are all valuable devices. Some have been around for quite a while, others are quite new. Better dacs will certainly (hopefully) come. So, what's the problem? Are you looking for a new DAC?

????, its a glorious evening here.

ROFL

I think the question to ask is : what is the difference between the Chord Hugo and every other DAC in the market.

Why did Rob Watts go down this route of using 32 DSP cores and the pulse array DAC? Why are 26000 taps important? 

all I can say is that he has cutting edge thinking and for the first time ever, digital playback sounds very natural to me, just like real music does. I am not some unsophisticated listener, I have heard them all, CD555, NDS/555 KDS/1 KDSM/1 (KDS/2). My standard has always been live music.

I am finally ready to put my turntable away and give it to my daughter. Don't need it anymore.

In my humble opinion I don't think the HUGO or the new table top version is that good, well I certainly prefer my Naim Dac. I find the HUGO very clinical and cold. but each to their own

Tim

No disrespect, Tim, you need to give the Hugo time, it might seem clinical, but the brain needs time to adjust to a much less distorted and cleaner presentation. The Hugo isn't as "shouty" (compressed) as other DACs are. But then Live music isn't "shouty" (compressed) or distorted either. Live music is very natural.

Once you adjust, the Hugo seems me more musical and foot tapping.

Naim have known about Chord's work with the innovative PFGA and pulse array DAC for many years now.

The threat should have been seen coming with the DAC 64, then the QBD76, now the Hugo and DAVE.

Maybe Naim feel that using the BB PCM 1704 and their expertise in analog output stage is enough.

But not to my humble ears.

I think in my humble view that Naim's core expertise lies in amplifiers. Maybe many years ago with the CDS they had one of the top digital sources, but now the situation is different.

There are many speakers manufacturers out there making excellent speakers, and also Chord to me is one of the excellent DAC companies at the moment. I have not heard them all, but competition is fierce at the moment.

After owning the Hugo and DAC v1 at the same time, if I had to go back in time, I would not buy the DAC V1. The Hugo however, is something I do not regret buying at all.

Do any of you guys use the Hugo with a ND5/NDS/NDS ? And was it a big step forward for you? 

Reading with interest thanks......

I assume you meant NDX in the list.. Yes I use the Hugo on the digital out of my NDX. For me it made my mostly Naim system significantly more enjoyable.. I have posted quite a lot about this on the forum, please feel free to search.

Simon