NDX and Chord Hugo

Hi Fox

no I donot prefer it without, i hope I didn't say that.

i use one on the Naim DAC, as I do my streaming differently, but and additional PSU is a significant step up, not in intensity (I gather that's what you mean by 'on steroids'), but in details, noise floor, instrument seperation, so yes, presentation of the music.

and that's not caused just by having a bigger torroid, but also by having that torroid external to the other electronics.

So just putting in a bigger torroid inside the case (wouldn't fit though) one would not get the improvements from having it external to the other electronics.

that's why imo all the top level gear(300, and 500 series)  have their PSU external to begin with.

cheers

aleg

Hi Evil

Had mine running for a couple of days. Not had much time to listen, that will change from today, but managed to get a couple of hours in last night.

I think Jan-Erik mentioned this, that he noticed that at low volumes it is uninvolving. I'm still not sure if this is actually the case but i did notice that to get the best from it you need to really invest time to listen.

By this i mean, i had Hugo on but was doing something on the laptop while my amp warmed up and to be honest it was really disapointing, it was'nt involving me at all. I then sat down to listen.

I had on Eva Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley, well i was there, i was transported to a smoke filled bar listening to her. I have never experienced anything like it in my life with any system i have ever owned. the emotional connection, Just incredible, almost trance like.

Jazz at the pawn shop, the same thing.

Cant compare to your CD5 as not owned one, Try it with the volume at a reasonable level, i dont have mine loud at all, and sit and listen and just listen, then see what you think.

Definitely think there is something to lack of body at low volume, will see today.

Hopefully you have it on loan, so if it doesn't do it for you nothing lost. Happy listening.

Graeme

Aleg

Your desciption is far better than mine, but its precisely what i feel the XPS brings to the NDX.

Maybe you are right at that level of amp, but i do wonder at the NDX level. But it is impossible to know. And as you say it would not fit anyway.

Graeme

This past weekend's listening sessions with the Hugo in the resistantly olive system have been most instructive. First, a thank you to those who have mentioned the importance of running in. My experience with the Hugo is shaping up to be a lot like that of the Supernait2, but on a shorter time scale. Source was again the UnitiServe, but connected to the Hugo's S/PDIF input with the Naim DC1 (after carefully squeezing the outer plates of the DC1's RCA plug to more solidly grasp the Hugo's undersized RCA digital in.)  

The thinness has largely gone, and low-level listening is now quite satisfying, even when running the Hugo at 30 % battery charge (charging light on red). So it does not seem to have been an issue with battery power. I concur with your (Graeme's and Wat's) observations on the write-up on the Aum Acoustics web site. It reads like a late-night info-mercial (in a deep announcer's voice : But Wait, There's More !). What had attracted me to the site were the interviews with Hugo's designer Rob Watts. I don't quite understand Mr Becker's scheme to route external power into the Hugo, but to my ears, there is no need. As an aside, there is a monster Hugo thread on the Head-Fi site with some very interesting contributions by Mr Watts. Worth a look, if only to appreciate the ad-free environment we have here.

But back to the Hugo. All my earlier reservations have pretty much evaporated. Leonard Cohen now sounds his age, and I was struck to hear him fumble at about 3 min 30 seconds into "Amen" (from Old Ideas) but he recovers quickly. I'd never noticed that... a detail, but a useful indication of the Hugo's clarity. I've thrown everything at it, including Infected Mushroom's Vicious Delicious, a saturated barrage of high-octane electronic music, and the Hugo makes sense of it all, never becoming overwhelmed ; quite a feat, and one that the Naim DAC can't quite match. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Franz Xaver Richter's String Quartets nos 1-3 held me in utter rapture. I could go on, but you get the idea. The Hugo is simply addictive and shows you whatever is on the recording with uncanny clarity. As a bonus, my speakers are now doing things I've never heard from them before, and it's across the board, from deep bass up to high treble.

So, if you haven't experienced the Hugo yet, I would encourage you to do so ; just make sure it's run-in. 

Jan

Edit : I've also been testing it from a new MacBookPro, running Audirvana in hog mode (as Wat has described), and using the stock USB cable provided with the Hugo. It's a very, very good source. Is it as good as the UnitiServe ? No.   

Nice write up Jan. I'd heard the Hugo was good. Just one question. Why is the UnitiServe so much better than using the MacBookPro? Forgive my ignorance but I'm finally contemplating a streaming solution, maybe with a Hugo or possibly a PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. 

Steve

Hi Jan

This is quite ironic really as i have been agreeing with some of your previous observations. While i had not noticed these issues on the demo. I have noticed an inconsistency, one album being unbelievably involving the next totally disconnected.

Have to say at no point have i noticed the thinness though.

I think ill take the previous advice that was given and leave it running for a few weeks. As you say never underestimate the importance of burn in.

I will say again, the good moments have been an absolute revelation. It may sound ridiculous but already it has taken me to places musically that Ive never been.

Will have a read through your other link too

Graeme

Thank you Steve. The difference between the UnitiServe and the MacBookPro running Audirvana is not huge. It's early days for me with the Mac - and the stock USB cable might also have something to do with it - but my first impressions were of a difference in timing. On Leonard Cohen's "Amen", the rhythm is so slow that the track can almost grind to a halt on some systems, and it almost does on the MacBook, as if the musicians are falling asleep. On the UnitiServe, it doesn't ; you get the sense of the musicians enjoying the slowness of the track. I think that is probably truer to Cohen's intent.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

Will it also extract the SACD layer from a CD / SACD ?

Jan

Was this the section you was thinking off.

1. PCM Pro: excellent resolution of small signals, very small signals do not disappear into the dithered noise floor.

    Cons: Timing. Ear/brain can resolve 4uS, CD innately is at 22uS.

2. DSD Pro: Samples at 0.34 uS, albeit at not very good resolution, so has much better timing innately

    Cons: resolution. Noise shaper noise is not the same as dithered noise, any signal below noise shaper noise floor is lost.

Yes! Thanks for locating it.

Jan

Still having unsure feelings over Hugo added to cd5xs in my system.

I am liking going through CDs and thinking I really get further into recording and vocals have much more texture and nuances coming out. wow moments and really sorted timing, which gets foot going.

However, bare cd5xs gets me more connected somehow, not only feet going but head, arms etc. It is a little easier to listen as well. Could it be the base CD5XS has better rhythm and more colour that I am addicted to? I can listen to all recordings very well. With Hugo added it is a little more on my ears (very sensitive they are) not that it is unpleasent in any way.

One other factor is cabling, borrowed DC1 coax and Chord Crimson Vee3 (am familiar with original).

Jan,

How does the Naim Dac compare to Hugo please? I just missed out on one at dealer for a demo with the Hugo and would be interested in what that would bring.

Is more revealing always more ruthless on poorer recordings?

Not quite decided if going back or not. I do have the QUTE on loan but on bnc to bnc to try out :-(

Interesting stuff

cheers

Ben

So take a 192 kHz PCM and you're at about 5 uS and at about the max the ear/brain can resolve.

it's not very impressive to compare DSD (supposedly high resolution) to a RBCD resolution PCM and leaving out the high resolution PCM.

the biggest problem of DSD is the large amount of noise it has and  that needs to be filtered out with low pass filters thereby falling back with frequency bandwidth to about the level of CD resolution. It requires at least 5.2 MHz the get above CD-level.

So I'm not very impressed yet by these statements.

It would be obvious that a super/reference dac would only Work with an external psu, like other top range products from Naim. However if the current way of doing Things in the dac, builtin psu for the digital side, and a possibility for external psu for the analogue side, I am sure Naim will make it that way.

Claus

Hi Jan,

Thanks for taking time to reply. I have had 4 shortish evenings with the Hugo now and have a better feel for the sound.

You are right I agree the light footed presentation does not shine as much at quieter levels. Sadly this is a big issue for me with a 7month and 4 year old in the house. Turn up a bit and things get better, although it doesn't have as full sound or for me personally, as colourful and don't get drawn into the music the same way. Just my personal preference really. How the Hugo sounds as good as it does and in such a small box and price point is astounding!

I have really enjoyed the experience but will look elsewhere be it saving for Naim DAC (if this floats my boat) or maximising with Powerline/hiline perhaps.

Enjoy 

I've been following this thread for a while, but I didn't want to write anything until I received Hugo, actually I traded my V1 for it. I can't comment on NDX or nDAC vs Hugo, simply because I have never heard those, but I can certainly comment on V1 vs Hugo. Chord raised the bar quite high with this little magic box, so there is a pretty wide gap between Hugo and V1, beside that they are very close money wise. How they've done it, I have no idea, but it does sound way beyond the look of it (so smallish and compact).

I read some comments related to low volume listening. I can think of it only if you using Hugo as Dac+Pre, otherwise you can only blame the rest of your system. I do not experience that kind of issue at all, but Hugo is used with fixed line output to a preamp.

 FWIW better SQ or not I don't see the Hugo replacing my DAC-V1. Chord describe the Hugo as a “mobile DAC/headphone amp” which is what I have always considered it to be. I just don't see it sat on the shelf next my NAP200. Also, the DAC-V1 has more inputs, for my needs, which Naim managed to configure correctly when the product was launched! Each to their own I suppose.

Dave

Dave, maybe its on the shelf below

Seriously though, if it doesn't meet your needs then there is no point considering it. I have to say I'm not sure i would like to lug this around with an ipod plugged into it. While not heavy its heavy enough, and bulky.

As a fixed DAC it seems like its natural place.

Graeme

Foxman

Maybe a FiiO E12 headphone amp is good enough for your iPod. I have one on it's way to me. Hope it does the job.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I know what you mean, but we're all different. I don't care what Hugo is made for and how it looks like, but I do care how it sounds. I'll say it again, it is quite an upgrade compared to V1. Friend of mine owes CDS2/XPS, so we are going to compare Hugo to it, after a couple of weeks to let it break in. I will definitely report the results. I like the look of Naim stuff a lot, but if it doesn't sound right, I would never buy it, just because it looks nice.

Cheers,

Cvrle

Click for the Hi-Fi+ review of the Chord Hugo.