Chord Hugo as Preamp

audiocr381ve

Holy. Smokes. There it is. The sound I've been searching for. The Hugo straight to an amp is absolutely phenomenal. I really believe Chord has made a masterpiece that lacks in nothing. Every area in which I can possibly rate a piece of gear, the Hugo has scored a perfect 10/10. If you let this thing take preamp duty, you'll discover the special sauce. I don't want to add anything to this sound. Not even tubes. It's already insanely analog sounding.

Using the Chord Hugo as a preamp is a revelation. I'm getting to hear this thing in all of its glory and it is indeed glorious. The funny thing is that I'm using a tiny Parasound Zamp right now which only puts out 45 wpc at 8 ohms.

Wow!

audiocr381ve

DSkip wrote: »

It always sounded better in my rig with the pre removed. That was the only piece I could say that about.

The chord gets closer to any analog sound I've ever heard, but isn't a perfect fit for every system. The essence was a better fit In mine because of the synergy.

Yeah totally. The synergy thing is like balancing salt when preparing food. Too much and it's horrible. To little and it's bland.

Man I'm blown away! Now I want to spend the money on an amp to get the most out of it.

mrbiron

How are you feeding it?
USB? Opt? Bluetooth?...

The Hugo cracks me up. Its touted as a portable dac. Who in their right mind would tote a $2400 dac around with them

tonyb

mrbiron wrote: »

How are you feeding it?
USB? Opt? Bluetooth?...

The Hugo cracks me up. Its touted as a portable dac. Who in their right mind would tote a $2400 dac around with them

Your equating us with people in their "right mind" ? Big mistake...

Back to the Chord....would you say it's a more musical presentation than the W4S ? Good extension at both ends of the spectrum ?

vc69

The simplest signal path is often the best.

tonyb

vc69 wrote: »

The simplest signal path is often the best.

Wish I knew that as a young man, would have saved myself a fortune trying to impress the ladies.

heiney9

With a Z-amp? Really?

Live with it for a couple 3 weeks and see if you feel the same way.

Often something "new" always is really shiny and after the newness wears off, well it's not so shiny anymore.

But good on you for trying different combo's.

Too bad you aren't a toob roller, tubes can make or break a piece of gear. I've heard more positive and negative swings by simple toob rolling. If you have toob gear, you are doing it a disservice by never experiencing different toobs.

H9

heiney9

DSkip wrote: »

That's just how good the chord is Brock. If you've never heard anything priced above an oppo, you simply cannot understand what it's capable of. In 4-5 years when these can be had for three figures, they are going to be major bargains.

That isn't to put down those who haven't heard higher end dacs. It's just a revelation when you hear a superb one.

So now all we have to do is buy an high end dac and anything will sound superb? I don't buy it and I wasn't really saying the Chord was bad, but through a fairly low budget Z amp, and then to have this revelation of the best thing he's ever heard? I don't buy it, that's all I'm saying.

In 3 weeks with nothing else changed if he feels the same, then I certainly can't discount his experience.

H9

P.s. But can certainly relate to his enthusiasm and I know that feeling.

heiney9

Exactly, OK, not life changing, best that I've ever heard type stuff. That's all I'm reacting to. I'm glad he's exuberant and excited about it. But to me a little overblown at this early juncture in the audition.

Anyway, I'm making more of it than I should.

Rock on Shane and hit me up for some tube knowledge if and when you decide to roll something in the Rogue

H9

audiocr381ve

heiney9 wrote: »

Exactly, OK, not life changing, best that I've ever heard type stuff. That's all I'm reacting to. I'm glad he's exuberant and excited about it. But to me a little overblown at this early juncture in the audition.

Anyway, I'm making more of it than I should.

Rock on Shane and hit me up for some tube knowledge if and when you decide to roll something in the Rogue

H9

Haha not a problem man.

Here's how it's running:

Tidal > Squeezebox Touch > Optical to Wyred 4 Sound Remedy > Optical to Chord Hugo > Parasound Zamp

I agree that my excitement could have gotten a little out of hand, but it carries over to today. The Harbeth's don't need a ton of juice so the little Parasound hangs. I've never heard my system so deathly quiet. There is absolutely zero noise with my ear pressed right up against the tweeter guards.

The sound is fully fleshed out, tonally superb, has absolutely pinpoint imaging, extended as I've ever heard, and just flat out lose yourself in the song musical. I will not be messing with this arrangement until I get a proper amp in. The Rogue Perseus Magnum is on the sidelines right there with the Musical Fidelity M6i.

Wish I was exaggerating but I'm not hah. Super happy right now.

polkfarmboy

I have the chord 2650 integrated running the chord quite dsd dac hooked up with allMIT oracle ic's and speaker cables. It has great synergy and does have a very analog sound but seems a little shy at the lower end.

[Deleted User]

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Holy. Smokes. There it is. The sound I've been searching for. The Hugo straight to an amp is absolutely phenomenal. I really believe Chord has made a masterpiece that lacks in nothing. Every area in which I can possibly rate a piece of gear, the Hugo has scored a perfect 10/10. If you let this thing take preamp duty, you'll discover the special sauce. I don't want to add anything to this sound. Not even tubes. It's already insanely analog sounding.

Using the Chord Hugo as a preamp is a revelation. I'm getting to hear this thing in all of its glory and it is indeed glorious. The funny thing is that I'm using a tiny Parasound Zamp right now which only puts out 45 wpc at 8 ohms.

Wow!

Welcome to the world of logic gates. It was very tough for me when I compared the Hugo to many other chip DAC's. I could use all the positive adjectives to describe the Hugo in everything it does, except for the low end. For many people, they favor the low end oomph. I like accurate bass and the Hugo does exactly that. But then, I had a weekend with a Meitner and a Lamp DAC...

Anyhow, the Hugo is leagues above its pricing point. If you run digital, make sure you bypass the internal clocks and have the Hugo do everything. It is a very noticeable difference.

You like how you see Rob Watts in that window? Haha

Cheers,

Halen

polkfarmboy

You may be on the money halen with your statement regarding accuracy. Now the Chord hooked up into an all tubed rigg is my cup of tea with no complaints about bass.

polkfarmboy

I did a while back skip in my gaming room bu its no recording studio lol. I stuck some cheap light foam panels on the wall and some on the side and I noticed betterseperation but I think I need bass traps but have no room because of the large pj screen.