![hqplayer hugo2 hqplayer hugo2](https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/business6/uploads/headphones/optimized/2X/e/e4a044eb3d745684378008a1f3a7627a0b469d00_2_666x500.jpeg)
See I have a Crown professional rack mount power amp.
![hqplayer hugo2 hqplayer hugo2](https://darko.audio/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/hugo2_20.png)
I too have had the problem where I could hear my computer DOING THINGS. I don't foresee me changing for a very long time. When I get more DOSH I am looking forward to the POLY upgrade.
![hqplayer hugo2 hqplayer hugo2](https://darko.audio/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/chord-hugo2_8.png)
Like, if you turn the led brightness down you have to wait a long time to turn it back up. Also, it's slow to accept button commands excluding volume. I rather have a small, discreet number, or both. That said, I have a friend who finds the aesthetic absolutely top notch.įor a FPGA I do notice its slightly warmer then body temp but the solid metal construction really helps with dissipation to the point where it barely noticeable.Īs far as things I don't like, the buttons may feel nice but also using them as the display for input sample rate and output volume is less than optimal. IMESHO a bit much but hey, I'm not an aesthetics guy at all - Function > form, and the solid Glass(?) marbles used as buttons feel nice and Change colour with nice diffusion including options to change light brightness. On the other hand, it won't be breaking anytime soon. Physically it's a bit heavy since it's a solid milled aluminum clam shell. I do have MusicBee set to up sample the output signal to 32bit 192kHz (I'm using optical in this case, admittedly a bit of a shame to have a DAC that can do 768kHz and not use it.) where necessary. What else is there to say? Ultra high tap length, pure CLASS A amplification, enough power for demanding headphones, stellar reviews across the industry (I've seen one well regarded reviewer put the Hugo 2 second to ONLY the Benchmark DAC3).Ĭhord has really hit it out of the park with designing this FPGA based DAC.īut man does this DAC sound nice.
![hqplayer hugo2 hqplayer hugo2](https://roon-community-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/optimized/3X/1/5/1567704cbbcc8153157d98496a913667e782f282_2_358x500.png)
With the Chord, I can have it charging and even then, the Crown has NO NOISE, what-so-ever, even at max input gain / volume (many hundreds of watts of amplification).
Hqplayer hugo2 portable#
Even running a portable FiiO DAC over USB to the Crown, I would get a terrible amount of noise (even at normal volume) because the PC was providing dirty power over the USB rails to the DAC. I have to have it behind an ISO block for its own power, but it will also pick up any noise from dirty power in the DAC and pre-amp feeding it. The Crown is just so much more objective and sensitive, pure flat amplification. I didn't have that problem with a home audio receiver. That puppy will pick up and amplify ANY noise in the signal going to it. He even had his DAC off in that clip, just think how much worse it would have been if it was on! Zeos on youtube had a similar problem when he was testing a set of ultra sensitive Klipsch speakers, vs what he was used to, see here: ) Speaking of noise, for me anyways one thing I was trying to convey was that it has COMPLETELY removed all traces of dirty power in my setup(and yes, I DO understand this is a different kind of noise, but still) (Also, I'm talking about more than just the like of say, ground loop hum. Many posters have commented on how smooth and musical sounding Mojo is - and its in part down to the absence of measurable noise floor modulation. Some Class D amps are awful with noise floor at -120 dB (one reason why Class D often sounds so bad). All DAC's (apart from Chord DAC's) suffer from measurable noise floor modulation - typically the noise floor would be -160 dB with no signal, and -140 dB at 2.5v RMS. When it gets bad, you hear glare or grain in the treble. Noise floor modulation is extremely important subjectively - you perceive the slightest amount as a brightness or hardness to the sound. Now what is very interesting is the noise floor at -175dB - it does not change at all with 2.5v or nothing which indicates a complete absence of measurable noise floor modulation. This DAC chip's sample rate is half again higher then all others I've seen, 768kHz vs "only" 512kHz. (If you're not familiar with how sample rate works, please check out this short clip from Andrew Huang: ) In particular, look a that maximum sample rate. Some really damn impressive numbers there. Signal to noise ratio: 126dB ‘A’ Weighted Noise 2.6 uV ‘A’ weighted: No measurable noise floor modulation THD and noise at 3v RMS: 120dB at 1kHz 300ohms ‘A’ weighted (reference 5.3v) Pulse array: 10 element pulse array designįrequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz +/- 0.2dB Chipset: Chord Electronics custom coded Xilinx Artix 7 (XC7A15T) FPGA