Chord Hugo 2 Review vs Schiit Yggdrasil DAC comparison

[@SzymonMelewski]

I was waiting for this review now I can choose as based on your videos I made my decision. Keep up the good work!

[@TheAudiofool]

Thanks, appreciate it! Do let me know if there's something I can improve on.

[@peterroy6801]

You are my favorite reviewer!

[@matthewhilty4209]

I recently auditioned the QuTest and Yggdrassil. Your thoughts are extremely similar to mine. The bass was a little loose on the QuTest and cymbals and piano didn't quite sound right, but the soundstage was wider and the QuTest had a super quiet background. I ended up purchasing the Yggdrassil even though I liked the soundstage better on the Qutest. Piano and strings on the Yggdrassil just sounded better.

[@matthewhilty4209]

As an update to my previous post , I purchased the Hugo2 for my headphone rig. The bass that was a tiny bit looser on the brother of the Hugo2 the Qutest compared to the Yggdrasil-GS lends itself Very nicely to headphones. And to answer peoples question before they ask it , YES it has enough power to power T50 mods nicely like the Argon Mk3 (In fact its one of my favorite pairings :) ).

[@roverrich]

Good job, thank you for the review, I especially like your graphics.

[@pietossing]

is that a bathroom rug in your living room?

[@TheAudiofool]

It is actually lol. I'm on the fence on getting carpeting as I'm used to hearing the reflections on the floor (as most people are) so got these to test it out. Without this actually sounds more "natural" for me... ceiling absorbers have so much more of an impact for me.

[@klewja]

The chord dacs have some of the best transients and time alignment of any dac. The hugo tt2 is really incredible. I know that it is more expensive than yggy but it is also an incredible headphone amp too.

[@TheAudiofool]

I haven't tried the Hugo TT2 yet, but have heard lots of good things about it. Is it so much better than the Hugo 2?

[@OscarSanchez-cj9ly]

Yep, chord dacs has vey good transisents but not on par with schiit's. You note that in the bass notes, with chord dacs are looongeeer. As per time alignment, chord dacs still has some issues to recreate the recording venue in your room

[@klewja]

@@OscarSanchez-cj9ly Which chord dac have you heard? Imo the TT2 bests the Yggy in all areas. The Dave is even better still. If you add an mscaler then they are two of the best combos period. I previously had a Metrum Onyx which I preferred to the Yggy. I think that most of the differences here can come down to the difference between R2R (multibit) and the chord FPGA dacs. They are different flavors but the TT2 and Dave are incredible with timing and transients. The TT2 also has more body and a bigger sound stage than the Hugo2. It can also drive my Abyss AB-1266 PHI TC very well directly and sounds great with my Magico 2 channel set up

[@OscarSanchez-cj9ly]

Hi @@klewja , I've heard Chord QuteHD, Hugo, QBD, Hugo2 and Dave with similar taste of bass and dynamic range. Found Dave stereo image more lifelike than the others. Chord dacs I've heard sound to me closer to natural than all the dacs with chip dacs I've heard, however. Try to compare the Dave sound with a good analogue setup. I guess the filter used by Schiit dacs are doing the trick to get a more "analogue" or natural sound, instead of just being R2R architecture. Tested transients and bass with very fast speakers by atc, pmc and focal. Never tried with Magico, but I've read that those are also very fast. One of the magic things with schiit dacs is the way they recreate the venue, giving a precise sense of musicians playing in a room of a different size where you are

[@kevinweber5129]

I can’t stand micro-USB so I guess I will go with the schiit.

[@snowrang3r657]

Are you still happy with the Yggdrasil? Thinking of upgrading to one eventually for my speaker setup.

[@TheAudiofool]

Yep, haven't thought of upgrading at all. Sound signature just right for my liking.

[@yatharth7449]

Do you think the Chord Hugo 2 is the best DAC/Amp at the $2000 price point currently or do you think there are better options available?.

[@TheAudiofool]

if you dont need the portability, i'd go for the qutest. I do think it is one of the better choices, I'd personally go for a Schiit Yggdrasil GS but if you want a cleaner more transparent sound, then the Qutest may be better for you.

[@OscarSanchez-cj9ly]

In my experience, the Schitt Ygg has three major features with better performance than Hugo 2. Bass clarity, stereo image precision and transient speed. One thing you may note with Hugo 2 is that everything sounds "fuller" or more "detailed", but actually what happens is that transients are slower, dynamic range get compressed, and sounds location is less precise, all this give the impresion of a more upfront sound with more detail, but loosing the sense of real, direct sound; with acoustic music this is quite noticeable. With Hugo2 sound seems more detailed but less clear and less focused than real sound. With Ygg, sound is more lifelike

[@TheAudiofool]

Yes, yes, and yes! Ironically, the Hugo 2 had richer tones, and yet sounded empty for me. I did find that the Hugo 2 had better nuances with the Warm filter, were you able to try that out?

[@OscarSanchez-cj9ly]

@@TheAudiofool, I didn't try other filters with Hugo 2

[@rktrkt-tw8nd]

Bass being loose on chord dacs is the biggest loose comment i would say. Listen to some double bass music like in bassface swing trio then you would find the timing of transients in chord dacs make any music very fast and impactful, no over emphasis to anything.

[@sberamji]

Hello, What's your take on the yggdrasils warm up time? Have you tried the latest firmware and any change there?

[@TheAudiofool]

For the past reviews and sound demos, I've used the latest firmware so it's more like the Yggy GS. I have a video on the firmware upgrade which includes my thoughts kzbin.info/www/bejne/nICYmJumoMZqqcU but to summarize, though the sound does changes a bit, overall, I think you dont need to bother. I just had the Yggy upgraded to Analog 2 and I'll let you know what I think. As for the warm up time, Schiit recommends not turning it off at all, for me though, I think about 30 minutes on a hot day should be enough, but a bit longer on colder days. I've tried to compare it 3 weeks 24/7 vs 30 min from cold, and I'm not compelled to keep it always on.

[@morespinach9832]

Have you compared RME ADI Pro with the Mytek or the YGGDRASIL?

[@TheAudiofool]

Not yet; honestly, I'm a bit apprehensive of spending a lot on delta sigma DACs given that the newer SMSL/Topping offerings are cheaper and have better measurements. That said, I am curious about the RME Pro as I'm looking for a good all in one pre-amp and the Pro has analog input and Parametric EQ. Money is a bit tight now, but I do hope to check it out in the future.

[@morespinach9832]

@@TheAudiofool which SMSL would you recommend from Mac Mini to powered speakers?

[@TheAudiofool]

@@morespinach9832 I'm more partial to AKM chips so you can try out the SMSL SK10 v2 and upgrade to the M400 if you like the sound, but the GUstard X16 has also one of the highest SINAD while being much cheaper than the M400.

[@morespinach9832]

@@TheAudiofool m400 is a bit big. Gustard 16 is a very interesting recommendation! Thanks.

[@NiSHAN256]

have you tried the H2 as a DAC in a desktop mode? was the performance as good as running off a battery?

[@TheAudiofool]

I have tried it in desktop mode, and the sound seems similar to me. The person I borrowed the H2 from concurs and just keeps it in plugged all the time.

[@NiSHAN256]

@@TheAudiofool Thanks a lot!

[@stephencosta6814]

👍👍👌👌I have the chord Hugo version one I think it is a fantastic headphone amplifier the DAC is nice for stereo on a big home unit but I think there are better units if you love your personal headphones then it is the best I myself will sell it and by denafrips Ares DAC I know it's about half the price of the Hugo but I think it's a better unit for home use😎😎😎

[@TheAudiofool]

When I think of portable amps, first thing that comes to mind is Chord. If you don't need a DAP, can't think of any better choice really.

[@Weaselpro]

Not really get that comparison. Hugo 2 gives decent headphones amp in Class A. And compare them with YGG make no sence as wiht YGG you have to use separate amp. Which can give all this coloration for the sound. Pointless comparison in my opininon.

[@rajendrabiswas]

Chord Hugo 2 vs biforst

[@bobo-si3kw]

What is your opinion on the Yaggdrasil vs the Benchmark Dac3 HGC?

[@TheAudiofool]

I haven't heard the DAC3 yet unfortunately, but if you believe more in measurements then there's no contest with the Benchmark especially if you like the ESS Sabre 9028 sound.

[@jc51373]

Benchmark DAC is very dry compared to either of the DACs reviewed here.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

@@jc51373 I avoid Sabre based DACs like the plague.

[@VidyabhushanTiwari]

Which amp did you pair with the yggy?

[@TheAudiofool]

For this test, I used Schiit Aegirs in Mono using Dali Rubicon 2

[@cablebrain9691]

@@TheAudiofool I had heard a larger floor-standing Dali many years ago and thought they sounded a bit on the hot side, treblewise. I don't know if this is true in the case of your particular speakers. I was wondering if you thought that that might play into your view that the Chord had a little extra sparkle. Also, do you believe that there is family synergy between the Yggdrassil and the Aegirs?

[@TheAudiofool]

@@cablebrain9691 I think the Chord has a bit more emphasis in the sparkle region and it would come out in any speaker you use, unless you use the warm filter which is closer to the Yggy. As for the Yggy and Aegir, yes, totally enjoying this combination at the moment.

[@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

What are your thoughts on 'measurements guys' who claim that all DACs sound the same? I've had several disagreements with professionals in the field who insist that all properly designed DACs should sound the same. I say there are differences because in the end, the manufacturer 'tunes' them. That's why companies like Chord and Schiit have cheap and very expensive DACs! I'm reasonably certain a given manufacturer's DACs do not 'all sound the same'. Chord has DACs that range in price from $500-600, up to over 10k! If they all sound the same, then...??? I agree that in theory, they SHOULD all sound the same. But in practice, they don't.

[@TheAudiofool]

You are right, all DAC's in theory should sound the same because after all, there is only one sound that became digital when it was recorded. And as you said, they all have their "house sound", even those using the same delta sigma chips. I can correctly identify the DAC used in a blind test in the case of the Chord vs Schiit, as I was actually tested by my friend whom I borrowed the Hugo from. Likewise, my friend was able to do so as well. I do get why they would say all DACs sound the same; if they hear the common delta sigma chips all the time, it's easy to dismiss the rarer fpga or r2r dacs. That said, for me, the DAC has less of an impact than the speakers and amp, and I always advise to upgrade in this order: room treatment->speaker->amp->DAC->streamer

[@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

@@TheAudiofool The argument that I repeatedly hear is that I haven't properly tested my theory that they can sound different (sometimes quite noticeably, but other times not so noticeably). The fact of the matter is, I will be LISTENING to my stereo, I will not be MEASURING it. So, if I can perceive differences in DACs 100% of the time on certain material in real-world use, what does it even MATTER if, in theory, they all sound the same? If I can perceive it 100% of the time in real-world listening, then that means it IS impacting me in some way (ie. it's not imagined). It's for this reason that I returned the Topping E30 I purchased, and kept the competing SMSL Sanskrit 10 v2 that I bought to compare. The E30 is good in some ways, but not so good (for me) in other ways. I found it 'glassy'/ 'glossy'/ 'sharp-edged'. Even though its sound is very wide and 'open', the gloss made it sound hyper-realistic to me. And despite its wide soundstage, it did not sound very deep to me. That is, it didn't sound deep until I bought a linear, regulated power supply. The E30 then noticeably improved across the board. The bright edge of its sound was attenuated to a passable degree, and the sonic image became significantly more three-dimensional, whereupon you can get a good sense of the space surrounding the vocalist and musicians. This significantly improved 3D effect and increased 'layering' of sound made the E30 a possible keeper for me, but in the end, I decided to keep the Sanskrit anyway. (I also have a Modi Multibit, but that's a different thing, too). I WAS going to go more hardcore and get a Chord DAC, too, but for the moment, I've decided the Modi Multibit is more than adequate, and will focus whatever little funds I have toward something else... thinking about yet another pair of speakers... Not that my current six pairs aren't doing their job. lol

[@TheAudiofool]

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio Aiming for a standard, and all sounding the same are two different things. What measurement guys are saying is that your perceived sound, is always biased and is not an objective reference; while a measurement is consistent, repeatable, and is not affected by any bias. Just like what you said, everyone hears differently, and so they could also hear no difference because of their own biases, so ultimately, it really depends on the listener because he's the one who's going to enjoy the system and not anyone else. I couldn't care less if they said my system is too bassy or too rich, because that's the way I like it.... THe ESS/AKMs that rule the measurement charts are too boring for me. IF you want to shut them up, do a blind test and show them that you can distinguish the sounds between DACs. THat is an acceptable objective comparison for measurement guys.

[@rktrkt-tw8nd]

No offense. But i find your reviews biased towards schiit gear anyway. Chord DACs measure better and sound better too. Better to do blind test or record analog out of both dacs and send to other people for comments.

[@TheAudiofool]

None taken. Everyone has different ears and best to really hear and judge for themselves. I have sound demos of both Yggdrasil - kzbin.info/www/bejne/nanMknaag72Kas0 Hugo 2 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHm7aJqjm9Zkm80

[@rktrkt-tw8nd]

Even lot cheaper mojo beats yggdrasil leave alone Hugo 2. Yggdrasil is artificially detailed due to high level of distortion.

[@TheAudiofool]

I have a comparison between the Mojo and Modi Multibit and I prefer the cheaper Modi Multibit. Still, if you like the mojo better than the Yggdrasil then that's great! No need to spend tons of money.

[@philipw7058]

2000 dollars and no balance outs keep it