Chord Electronics Hugo 2 DAC Review & Comments

camelot1971

Bought one of these this week to replace an Arcam D33. All I can say is amazing (and the Arcam is no slouch). It won't ever leave the house

imightbewrong

Interested in maybe getting back into having a DAC again - had a Chord DAC 64 a few years ago which I thought sounded fantastic - I sold it for some reason when I switched from a music-oriented system to film-oriented.

Anyway - is there a short answer to "does the Hugo 2 sound better than the DAC 64?" and if so what is it?

Thanks

DroidSkin

Never heard a DAC 64, but I can tell you the Hugo2 sounds fantastic.

If you can, get to London CanJam later this month and have a listen. There are good  show discounts to be had too. I got 15% off of my Hugo2 last year.

Ed Selley

Yes- subjectively, there is less sense of processing and, thanks to the filters, the ability to tweak the upper registers to suit your preferences and equipment.

I would say though that if you just need a DAC rather than a DAC cum portable headphone amp/preamp, I uploaded a review of the Qutest today that might be worth waiting for.

imightbewrong

I'm not looking for portability - my DAC's purpose would be sitting between my Sonos and my Amp - exactly where my 64 used to be.

Ed Selley

I'd hang fire for the Qutest review and make a choice then.

imightbewrong

Will do - certainly in no great rush.

imightbewrong

Did this happen?

Ed Selley

It did. Effectively, the decoding in both is the same so if you don't need a volume control or headphone amp. Qutest is the one to go for.