[Frank I]

Been having some fun with recording. I thought I knew well and frankly the Hugo is like making me hear these recordings as if it were my first time. The AK240 and Audeze XC is also working well with this system. 

 

[Crashem]

Good news.  Finally had a chance to play operation with my Audioquest Cinnamon USB to Micro cable.  If you didn't know, it basically would not fit in the recessed micro usb slot.  I also had a audioquest USB B to Micro adapter, but it had the same problem.  I basically had to shave off parts of the housing on the adapter around the Micro USB side to get it to fit more consistently.  Well the Audioquest Cinnamon was way easier.  There is actually a cinnamon colored sleeve just under the micro usb connector.  Turns out you can just remove this sleeve as opposed to shaving.  If you can cut just the sleeve, it can be removed in one piece.  Once this sleeve is removed, the USB cable fits fine into the Hugo slot.
 
As FYI, the AQ Cinnamon is AQ's best USB to Micro cable.  It is also the only major audiophile level cable manufacturer with this cable.  So at least this is a decent solution.
 
Good Luck!

 

[estreeter]

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/gordon-rankin-says-im-wrong-about-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-cable-sound-20814/

Anyone read this article ??
Al

 
Sadly, I read part of it - the usual CA brawl over who's the smartest guy in the room. Pass. 

 

[estreeter]

  Coaxial connection being better than USB seems to be an often made point.What is the general consensus on this?

 
The general consensus is that there is no general consensus - use what sounds best to you. 
 
- several here claim they enjoy coax best
 
- Rob Watts, the designer, has given objective and subjective reasons why he prefers the optical --toslink-- connection (auto-correct, you little swine ..) and they all seem perfectly logical to me. He also gives some reasons why the usual issues around jitter with a --toslink-- cable aren't a big deal with Hugo
 
- for all of the above, I'm sticking with USB and others are also enjoying various custom USB cable solutions
 
Note that with coax you will have to ensure that your player is set to convert any SACD/DSD source files to PCM. 

 

[kkcc]

The general consensus is that there is no general consensus - use what sounds best to you. 

- several here claim they enjoy coax best

- Rob Watts, the designer, has given objective and subjective reasons why he prefers the optical --toslink-- connection (auto-correct, you little swine ..) and they all seem perfectly logical to me. He also gives some reasons why the usual issues around jitter with a --toslink-- cable aren't a big deal with Hugo

- for all of the above, I'm sticking with USB and others are also enjoying various custom USB cable solutions

Note that with coax you will have to ensure that your player is set to convert any SACD/DSD source files to PCM. 

Great summary and well said! These are just splitting hairs imo as the difference, if any, is so small I don't think my ears are good enough to pick them apart. YMMV

 

[estreeter]

I know which LEDs display for a given source option - coax, optical etc - but can someone please point me to the page where it tells us what colour will be displayed for a given sample-rate/bit-depth ?  Currently messing around with the dynamic DSD conversion available in JRMC19 and the bottom indicator is a pale blue regardless of the source file - I assume this is DSD64 ? 
 
I'm currently downloading one of the sample tracks from DSD-Guide.com but even a 5-minute track is absolutely gi-normous. I would still like to hear what all the fuss is about and whether there is any value whatsoever in up-sampling the 96/24 HDTracks albums I own, much less the iTunes downloads

 

[kkcc]

I know which LEDs display for a given source option - coax, optical etc - but can someone please point me to the page where it tells us what colour will be displayed for a given sample-rate/bit-depth ?  Currently messing around with the dynamic DSD conversion available in JRMC19 and the bottom indicator is a pale blue regardless of the source file - I assume this is DSD64 ? 

I'm currently downloading one of the sample tracks from DSD-Guide.com but even a 5-minute track is absolutely gi-normous. I would still like to hear what all the fuss is about and whether there is any value whatsoever in up-sampling the 96/24 HDTracks albums I own, much less the iTunes downloads

Not sure if but depth is shown, but for sampling rate you can refer to the below (too lazy to type):

An easy way to remember is to think rainbow - red to violet, lowest 44.1 to highest 384, and native dsd is white.

Same for volume, red is lowest to violet/white is loudest/line level volume

 

[estreeter]

Thanks kkcc - I now realise the 'pale blue' I'm seeing is the white DSD indicator tinged by the blue/green from the centre window.

 

[rgs9200m]

  Good news.  Finally had a chance to play operation with my Audioquest Cinnamon USB to Micro cable.  If you didn't know, it basically would not fit in the recessed micro usb slot.  I also had a audioquest USB B to Micro adapter, but it had the same problem.  I basically had to shave off parts of the housing on the adapter around the Micro USB side to get it to fit more consistently. 

Hi there. I actually have no trouble at all with the audioquest usb-b to micro-B adapter as is, so this is mysterious. Mine fits fine with room to spare.
I was going to experiment with optical, but the sound is great from usb, so I'm leaving things alone (AQ diamond).

 

[SearchOfSub]

Hi estreeter. Even with my cheapo 5.00 speakers and running straight in computer with cheapo all in one pc soundcard, PCM to DSD does work with Jriver and you can clearly hear that the sound is more relaxed with less harshness and edge. Instruments have more space individually and reverb and decays are a lot better. Pre ringing and post ringing is nearly completely gone when converted.
Everything just sounds more pure and realistic without clogging.
Overall presentation is more balanced and stays composed throughout the full spectrum.

Even further, switch option to Wasapi is you are using PC. With Wasapi chosen I actually listened to a classic piece for full 4 minutes with enjoyment.

I wonder how DS is like and kinda get what AL is talking about in his comparison after trying Jriver and its PCM to DSD conversion today.

 

[estreeter]

  Hi there. I actually have no trouble at all with the audioquest usb-b to micro-B adapter as is, so this is mysterious. Mine fits fine with room to spare.
I was going to experiment with optical, but the sound is great from usb, so I'm leaving things alone (AQ diamond).

 
There are at least two case designs that we know of - the later version has larger cutouts allowing for bigger connectors. 

 

[Crashem]

Hi there. I actually have no trouble at all with the audioquest usb-b to micro-B adapter as is, so this is mysterious. Mine fits fine with room to spare.
I was going to experiment with optical, but the sound is great from usb, so I'm leaving things alone (AQ diamond).

*jealous*

 

[Sound Eq]

  yes i know but go dap x has optical output, but if go
 
ipod---go dap x---optical cable--- chord hugo will i be limited with only getting 16bit/ 48khz as that whats go dap x supports
 
i like that i can add bass punch boost from go dap x to hugo, but i think i will be limited in my setup to get only 16bit/46 am i right

any help on above

 

[estreeter]

Hi estreeter. Even with my cheapo 5.00 speakers and running straight in computer with cheapo all in one pc soundcard, PCM to DSD does work with Jriver and you can clearly hear that the sound is more relaxed with less harshness and edge. Instruments have more space individually and reverb and decays are a lot better. Pre ringing and post ringing is nearly completely gone when converted.
Everything just sounds more pure and realistic without clogging.
Overall presentation is more balanced and stays composed throughout the full spectrum.

Even further, switch option to Wasapi is you are using PC. With Wasapi chosen I actually listened to a classic piece for full 4 minutes with enjoyment.

I wonder how DS is like and kinda get what AL is talking about in his comparison after trying Jriver and its PCM to DSD conversion today.

 
I guess I need to spend more time with this combo, but my initial few minutes with a DSD sample from dsd-guide.com leave me wondering what all the fuss is about. One of the issues for me is that none of it is music I'm familiar with so I have absolutely no way of comparing it with the Redbook version. Even Adele's 'Someone Like You', taken from an album with some 'interesting' production decisions, sounds more present and intimate than it does normally (Hugo straight into LCD-X) but its not earth-shatteringly good. 
 
If its any consolation, I feel much the same way about the SACDs I own. Short of getting everything remastered to 24/96, I'm just happy with a device that does such a good job with CD-quality and 256K AAC downloads. The thought of downloading ~250MB each time I want to hear 5 minutes of music leaves me cold - clearly, others here will disagree vehemently on that score. 
 
For the record, these are the only SACDs I currently own:
 
Soulution - Spectacular Reference Disc
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (30th Anniversary Edition)
Sennheiser HD800 Experience - Vols 1 and 2
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
 
Hardly a definitive collection - happy to hear other suggestions. At this stage I'll be sticking with Redbook and 24/96. 

 

[LFC_SL]

As I only have one source / transport with coax out,

Would be interested to know your thoughts on how much of this is coax better than USB or optical (on Hugo) and how much is to do with quality of coax output device

Hi

Dis you Mean One source / transport With Coax our = DAP like HDP R 10 With Coax out ?

Compare to USB or optical ( on Hugo ) ?

I only have clas dB with coax out and do not have anything else with coax out.

So cannot compare different coax sources if there is effect on quality.

Or is it just usually the case the coax is cleaner on Hugo regardless.