[Krisman]

I don't wish to hijack this thread so if you want my short opinion on the Toucan have a look at my comments in the head gear section....

 

[PowerNerd]

The Hugo RRP is £1,195 in the UK, which at current exchange rates is $1,956. 

 
I found a distributor, well the only distributor in the US that I found thus far and they are going to be charging $2,395 for the unit, even though the exchange rate is much less ($1966.08).

 

[Audiowood]

Thank you very much for the info. I appreciate it.

 

[flaco]

subbed

 

[smial1966]

Have you considered purchasing from a UK retailer and importing a unit? Not sure about warranty complications but might be worth contacting Chord to clarify.

I found a distributor, well the only distributor in the US that I found thus far and they are going to be charging $2,395 for the unit, even though the exchange rate is much less ($1966.08).

 

[SECT]

Can't say the overall aesthetic looks like it was deeply considered. Going to assume the brand focuses on performance over design.

 

[audionewbi]

It just looks too good to be true. If i could just get some conformation that i can hook it up with something like ak120 and be able to have a desktop performance in the go with its current price i am willing to call a bargain considering how other daps costing half of it fall short if its performance.

imagine a 128(soon we will see256 GB iPad mini with onkyo app DoP what else can one ask for?

lookwise might not be pleasing but builtwise we all know how chord likes to built their stuff, like a tank!

 

[third_eye]

Very interested in this little guy!

 

[daerron]

Any specs available on power output, will it drive planar headphones?
 
I'm not surprised by those large batteries. FPGAs are quite power hungry due to the architecture, even though this has gotten much better with subsequent generations and die shrinks.

 

[smial1966]

Technical specs from Chord UK -
 
• Headphone output: 110dB SPL into a 300ohm headphone load
 
Quote:

  Any specs available on power output, will it drive planar headphones?
 
I'm not surprised by those large batteries. FPGAs are quite power hungry due to the architecture, even though this has gotten much better with subsequent generations and die shrinks.

 

[Tony1110]

This looks interesting, but I'm a bit sceptical when it comes to big name Hi-Fi companies entering the Head-Fi market. I can't think of a single product made by Rega, Musical Fidelity, Naim etc that is competetive with the smaller boutique brands in this segment of the market. Hopefully this Chord thingy will buck the trend.

 

[audionewbi]

From the clip I gathered that they used the advancement in their technology to do what they could not do with their older models. So someone in the marketing sector decided instead of selling goods at a higher rate for a niche market why not use this improvement to reach a wider audience while still producing reference quality sound. They said that the HUGO is reference quality and in term of DAC performance it outperforms a number of other DAC they have.
 
As I said it is too good to be true. While other company busy using their success to produce a new higher priced reference Chord seems to have taken the sensible approach which is reduce profit margin, enter a realm that is currently very popular but challenged with few little folks out there. I think the high rez movement might had a thing to do with their decision.
 
CES2014 seems to be all about 4K vision and high res sound. 
 
Well I am sold and I have decided to get this, sale a few things and add a about one more grand on the top of the CIEM saving I had saved last year, I hope it pays off for me. 

 

[bmichels]

interesting... really

 

[bmichels]

It just looks too good to be true. If i could just get some conformation that i can hook it up with something like ak120 and be able to have a desktop performance in the go with its current price i am willing to call a bargain considering how other daps costing half of it fall short if its performance.

imagine a 128(soon we will see256 GB iPad mini with onkyo app DoP what else can one ask for?

lookwise might not be pleasing but builtwise we all know how chord likes to built their stuff, like a tank!

 
very exciting set-up "256 Gb IpadMini + HUGO"
 
But... I believe that the i compatible USB imput of the HUGO is limited to 16 bits/44 kHz ??

 

 

[PowerNerd]

Have you considered purchasing from a UK retailer and importing a unit? Not sure about warranty complications but might be worth contacting Chord to clarify.

smial1966 I had not, but it appears that this is the route I will take, especially if it proves to be more feasible and economical.