Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 and M-Scaler
REFERENCE AUDIO – WITHAM ESSEX
BOB’s Review Series - No 10 – Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 DAC + Hugo M Scaler
Introduction – Founded in 1989 Chord Electronics initially provided equipment to the professional market only but have since taken the domestic audio market by a storm by providing first class innovative amplifiers, CD Players, Streamers, Phono Stages, DAC’s and Upscalers all designed and manufactured in the UK. Of late much attention has been given to their in-house Rob Watts designed DAC’s such as their Hugo TT2 and the outstanding ‘Dave’ converters. This review is concentrating on the Hugo TT2 DAC and the matching M Scaler used as a pair. I hope to be reviewing their amplifiers together with their DAVE DAC in the next few weeks.
The Hugo TT2 DAC comes in at £3,995 and the M Scaler at £3,495 (£7,490 the pair at the time of writing) in either silver or black finishes.
Technology – Using both these products together allows data upsampling to a higher level than from the DAC on its own provided they are connected together with the dual BNC cables provided in the box. This allows the incoming data stream to be upsampled from the USB input by 16 times from 44.1kHz to 705.6kHz and from a 48 or 96kHz input to 768kHz. DSD 64 to 512 is also supported via USB. If fed from the BNC input upscaling is limited to 384kHz and via the optical input to 192kHz. MQA unfolding is not currently supported which seems to be missing a trick but upsampling and MQA don’t really sit together well as partners. The M Scaler is a recognised Roon endpoint working seamlessly with Roon.
The Hugo M Scaler can be used as a standalone upscaler for use with other manufacturers DAC’s but is better if those DAC’s also accommodate dual BNC connection to take advantage of maximum upscaling. The Hugo TT2 DAC can also be used on its own without the M Scaler but for this review both were considered to, in effect, be a single component and were used together at all times.
The Hugo TT2 DAC can be used simply as a DAC but can also be used as a preamp and as a headphone amplifier. This review concentrates on its DAC facility only and I didn’t try to use the amp facility.
The DAC has Menu, Set and Power on/off buttons on the front panel and 3 headphone connections (one 3.5mm and two 6.5mm) as well as a large, illuminated roller ball volume control. The front panel of the M Scaler has six smaller coloured roller ball controls covering Video, Input, Output Sample Rate, Input Sample rate and two currently unused controls labelled DX down and DX up.
Back panels for the M Scaler include 15v power in, BNC in x 2, Optical in x 2, USB in, Optical out, S/PDIF Out and the Dual BNC outputs. The DAC has the same 15v Power in, Dual BNC in, Optical in x 2, USB in, DX R/L outputs (seemingly unused) and a pair of RCA and XLR analogue outputs for connection to an amplifier.
I found it best to set the M Scaler to auto input recognition rather than having to keep switching inputs and trying to remember the confusing-coloured balls.
Chord Electronics say that the Hugo TT 2’s beating heart is a powerful Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA, custom-coded by Chord Electronics’ Rob Watts, with 86x 208MHz cores running in parallel to create an advanced 16FS WTA 1 filter with 98,304-taps.
Much more technical information is available on the Chord Electronics website at www.chordelectronics.co.uk
System Components – The Hugo TT2 and M Scaler were inserted into my home system between the Innuos Zenith server and matching USB Reclocker via a USB connection and then by XLR to my Michi P5 preamp connected with Jorma interconnects feeding the Michi M8 monoblocs and the Marten Mingus Quintet speakers. As before most cables came from the Jorma range. I also used the Chord pair to upsample and convert digital data from a CD player using a QED glass optical cable.
Performance – As you may know from my other reviews, I am a sucker for a good old-fashioned display and not one that displays for a bit and then turns off or one that is so small you need a magnifying glass to read it or so large that it can’t actually display any useful information. I appreciate that some feel that equipment displays can influence sound quality if left on but honestly, hand on heart, have you ever actually noticed any difference? So, it was with some trepidation that I approached the Chord pairing as they mostly rely on a coloured light show to provide information on incoming and outgoing data rates and if used, the volume level. Sure, the DAC does also have a small display window but it’s not very informative and it only stays on for a few (10) seconds. I guess that after a while you could get used to the way these displays work but really life’s too short, but I have to admire Chord Electronics for their dedication to their design philosophy throughout their entire range of products and I have found that the displays on most DAC’s at any price point are pretty poor affairs so it’s probably unfair of me to single out Chord for criticism here.
All of this aside it’s how these two components work together to improve sound quality that us audiophiles are really interested in. One of the reasons I had left the review of this DAC until last (almost last – look out for another DAC review shortly) was because I have found and heard that Chord equipment does seem to have a reputation for being very detailed and brightly lit in presentation to the point where customers are either dedicated to the brand or approach it with some caution. I fell in the latter category before this review.
When I first installed the pair, I was therefore expecting to hear a bright and overly detailed sound for my liking that was going to deliver content over my preference for a more relaxed yet inviting sound quality, but this turned out to be anything but what I was expecting. For those of you who may have thought the same as I did without really sitting and listening to them then please put aside these prejudices and give them some time, I assure you they will grow on you quickly and after a while you will wonder how you have lived without them. They are up there with the best of the best.
USB 16 Bit 44.1kHz files upsampled to 705.6kHz – I listened to ‘Last Seen October 9th’ by Eleanor McEvoy and the track was rendered with such emotion that I just had to play it again. Not at all the brightness I was expecting, this was a real musical event and one I’ll remember for some time because of the way I was drawn further into this very familiar track. ‘I Will (Ghost Ship)’ by Findley Brown sparkled with delightful and insightful guitar work, detailed background instruments and his customary dark vocals with long held and decaying notes.
Tanita Tikaram was just 19 when she recorded “Twist in my Sobriety’ and what a voice she had at the time. The Chord pairing enhanced every part of this complex track to do it justice and to present it in a way I had not experienced before and had not expected.
I’ve long been a fan of Rodney Crowell and have always associated with ‘Closer to Heaven’ on his Sex and Gasoline album. Again, I was struck by the outstanding emotional content delivered by the Chord duo. I listened to may other artists and it was the emotional delivery that always stood out most for me.
USB 24 Bit 96/192kHz files upsampled to 768kHz – Faith’s Song from the hit TV programme sung by Amy Wadge was another heartfelt rendition making me play it again. Come Together from the remastered Abbey Road album was a sheer delight with the opening bass lines in full masterly control, how can this be more than 50 years old? The Wayfarer from Bruce Springsteen’s Western Stars album was as good as I have every heard it.
Optical 16 Bit 44.1kHz upsampled to 192 kHz - By now I was fully on an emotional trip and just had to play Dying Light by Oh Susanna (Namedropper album) and was overwhelmed for all 6+ minutes of the track. And because it’s Christmas how could I resist ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’ by Michael Bublé and this showed just how good standard red book CD can be, albeit upsampled by the Hugo pairing.
Summary – It didn’t matter what I listened to, Era, Pink Floyd, London Grammar and many more the Chord Hugo TT2 DAC and M Scaler performed so much better that I had expected. If you love the way Chord present music then you will love this pairing and if, like me, you thought they wouldn’t meet your taste then think again. This is a fabulous DAC combination right up there with others at similar or even higher price points. If you want emotion and bass with real content then give this pair a good listen, you wont be disappointed.
Perhaps the Dave will prove to be even better, let’s find out soon.
Bob – Team Reference Audio