Chord Electronics Hugo 2 Portable Headphone Amp and DAC

Description

The new Chord Electronics Hugo 2 Portable Headphone Amp and DAC is designed to be used at home or on-the-go, either with headphones and with a conventional audio system. Its line-level output and full-function remote control adds real flexibility in full-size and desktop systems.

The device offers four digital inputs (optical, coaxial and HD USB), plus extended-range Bluetooth, with high-resolution file playback (up to 768kHz) and up to DSD512 (Octa DSD), via its HD USB input. Analogue outputs include two RCA, plus 3.5mm and 6.35mm headphone outputs.

The four-function switch filter offers a useful degree of user-selectable frequency-shaping, delivering warm and soft or transparent and incisive presentations, bringing additional flexibility and user control. For headphone-listening, the Chord Electronics Hugo 2 Portable Headphone Amp and DAC retains the popular digital crossfeed function and offers three operation modes. The system duplicates the effect of listening to speakers and is based on advanced binaural audio research.

The Chord Electronics Hugo 2 Portable Headphone Amp and DAC features four control buttons, which illuminate with colour-coding information and control power, input selection, filtering options, plus the unit’s crossfeed functions.

Battery playing time is approximately seven hours and two modes of automatic charging are included using the dedicated Micro USB charging port; an indicator shows charging and battery-charge status.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Materials: Clamshell precision machined aluminium casing with polycarbonate buttons, acrylic signal window, and glass viewing portal. Available in two colours – natural silver, and satin black
Battery: 2x Rechargeable custom Enix Energies 3.7v 9.6Wh Li-ion (lithium-ion (2600mAh) batteries*
Tap length filter: 49,152 – 10 element Pulse Array design
Play time: In excess of seven (7) hours
Charging: Nominal four (4) hours via Micro USB at 1.8amps (fast charge) – Nominal eight (8) hours at 1amp (slow charge)
Connectivity (input): Micro USB (White): 44.1kHz – 768kHz – 16bit – 32bit
Coax via 3.5mm Jack (Red): 44.1kHz – 768kHz – 16bit – 32bit
Optical (Green): 44.1kHz – 192kHz – 16bit – 24bit
Connectivity (input wireless): Bluetooth (Apt X) (Blue): 44.1kHz – 48kHz – 16bit
Connectivity (output): 1x ¼” jack headphone output
1x 3.5mm jack headphone output
1x stereo (L & R) RCA output
PCM support: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 358.8kHz, 384kHz, 717.6kHz, and 768kHz.
DSD support: Native playback supported. DSD64 (Single) to DSD512 (Octa-DSD)
Volume control: Digital, activated in 1dB increments. Last known state saved upon shutdown, with exception of line-level mode
Line-level mode: Activated via dual press of middle ‘Source’ and ‘Crossfeed’ buttons. Line level = 3v via all outputs. Reset by power cycle
Power saving mode: Auto-shutdown after ten minutes of input inactivity
Driver support: Driverless with Mac OS X and Linux, driver required for Windows OS

Technical specifications:

Chipset: Chord Electronics custom coded Xilinx Artix 7 (XC7A15T) FPGA
Tap-length: 49,152
Pulse array: 10 element pulse array design
Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz +/- 0.2dB
Output stage: Class A
Output impedance: 0.025Ω
THD: <0.0001% 1kHz 3v RMS 300Ω
THD and noise at 3v RMS: 120dB at 1kHz 300ohms ‘A’ wighted (reference 5.3v)
Noise 2.6 uV ‘A’ weighted: No measurable noise floor modulation
Signal to noise ratio: 126dB ‘A’ Weighted
Channel separation: 135dB at 1kHz 300Ω
Power output @ 1kHz 1% THD: 94mW 300Ω, 740mW 32Ω, 1050mW 8Ω
Weight: 450g
Dimensions: 130mm (L) x 100mm (W) x 21mm (H)
Boxed Dimensions: 220mm (L) x 122mm (W) x 85mm (H)