Chord Hugo TT2 - My experience so far

As an owner of this DAC, I am curious about your mention of the output. I too am using XLR cables and I want to make sure that I understand that you were able to reduce the output form 5v to 2.5v (or so I assume). In looking at the manual, it seems that is only available in amp or headphone mode. If I understand your statement correctly, can you explain in further detail how you accomplish this? To me the Chord manual is pretty vague on this topic.

thank you, and I too had considered the Bricasti M3 but was unable to obtain a sample for audition. I did trade a Cutest in and Have been very happy with the results. But always looking for improvement.

@theo you would typically see a 4v output from XLRs. I’ve switched the DAC to AMP mode, set it Low Gain and attenuated the volume to minus 10 which sounds best with the Boulder integrated. With Coda I like the volume at minus 7 on the TT2. Unfortunately I have no way to measure the voltage at these levels but clearly it is lower than the 5v you get in DAC mode.
I would recommend you try it. But have the amp off and you should not have the signal going into the DAC.
So to summarize ny settings:

Mode - AMP

Gain - LowG

Volume - minus 10

Filter - Fil1

Keep in mind…the DAC mode can work well - it all depends on the input sensitivity of your preamp or integrated. It’s worth a shot to try the above settings. If I am not mistaken, DAC mode provides volume attenuation of minus 5. So start at minus 10 in amp mode. You need to be careful and respect the high output of the TT2 when switching settings. So make sure nothing is playing. 

It might not always work, but logically most of the signal gain should be obtained in quiet environment (preamp or DAC) and not in the power amp (heavy currents, more noise) - that's at least what Benchmark recommends for my DAC3+AHB2 combo.

I had Benchmark DAC 3 set at -10db when I had it (HGC version). It sounded best that way. The 0db setting produced results similar to TT2 in DAC mode although not quiet as bad. I don’t mean any disrespect but recommendations from Benchmark are nothing but basic guidelines. They say USB cables make no difference on their DAC 3.

B.S.

They recommended I run DAC 3 HGC direct to amp bypassing my preamp (Pass Labs) as Pass is too noisy and colored according to them. Not even remotely as good as with preamp. They say XLR cables make no difference. Another false statement.
System synergy is what will determine what works best. Tune iand voice it all by ear and use what works best in your setup.

@audphile1   I agree - it is only recommendation (it works for me).  As for USB, they likely stressed out the fact that in async USB there is no possibility of jitter (since clocks are asynchronous) - ignoring possible indirect source - an electrical noise injected into DAC.

Audphile1, thank you for responding. I probably should have mentioned my pre-amp is an Audio Research LS28SE, I doubt that it makes any difference, but thought I’d throw in to the mix. I will try this and see what results I get, it’s a shame that Chord doesn’t explain this a little more in-depth. But ARC doesn’t make any mention of voltage limitation of inputs in their manual either. 

@theo definitely worth a try. Give yourself some time to adjust to new sound after you make the change. You might get more volume range on the ARC preamp as well
 

audphile1, Yes I plan to listen for at least a week and then switch back. I find that the best comparison is returning to "pre-change" and see if I miss the previous setting. I recently changed out my speaker cables and have been re-adjusting my speaker placement as it made some dramatic changes in room interaction. 

I will let you know my findings, and again thank you for your help and bringing this to my attention.

@theo that is a good plan and is how I usually go about comparing changes. 
please keep me posted 

Hi, i am new to this forum, I have a TT2, M Scaler and BerTTi power amp. The Bertti and TT2 are connected by XLR cables.

When streaming I regularly hear the playback becoming muffled and then righting itself to a full/complete sound. I have checked all the connections and  can't find any issues.

Is this something anybody has experienced and have you any ideas as to what the issue maybe?

@pgk188 What is your source that feeds the Mscaler/TT2?

Hi, i am new to this forum, I have a TT2, M Scaler and BerTTi power amp. The Bertti and TT2 are connected by XLR cables.

When streaming I regularly hear the playback becoming muffled and then righting itself to a full/complete sound. I have checked all the connections and  can't find any issues.

Is this something anybody has experienced and have you any ideas as to what the issue maybe?

Hi, I have an Eversolo DMP-A6

Have you tried running the eversolo internal dac straight to amp ? 

( my personal experience with the A6 have been concluded in another post,it's not positive. )

I know you loose the benefits of M scaler TT2 combo but it might solve your problem. 

Next I would recommend another streamer,  one that is in the same league as the rest of your equipment 🙂

@pgk188 how is Eversolo connected to Mscaler? List all your cables - brand and model.

1. make sure you only have one type of connection between Eversolo and MScaler   Do not have multiple interfaces connected at once. Use only USB to connect the streamer to Mscaler for example. That interface with your streamer would be your best option in any case.

2. Be certain to use legitimate BNC cables to connect Mscaler to TT2.  You can’t use regular RCA audio cables with BNC adapters as they have different impedance  and will cause issues

Eversolo has a number of FW issues.  First turn off EOS if you are having problems with an external DAC.   Known USB problems with Chord, McIntosh , and several other brands.  Set DSD to DoP also when troubleshooting USB issues if you are trying USB out.  

Anyone interested in Eversolo should read their forum.  Tons of bugs with each "update"     You pay $899 for their base model and get a lot less than $899 worth of support.   Buy an innuos or Aurender and save yourself future headaches 

Why are they building these with the Android 11 OS which was End of Life meaning no security patches since Jan 24?    Good luck to all who buy into the Eversolo hype. 

Thanks for your responses, I have tried different connection combinations and also bypassed the mscaler. I still seem to have the issue.

I am a rock music fan and have been listening to the British band Thunder. On there albumn Dopamine, the issue rears it head on the first track The Western Sky as and example and various tracks on The Magnificent Seventh.

Perhaps you could try these tracks and see what you think.

Thank you.

Hi, I am using a Supra usb cable to the MScaler, dual bnc to the Hugo TT2, (Atlas cables) and TELLURIUM Q Black II XLR cable to the Bertti.

So this happens only on those songs? You can try eversolo direct into amp and see if it’s behaving the same way. 

Yes it does the same using the Eversolo direct, I also tried headphones direct from my tablet, the same thing happens..........

It only seems to do it with certain rock tracks. I am beginning to think that they are either poorly produced or that the streams from Tidal and Qubuz are faulty somehow.....it's very odd and I am a bit baffled.....

I listened to the western sky on tidal and it sounds fine. No issues. It is either the eversolo or the amp that’s the problem. Is there a factory reset on the eversolo that you can do? Try it. See if it resolves the issue. 

I have the chord TT2 I like the pretty colors on the top of the dac that changed depending upon the song. 

Thanks audiophile1 I will persevere, re set everything and try again!