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rhineth
16
Sep 2, 2016
I received a Hugo as a (very nice) gift a couple of years ago and have been able to demo a variety of headphones with it, including the Audeze LCD 2, 3, X, and XC; the Fostex TH-900 and TH-X00; and the Senn HD 650 and 800. I briefly owned the LCD-XC (awesome, but too heavy), TH-900 (fun, but too intense up top), and HD650 (would like to have again), but currently only own the TH-X00 and some old Senn HD-595s. I did spend enough time with these and the others, though, to be able to say that the Hugo is quite versatile, and can drive power hungry cans like the LCD 3 and HD800 just fine - and though there is probably a better match out there for the HD800, it did pretty well, and I thought it did particularly well with all of the Audeze phones, especially the 3 and XC.
As a stand alone DAC, I don't have much to compare it to, but it is much better than the only other DAC seperate I've owned - a Cambridge Audio DacMagic. I think the Hugo probably could get a lot out of hi-res recordings, but honestly, I mostly listen to Spotify and CD converted AIFFs. Happily, the Hugo, unlike the Cambridge, is very forgiving to these - pulling out detail that is there, but not really highlighting weaknesses. It's also actually pretty good with video games.
Long story short - I think the Hugo can reasonablly be seen as a bargain (when compared to other hi-end DAC/Amp combos or even separates), but it could also be reasonably seen as overpriced. I don't know of any other portable DAC/Amp combos that are can easily drive an LCD 3/HD800, or can so effortlessly fit in with a much more expensive loudspeaker setup (and certainly not at this price) - but most people don't need their portable DAC/Amp to do these things.
In the end, I don't think I would pay full price for this myself, but I am very happy with it, and for what it offers, I think $1700 could be a very good deal for some people.
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