Better in every way, there is nothing to dislike about the Chord Hugo 2 except its price – at £1,800 it’s £400 more costly than the original. In fairness, it’s at least this much better, but it still puts it out of reach of many people’s range. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to consider one, then it’s an essential audition; not just as a portable DAC/headphone amp, but as the best hi-fi digital converter at or near the price

I’m confident that the Hugo 2 will remain at the peak of the portable audio experience for sometime to come and the team at earphonia.com will certainly be using the Hugo 2 for many years.

The Hugo 2 does everything that the original Hugo does with improvements in every department. This is a truly outstanding piece of digital equipment – one that offers performance that is utterly unfazed by whatever you choose to play on it. It isn’t cheap but you could simply attach a pair of active speakers to it and have a superbly capable- and extremely compact system. It isn’t perfect and whilst it’s a great deal more user friendly than the original, it isn’t without quirks. Viewed as a whole though, the Hugo 2 is a deeply impressive product that represents the new benchmark for digital under £2,000 and is an indisputable best buy.

A last word on the Hugo 2. DACs can be the most boring pieces of gear in the world - something that even audiophiles will only buy under protest. The Hugo 2 is different. It's an idiosyncratic, colorful, weird, wonderful explosion, that sets out to do absolutely everything, and largely succeeds. We adored it - and if you have the cash to spend, we guarantee you will too.

This is a beautifully constructed and pleasingly attractive design with an exceptional features set. Hugo 2 is engineered by true innovators at the cutting edge of digital design. It offers high-resolution playback with custom filters switchable on the fly, a top-level headphone amplifier stage, on-board aptX Bluetooth for wireless streaming, generous connectivity options and exceptional performance via the latest bespoke digital strategies.

This $2,500 DAC and headphone amplifier shines technically, but disappoints musically

Chord's Hugo 2 proves well worth its not inconsiderable sum