If it’s not the raw, original, DSD stream, then the only difference between Chord’s “proprietary native DSD” format and DoP is how the bits are packed and transmitted. If we’re going by strict definitions, the mere fact that there are different formats to transmit that means all but one is, by definition, not native.
But in all of those cases, the actual DSD bit-stream that is received by the PCM converter is identical … so it’s a distinction without a difference.
Agree, DSD is DSD for the converter. But their proprietary USB encoding means DSD512 is not available to anything but a Windows system with their custom driver. And my original point was that the 2Go, as a “Chord” product, didn’t even get that driver ported over to Linux so it could support the full DSD512 that the DAC is actually capable of. It’s limited to DSD256 since the 2Go is stuck using DoP.
Well, that I certainly agree with.
Hopefully in the future they’ll port the driver and update the 2Go. Though I’m not going to hold my breath on that!
Since there are no 2Yu’s to play with (looking like September at the moment), it’s hard to say. Right now, I am not sure I’d recommend it even for use with a Hugo 2 unless you were only going to use Roon as the source.
While I use it primarily with Roon, which seems to work seamlessly (no issues so far via WiFi), microSD card playback is quite ropey (even if you stick to one card), and DLNA/UPnP isn’t much better.
Chord really need to bite the bullet and pay someone to build a proper, dedicated, app to run local playback. MPD is fine as far as it goes, but there are so many little “gotchas” that it’s far more of a pain than it needs to be. It’s not as bad as Poly, but that was so bad it shouldn’t have been released anywhere near where it was.
I’d be using it via Ethernet, so there wouldn’t be any WiFi issues for me. AirPlay is another benefit of the unit (if it works 
). Roon would be the way I’d use it (another upgrade I’d commit to with a better streamer).
Hopefully they’ll have a proper app coinciding with the actual release of the 2yu.
Are there any recommendations you have for streamers in this price bracket (preferably with usb output included)?
Thanks.
Anyone happen to know if the 2go can accept an ethernet connection directly from a Roon core (PC, in this case) rather than through the network, via router? It seems like a bit of a silly use case, I know, but my temporary Covid setup doesn’t lend itself to plugging directly into a router, and my 2.4GHz wifi is pretty spotty, so I’d prefer the hard-wire connection to my PC, which has a stable 5GHz connection. Even if that works, would it be any better than just using USB straight into the Hugo 2?
I’m still a confused about your use case. For the price of one 2go you can buy 3 pretty good USB stationary streamers. Many options at different price points. Add the 2yu and you can buy almost two more. I own a 2go, but that’s because Hugo2+2go is a great way to listen to Roon in my backyard (once I placed a WiFi meshpoint strategically, that is). 2go+2yu seems a ridiculously expensive streamer compared to other offerings in the market.
Are people here really not seeing that many issues with the 2go?
I’ve had mine two months with nothing but problems. It sounds great when working but it’s really 50:50 as to whether it will work or not every time I turn it on after charging or changing rooms.
I have very strong wi-fi and have never had a single connection issue with any phones, ipads, laptops, sonos etc, yet the 2go constantly drops out or cannot even see the network to begin with. Usually connecting with ethernet works but not always, and that defeats the purpose of my buying the 2go as a portable device.
I only ever get any kind of connection in my main room very close to my router, as soon as I leave the room, I get no music even though I can stream through an ipad or laptop as a roon endpoint with no issues at all throughout my entire house.
Coupled with drop outs due to heat, an almost unusably bad app, the need to install 2 or 3 third party apps to stream tidal, from your SD cards and NAS and the “pops and clicks” issue that many users seem to be having, I wouldn’t advise existing Hugo2 owners to go anywhere near this product until they sort out these issues.
I used to have my Hugo2 connected to my (roon endpoint) ipad via usb and happily wandered all over my house listening to tidal and my personal flac collection (from NAS) and I bought the 2go for convenience and improved sound quality. Seeing as the 2go uses the existing usb port (so I cannot connect to ipad, laptop or phone), I now cannot use my Hugo2 anywhere but my living room.
I have little confidence it will be fixed anytime soon either as on the other forum, where seemingly most users have issues, instead of addressing them, the literal CEO of Chord is insulting forum members for using third party adaptors…
For the most part, it’s been working for me. BUT, I am using it in the most ideal configuration – as a Roon endpoint only, connected via wired Ethernet. And even then, it is not without issue. I move from room to room (I have Ethernet switches in every room since I live in a dense urban environment and 2.4GHz is completely saturated to the point of uselessness for ANY device – very stupid of Chord to not use a dual-band Wi-Fi chipset), and even using it wired, I still have to reboot the 2Go every few days to get it visible to Roon again.
I have been fortunate that the “vinyl pops” issue has been very rare for me, to the extent it isn’t an annoyance as I notice a pop maybe once every few hours at most.
Not sure where you’re getting that from; everyone that’s posted here that has one has had one or more issues with the thing - and there are only five people in the thread that have one (including yourself - so four prior to that).
I’m the only person I know of that is not having WiFi issues. I can go down four stories and clear across the road to the pier on the waterfront and mine works just fine. It hasn’t dropped out, nor failed to find the network, doing that yet. There’s nothing particularly special about my WiFi network, it’s an Amplifi “Alien” based mesh.
That’s using it as a Roon endpoint, either streamed from TIDAL or Qobuz or from my stupidly large local library (all of which is lossless Redbook or “better”). I’ve had literally no issues there since I got the thing on April 2nd, once I realized the Hugo 2 itself has to be on for it to show up as an available end-point.
DLNA/UPnP worked. Both as a server and renderer. Haven’t used it beyond “does it function”, since Roon renders it moot for everything except my Linn rig (and that gets mostly driven by Roon these days, also).
Other than it getting very warm when charging and playing at the same time, I’ve had no heat issues (has not shutdown nor dropped out). That’s with the unit sitting flat on a wooden desk or a glass table. No stands involved. Driving anything from low-impedance IEMs (more current) to high-impedance full-size cans.
I don’t use AirPlay … even though my setup is all Apple. I tried it when I first got it. It worked okay. Haven’t used it since. Not hard to believe there are issues, but not relevant to me.
SD card handling and replay is a pain in the ass. Indexing is glacially slow compared to any modern DAP. It re-indexes sometimes for no reason I can fathom. Having to switch cards in the app is a ridiculous, and often upsets the 3rd party apps that are necessary to use this mode. Handling of album art is a cluster. If this was my use-case for the thing, it would have gone back in the first couple of days.
I haven’t had any of the “clicks” or “pops” at all, but again I only actually use the thing via Roon at this point. It’s too big a unit to use as a makeshift DAP anyway, especially when I have proper DAPS that sound as good or better anyway.
I wouldn’t either, at present, unless it was purely for Roon use.
As I say to anyone that’s considering gear that has issues … “don’t buy on futures”. If it doesn’t work properly for you when you first get it, then return it and wait until the issues are properly addressed and then buy it again if you still want it. No guarantees such issues will ever get fixed.
And that’s not the first time John Franks has made that sort of post about one of his company’s products and/or attacking/blaming users. Not something I think is appropriate.
But then I could say the same about the night/day claims people are making about the adapters they’re using.
Uncanny timing … but Mike Bartlett of Chord has just posted on Head-Fi that they have just released an update to the GoFigure application (required for the upcoming 2Go’s firmware update).
Hopefully those will improve things for most people.
Cheers for the comprehensive reply, I guess you got one of the golden, triple-tested units usually saved for reviewers, lucky you…
Looking back over the thread, I see you’re right, almost all users have issues. I must have missed some of the complaints on my first read-through
I’m currently thinking about installing long ethernet cables in my two main listening rooms while I wait for them to fix the connection issues.
I also can’t hear the difference between different adapters, but I wouldn’t publicly insult one of my customers if they said that they could…
I doubt there’s anything special about my unit. Much more likely that it’s my limited use case and environment not provoking the issues that are clearly there.
It was just a random pre-order from Moon Audio.
Unless dealing with direct-to-consumer companies, where there’s usually no choice, I don’t get review gear from manufacturers specifically to avoid any possible shenanigans. Not that I have any intention of reviewing the 2Go anyway.
My current hypothesis is that the current 2go firmware seizes up briefly when switching between WiFi channels or mesh points, causing Roon to get into the dreaded “loading slowly” error state and eventually skip the playing track. If I keep the Hugo2+2go assembly in one place near one of the mesh points, no problem. If I move around the house or backyard, it’s a different matter.
Gofigure and 2go Firmware Update
Via an update to the Gofigure app and 2go firmware, today we will be optimising your device experience. Our updates include requested new features and bug fixes. We recommend that when you next attempt to use the device, that you take 10 minutes to update the app and firmware.
This is the first major firmware update since the release of the device and is named V1.0. The update contains a number of audio fixes, a major MPD update to V0.21.23 (protocol V0.21.11), AirPlay enhancements and numerous Wi-Fi improvements including more advanced network switching.
Updating 2go’s firmware is easy and is initiated from within Gofigure. The process takes around 10 minutes to complete.
Watch our video on how to update the firmware here
Read the FAQ on how to update the firmware here
Not all improvements to your 2go experience require a firmware update. Because of this, you will periodically need to update your version of Gofigure.
In today’s Gofigure release (iOS V2.05 or Android 1.2.92) playlists will now refresh when you open the app, Wi-Fi switching is improved and we have added some additional requested radio stations. Included within the release are a number of bug fixes, which we would like to thank the Head-Fi community for assisting us with.
To download the latest version, head to the App Store on your iOS device or the Google Play Store on your Android device.
Installed new GoFigure app (Android) and new 2go firmware (V1.0) with no issues, streaming Roon over WiFi, but then it worked before most of the time. It will take time to see if the occasional streaming glitches went away.
Also installed 1.0
The bugs I reported to Chord still exist unfortunately:
Eagerly awaiting 1.1
The issue with DSD rates higher than 256 is due to the 2Go using DoP to communicate with the Hugo 2. I hadn’t picked up on that earlier, but it is the case.
Addressing that would require Chord’s software contractor to create a native DSD driver for the 2Go to talk to the Hugo 2. Not something I would hold my breath on. They don’t have seamless operation, or a quality app, for the functionality/capabilities they’ve actually promised yet … and based on their history I would be very surprised if they spend any time at all worrying about things they haven’t advertised support for.
Further impressions on 2go firmware V1.0:
Is your Swisscom mesh configured to support 2.4 GHz as well as 5 GHz? 2go only works with 2.4 GHz. Reason I’m asking is that my AmpliFi HD mesh can be configured to use 5 GHz only, although it supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz out of the box.