All personal stuff really, no right, wrong or best, just preferences. For what’s it’s worth, i really disliked the Chord Hugo and Dave, yet others love them.
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Set yourself a budget and try and stick to it, thats the hard part lol
Then find a dealer that has them, if you can a dealer that has them all great.
Go listen and find the 2 you think you like best.
Get them home and try in your room and on your system.
Pick the one thats best for you.
Buy it, sit back and enjoy.
One thing, if when at the dealer, they say really you should try one off these, yes it costs more, then dont as its it’s normally fatal, i did just this, hock line and sinker. Lol
Yes, exactly that. We have people talking about PRaT and the Naim sound as though we’re all talking about and liking the same thing when we are clearly not.
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It’s only my opinion and experience. But Chord gives other qualities that a Naim dac lacks.
But for groove, rhythm and involvement, I think that Naim has the edge.
I said also that because Jim has now on test the Chord Qutest and Ndac. He prefers Naim like me.
It’s a forum and each person share his tastes. I don’t like Chord, it’s my freedom here to share.
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It’s probably just an internet thing… ie, how it read
“ Chord dac can’t render that groove”
Sounds more like a statement, an absolute, general fact rather than an opinion. Saying something like…
“For me, in my opinion, I don’t like how Chord DACS render groove”
Sort of makes it clear it’s your opinion and sounds a little less abrupt.
Personally… I liked Naim DACS, they had the groove… but Chord offered that and a bit more across the board for my taste in music in my experience.
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I’d go as far to say Chord DACs turned me off of listening to my system at all. Was like a forensic dissection of the music. Thankfully we have a choice.
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Exactly. For me, while I enjoyed Naim DACS, But I didn’t find them as engaging. I like detail and being able to see into the music with big depth. In an ideal world I’d have both. Naim for general listening and Chord for critical listening.
I think @anon23154165 has nailed my perspective. Opinions should be expressed as opinions not absolutes.
I ran a Hugo alongside a Naim DAC for a while. I liked the Hugo on really well recorded Classical pieces, especially where the hall acoustic was very much a part of the overall enjoyment of a particular recorded performance. It was forensic, yes, but it kept everything together (rather than pulled apart as with so much hi end, hi res kit) which helped, and was remarkable in so many ways. However, I found it fiddly to use, and for any other music I tended to gravitate to the Naim DAC, which was just more to my overall liking. I still have the Hugo but now I only use it for the odd occasion I want a portable DAC.
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Toonartist, that’s why we have so many varied opinions on kit of course, some people gravitate to certain aspects of replay more than others. As i say, it’s all good if it pleases the listener.
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This is what I find. I can still really connect to the music as a whole but when I want to, I can sit back and really enjoy getting into the detail.
I can see why people will find them fiddly and some will hate their looks. But, for the level of detail and quality of music I can get out of a TT2, MScaler I’d need a lot of big Naim boxes which would be a bit over bearing in my smaller office!
I did have the ND5XS2 and SN2 with a HiCap DR but it felt like it was taking over the room a bit 
All we share here is personal opinion. So , yes, of course, it was my opinion. Nothing more.
You uk people are a bit susceptible on that constant IMHO thing I feel…we are different in France. No problem however…
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Do keep in mind English is FR’s second language. Unsure how well I could express myself in French subtly and with innuendo.
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Agree completely. There really is no need to put IMO after every sentence. It stands to reason that opinions are not facts, and a forum is just an open discussion.
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I do… which is why I referred to it as an internet thing… lost in translation etc as from reading FR posts, he doesn’t come over as being anything other than being a good guy!
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I am glad to read that . But I observe that so many people here want me to write continuously IMHO and they do the same.
So I generally finish my posts with that IMHO but it tires me a bit. I like spontaneity.
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Yes i often do the same, but it gets tiring as you say. If eveyone were in the same room, we’d just have a discussion, and i doubt many would say IMO…
We may well say 'from my experience’
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Exactly… you’d be able to see the cheeky grin, smirk etc and just laugh. The internet makes general light banter, Tom foolery etc a bit harder without line of sight. I often use emojis etc to try and make sure people know when I’m taking the … 
Hmm, not all music is driven by “groove” and rhythm, and for some people involvement listening pleasure has nothing at all to do with these aspect, rather the musical content as a whole, and t doesn’t matter one jot if these aspects are not prominent - indeed making them prominent when not supposed as some systems may, can spoil the music, whereas reproducing as close to the original recording as possible, with all the clarity that is there, and in a totally natural way, can make music more engaging than ever.
To me, Hugo brought naturalness, and Dave added clarity to naturalness. But I fully understand that others like their presentation different, and/or like music where different aspects are more important. Rather similar really to how some people like loudspeakers that are quite ‘coloured’, or prefer their rooms to add to the music, e.g not liking to eradicate near reflections etc,
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