Just seen the “first impressions” piece in What HiFi. Interesting to see how good this will be. Interesting price point as cheaper than ND5-XS2, but needs a separate DAC to work with. Considerably more expensive than that firm favourite on here, the Bluesound node 2i.
It’s rather intriguing to go with my DAC-V1 or direct into a pair of active speakers. Anybody used the 2go already?
When it came out, I was interested, but the lack of a dedicated app is a massive issue for me. The demo i saw used a third party app. I thought it was terrible.
Increasingly for me, streaming is defined by the app.
The Chord streaming options have been plagued by reliability issues for a lot of users. I would stick to something more tried and tested myself.
I use the similarly implimented Mojo/Poly combo with Roon as a headphone late night portable setup and it works fine.
It’s not without it’s usability challenges, before Roon was in the mix it was a bit of a pig to use especially when “on the go” which was my original use case for it.
It relies on recommended 3rd party controller apps, even now, namely Glider or 8 Player Pro. You can use the Chord app (Gofigure, iOS or Android) to connect to it and configure it and it does at least now allow access directly to radio streams directly within the Chord app.
I’d say if you intended to use it tethered in a fixed location and had the luxury of Roon to drive it you’d probably find it pretty good, if you planned to use it in a portable scenario with a Hugo2 you may find it lacking from a useability perspective.
I did use my Hugo 2 with my ND5 XS2 for a bit and it works fine but I found it was a messy and ultimately unneccesary setup for my personal needs given the ND5 has what I felt was an acceptable DAC.
I guess you could pair the 2yu+2go with a Qutest or similar, I imagine that is an intended setup.
I am using a Hugo 2 cum 2go, and it’s great with Roon. A super-compact, high-quality source! For HiRes streaming though, you need a wired connection. The WiFi isn’t great…
Without Hugo 2, however, I find the RRP rather rich. I haven’t done any extensive comparisons, but I doubt one needs to spend nearly £1,500 when turning towards similar alternatives in the market…
I’d tend to agree here, I do have a Hugo 2 but just as a standalone DAC connected to a Mac Mini, the Poly which I use with a Mojo DAC is very similar from an app and user experience perspective to the way Chord implemented the 2go as an accessory to the Hugo 2.
If the 2go is anything like the Poly then the WiFi can be more fussy than similar kit tends to be, the 2go has an RJ45 Ethernet interface though which would be preferable as you suggest.
I’d say that it’s actually Roon that makes it a reasonably ok user experience, without that it’s a bit of a rubber band solution.
That’s the only way I have used the 2go – life is too short to put up with sub-standard user interfaces. I got lifetime membership when it was still $499 – money well spent.
I am puzzled that some are prepared to spend small fortunes for esoteric cables and funny feet for their gear, for instance, in order to achieve marginal improvement, but they are ready to put up with free Apps they don’t enjoy… Admittedly, there might be reasons why one doesn’t like Roon – but if one does, one should cough up the monies; and enjoy streaming! 
I agree with the philosophy of this. It’s a whole system and these days software is as crucial as the hardware, especially when so much of our music is now delivered in the form of “software”.
I’ll recommend what I use because I’ve found both options work very well for me.
First, my main system, is an ND5XS streamer. Not the ND5XS2. Why? Because with the ND5XS, you can upgrade it with a power supply. That option was removed in the XS2, along with the front screen. The power supply upgrade makes a huge difference to the warmth, detail, and depth of the ND5. It’s a whole other level, and I’d put it up against a Chord or anything else bar an NDS. You can pick up ND5XSs second hand, along with XPS power (or clone) power supplies. I think you could bring the system in under £1,500, but it’s down to careful shopping and jumping on bargains when you see them.
The second option is a little unit that I think is one of Naim’s unsung heroes - the Unitiqute. I love it so much I have two of them. A Qute and a pair of decent speakers sounds better than basically anything under about £2,500. It has the same Burr Brown DAC that Naim used in almost everything a few years ago. 35 watts per channel of amplification. And a nifty ‘Loudness’ button which gives a bass booost for low volume listening. It works perfecty with the Naim app and its WiFi stability is, in my experience, better than the ND5 (for which I recommend ethernet). The Unitiqute 1 lacks Bluetooth, but therefore is cheaper second hand. The only other difference is the software upgrade port - a much handier USB in the Qute 2 - but if you buy a fully-upgraded one (most second-handers are fully upgraded), it doesn’t matter, as there are no more software upgrades in the pipeline. Both 1 & 2 when fully upgraded play 192 files. You can get one for about £600 second hand - and then spend the rest on some higher level speakers or an extra amp.
My issue with Chord or any other outboard DAC is you have to stream from something else and go through USB or optical cable into the DAC, and then out with RCAs into the amp. All these transports add electronic noise and reduce signal quality - especially if using a computer to stream. The best signal (and therefore the best sound) is the cleanest one, straight from the ethernet plug, with no middleman or outboard anything.
“My issue with Chord or any other outboard DAC is you have to stream from something else and go through USB or optical cable into the DAC, and then out with RCAs into the amp. All these transports add electronic noise and reduce signal quality - especially if using a computer to stream. The best signal (and therefore the best sound) is the cleanest one, straight from the ethernet plug, with no middleman or outboard anything.”
I agree in general. I run 2 systems: the first has ethernet to dCS bridge to PS audio DirectStream DAC via SPDIF to amp and the second ethernet to Chord 2go to (integral) Chord Hugo 2 to amp. Very pleased with sound of both systems - no use of external USB to introduce noise (though the 2go connects internally to the Hugo 2 via USB). Separating the renderer from the DAC I believe reduces transmitted noise and thus gives better sound quality. This was very evident when I removed the bridge board from the PS Audio DAC and changed to the dCS renderer.
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