You might be trying to choose between the Chord Hugo and the AK240 and we have tried to make it a bit easier for you to decide.
The Chord Hugo is an ex-demo unit kindly loaned by a Head-Fi Forum member and the AK240 is a demo unit loaned by Custom-Cable. Both have been returned. All other equipment belongs to the writer.
Chord Hugo and AK240 Size Differences
Test Equipment
iMac, iPad mini Retina, Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo –dB, Headamp Pico Power Portable Headphone Amplifier
Astell & Kern 240, Chord Hugo
Fostex TH900, Sennheiser HD600, Bowers & Wilkins P7, Sony MDR-1R MKII, Shure SE846 (white filters)
(Selection) Adele – Live at the Royal Albert Hall, Carla Lother – 100 Lovers, Emeli Sandé – Live at the Royal Albert Hall, Hiromi – Move, Hiromi – Voice, Inception Soundtrack, Iron Maiden – Rock in Rio, IU – Last Fantasy, Man of Steel Soundtrack, Nirvana – Unplugged in New York, Prince – 1999, Rachel Yamagata – Happenstance, Tron Soundtrack, Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
Design – AK240
The press photography is all angles and straight lines. Certainly a departure from the symmetrical rectangular conformity of modern portable players, smart-phones and tablets. In person the AK240 is just nice to hold and the design suddenly makes sense. The angles provide the benefit of a nice grip in paw. Up close you can admire the aircraft-grade duralumin and gunmetal finish. The feel is one of quality. Perhaps the only improvement possible is if they invent adamantium. The included Minerva leather case is very welcome. iriver at least fulfilled the basic requirement of a high-premium design to go with the price-tag.
In usage the user interface contains little flourishes, logical icons and touches to maximise the limited screen space available. My loan unit came with preloaded music but for testing I inserted a mini-SD card containing my own music. After an initial scan it just worked. Text and graphics were crystal-clear and my carefully tagged music files complete with album art displayed without issue. A short press of the power button disables the display (saving battery life and accidental actions). The volume wheel can still be operated but to my pleasant surprise there were no unwelcome volume changes during active use.
The AK240 dimensions wise is fine in jeans pockets – but you certainly would not want a larger design. It is well concealed within the inside pocket of work suit jackets too. The only scenario it looks awkward is in work suit trouser pockets (or of similar thin fabric).
In a perfect world a thinner design would be welcome and also better battery life (although it is understood a lot is under the hood). The battery depleted 11% from a full charge whilst playing 24-bit flac files and driving the SE846 monitors for 45-minutes usage. Using 320kbps MP3 files battery life depleted to approx. 35% during daily commute over two-days. Your mileage may vary.
Chord Hugo and AK240, Cypher Labs
Design – Hugo
The first thing I noticed was not the machined-aluminium case finished in bright silver. Not the curious rainbow-colour lighting scheme used to indicate input select and volume. Not the circular window giving a peek inside or the dimple feet lifting up the device when resting on a surface. It was how small and light the entire package is whilst still delivering the stated feature-set within a footprint less than the surface-area of a music CD case. This deserves recognition.
It has been reported online by users that the recessed ports are too small to take some cables with chunkier connectors. I did not encounter this due to the limited nature of my testing but it is worth noting and yes, an inspection confirms the spacing between ports is tight. Also colour indicators for volume level led to an accidental blast of loud music – not a mistake one repeats! Also my personal preference would be for a black finish as employed by Chord on some of their other products.
On a final note my ex-demo unit displayed very light surface scratches. Chord is working on a leather case as we speak with no firm release date at time of writing. Manufacturers should consider that customers are grateful for the option of protection for their battery-powered consumer electronics.
Sound
AK240 -> 3.5mm headphone out
iPad -> CCK -> USB -> Hugo -> Headphone out
You may have been expecting separate sections but something curious occurred. No matter the combination of music or headphones there were more similarities than differences. Both exhibited a natural and neutral tone. No aspect of the music was over-emphasised above the other. No hint of a “digital” sound that you may encounter in less capable devices. Bass is impactful, hits hard and with supreme control. Voices and instruments are rich and detailed and again sound “natural”. Not only that but the sound is holographic as you can “hear” the room as voices travel – extraordinary. Treble is well extended without any harshness or brightness apparent.
I often suggest to buyers in the market as they upgrade source that one of the more apparent improvements for their money should be sound-staging and location cues. This is so here. With both devices the soundstage is spacious and not just on a 2D-plane from ear-to ear. There is height and in particular depth. The speed, separation and airiness of instruments are incredible. You can pick out the depth and detail in the music as never before.
A note on Astell & Kern: the first generation AK100 / AK120 was a little thick sounding in tonality and lacking in overall clarity for this listener’s tastes. Whilst the jump in price-point for the AK240 is shocking, the improvement in sound is to be applauded.
Now we address the differences between the AK240 and Hugo. Purely as a headphone source / amplifier the Hugo edges the contest. Not night and day but the sum of the parts is noticeable. The soundstage of the Hugo is wider and with more depth. Voices seem to extend further for example. Separation is that touch better on the Hugo and less congested than the AK240. The Hugo also renders details more convincingly. Vocals placement is a hair closer on the AK240, which may have the impression of intimacy but going back to the Hugo you then appreciate the extras and vocals are rendered just as sweet. As an overall package the Hugo sound is so transparent and inviting you lose yourself in it.
Addendum
Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo –dB -> Coax -> Hugo -> Headphone out
This experiment should not be read into deeply simply as I did not have another coax source available and who knows what difference the MFI certification makes. The result is very very subtle but this chain seemed to be a touch cleaner and bass was even more impactful than using CCK. The price / performance ratio is however very low here for what is only a subtle effect.
AK240 -> Line-out -> Headamp Pico Power Amplifer -> Headphone out
My understanding is that the AK240 does not utilise a true line-output as the signal still goes through the built-in headphone amplifier. This is strange given they were able to implement balanced headphone out, optical out, wi-fi for firmware, a recent firmware upgrade allowing music to be taken off a NAS and many more features.
Nevertheless, this combination opened up the soundstage and brought the headphone stage closer to the Hugo. The Hugo is still that hair better but now the gap is marginal. This indicates that iriver are onto something with the dual-DAC approach but there is still room for improvement in the headphone amplifier stage.
AK240 3.5mm optical output versus iMac 3.5mm optical output -> Hugo
No difference was apparent. Both fed a clean signal into the Hugo and you got sweet beautiful music. I am reliably informed a cheaper option in the Astell & Kern range with optical output will fulfil the same task without the same wallet hit as the AK240.
Final Thoughts
In the past ten-years I have experienced nearly every passing trend in personal audio (portable CD players, the iPod, portable mini-disc, portable audio players, portable headphone amplifiers and external iDevice DACs). Two different approaches are represented here: dual-DACs for double the fun versus a programmable FPGA chip and yet the results are not so far apart. The AK240 and Chord Hugo truly are the first conceptions of what they do that I consider as “end-game” worthy. Quite a statement but the sound that they are capable of really demands to be heard.
If you only desire a headphone source / amplifier and are based in the UK my advice would be to save your money and buy the Chord Hugo. It will slot straight into your existing home setup – or is good enough to even replace it – and is still versatile enough to be used in a variety of transportable scenarios or as a bedside rig. The choice is endless.
Despite preferring the Hugo sound, I found myself actually using the AK240 more. It was the convenience factor. Grab and go. This really will come down to lifestyle requirements.
Message to Chord
1. Release that leather case asap!
2. More space around the ports.
3. Please please please offer a black finish option.
Message to Astell & Kern
1. Implement a true line-out.
2. Room for improvement in the headphone amplifier section.
3. Thinner design (but is that possible?)
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Thank you for this Steven. I have the AK120. Should I purchase the Hugo (now in black with case) or the AK240. Would the sound be very much different.
many thanks
I’d love to see a comparison between the AK240 and Lotoo PAW Gold.
I’ve been demo’ing both and think the Lotoo comes out on top for usability (the AK240’s touch screen is pretty simple) and price (£700 cheaper than the AK240).