Chord Electronics has announced 2go (£995) a streamer/server designed to transform the Hugo 2 portable DAC into a fully featured wi-fi and ethernet-enabled device. In addition to hi-res music streaming, 2go has a pair of 2 TB-rated SD card slots for digital storage and playback, turning Hugo 2 into a solid-state digital music server (using MPD), all from a compact portable device.
Chord Electronics has also developed 2yu (£449), a digital interface that connects to 2go to provide four digital outputs (USB, optical, coaxial and BNC), effectively making 2go and 2yu a standalone Chord Electronics streamer/server, to be used with any compatible DAC or digital-input device. When using 2go with Hugo 2, all forms of digital playback can benefit from battery power alone, negating the need for external power supplies and removing the potentially degrading influence of AC mains noise and artefacts.
2go enables streamed and SD card-stored digital music files to benefit from Chord Electronics’ multi-award-winning DAC technology, found in the Hugo 2. “Adding 2go to Hugo 2, effectively creates the most sonically advanced compact music streamer available today.” 2go brings the benefits of both wireless convenience (2.4GHz Wi-Fi and A2DP Bluetooth) plus the stability and performance of wired (gigabit) ethernet connectivity, the latter offering set-up-free plug and play operation. It offers Tidal, Qobuz and Internet radio playback with Spotify (and others) earmarked for the future. 2go is also Roon Ready, offers gapless audio and DoP/Bit Perfect support, as well as being fully DLNA-compliant (server/renderer) and AirPlay-ready.
A key feature of 2go is its auto-switching input function: every audio interface is always on, therefore switching between inputs is as easy as hitting ‘play’ on the chosen control point app; 2go switches between all its inputs automatically, giving a seamless user experience when playing music from different sources or even streaming services.
2yu is a designed-for-2go digital interface enabling 2go as a fully-fledged standalone streamer, independent of Hugo 2. 2yu boasts 2,000 MIPS (million instructions per second) of processing power, an integrated sample rate converter, plus a low-jitter audio phase lock loop. 2yu connects directly to 2go to add TOSLINK optical S/PDIF, coaxial and BNC and USB digital outputs.
Highly flexible in its potential applications, 2go with 2yu is ideal for installers wishing to create a discreet remote Roon streaming solution: the duo can be wired into an Ethernet port to provide streaming to a system in any room. 2yu alone can also be used with PCs and Macs via USB to create a high-quality USB-to-digital-audio convertor for audio. 2go £995 (available now); 2yu £449 (February/March); (Hugo 2 is priced at £1,800)