Hegel

manicm · 2025-11-17T15:44:46+0000

I emailed Hegel asking if the new H150 amp's USB drive port will play gapless, and here's the somewhat strange response I got:

'Thank you for your email. Please note that your question is not relevant, a digital input will play the signal it receives. It is the source that has to handle gapless.'

Al ears · 2025-11-17T16:00:50+0000

manicm said:
I emailed Hegel asking if the new H150 amp's USB drive port will play gapless, and here's the somewhat strange response I got:

'Thank you for your email. Please note that your question is not relevant, a digital input will play the signal it receives. It is the source that has to handle gapless.'

Odd! A very ambiguous response.
Particularly if your source is a USB stick.
I guess it depends on the file types and how they were recorded onto the drive itself.

Vincent Kars · 2025-11-17T17:59:29+0000

The answer is correct if you use it as a USB DAC. This means the USB-B port.
The answer is nonsense as your question is about the USB-A so a external USB drive. There it is the media player inside the Hegel that is able to play gapless or not.

Al ears · 2025-11-17T18:03:00+0000

Vincent Kars said:
The answer is correct if you use it as a USB DAC. This means the USB-B port.
The answer is nonsense as your question is about the USB-A so a external USB drive. There is is the media player inside the Hegel that is able to play gapless or not.

Can you amply on that ?
Surely a drive connected via the USB-A is still a storage device?

manicm · 2025-11-17T18:14:56+0000

Vincent Kars said:
The answer is correct if you use it as a USB DAC. This means the USB-B port.
The answer is nonsense as your question is about the USB-A so a external USB drive. There is is the media player inside the Hegel that is able to play gapless or not.

No, the Hegel has a USB-A port specifically for drives, and a USB-B port for PC/DAC.

Al ears · 2025-11-17T18:25:17+0000

manicm said:
No, the Hegel has a USB-A port specifically for drives, and a USB-B port for PC/DAC.

Are you sure?
Thought the USB-B was for memory sticks.

Al ears · 2025-11-17T18:28:25+0000

manicm said:
No, the Hegel has a USB-A port specifically for drives, and a USB-B port for PC/DAC.

Apologies, got my A and B muddled it seems.

Jasonovich · 2025-11-17T19:28:34+0000

Al ears said:
Are you sure?
Thought the USB-B was for memory sticks.

He's correct my JF MX Pro digital transport has the same setup, one USB is dedicated to Audio output to PC/DAP/DAC and the other USB input for storage.

Gray · 2025-11-17T20:10:46+0000

Al ears said:
Surely a drive connected via the USB-A is still a storage device?

It is - feeding the files to the Hegel.

The internal of the Hegel is effectively the source - that Hegel has said the device plugged into the USB-A port needs to be 🤪
In other words, it's the Hegel that determines whether or not playback from the external drive is gapless.

Al ears · 2025-11-17T20:27:04+0000

Gray said:
It is - feeding the files to the Hegel.

The internal of the Hegel is effectively the source - that Hegel has said the device plugged into the USB-A port needs to be 🤪
In other words, it's the Hegel that determines whether or not playback from the external drive is gapless.

That's precisely what I was alluding to....
So Hegel haven't really answered the question, irrespective of USB input utilised.

Vincent Kars · 2025-11-17T20:45:16+0000

Al ears said:
Can you amply on that ?
Surely a drive connected via the USB-A is still a storage device?

USB is about a host and peripherals.
A to B is (or was) very common to connect a host (PC) to a peripheral (DAC). Today of course it might be USB-C as well. Obvious the host is in charge. Either the host (the media player on the host) is able to play gapless or not.

A to A/B/C where A/B/C means an external USB drive implies that A is the host. The media player on the host (Hegel) is able to play gapless or not. Not much different from using a PC with a external USB drive.

The host is the one able to play gapless (or not). The drive contains data only.

Maybe phrase it a bit different.
You have data on a drive (USB, NAS, SSD, SD, HD), the host pulls the data from this drive. As you have multiple tracks, the ability to play them gapless is a property of the host, not the drive.

Al ears · 2025-11-17T21:46:41+0000

Vincent Kars said:
USB is about a host and peripherals.
A to B is (or was) very common to connect a host (PC) to a peripheral (DAC). Today of course it might be USB-C as well. Obvious the host is in charge. Either the host (the media player on the host) is able to play gapless or not.

A to A/B/C where A/B/C means an external USB drive implies that A is the host. The media player on the host (Hegel) is able to play gapless or not. Not much different from using a PC with a external USB drive.

The host is the one able to play gapless (or not). The drive contains data only.

Maybe phrase it a bit different.
You have data on a drive (USB, NAS, SSD, SD, HD), the host pulls the data from this drive. As you have multiple tracks, the ability to play them gapless is a property of the host, not the drive.

I agree, so why the reply from Hegel?
You state the ability to play gapless is a property of the host so I don't see why Hegel don't acknowledge this, but perhaps that's there mistake and may cost them a sale or two.

Dave_ · 2025-11-17T23:40:18+0000

Al ears said:
I agree, so why the reply from Hegel?
You state the ability to play gapless is a property of the host so I don't see why Hegel don't acknowledge this, but perhaps that's there mistake and may cost them a sale or two.

Sounds like a CS agent just misunderstanding a non-sensical question to me.

manicm · 2025-11-18T00:24:04+0000

Dave_ said:
Sounds like a CS agent just misunderstanding a non-sensical question to me.

As ever you are quite erudite

nopiano · 2025-11-18T11:12:11+0000

TBF any question from a potential customer is legitimate, but it looks like a gormless answer. Of course, why any product would not play gapless ly in 2025 is beyond me!

Was it the current Arcam CD player that needed a firmware upgrade before it would? That’s unforgivable to me, when CD has been around for 40+ years. It’s like a turntable that skips, or lifts off before the end of your LP!

manicm · 2025-11-18T11:17:10+0000

Looks like sleepy Monday has passed, to be clear my question to them specifically mentioned the USB-A port. And I got a new reply today 🙂

'Please note that this answer refers to the regular USB digital input. If your question refers to the USB port, this is gapless if the files are ripped and stored as such.'

nopiano · 2025-11-18T11:45:00+0000

manicm said:
Looks like sleepy Monday has passed, to be clear my question to them specifically mentioned the USB-A port. And I got a new reply today 🙂

'Please note that this answer refers to the regular USB digital input. If your question refers to the USB port, this is gapless if the files are ripped and stored as such.'

Phew, their reputation is intact!

Jasonovich · 2025-11-18T12:17:30+0000

Still feels like sleepy Monday, I have a pot of coffee brewing. 2nd cup and Cornish pasty should do the trick 🙂

Vincent Kars · 2025-11-18T13:34:57+0000

manicm said:
this is gapless if the files are ripped and stored as such.'

How to store your files gapless?

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