Chord "Mojo"

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Judeus, Oct 12, 2015.

  1. Chris1967

    Chris1967 Friend

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    Yes i did engage the line out, in reality the line out is just a line level attenuation from what i gather. I don't think it has any real line out circuitry.

    After the new Year, and when i return home i will test it on my own system and report back.
     
  2. nnotis

    nnotis New

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    I don't pay sufficient attention to know why people hate the Hugo, but I was extremely impressed with the Mojo while listening at a local Hifi store. I did compare the DAC with that of the Hugo, using a Leckerton amp for both. In the short time I compared them, I couldn't hear an immediate difference. That wasn't the case when I ran the same test with my Prism DAC at home. The Mojo was clearly not able to depict the same degree of resolution. But it got WAY closer than any other portable I've heard. It's definitely the first in its class to potray some of the spacial information of the recorded environment. That kind of clarity makes the $600 asking price easy to justify.
     
  3. nnotis

    nnotis New

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    But not all is great. Presumably to give the Mojo enough gain to get HD800s listenable, the Mojo's amp has a clearly audible noise floor with my JHA Roxannes. While it's more quiet than most recording floors, it's still annoying. I don't blame Chord for this though, as they know dozens of fools on Head-Fi would go berserk if it didn't push the HD800s loud enough. So instead of being the holy grail of portable IEM use, it's just a really good all rounder. They have to make what consumers want. I could almost see the foam bubbling out the mouths of Head-Fiers when I suggested it was silly to drive the HD800s from a portable.
     
  4. Headfonia_L

    Headfonia_L MOT: Lieven from Headfonia

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    Sorry for the late reply on this. Nathan wrote the Mojo article and while I think Mojo is great I don't share all of his views and that's perfectly fine.
    I have the HD800 in my collection and while I think it sounds fun out of the Mojo, I don't think it sounds great (heck the Hugo even sounds a lot better). Sure the HD800 sounds way better on my Vio setup or my 300B or even a couple of my OTLs, but a lot of people simply seem to like the HD800 straight out of the Mojo.

    It's perfectly normal for you to think otherwise, even I do, but don't blame that on Headfonia. Giving no love because someone thinks different then you yourself is a bit easy. ;-) Blame Nathan or all the others who like the combo on here and on Headfi. Or maybe you should blame yourself for not having the same opinion as others ;)

    The reason a lot of people are on here is because they "don't feel at home" at other places, so it's kind of logic people here are not the biggest fans of HF, Headfonics, Headfonia, Innerfidelity, Inearspace, etc etc etc. And again, that's perfectly fine. I'm certainly not here to change your mind.

    I'd say the most important thing is to enjoy your HD800, no matter how that is for you, and don't get all excited over other opinions
    Best
    L.
     
  5. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

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    Of course you are bound to be biased, given that you work for those guys! And that's exactly why I like it here as nobody is driven be commercial interests!
    Re: "Giving no love because someone thinks different then you yourself is a bit easy"; - well I have given an explanation. I don't disagree for the sake of disagreeing.
    I am just questioning if copying form the Chord Marketing material is the right way to review a product.

    And please - stop patronizing!
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2015
  6. Abhishek Chowdhary

    Abhishek Chowdhary Friend

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    Headfonia lost its credibility after the sponsored review of HD700, which in reality was universally approved POS.
     
  7. Madaboutaudio

    Madaboutaudio Friend

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    Tried the mojo. Just don't pair it with hd700.

    Didn't really like the sound of the mojo. Bass seems to lack meat. Treble seems really sharp. Even with the warmer hd600, It still has a shrilly sound. Transients sounded really fast though.
     
  8. Ryanr1987

    Ryanr1987 Facebook Friend

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    That's really strange, I find the Mojo quite warm. If anything people complain about it being too warm rather than the opposite. I personally hate shrill sounds and I am really sensitive to them.
     
  9. Madaboutaudio

    Madaboutaudio Friend

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    Mojo is quite neutral interms of coloration. Coming from my Yggdrasil & Master 7 dac, I am just not used to the kind of treble that has razor sharpness in it's attack which makes Cymbals sounds like "Tizz Tizz", instead of "Shizz Shizz".
     
  10. Ryanr1987

    Ryanr1987 Facebook Friend

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    I for certain don't get any of that. The Mojos I've tried plus my own is very smooth, sometimes even overly warm and smooth.

    What attracted me was the warm impressions. Not doubting your experience at all, just surprised I guess.
     
  11. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Yeah mojo treble to me is smooth. :confused:
     
  12. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

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    Both the Hugo and to a lesser extend the Mojo have a certain treble harshness when using the USB input.
    You won't notice this listening to vocals but by carefully listening to percussion instruments, i.e.. Hi-Hats where the Chord DACs are really struggling.
    They just don't sound right.
    I went through a great deal of effort to reduce this effect by investing in an USB/SPDIF converter combined with a Linear Power Supply to power it.
    This was an expensive exercise, but reduced this treble harshness to a great degree but not completely.
    It really looks like that the Chord DACs are very sensitive to USB noise. Again YMMV.
     
  13. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    Interesting. If you're using the Mojo with an iOS device, it might be interesting to stick a Jitterbug into the signal path (it should plug into the female USB end of the camera connector).
     
  14. OG10

    OG10 New

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    I ended up getting the Mojo, but use it as a DAC only. I have the Mojo Dac feeding my Valhalla 2 (With Gold Lion 6922) into my HD800, I find it a lovely experience. Some observations about the DAC compared to my firestone audio spitfire (which I upgraded from) The sound is far more resolved and the bass seems to be far more taught when it comes to crescendos and kettle drums. Though the Mojo is pretty darn ugly, the performance is making me a believer in their proprietary chip.

    To test OTL loveliness against SS, I listened directly from the Mojo, and it was like being drowned in velvety tar.. Nice but ultimately veiled and muffled compared to get V2. I didn't realise there was such a chasm of difference between SS and Tubes till this experiment.
     
  15. Madaboutaudio

    Madaboutaudio Friend

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    Here's Mojo's DAC Designer Robber Watts talking about the Mojo DAC design, Digital Audio Timing and number of TAPS
     
  16. Ryanr1987

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    So basically I was trying to find out if it can be used as a DAC only(I originally thought it could) but many are saying that you can't bypass the amp so it would be double amping, others are saying it can be used as a DAC only?

    I would love to link this thing to the Crack can anyone share some insight?
     
  17. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    My understanding is that the Mojo doesn't utilise a headphone amplifier in the traditional sense of the word and that 'double amping' is a non issue. I will try to find a reference...
     
  18. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Every dac has an analog section to boost signal to line levels. The mojo analog section is as simple as it can be. There would be no double amping converns.
     
  19. Chris1967

    Chris1967 Friend

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    I have the Mojo at home now for long term listening test.

    I confirm my previous comments.

    It seems to be sensitive to what computer you plug it in, so yes it is usb port quality sensitive (maybe this is why some people find it shrill, this or they listen with treble hot headphones).

    What i dont like is the small pause (less than half a second) in music playback when changing frequency. This is both from usb and spdif ports. I got used ti it after a while.

    It performs excellent from the digital coaxial jack, and i am using it with great success out of Fiio X3. This is my ideal portable setup.

    I have not tested it form Android phone, my usb otg cable seem to be damaged, i will get another one and see what happens but to tell you the truth since i have my old X3 using the phone is not so practical.

    It makes my humble RHA MA750i's really sing, and i wonder if i should get something better on the go.

    Out of my WIn10 pc/Foobar it sounds very nice, but it seems to best complement my modded HiFiMan HE-500's, an excellent match for my criteria. With the Sennheiser HD800's it may be too energetic on some recordings, and although it sounds very impressive, it may have long term fatigue on those phones.

    I am seriously thinking to order this.
     
  20. linto

    linto New

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    Love mine, use it with Z5 phone and DX90, I think the sound is pretty flat and I welcome that is
    doesn't have overblown bass that so many portable products are plagued by,

    The only downside is the form, therefore it's not really portable. Use it on the train yes,
    use it when walking about no.

    They should have included OTG USB cable, that would have saved about a zillion Head Fi posts.

    It doesn't sound better than my 901/minibox, but it's close

    As my left ear looks like it might be permanently buggered, might put some of this stuff up for sale soon
    Heartbreaking, really.
    The Mojo I am testing wth Win10 for Chord so that can't be sold. Or if I do the money will go to charity.
     

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