Chord "Mojo"

Even if it did, you might not want to use it. Macbook S/PDIF out has been pretty terrible, historically.

 

On the upside, the USB-C out from the new MBPs seems a lot cleaner than the previous models. I'll have to measure it to see if it actually is, but it seems that way just based on what I'm hearing.

Not that I wouldn't still prefer to have the option of optical out there just-because.

And, of course, this does you no good at all if the device you're trying to talk to actually implemented the Universal Short Bus instead of the Universal Serial Bus standard.

 

Decided to just return the Mojo for a refund rather than getting a new unit. Shipping back to Europe tomorrow. I did like it quite a bit, but it was not so compelling (not to mention how kludgy it was to use with an IOS device) to offset my concerns about reliability of the USB input.

I will miss it a bit and am open to suggestions for a transportable/portable DAC/amp that can drive Senn HD 6x0. My use case is having a setup next to me on my bed or couch (or hotel room) as opposed to sitting on a desk. Should probably post for recommendations in the general advice thread and not here though.

 

I think you made the right call, @Colgin - it was just causing you too much hassle to be worth the effort.

 

I really like my Mojo, it fits my needs well. I actually use it for desktop use as well as travelling.

I don't think it is THE BEST option out there for all uses, but it works for what I use it for. Someone asked on the HF Mojo thread if the Mojo is good for strict desktop use, and I suggested there are better options (I listed 4 or 5) for the money for STRICT desktop use. I got shit on of course by the Chord mob, but it was the response from John Franks that I'm wondering about. I don't want to ask him, as I would probably be banned. He said

"You probably don't realise that Mojo despite its diminutive size packs more than five hundred times the data processing of those units. You might say essentially it's got a far bigger heart and brain than that of the larger bodied units your compairing it with."

Well first of all he sort of insulted my intelligence "...You probably don't realise..." which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but thats not the point.

Isn't the Mojo similar to DS DACS but with a custom FPGA filter? So maybe it has more processing power than the DACS I listed, but does the amount of processing power really influence sound quality that much? As long as you have enough processing power to convert from digital to analog, then the extra processing power shouldn't influence sound quality?

I could DEFINITELY be wrong. I'm not an electronic engineer. I'm just trying to understand why the Mojo is better than the sabre/off the shelf DAC chip implementations I mentioned. Are they inferior inherently? If someone who knows more about DAC design could help me understand I would really appreciate it.

All I know is that, for STRICT desktop use, the DACS I listed, that I have heard, were better sound for the money, and have better feature sets for STRICT desktop use.

I would have expected a better response from a Chord Employee than "..but muh million taps"

The DACS I suggested were

"-Resonessence Labs Concero HD
-Schiit Bifrost MB
-Emotiva Stealth DC-1
-Metrum Acoustics Octave mk2 (if you can find one)
-Audiolab MDAC
-Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC
-iFi Micro iDAC 2"

 

Well, in the end, I picked up a W1MA, as for a short time, I could get a new one here for less than even the cheapest import new ZX2 that I could find- and the European one uncaps easily. I don't know how it compares to the ZX2, as I haven't heard one, but.. it's not a small upgrade over the Mojo. Welcome to resolution city!

I don't want to say too much at this stage, as Sony stress that the caps need a couple of hundred hours to settle down, plus I need to have a slightly exotic cable made to drive the IEMs balanced. I'm pretty sure I'm leaving a lot of SQ on the table right now, and it'd be pretty stupid to pontificate in detail about how it sounds.

But... daym.

Oh, and it cost me a great deal less than a Mojo+Poly would have cost.. and that would still have sounded like a Mojo. Now I just need to work out what to do with the Mojo itself.

 

Some wonderful desperation in the full five-minute "it is useful, honest" Poly infomercial in Jude's CanJam NY video. And this is just a taster for a "full Poly video" he's going to do. I can just picture the kicked-puppy yelping from Chord that led to Jude trying to rescue this product for them.

(from 8m 36s)

 

Aaah, thank goodness for the "from" there, @pedalhead - I find his breathless monotone babble weirdly grating.

"It's based on a condensed high-level PC". Sigh. A lot of the random wibble in that video will be spewed by the angry Chord fans offended that Chord's products aren't being recognised as the second coming of Christ. Amusing that he's shilling the Shangri-La too.. clearly he hasn't cut Dr. Moist Poop completely loose. The Edition 6, too- Dr. M.P, hasn't posted on HF since ED6gate, it had sort of dropped off the map; I was wondering what had happened to him.

Anyway, I remain glad that I picked up a WM1A. The Mojo's sound isn't even in the the same postal district, the Sony schools it effortlessly, even over SE. It cost me less than the Mojo/Poly combo would (due to pulling the trigger before the price jumped back to the RRP ). The sound is so much better than it's not funny, plus the damn thing actually has battery life, too. I enjoyed listening to the Mojo, but the Sony sounds more like a decent desktop rig than a mobile phone on steroids.

 

Where did you get the Sony from? Cheapest I have seen so far is 1200 euros... For that price is better sound like desktop setup.

 

Amazon. The key bit that you just ignored was "due to pulling the trigger before the price jumped back to the RRP".

I paid less than £750, pouncing as I suspected that the price couldn't last, due to the buzz amongst American buyers importing them from Amazon UK. Once that initial stock was exhausted, the price leaped back up. I only just made it under the bar, as my unit had to be shipped from Amazon Germany, too.

 

I did not ignore it, it was irrelevant if others cannot buy it for that price . None the less, that was quite a discount you got! Doubt they will come down again too that price. Would be nice to try one someday.

 

I have noticed this issue as well with the Mojo when playing DSD256 material through Audirvana Plus. I have found that making sure the USB connector is completely plugged into the mac (such that it won't even wiggle) would alleviate the issue. I know this sounds strange but it has worked for me so far. Hope this helps.

 

It's not the USB cable, connector or how firmly it is plugged in.

The issue does not occur with OS X builds earlier than El Capitan, so while some of the issue is down to changes in Apple's USB support, the problem also occurs with various Windows machines, so it's not a uniquely Apple thing.

Part of the problem is, I'm sure, Chord's custom handling of USB. Another part is that the Mojo mutes on a DoP fault, which means very audible drop-outs.

The only consistent factor, even when trying different DACs, OS builds, cables, ports, players etc. is the Mojo itself. And it's only a factor for multi-rate DSD ... DSD64 works fine all the time.

 

@mehcans @Torq DSD128 and DSD256 files are stuttering on iOS as well. Tested on iPhone 7+.

 

How much is the mojo actually worth?

 

Depends on how much value you put on it.