Chord "Mojo"

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

  1. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    Fair, I love the WM1A but no Tidal was a deal breaker.

    But if you needed something to go in a pocket I think it’s not quite fair to say they’re all worthless... I wanted something for trains and flying mainly though while walking around is nice too. Desktop options are unviable there and something like a Mojo or GOV2+ makes sense.
     
  2. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    in general, the above is a favorite line in any impression post. because ya know-
    a laptop's headphone output is so bad almost anything will be better. damning with faint praise.

    awesome, sounds like you spent a lot of cash and it barely delivered.

    <insert applause from Head-Fi here>
    <insert laughter from SBAF here>
     
  3. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    That could be ... although it's so hard to say because I have nothing to compare to. Ideally I'd have gotten a Modi Multibit/Magni and then compared, but ultimately I decided I'll probably want to get more of a Bifrost Multibit/Jot or better setup so I didn't want to duplicate equipment for now.

    For now, the mojo is an improvement with my P7s, we'll see what it's like with Aeon Flows - that could be the OMG moment or ... not. If not I have to decide if I want to keep the Aeon Flows! It might be better to return the AFCs and go with a Modi Multibit/Jot to be my comparison.

    Anyway, yes, so far the Mojo (via USB and with B&W P7s) is (only?) kinda better.

    I like it enough to definitely keep it, especially given it's much smaller than I thought, so is now definitely in my travel movie setup rig and makes hi-def music now possible! So that's a big step for me which makes it worth keeping for me but for you experts / audiophiles .... probably an eh.
     
  4. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    hey man, cool - if it is worth "keeping for you", THAT is what matters.
    so keep an open ear for further improvements and keep listening.
    rock on.
     
  5. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Meh, Mojo's not a travesty. It sounds decent enough. Don't mind the hand-wringers and garment-tearers.
     
  6. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Hey thanks - qq for you off topic a bit ... I noticed you have Audirvana - I would likely only use it to bypass MBP core audio, i.e., as a Tidal passthrough. do you think it's worth it to get for SQ improvements (via the mojo :))?
    Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2017
  7. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    Adurivana+ to bypass Core Audio, along with Integer Mode, larger memory buffer etc. help just a little bit.
    likely nothing earth shaking whether it's Tidal stream or file on disk.
    other A+ users on ComputerAudiophile site may be more vocal in opinion with 2 channel stereos instead of just headphones.

    Direct Mode was a nice A+ feature before apple removed that functionality from their MacOS IOAudioFamily kernel extension.
    the re-application hack to enable Direct Mode is a pain with so many system updates happening these days....
    ok, back on topic...
     
  8. Ryanr1987

    Ryanr1987 Facebook Friend

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    Mate what is your deal with the Mojo? every chance you get you jump in to slate it, if you don't like it just leave it. A guy wants to buy, let him enjoy it man and try it for himself. I get wanting people to experience something great but come-on, it's not like he's buying a Fiio E6 to pair with a HD650. It's a better device than you're making out.


    I own it, I like it. It's obviously not as good as a high end Schiit Combo but it just sounds good. It has a laid back, warm, slightly lush sound that I personally enjoy. Vocals sound more engaging than most combos I've heard. I actually find my Mojo more engaging than my Modi Multibit + Elise combo. Admittedly I like a warm, lush and dark sound and the Mojo sounds good with my Atticus for my taste. It's actually a fairly resolving device(Again not the best but what is at that price) not perfect but I can use it in any room or take it wherever and not have to worry. I find myself using it more and more without even thinking about it. Not everyone wants to try Schiit gear like the Fuller 2. I find the Fuller 2 thin, has that typical old Schiit sound I dislike that comes with the Magni series, Valhalla 2 etc, not everyone wants that even though they're good products.

    I think those looking for dark, fun, engaging easy to use, portable and versatile can consider the Mojo as an option.
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2017
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'd hang on to your Mojo and wait / save up for something that will be significantly better. I'm not a fan of the current Bifrost Multibit. I've told the guys at Schiit I don't care for it. The only reason to go Bifrost Multibit is for a future upgrade, which is bound to happen based on history. Keep the Mojo for its flexibility and enjoy its small footprint. Mojo isn't that expensive in the overall scheme ot things.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2017
  10. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    @Gruss Gott Don't mistake SBAF hate for poor performing, low value products generally for Chord hate (or Schiit fanboyism). We are here to save your ears and wallet :) The P7 which I heard were also shit sounding and poor value.

    We should rename the Hugo2 ”Chord Viagra". Two hours of artificial hardness is enough for anyone.
     
  11. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    wow, turns out my MacBook Pro has an optical out built into the headphone jack - who knew? So now for $4.99 I can avoid the Eitr and just connect optically, including to the Mojo. It's interesting because the mojo volume for all of my HPs is much lower on optical input vs USB.

    And, just because lots of people here will love this, I also succeeded in connecting the mojo to my Nexus 5 via a USB-C OTG cable and a short Anker powerline+ micro usb - but that's the boring part.

    The fun part is while I was messing around with all the configs ... I HEARD IT!

    Yes. That's right. I heard the very faint yet distinctive sound of cell noise for about 3 seconds; there was no music playing and I heard it - faint, but there it was ... and I know that's what it was because I used to work with Cisco on some of their communications stuff and spent a lot of time in their lab and we controlled for that all of the time so the second I heard it I knew exactly what it was.

    It was very tough to re-create and it's extremely low volume and short-lived, but it's there.
     
  12. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Btw, now I'm the Mojo hater on HF and i don't even hate it yet :(

    But there is some weird denial going on about the EMI problem. The Mojo has one. The end.
     
  13. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Yeah but the Mac limits the optical out to 24bit/96k or something like that, and it only sounds very slightly better than USB. It's so close it's almost indistinguishable from USB. You might still want to consider an EItr.
     
  14. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Yeah, that's a good point, I found that out too (although not a problem for me), plus sounds like optical has higher jitter problem, although a bit controversial whether that's audible. But the absolute worst problem is, the f'ing cables don't stay seated, so for that reason alone I'm switching back to USB
     
  15. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    @Gruss Gott - try running straight off battery vs powering via usb. Subtle improvement in my setups.
     
  16. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Posting this for any noobs like me that may come in wondering about the mojo and why some of the love/hate around it ... with a note that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

    I see (a little bit) why people dislike the mojo: it's a good portable DAC/amp, but it's got weaknesses and the company has an attitude. As for portable DAC/amps, I'm no expert, but there's basically the Mojo and iFi BL in this $ range and "mainstream" - tell me if I'm wrong (Torq's awesome write-up comparo of multiple portables here). Of the two, the iFi is much more versatile with the Mojo being smaller - sound quality is similar but different and comes down to preference. The mojo is vulnerable to EMI, and also may have some battery issues especially if it's not used as intended (portable). The iFi is a bit large and not really "portable" as much as "transportable".

    Having dug into the differing technology at purely a hobbyist level (but with a tech background), I'll say the Mojo is using a completely different path (FPGAs and "taps") to get to the sound coming out of your HPs, but I'm not convinced it's a better path. It's a more complicated path with more theoretical potential but that comes with its own risks, and while I don't have the experience or HPs to say the risks are worth the sound, I do think there's enough data to show the SQ is similar but different.

    So if you're paying a premium for the differing technology it should be because you believe in funding continued development in it, not because you think it's definitely delivered in SQ in the Mojo (or Hugo). For old people like me or tech vintage tech fans, it's VHS vs Beta or 1990s Apple vs Microsoft; in both of those cases the losing tech was "better" but less usable because it couldn't or didn't scale to be industry standard. Whether this is a similar case or not remains to be seen, but I think it will be ... but who knows.

    I wasn't around for the rise of Mojo so maybe the "new tech" hype got overwhelming and this contributed to people feeling strongly negative about it, including people feeling "lied to". For me, it's a bit of a style / substance device but it's also ultra portable, and as always, buyer beware, so if there was any "lying" it seems more people lying to themselves about magic beans, but that's a retrospective opinion so probably easy and wrong.

    Anyway, now that I have some run time with mojo (and could still return it), I would say it's $130 more expensive than it should be, but otherwise it's a good device assuming you know the limitations and don't think it's full of magic beans.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2017
  17. BenjaminBore

    BenjaminBore Friend

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    I’ve considered the Mojo many times. But it always seemed too expensive, with the non-user replaceable battery being an additional put off. Eventually I got to briefly listen to it’s big brother, the Hugo, at an event. My immediate reaction was a grimace, later describing it to someone as “digital sandpaper”.

    With the absence of any good alternatives I got my hands a little sticky, and taped something together that I may start calling BOJO :cool:

    [​IMG]

    It’s value and performance are pretty amazing, and it can drive the HD650 surprisingly well. The caveat of course being some external wiring, and that it is portable but not particularly mobile, though I still need to get some cables with angled connectors and a smaller battery to reduce it’s footprint. Both devices run from the battery, so it can be used with smartphones. The GO450 is a step up from the Fulla’s DAC, and is improved with the power coming from the battery alone.

    Cost me £165-ish, vs £350 for a used Mojo:
    -Schiit Fulla 2
    -Geek Out 450
    -External USB battery with 2 ports
    -Short USB Y-cable with one connector’s power pins taped over
    -Short USB extension cable
    -Short Micro USB cable
    -Short 3.5mm cable
     
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017
  18. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    Lmao! I considered a similar hack with my Modi Multibit, but the power requirements were too tricky.

    But what is the Fulla2 actually doing here? Max power is very similar to go450.
     
  19. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    yep. I have been comparing mojo vs Modi Multibit for 60 days. In the beginning I thought the schiit was better overall. But i noticed that mojo is less fatiguing, and in some tracks, it seems that chord little "viagra brick boy" can dig deeper into the sound layers and bring more info... Man, this hobby is for crazy people. Last week I discovered that i prefer my bRotherham Philips x2 than my Audeze lcd-2. LoL :bird:
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2019
  20. BenjaminBore

    BenjaminBore Friend

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    Yeah, I had similar thoughts. But I couldn’t see a way to portably turn DC power into AC.

    It’s being a markedly better more authoritative amp, with a big ‘ol volume knob. It’s also the only portable I’ve heard thus far that can do any justice to the HD650.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2017

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