Chord "Mojo"

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

  1. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    As a noob with only a Mojo I'm trying to decide if I should get a Modi Multibit/m3 to compare different dacs & teach my ears or a val 2 & m3 to drive with the Mojo and compare amps... Decisions...
     
  2. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    I have the Mojo along with a Modi Multibit/Vali2. Truth be told I use the Mojo more because - portable. Invariably I end up sitting in a variety of different places. Sonically I think the Mojo is a bit warmer, though the Vali2 has a bit of tube vibe going on so not a direct 1:1 with the M3.

    If the logistics work, it will end up being a fairly inexpensive experiment all things considered, and you have a number of option/combinations (and you can add an Eitr into the mix to complicate things).
     
  3. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    I do recommend that you should buy Modi Multibit and Magni 3
    Compare than. If you like both, you will use mojo por travel.
    If not, you can’t sell anyone of them very kick
     
  4. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    It's definitely overpriced, but it's also a nice little bobble... I don't have the experience to say it sounds better than all others, but it seems at least competitive. Given that I think people just get religious and worship their little golden audio calf. Sure seems like that on HF. Anyway you guys are probably annoyed by us dotards but theres WAY more useful information over here so thanks for the patience
     
  5. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    Auditioned the Chord Mojo today. Neat device but for that retail price you have to really like it.

    The Mojo + Poly is a nifty combination.
     
  6. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    Can you elaborate on the Poly combo? I will admit that I'm fairly smitten with the Mojo - it sonically works for me and I kinda like the aesthetics. I normally am a "knob" kinda guy and had dismissed the digital volume knobs but find that it works fine and the glowing balls are somewhat mesmerizing. It also has played well with both my laptop and phone, zero glitches or issues. I find it to be a well designed, albeit expensive piece of kit. I haven't quite figured out the Poly value proposition yet.

    I'd love to be free from a laptop or phone to listen to music, but Tidal is my main source and the Poly requires a phone for control anyway. I could see if someone has a library of FLAC/etc that they can slap on a micro SD and run that from Poly, or if they have a Roon setup, but not clear on the advantages of Poly over a phone since you need the app as far as I can tell.
     
  7. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    The Poly additionally enables wireless streaming and it works. As long as the source can stream, being on-line or off-line you can stream anything you like at its native resolution (of the source file).

    I tried the Mojo + Poly with a tablet that was in off-line mode with Tidal FLAC files. Turn Bluetooth on and you can listen to music. Pricey but very neat.
     
  8. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    interesting, so you could basically turn your phone into a tidal "command center": say, connect the mojo+poly to a jot, plug in your headphones, then use your phone to control the music wirelessly ... that's kinda cool, but I don't know what the other options are ... that said, I could see buying that in the future.

    I don't have a DAP and the reason is my high-def music is Tidal ... but I could also see a future where you use, say, a Jot as the center of your system with pre-outs to powered speakers, phono out, balanced headphones, etc and you connect the Jot to a streamer DAC and control the whole thing from your phone. Then on the go you'd have a portable dac/amp.

    Makes me wonder if, say, a Modi Multibit with the same poly capabilities to take a high-def def stream you'd control via phone is the future.
     
  9. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Yeah, that looks like it, but spendy!

    That said, it's designed as a desktop unit rather than portable like the mojo ... I gotta say I still don't totally understand the Mojo use cases especially with the poly. It's like it's kind of a desktop leaning thing in a small portable shell ... but with EMI and battery issue preventing it from being great at either without lots of workarounds.
     
  10. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    I haven't experienced any EMI issues with the Mojo, and the battery will last the whole day. If I'm listening most of the day I'll throw it on a charger overnight. For me the main use case is that I can have my laptop, Mojo, and headphones anywhere in the house or work and use it with Tidal. Or have my phone, Mojo, and headphones and use it with Tidal. With my Schiit setup I have to be sitting next to it. Such is the desktop experience...

    My challenge with Poly is that I'm still having to deal with the phone, and I'm at a point where I don't want it near me for increasing periods of time. There are some DAPs that will stream Tidal (any of the Android ones, and AK stuff), but you can't download so you have to be on wifi. My unicorn would be a DAP that allows Tidal downloads so I can listen off-grid - though I suppose I could put the phone in Airplane mode and force myself off-grid that way. Only problem there is that I'm limited to about 100GB of Tidal downloaded music as opposed to what I could fit on a micro SD card with a DAP. First-world problems...
     
  11. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    What the hell is a unicorn and 100G??? are you going on safari? :)
     
  12. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    Shooting a unicorn is bad Mojo.

    "Unicorn" is slang for a product that is "perfect" (i.e. doesn't exist). 100GB meaning 100 gigabytes of storage.

    $100G (or K) isn't happening any time soon...
     
  13. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    ah, well I got the 100Gig, but that seems like a shitload of music. I supposed if you have a bunch of masters or something ... I haven't done many rips but mine are usually 1G max. You like traveling with a metric crap-ton of music is what I'm trying to say.
     
  14. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    My portable rig includes 200gb of space, about 5gb of which is unused. This includes only 25 albums above redbook bitrate/sample rate, and I really don't think this an unusual amount of music, and certainly not enough to qualify as a metric crap-ton, (if I understand that term). Storage is cheap, so why not use it if you have that much music?
     
  15. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Hey fair enough, I've just never been wandering around anywhere thinking, "you know what I need right now? 25 albums."

    But you're right, you can always pick just the right thing for the mood, so more power to you!

    30 days ago I would've never thought I'd be thinking, "heeyyy a transportable dac/tube amp. and only $1800!"
     
  16. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    You realize Poly costs more than the actual Mojo right? That's kind of spendy IMO for that. Yeah it has a number of features in a compact unit but seriously...
     
  17. aamefford

    aamefford Nothing like chamberpot coffee

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    The Mojo. It is what it is, and is pretty good at being what it is. Please don’t try and convince yourself it is what it isn’t, and you will be pretty satisfied with the Mojo.

    Unless you just plain hate the Mojo or all things Chord.

    IS - a pretty decent and versatile portable, battery powered dac/amp that works nicely with a dap or computer.

    ISN’T - A desktop dac that runs off of wall mains power.

    @Gruss Gott - definitely imho, get the Modi Multibit. That and the Eitr are the two most functionally impressive bits of audio gear I’ve acquired recently. Interestingly, the sale of my Mojo funded them. Sold because my portable rig just didn’t need another chunk of kit in it. I liked the Mojo though.
     
  18. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    I decided a couple years ago that I couldn't justify a very expensive portable solution, especially since it would've taken $ away from my budget for my music at home. A gen 1 x5 and an e12 stacked and strapped and a custom-shelled set of Um3x (the cost of which was sunk long ago). Total cost about $150 less than a new mojo by itself and my tin ears are happy. Probably not as good as the mojo sq-wise, but I think the pcm1792A implementation in the x5 is quite good. Amp section kinda sucks, but the e 12 improves on it sufficiently for my needs. Allows me to use a free phone w/ only 8gb of storage too as a bonus. @Gruss Gott enjoy your Mojo!
     
  19. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    gah! Now because of you porkers I'm waiting on some Th-X00s, HD600s, and I'm thinking of getting a Jot. I'm trying to find what all the fuss is about with these Senns even though I really need mostly closed back. If it seems safe, then I will ease into the Modi Multibit ...

    I gotta say, I am really enjoying the mojo and listening to albums again - with the Mojo the SQ is finally back to a place where it's enjoyable ... I don't want to shut off the tunes! And I'm just using my B&W P7s which I actually find better for me than the Aeon Flow Closeds and B&W P9s.

    But ... that's dotards for ya! Well aspiring dotard.

    I'm hoping if I work real hard and try to learn, then someday not to far off, people will call me dotard ... but that's far off, for now I'm focused on today.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2017
  20. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    I think you misunderstood, Otg I am carrying around almost 8300 songs including the 25 hi res (and I use that term advisedly) albums I referred to..I almost always listen to music on the shuffle/random setting so more is always better.
     

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