Chord "Mojo"

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

  1. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Or you could use the Fulla as an amp feeding off the Modi Multibit/Bifrost Multibit so you can make a direct comparison? Not that I don't think getting a Vali 2 is a good idea, it's on my "might get" list too.

    Thanks for the comparison! Don't think I'll be needing endgame-level performance for going out and about, just something competent, so the Fulla sounds right up my alley.
     
  2. klyrish

    klyrish Facebook Friend

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    That's a great point AND would keep another $150 + shipping in my pocket while I evaluated...
     
  3. Shazb0t

    Shazb0t New

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    Have you gotten a Modi Multibit and fed it S/PDIF using the Behringer? What do you make of the U-Control? It looks like an interesting alternative to an Eitr.
     
  4. klyrish

    klyrish Facebook Friend

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    I haven't yet. I've been waiting for the Magni 3 to come back in stock as I decided to move ahead with that amp instead of the Vali 2 for the time being. I'm intrigued by tube amps but I'm not ready to take the plunge yet.

    Magni 3 is supposedly backordered to today...I've been refreshing the product page all morning so far with no change in status. Once it's back in stock, I'll make the order. I contacted the third-party seller on Amazon I bought the Mojo from and explained that I was curious about the return policy since I wanted to compare the Mojo to another DAC potentially. He said that as long as I returned it in excellent condition with full packaging, he'd waive the 20% restocking fee, so that's a relief.

    So far, I'm really liking this Behringer U-Control adapter. I've had 0 issues with it feeding the Mojo and as far as I can tell, it does everything the Eitr does for $145 less. It's not as pretty either, but I'm okay with that. :)
     
  5. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    The website doesn't stay up to date. You need to e-mail Schiit for latest availability status. Jason Stoddard of Schiit has said this several times over on Head-Fi.
     
  6. klyrish

    klyrish Facebook Friend

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    Thanks. I don't spend much time at Head-Fi so I wasn't aware of that. Email has been sent.
     
  7. klyrish

    klyrish Facebook Friend

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    Heard back from Laura Z: The Magni 3 is currently in production, however due to the number of backorders, it could take several business days before a new order is available to ship.

    I totally forgot about B-stock and I see they have both Modi Multibit and Vali 2 available for $50 less than the new versions, so I'm thinking I'm going to pull the trigger on those. Only downside is that there's no return on them so I sure hope I like them...
     
  8. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    Does anyone have a suggestion on a good portable source with access to Spotify for Mojo that isn't an Android phone? Or has an output that isn't USB? Even with bitperfect output, Android just isn't that great. Why doesn't anyone make a stripped down Android-based portable source with multiple digital outputs? Chord Poly looks really nice but I don't think I'd ever pay more than $250 for one, much less $750...

    Now that I picked up SDAC+MCTH, I don't need to burn out Mojo's battery letting it sit at my desk running all day long. But I do use it pretty extensively in the lab with my ER4XR, I can roll around the lab without hearing our cryogenic trap banging away (CLAchunk CLAchunk CLAchunk...) or the 1500Hz whine of the vacuum pumps. I know it gets better than Android USB out, running things through a Regen or Wyrd definitely brings more resolution and bass extension forward but that's not a mobile option. The question is does it get better for a price I can afford?
     
  9. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    If you want Spotify from a portable source, then it's either something running iOS or Android, or a laptop. Doesn't have to be a phone, but there are no devices I'm aware of that have anything akin to a custom OS and a native Spotify client for it.

    Avoiding the phone part is easy ...

    The Fiio X5iii, at about $350, will do what you want via COAX S/PDIF, and it bypasses the stock Android audio stack. Though there are some caveats:
    • Make sure they've fixed the WiFi disconnection while streaming issue. It first cropped up in firmware 1.1.5, and they're on 1.2.1 now, so there's a good chance it has been - but check to make sure.
    • When I still had one, it could NOT drive it's COAX S/PDIF output above 24/96 (you could send 24/192, but it'd be full of drop-outs and static/noise so there was no point).
    • You might find you like it's native output better than Mojo ...
     
  10. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Holy thread necro, Batman!

    I noticed this in a refreshingly honest for-sale ad on HF:
    Ouch.

    I mean, we're were well used to the terrible RF rejection and thermal issues of the base Mojo, but it seems that the unlovely frankencombo has some extra issues too. The fact that they haven't come up is probably because most of us who have had Mojos have moved onto something better- that's a net positive, I suppose. Still though, there's a tiny bit of me tempted to peek at the relevant threads to see the Rob Watts fluffers telling people they're holding it wrong.

    Edit:

    Oldish, but this is interesting:

    https://jeremylaurenson.wordpress.c...e-chord-for-poly-its-disignconsultants-issue/

    I wonder how GPL-compliant the Poly is, and if they've bought their exemptions for stuff like the DLNA server.

    Edit the second:

    Umm?

    https://chordelectronics.co.uk/chor...figuration-app-app-store-google-play-store-2/
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2018
  11. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    I saw one for sale for just 11k PHP (~$207) yesterday and was strongly tempted to pick it up, once again thankful that I need a damn good reason to spend any more money than strictly necessary nowadays. Remarkable to see what's become of the precipitator of the single biggest instance of FOTM-ery in this hobby I've ever borne witness to.

    In the months that I had one on hand I thought it an excellent AIO, save for the aforementioned heat and EMI/RFI problems. The Mojo was perfectly capable of driving moderately inefficient cans (DT880 [250ohm], HD650), and to me was more technically competent than the Micro iDSD (silver), enough to justify the higher MSRP at the time.

    I wasn't the biggest fan of how its rolled-off-at-both-extremes, mid-heavy tonality paired with the cans I had then, but now that I think about it they might actually play really well with my current biodynas. Hmm, gonna check that soonish. Either way, I maintain it's an excellent buy on the secondhand market provided one uses a competent source.
     
  12. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    I ended up with a Cayin N3 to provide a coax signal to the Mojo and the difference between that as a source and my phone is fairly dramatic. With a phone, Mojo is pretty good but not nearly worth half the cost; with a clean dedicated source, I definitely see why the high asking price. Is it worth it? Eh, I still think it should be a little bit cheaper, but now that I see how competent it is, it doesn't seem as outlandish. It is very detailed and dynamic, coherent, and has a sense of ease like reproducing intense metal or deep bass is not even causing it to break a sweat. Hard to believe I've been carrying this beautiful thing around for years and just feeding it garbage. Mostly listening with Etymotics ER4XR. I am a bit upset that I can't seem to get the N3 to output a USB signal using an OTG cable to use it as a source for my SDAC+CTH>ZMF Classic rig at work.
     
  13. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    I've had my Mojo for years now, and while I find a lot to love about it, I've always had some degree of nervosa regarding finding the right transport for it as it is sensitive to the input quality, and USB from a phone has always been kind of a crapshoot depending on the quality of the USB cable.

    Recently, I came across and picked up this neat little device, xDuoo X10T II, which is a portable, digital-only transport. It's a niche product, for sure, and I think the only one of its kind, at least in this price range. There's no information on this forum about it, and even though I'm pretty sure no one around here gives one single shit about my opinions, I'm going to write some words about it. I'm also gonna do it in this thread because I don't think it deserves its own thread.

    It has no DAC, no analog output whatsoever. It needs to be paired either with Bluetooth headphones (supports apt-X) or a DAC/amp to actually do anything. It supports most PCM and DSD, although the specific formats I'm not sure about since I pretty much use mp3 and FLAC exclusively. It has a single SD card slot which supports up to 256GB, which just seems stupidly low, however, people have reported using up to 400GB cards with no issues--I think the real problem here is that storing too much on the device can cause some of the higher bitrate DSD files to stutter, so sayeth the user manual. It has three outputs: USB C (also charge port and SPDIF coax), a mini three-pin AES jack, and a 3.5mm jack that doubles as a SPDIF coax and Toslink mini output. Through its USB port it can also support reading from external drives, or can be used as a USB to AES/SPDIF converter (requires PC drivers, didn't work properly with UAPP from my phone unfortunately). It comes with a nice array of various digital cables for connecting to whatever DAC you're using it with. Physically, it's a very attractive unit, with good size and weight, a nice metal body with a good quality feel, and a cheap-ish feeling faux leather slide-on case. Cost was around $200 shipped directly from China.

    Since this is only a transport, there isn't much to say in the way of a review, except that I simply have never heard my Mojo sound so good. Using the xDuoo > Mojo combo, the sound is cleaner, clearer, fuller, faster, more focused with better rendering of spatial cues, more subtle, less congested, and with more microdynamics and more detail retrieval than I've ever heard my Mojo output. Subbass and midbass in particular are more textured and dynamic than I've ever heard from Mojo. Snare drums which tend to get smoothed over by cheaper gear now sound sharp and natural. I should mention that I haven't heard a ton of different transports with Mojo (PCs, laptops, phones, Eitr, and a Cayin N3), so I can't reasonably claim that this is as good as it gets... but it's as good as I've ever heard it. My only real complaint so far is that 15 hours of battery life seems like an exaggeration, although hi-res content might be responsible for some diminished battery time.

    I have no particular love for Chinese budget brands like xDuoo (what the f**k kind of a name is that, anyway? how does one pronounce that? "ex-DOO-oo"? ex-doo-doo?), SMSL, Topping, etc., and I think that in general there are better brands to spend your hard earned money on. With this unit, they've done a fantastic job. If you're like me and struggling with nervosa regarding your portable transport quality, I do recommend this unit. For me, anyway, it has settled my nervosa and I'm content with the knowledge that, even if it isn't the best Mojo can sound, it sounds glorious--more than good enough for me to be satisfied.
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2019
  14. mykeldg

    mykeldg New

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    an Audio reviewer friend states that the Modi Multibit, after the v2 Firmware update, now trumps the chord mojo.
     
  15. ohshitgorillas

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    As someone who owns both, I strongly disagree. Mojo is way more detailed and focused, if you've got a good transport for it. For a while I was using the Modi Multibit v2 in my office (CTH>ZMF Blackwood), but noticed after a while that the Mojo was just outright superior as a source, in not just resolution but also focus and dynamics, sense of space and imaging were also improved. so I packed the Modi away and took it back home and now use the Mojo's ""line out"" as my DAC into the CTH. Mojo can drive the Blackwoods on its own but the CTH takes them to the next level. I eventually want an Airist RDAC, but the funds aren't there since I just got Bifrost 2.

    Edit,: Also, while it's on my mind, a slight adjustment to my post about the xDuoo above which I can't edit anymore: I was able to get the xDuoo to accept a USB signal from my phone (UAPP) and convert it to SPDIF. It's a cool feature for when Tidal has stuff I don't, or has it in a higher resolution than my personal collection, but it does bug me that the device charges itself from my phone and this can't be disabled. In any case, I'm not frequently using this feature, but it is a neat thing it can do, and isn't even advertised as a USB-TO-SPDIF converter.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2019
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Most prefer DACs based on tone and synergies with rest of the component chain. I can't see MM being a good tonal match with the Blackwoods. The Mojo is far superior in terms of resolution, articulation, expansiveness, etc.
     
  17. mykeldg

    mykeldg New

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    would a sublimely measuring Topping D50S be a worthy contender vs the Mojo?
     
  18. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    2 days off for not introducing yourself and posting noise
     
  19. Abhishek Chowdhary

    Abhishek Chowdhary Friend

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    I thought MM owned the mojo in all those things.
    On speakers the difference is even more pronounced. Mojo just couldn't do microdynamics, speakers sounded blunt and shouty instead
     
  20. mykeldg

    mykeldg New

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    Sorry, I have not learned about this policy. Let me find that thread and introduce myself.
     

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