Chord Mojo(1) DAC-amp ☆★►FAQ in 3rd post!◄★☆

[rkt31]

someone posted about mojo driving Beyer t1 600ohm easily. has anybody tested Beyer dt880 600 ohm with mojo ? I recently bought Beyer dt880 600ohm but could not test it with my Hugo as Hugo is giving trouble due to internal battery. I hope Hugo to be repaired soon till then any impressions of Beyer with mojo ?

 

[verber]

I have spent around a week listening to the Mojo... primarily using a HD800.  A bit of time I used a pair of Westone ES5 or fed the DACs into a Chord SPM-1200 amplifier which was driving Martin Logan Aerius speakers.  I did back to back comparisons between the Mojo, Geek Out V2, CEntrance HiFi-M8, and my typical reference which is a Larvy DA11.  Of course everything was matched within 1db. Related is that 1.5ys ago I wrote up my experience comparing the Hugo, DA-11, HiFi-M8 and last week spent a bit of time comparing the Hugo with the Mojo. Some brief notes of other options are on my recommended portable DACs page. All the comments below are based on the HD800... but I found my preferences with the ES5 and Martin Logan lined up with the HD800.  
 
Short summary DA11 / Hugo >> Mojo > GOV2 Balanced >> GOV2 Single Ended > HiFi-M8
 
I think people are over hyping the Mojo. Yes, it is the new benchmark for portable sound quality that doesn't have the Hugo's price tag.  Yes, for many people using the Mojo could be an end-game. To that point, the Mojo is my end-game because I have been moving toward a more minimalist/simple life... but that doesn't mean that it competes with the best DACs or is game changing. I have heard a number of DACs which I think are significantly better than the Mojo (or the Hugo). There are even "mid-range" components which will outperform it. There are other portable systems which have a similar price/SQ or get close to the same SQ at whatever price. Caveats aside, the Mojo is my second favorite portable DAC/amp after the Hugo which I, and many other people have found it quite enjoyable.
 
While I prefer the Mojo to the GOV2 running balanced, it was a slight preference. From a pure sound quality / cost, I think the GOV2 is a better value than the Mojo if your headphones are wired for balanced use or are efficient.
 
The only portable DAC in 2015 that I would like to try (because I think it could be equal or better sounding to my ears) is the Resonessence Labs Concero HP.
 
All of the DACs listed above had adequate power to drive the HD800 reasonably well, but none match a good desktop amplifier. For example,  a nice Eddie Current amp or a Headamp GS-X mk2 would provide an improvement in sound quality over the built in amplifiers.  Yes, I have read the assertions that "the Mojo doesn't have an amp ... just a simple variable line out. You can't get cleaner than that"  That may be, but the HD800 appreciate a larger P2P voltage swing that what the Mojo is able to do by itself, so a good quality amplifier will sound better... not because it's adding coloration, but because it is more capable.
 
I am not going to spend much time on DA-11 / Hugo vs Mojo because in every way I found the the DA-11 & Hugo superior to the Mojo, I know some people feel that the Mojo is an improvement over the Hugo, but I didn't find that at any time.  The Mojo was a bit warmer, but I felt this was a smoothing out of details and maybe some high frequency roll off, which I don't think is a good trade-off.  There are some people who prefer the Mojo's more euphonic sound compared to the Hugo but I am not one of them. The Mojo has better ergonomics for portable use and a much more reasonable price point.
 
The Mojo vs GOV2 running balanced was surprisingly close... which is impressive given the price point of the GOV2. Not surprisingly, the GOV2 was noticeably better running balanced than when running single ended. In general, I preferred the Mojo to the GOV2, though there were a few times that I found the GOV2 had better dynamics (especially in the bass register) and the GOV also seemed to have a bit better high frequency extension which at times gave it more of a sense air but sometimes was fatiguing.
 
I found the Mojo SQ superior to the HiFi-M8 in every way with the headphones I used. The HiFi-M8 might be better than the Mojo at handing headphones which are more power hungry than the the HD800, but since I don't own any of these, it's a moot point.
 
Here should be detailed notes... but I accidentally deleted them and am not going to bother trying to recreate them.  Below are some preliminary notes I didn't delete from my first day listing.  They might give a sense of how I thought the GOV and Mojo compared:
 
bird on wire - jennifer warners
gov+bass better dynamics 
mojo+cymbics crisp
 
aja - steely dan
gov more high end - sounds more open, but also felt a bit fatiguing  
 
street no name - u2
gov -sounded a bit lean, substance was missing
 
chesky binaural sampler
mojo+had a much better sense of space
 
get rhythm - ry coder
mojo+better separation, easier to listen for specific instruments
 
diane krall
gov2 - slightly thin... felt like something was missing
 
Shostakovich: Symphony #11 In G Minor, Op. 103, "Year 1905"
GOV2+ better dynamics for the drums
mojo+tone was more crisp
 
I will overcome - mastered by a friend, heard it live
Mojo nailed it.  Tone and space. Room had an echo which the Mojo captured perfectly
GOV2- sounded a bit  grainy?!
 
Symphony No. 2 "Romantic" (Allegro con brio)
mojo + smoother… but missing some details
gov more detail, but a bit strident (trumpets)

 

[NZtechfreak]

I did a volume matched comparison with the GOV2 and your findings echoed my own, not much in it overall with the Mojo edging the GOV2 in balanced mode and FRM filter (I also preferred the bass of the GOV2 at times).

 

[x RELIC x]

Great post verber.

 

[georgelai57]

After 7 hours driving custom IEMs, my battery light just turned red. Is this more or less what to expect?

 

[imattersuk]

  Hello:
      I had a great time at the meet in Connecticut. I figured out finally why I could not get the MOJO to work on my Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I just bought a new Sandisk 128GB card ad moved my music to it. I d=found if I moved my music to the phones internal storage it was found and worked fine. It could not find it and read it from the 128gb card?? So I can get it to work. I just have to figure out why Onkyo will not see it on my SD 128gb card.
 
Met Mrbucket and Skyyy. I had a great time. Heard the TH900 finally! Loed it and Listened to some Stax head phones and HD800. The best headphone for me was the DHARMA!!! I did enjoy Mr SPeakers Ether C. Very large sound stage and great sound. MOJO sounded great also!!

That is a strange one, must be specific to your model of phone. I moved all my music from internal to SD card on the LG G4, Onkyo & Hiby pick it up fine. Good luck getting it sorted.

 

[ahossam]

I've tried my cousin chord mojo with my dunu dn2kj, wow...just simply amazing, i will get this little amazing black box next month.

 

[imattersuk]

Great post @verber.

+1 and totally agree that Hugo is better than Mojo. I heard them together briefly and instantly found the Hugo to be more open and detailed, i'm talking within 30 secs of a quick 15 minute demo. I actually went to the dealer with the intention of buying a Hugo but he said hang on try this and brought out the Mojo he had received the day before, mainly because I went in with my phone +HA-2 stack. Also allowed me to take the Mojo on a 14 day home trial, it never went back because as good as the Hugo is the Mojo is spectacular value for money. At the end of the day Chord aren't stupid, there's no way they were going to produce something for a third of the price that betters a £1400 product, that would be commercial suicide so a bit of perspective is needed amongst all the super hyped up reviews / posts claiming that Mojo beats Hugo.
 
There's always something "better" out there but i'm very happy to have saved £1000 and means I can now have my PM3's plus a decent set of new IEM's, Audiofly A180's arriving today 

 
ps. I'm currently reviewing a very nice USB to Micro USB cable with Macbook Pro > Mojo, will post up a link when complete but I can tell you now it's a HUGE improvement over the stock cable that Chord supply.

 

[highfell]

The SE846 sounds wonderful through the Mojo (I have both).

And yes, there is some very low-level hiss with the SE846/Mojo pairing.  That said, it's very quiet, it isn't volume dependent (turning up the output doesn't increase the volume of the hiss) and the same hiss is also present with the SE846 through the RSA Intruder and ALO Int+ OE.

I had hoped the answer would be zero hiss. I have been holding off upgrading my TP10s with the Hugo until I find a suitable no hiss solution and wondered if the Mojo would work with the SE946. I guess it does for you, I just have OCD with hiss

 

[spook76]

I had hoped the answer would be zero hiss. I have been holding off upgrading my TP10s with the Hugo until I find a suitable no hiss solution and wondered if the Mojo would work with the SE946. I guess it does for you, I just have OCD with hiss

Not to gainsay someone but I am also utterly intolerant of hiss and the Mojo SE846 combination produces an absolutely black background. The only portable that equals the Mojo is Ray Samuels Lightning and Intruder for having a blackhole quiet background and trust me prog music as long as some songs are have a lot of very quiet passages for me to hear hiss.

 

[Kerouac]

 

  My Mojo has landed - now to figure out which IEM/CIEM to try first....
 
V6-Stage + Toxic Silver Widow?

 
Your Noble K10's, oh wait, sorry that was mean. 

 
The V6 Stage is a pretty good sounding iem (!) and I guess you've also read this post recently:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/684787/noble-audio-the-wizard-returns/16110#post_12072708

I'm on the fence for selling my own V6S, but only because its soundsignature reminds me too much on another totl iem in my collection and I like diversity for listening

 
 

 

Great post @verber.

+1 and totally agree that Hugo is better than Mojo. I heard them together briefly and instantly found the Hugo to be more open and detailed, i'm talking within 30 secs of a quick 15 minute demo. I actually went to the dealer with the intention of buying a Hugo but he said hang on try this and brought out the Mojo he had received the day before, mainly because I went in with my phone +HA-2 stack. Also allowed me to take the Mojo on a 14 day home trial, it never went back because as good as the Hugo is the Mojo is spectacular value for money. At the end of the day Chord aren't stupid, there's no way they were going to produce something for a third of the price that betters a £1400 product, that would be commercial suicide so a bit of perspective is needed amongst all the super hyped up reviews / posts claiming that Mojo beats Hugo.

Now, this makes sense...I always had a hard time believing that the Mojo would beat the much more expensive Hugo from the same company. Of course the Mojo has a very interesting pricetag (at only 1/3 of Hugo) and it's more portable on its own. Although when I read that many Mojo owners use it with an extra amp (so you got a dap + Mojo + amp stack) then I wonder: where's the portable benefit after all

 

 

[imattersuk]

You absolutely do not need an amp with the Mojo in my opinion.
 
The DAP vs Phone subject is a different matter.

 

[JaZZ]

  All of the DACs listed above had adequate power to drive the HD800 reasonably well, but none match a good desktop amplifier. For example,  a Headlamp GS-1 EC Super7, Headamp GS-X mk2 all would provide an improvement in sound quality over the built in amplifiers. Yes, I have read the assertions that "the Mojo doesn't have an amp ... just a simple variable line out. You can't get cleaner than that"  That may be, but the HD800 appreciate a larger voltage swing that what the Mojo is able to do by itself, so a good quality amplifier will sound better... not because it's adding coloration, but because it is more capable.

 
The famous «voltage swing»...

A buzzword with no technical meaning behind it. How do you actually know that the Mojo has a deficit there? And that the amps don't color the sound? I'm honestly interested in such an amp BTW.

 
Both Hugo and Mojo drive HE1000 and HD 800 with ease and to my full satisfaction – none of my amps does it better. I guess it depends on personal sonic preference and sonic ideals. To me every amp I attach to them makes the sound less accurate, but certainly more forgiving, thanks to the rounded edges providing a smoothness and «refinement» pleasing to the ears.
 
Maybe it's not easy to swallow, but euphony and accuracy aren't one and the same. Apart from that, some amps may indeed create a better tonal synergy with specific headphones than others, and this mechanism may also be in play here. But it would be a shame to not make use of the Hugo's/Mojo's unique feature to renounce a dedicated headphone amplifier in the interest of highest signal accuracy – there are alternative methods for modifying the sonic balance of a headphone to one's preference.
 

 
Now, this makes sense...I always had a hard time believing that the Mojo would beat the much more expensive Hugo from the same company. Of course the Mojo has a very interesting pricetag (at only 1/3 of Hugo) and it's more portable on its own.

 
Yes, I can confirm that: To my ears the Hugo sounds slightly airier, more refined and threedimensional.
 

Although when I read that many Mojo owners use it with an extra amp (so you got a dap + Mojo + amp stack) then I wonder: where's the portable benefit after all

 

 
Indeed!

 

 

[Jimmy6]

Hi all,
 
I just wanted to know whether I'm in the minority when I tested the Mojo with my Iphone 6+ using the Apple CCK. 
 
I got lots of buzzing interference sounds whilst listening to music. However, once I turned my phone to flight mode, all the interference sounds stopped.
 
I also tried the Hugo that same day, but interference was a lot less to negligible. The store owner stated that the Hugo has a thicker case ? But he also mentioned that I was the first to complain about interference from my mobile.
 
FYI testing both units, there was a slight hiss on the hugo with no music playing to which there was none on the Mojo. 
 
Cheers
James 

 

[imattersuk]

  Hi all,
 
I just wanted to know whether I'm in the minority when I tested the Mojo with my Iphone 6+ using the Apple CCK. 
 
I got lots of buzzing interference sounds whilst listening to music. However, once I turned my phone to flight mode, all the interference sounds stopped.
 
I also tried the Hugo that same day, but interference was a lot less to negligible. The store owner stated that the Hugo has a thicker case ? But he also mentioned that I was the first to complain about interference from my mobile.
 
FYI testing both units, there was a slight hiss on the hugo with no music playing to which there was none on the Mojo. 
 
Cheers
James 

A common issue that's been discussed on here a lot, it's my only criticism as Mojo is marketed as a mobile product. I plan to experiment with some different cables to see if it can be eliminated.