[warrior1975]

The amp modules is what sold me as well. I'm very big with eq, so that plays a role for me. Mojo sounds amazing. I can't really explain it, but it sounds different, everything is so natural to my ears. I hear details very easy, they jump out St you, in a good way.

Stock X7, with the am1 module I feel is terrible. It's underpowered and I don't like the sound because u am unable to add bass...

Root and viper helped a lot, but it still needs more juice. Enter the am2. Finally a dap I can use without a stack. Love it with the am2, plus the way I have it setup, it is damn near perfect. Add mojo into the mix, it improves.

Mojo makes everything better. At night, when I can't sleep, I put the X7 in pure music mode, and relax myself to sleep. I can also add mojo and it sounds even sweeter.

If I had to make a choice, it would be hard, I'd probably go with the Mojo. Only because I can almost duplicate what I can do with the X7 with my phone rooted. I'd prefer a little more power, but I can get by.

Mojo is very special, it's unique. That's why I'd keep it. It's really a tough decision. There are probably days I'd prefer the X7 though. I love walking, and it's great to use the X7 with the am2. It's enough power, no stack, plus the eq options make it awesome.

Probably doesn't help your situation at all.

 

[howdy]

The amp modules is what sold me as well. I'm very big with eq, so that plays a role for me. Mojo sounds amazing. I can't really explain it, but it sounds different, everything is so natural to my ears. I hear details very easy, they jump out St you, in a good way.


Stock X7, with the am1 module I feel is terrible. It's underpowered and I don't like the sound because u am unable to add bass...


Root and viper helped a lot, but it still needs more juice. Enter the am2. Finally a dap I can use without a stack. Love it with the am2, plus the way I have it setup, it is damn near perfect. Add mojo into the mix, it improves.


Mojo makes everything better. At night, when I can't sleep, I put the X7 in pure music mode, and relax myself to sleep. I can also add mojo and it sounds even sweeter.


If I had to make a choice, it would be hard, I'd probably go with the Mojo. Only because I can almost duplicate what I can do with the X7 with my phone rooted. I'd prefer a little more power, but I can get by.


Mojo is very special, it's unique. That's why I'd keep it. It's really a tough decision. There are probably days I'd prefer the X7 though. I love walking, and it's great to use the X7 with the am2. It's enough power, no stack, plus the eq options make it awesome.


Probably doesn't help your situation at all.

 

Have you tried the Onkyo DP-X1? The micro detail and separation is some of the best I have heard so far. It does not have the musicality of the Mojo but to me the Onkyo is one hell of a player and the UI is almost flawless. I have Tidal HIFI and a bit of 200gb of my own, mostly FLAC and some DSD.

 

[warrior1975]

No, not yet. I am considering ordering one as well. Looks like a great player.

 

[Currawong]

Some discussion of the Onkyo came up this weekend in Tokyo. I might see if it is possible to borrow one for review. 
 
Agreed about the Mojo though. I find it best from my iPhone and I was using that way at the show. Made a lot of IEMs, even inexpensive ones, sound wonderful. 
 
A big surprise of the weekend is that the new (beta) Head-Fi Japan Wikia site had my posts in this thread translated into Japanese!
 
Another surprise was the AK300 and a third that I have a loaner AK380 now (I'm way behind, can't you tell?). We had a interesting Sunday...
 

 
Yes, that's two copper and one regular AK380 with the AK300 in the middle. The copper version with amp is ridiculously heavy and sounds slightly warmer than stock, despite it having the same components inside. It isn't a dramatic difference, but there you go, every level of crazy the hobby can throw up on one table...though we didn't have any Final Audio IEMs with us to really complete it.
 
Don't worry though, Cozoy and Shozy are next on the list of things, along with L&P. 

 

[Wyd4]

The amp modules is what sold me as well. I'm very big with eq, so that plays a role for me. Mojo sounds amazing. I can't really explain it, but it sounds different, everything is so natural to my ears. I hear details very easy, they jump out St you, in a good way.

Stock X7, with the am1 module I feel is terrible. It's underpowered and I don't like the sound because u am unable to add bass...

Root and viper helped a lot, but it still needs more juice. Enter the am2. Finally a dap I can use without a stack. Love it with the am2, plus the way I have it setup, it is damn near perfect. Add mojo into the mix, it improves.

Mojo makes everything better. At night, when I can't sleep, I put the X7 in pure music mode, and relax myself to sleep. I can also add mojo and it sounds even sweeter.

If I had to make a choice, it would be hard, I'd probably go with the Mojo. Only because I can almost duplicate what I can do with the X7 with my phone rooted. I'd prefer a little more power, but I can get by.

Mojo is very special, it's unique. That's why I'd keep it. It's really a tough decision. There are probably days I'd prefer the X7 though. I love walking, and it's great to use the X7 with the am2. It's enough power, no stack, plus the eq options make it awesome.

Probably doesn't help your situation at all.

Thanks so much for the response mate.
I think I will just stick with the mojo for now. It makes for a slightly thicker stack but still compact compared to my old dx90+govibe portatube lol.

Plus sounds great with my Rosie's

 

[warrior1975]

Can't go wrong with the Mojo. Safer bet than the X7.

 

[LargoCantabile]

Can't go wrong with the Mojo. Safer bet than the X7.

Sorry what is the X7? To me it is a BMW model???????????????????

 

[ken6217]

 
Sorry what is the X7? To me it is a BMW model???????????????????

M3 or 328i?

 

[x RELIC x]

Sorry what is the X7? To me it is a BMW model???????????????????

http://www.head-fi.org/t/713735/fiio-x7-dxd-dsd-384k-64b-ess9018-android-amp-module-design-call-for-3rd-party-amp-module-developers

 

[Currawong]

Today's desk shot. The Sony NS-ZX2 is in for a week or so while I review the high-res LDAC Bluetooth Sony headphones. The AK380 is the Team Tokyo loaner unit. For the sake of comparisons, the Cozoy Rei (not yet in production) and Chord Mojo are in there for comparison purposes. The Soundaware M1 just received a firmware update as did the X5II.
 

 
Rough sound and usage impressions so far:
 
Cozoy Rei: Joins the Soundaware M1 as a possible Tera Player killer for those wanting a warm, organic sound. Unfortunately it sucks battery life from my iPhone pretty quickly, and that's before DSD playback is considered.
 
Chord Mojo: See my review. Still my preferred go-to, using my iPhone as the source. 
 
Soundaware M1: While a firmware upgrade can't fix a high output impedance (which causes bass drop-off in some of my IEMs) the battery life and functionality has been considerably improved. The Pro with Femto clocks may be the killer deal, as the regular Analog version already does a lovely job of balancing warmth and detail.
 
L&P L3: Dry, but dynamic-sounding. I have to refrain from trying to scroll on the screen, as it is more basic than it looks and the volume knob feel is very bad, absolutely requiring two fingers to turn, though it wont accidentally adjust in your pocket. 15GB of memory and only one micro-SD card slot may be a deal killer for some. 
 
Calyx M: While cheaper DAPs are catching up with detail retrieval, the Calyx still nails it as having the best balance of warmth and detail and it can really power full-sized headphones, if at the expense of battery life. Still a massive DAP. 
 
Shozy Alien Gold: Scratching my head about this one. Only handles CD quality and the functionality isn't documented. If it sounded like the Rei....but then it'd probably need a much bigger battery.
 
Sony NW-ZX2: Very dry-sounding, but destroys all the other DAPs for having full-functionality and lovely layout. Loses points for the proprietary socket, but it does have matching docks and other gadgets. If it were mine, I'd install TIDAL on it.
 
Astell&Kern AK380: My expectations were way too high for this. Unbelievably, the balanced output can't drive full-sized headphones as it distorts above 200 (out of 250) on the volume. The single-ended output is fine though. I guess the balanced out is only for IEMs? I think I'll have to actually read the manual this time...
 
FiiO X5II: Tries to get the most out of an original-iPod-style UI and sounds surprisingly smooth, but reasonably detailed and does a better job than before with headphone drive. 
 
Lotoo PAW 5000: Reminds me very much of a '90s Japanese CD player in style: Light, sheet-metal with plastic buttons. Unique in that it has balanced and Bluetooth outputs but is not at all expensive. Its best feature is for joggers, allowing the music to be slowed down or sped up to match one's running speed.

 

[Uberclocked]

 
Astell&Kern AK380: My expectations were way too high for this. Unbelievably, the balanced output can't drive full-sized headphones as it distorts above 200 (out of 250) on the volume. The single-ended output is fine though. I guess the balanced out is only for IEMs? I think I'll have to actually read the manual this time...

The balanced measurements for the AK380 are hilariously bad.
http://ohm-image.net/data/audio/rmaa-astellkern-ak380-24-bit

 

[Currawong]

 

 
Astell&Kern AK380: My expectations were way too high for this. Unbelievably, the balanced output can't drive full-sized headphones as it distorts above 200 (out of 250) on the volume. The single-ended output is fine though. I guess the balanced out is only for IEMs? I think I'll have to actually read the manual this time...

The balanced measurements for the AK380 are hilariously bad.
http://ohm-image.net/data/audio/rmaa-astellkern-ak380-24-bit

Indeed. I double-checked with Nathan in person about them because I couldn't believe it until I got hold of a 380 to try for myself. The ironic thing is, if it didn't have the balanced output at all, there wouldn't be an issue. Maybe the put all the power into the amp module and focused on low noise levels and long battery life in the built-in amp for IEM users. All the same, it is puzzling why they made it possible for the balanced amp to output a high enough volume that it distorts.
 
Something I tried right now which I usually do with USB DACs of any kind, was to play a CD-quality track from the internal memory, then play the same track as a DAC using iZotope up-sampling in Audirvana. For the AK380, that meant up-sampling to 384 kHz, which would bypass most of the built-in filtering done by the DAC or programming of the AK380. As has been the case with just about every DAP I've tried this with, the up-sampled result has been better, albeit still not quite as natural-sounding as the Mojo can produce. My feeling is that (noting that I'm spoiled when it comes to DACs, so I'm being very picky here) the AK380 sounds ever so slightly shrill with instruments, something removed by the Audirvana/iZotope up-sampling, which makes music sound more natural, without changing the overall tone of the AK380. 

 

[Takeanidea]

That's a huge

 
 
Something I tried right now which I usually do with USB DACs of any kind, was to play a CD-quality track from the internal memory, then play the same track as a DAC using iZotope up-sampling in Audirvana.. As has been the case with just about every DAP I've tried this with, the up-sampled result has been better, albeit still not quite as natural-sounding as the Mojo can produce. My feeling is that (noting that I'm spoiled when it comes to DACs, so I'm being very picky here) the AK380 sounds ever so slightly shrill with instruments

Thanks @Currawong , I must admit I am shocked at the results and have hitherto held the 380 on a pedestal , even compared to the Tera player and the Mojo. This was based on a brief listen at CanJam also before the Mojo was in production.
I was seduced by the lines of the DAP and the hires Rebecca Pidgeon sample no doubt.
That must be a real kick in the teeth for Astell & Kern, that a $700 portable dac coupled with a phone can trump it will give anyone visiting this way a pause which is what makes these shoot outs invaluable

 

[Currawong]

  That's a huge

 
 
Something I tried right now which I usually do with USB DACs of any kind, was to play a CD-quality track from the internal memory, then play the same track as a DAC using iZotope up-sampling in Audirvana.. As has been the case with just about every DAP I've tried this with, the up-sampled result has been better, albeit still not quite as natural-sounding as the Mojo can produce. My feeling is that (noting that I'm spoiled when it comes to DACs, so I'm being very picky here) the AK380 sounds ever so slightly shrill with instruments

Thanks @Currawong , I must admit I am shocked at the results and have hitherto held the 380 on a pedestal , even compared to the Tera player and the Mojo. This was based on a brief listen at CanJam also before the Mojo was in production.
I was seduced by the lines of the DAP and the hires Rebecca Pidgeon sample no doubt.
That must be a real kick in the teeth for Astell & Kern, that a $700 portable dac coupled with a phone can trump it will give anyone visiting this way a pause which is what makes these shoot outs invaluable

It depends what you value. I have two friends who bought the AK380 Copper without hesitation (see previous posts) and like it. I think it's a matter of two things: Taste (I consider a natural sound above all else), and what one is used to. My main DACs are the Yggdrasil, Hugo and Mojo. Once your brain has adapted to those, most other DACs sound unnatural to a degree IMO.  The other thing is convenience. Using a Mojo on a train with a phone is a PITA compared to using a DAP. Maybe I should do a whole post on using these on a train. I need to take the Sony headphones out at least once to properly test the noise cancelling anyway.

 

[d3885u]

Throw the HM901S in your DAPs Royal Rumble please...