[lolhero]

No cklicking in music, or other problems.. only between the tracks I can hear very, very quiet pop, but it is hard to hear... an it does not annoy me... maby they wanted to simulate vinyl experience it has someting to do with pcm/dsd coversion..

I am thinking, RU7 is around 345€ in my store, and I could get Mojo 2 for 450€, did anyone try how they compare on a set of IEMs like MMK3? Also I am not sure when people say very sensitive IEMs, is MMK3 considered sensitive? Thanks for all the help guys.

I am also looking at AFUL SnowyNight from @o0genesis0o suggestion, looks pretty decent. How did you find the sound with it? I am reading some reviews saying it's a bit sterile for more bright sounding IEM's (which MMK3 should be).

 

[o0genesis0o]

I am thinking, RU7 is around 345€ in my store, and I could get Mojo 2 for 450€, did anyone try how they compare on a set of IEMs like MMK3? Also I am not sure when people say very sensitive IEMs, is MMK3 considered sensitive? Thanks for all the help guys.

I am also looking at AFUL SnowyNight from @o0genesis0o suggestion, looks pretty decent. How did you find the sound with it? I am reading some reviews saying it's a bit sterile for more bright sounding IEM's (which MMK3 should be).

Like I said, in direct comparison against most dual ESS DAC I have in my collection, the AFUL is not edgy in the higher frequencies. Using the same IEM, in tracks that are sibilant, I hear milder to no sibilance with Snowy Night. In that sense, it is indeed "sterile." It should be noted that such "softening" is also there with Chord Mojo2 (from memory) and Questyle M15, so I think it is an advantage.

At the same time, this dongle does not intensify the lower midrange (adding warmth) or adding midbass punch like my DX300 with stock Amp 11 Mk1 or my old Shanling M6 Ultra. When I use bass cannon IEMs from FatFreq (Scarlet Mini and Maestro Mini), the amount of bass I hear from Snowy Night is noticeably less than from my DX300, though by no mean killing the bass response.

I say it is a neutral dongle with slight warm touch, just like AFUL own IEM to pair with it, the Magic One.

What I like about this dongle is the sense of space. My major complaint about the FiiO dual ESS DACs (nothing against FiiO, it's just that I have done A/B tests yesterday so they are fresh on my mind) and Topping G5's ESS DAC is that they sound 2D. When I listen to the same orchestral recording, the Chord Mojo2, Snowy Night, and M15 properly convey the sense of depth (near to far) and height (low to high), whilst the FiiO and Topping are mostly left to right. The KA17 can have depth when turning the desktop mode, but it would drain battery relatively quickly.

Tbh, I went to audio store yesterday fully prepared to buy either M15 or KA17, but I left with only a new lightning to USB-C cable for my Snowy Night.

 

[lolhero]

Like I said, in direct comparison against most dual ESS DAC I have in my collection, the AFUL is not edgy in the higher frequencies. Using the same IEM, in tracks that are sibilant, I hear milder to no sibilance with Snowy Night. In that sense, it is indeed "sterile." It should be noted that such "softening" is also there with Chord Mojo2 (from memory) and Questyle M15, so I think it is an advantage.

At the same time, this dongle does not intensify the lower midrange (adding warmth) or adding midbass punch like my DX300 with stock Amp 11 Mk1 or my old Shanling M6 Ultra. When I use bass cannon IEMs from FatFreq (Scarlet Mini and Maestro Mini), the amount of bass I hear from Snowy Night is noticeably less than from my DX300, though by no mean killing the bass response.

I say it is a neutral dongle with slight warm touch, just like AFUL own IEM to pair with it, the Magic One.

What I like about this dongle is the sense of space. My major complaint about the FiiO dual ESS DACs (nothing against FiiO, it's just that I have done A/B tests yesterday so they are fresh on my mind) and Topping G5's ESS DAC is that they sound 2D. When I listen to the same orchestral recording, the Chord Mojo2, Snowy Night, and M15 properly convey the sense of depth (near to far) and height (low to high), whilst the FiiO and Topping are mostly left to right. The KA17 can have depth when turning the desktop mode, but it would drain battery relatively quickly.

Tbh, I went to audio store yesterday fully prepared to buy either M15 or KA17, but I left with only a new lightning to USB-C cable for my Snowy Night.

Quality information. I am consuming like a sponge. The 3D sense you mentioned might be something I would benefit a lot when gaming and need to pin-point exact locations. There I can see this as advantage because often positions are not just left and right. Oh boy, it would be so much easier, if I would have any stores near-by to actually test this like you guys can, unfortunately I have zero - so I can only go by your suggestions.

 

[easylive]

I am thinking, RU7 is around 345€ in my store, and I could get Mojo 2 for 450€, did anyone try how they compare on a set of IEMs like MMK3? Also I am not sure when people say very sensitive IEMs, is MMK3 considered sensitive? Thanks for all the help guys.

I am also looking at AFUL SnowyNight from @o0genesis0o suggestion, looks pretty decent. How did you find the sound with it? I am reading some reviews saying it's a bit sterile for more bright sounding IEM's (which MMK3 should be).

If the formfactor of Mojo2 is not problem for you, then I´d take the Mojo2 instead RU7, I think it is a little bit better dac/amp and is much more versatile, I had it in the past, before RU7... by batterypowered dac/amps it has great price/sound ratio (by EU price about 450,-) or now is also Xduoo xdo5 pro very popular... (680,- on hifigo now..) but it is far from dongle size..

 

[lolhero]

If the formfactor of Mojo2 is not problem for you, then I´d take the Mojo2 instead RU7, I think it is a little bit better dac/amp and is much more versatile, I had it in the past, before RU7... by batterypowered dac/amps it has great price/sound ratio (by EU price about 450,-) or now is also Xduoo xdo5 pro very popular... (680,- on hifigo now..) but it is far from dongle size..

Yeah the size doesn't bother me that much tbh, however I am also considering iBasso DC-Elite, I am reading very good reviews on that one, and it fits the price range as well.

 

[o0genesis0o]

If the formfactor of Mojo2 is not problem for you, then I´d take the Mojo2 instead RU7, I think it is a little bit better dac/amp and is much more versatile, I had it in the past, before RU7... by batterypowered dac/amps it has great price/sound ratio (by EU price about 450,-) or now is also Xduoo xdo5 pro very popular... (680,- on hifigo now..) but it is far from dongle size..

Second this. Chord Mojo2 is one of the finest DAC I have ever tried. It also has powerful onboard DSP and even crossfeed to simulate speaker listening experience. It is also smart enough to switch to external power when used as a desktop DAC. There are only four limitations:

• 3.5mm only. It means if you happen to have a collection of 4.4mm cable, you need an adapter.
• I have compatibility issue with M2 Macbook. I haven't seen more reports online, so it's likely my setup only.
• Slight hiss with ultra sensitive IEMs like those from Campfire Audio. Shouldn't be a problem with Monarch III.
• The amp is not as good as the DAC. I'm not saying it's bad, but I hear better sonic performance when line-out it to an external amp. But we are talking about nitpicking and squeezing out the last bit of performance.

 

[lolhero]

Second this. Chord Mojo2 is one of the finest DAC I have ever tried. It also has powerful onboard DSP and even crossfeed to simulate speaker listening experience. It is also smart enough to switch to external power when used as a desktop DAC. There are only four limitations:

• 3.5mm only. It means if you happen to have a collection of 4.4mm cable, you need an adapter.
• I have compatibility issue with M2 Macbook. I haven't seen more reports online, so it's likely my setup only.
• Slight hiss with ultra sensitive IEMs like those from Campfire Audio. Shouldn't be a problem with Monarch III.
• The amp is not as good as the DAC. I'm not saying it's bad, but I hear better sonic performance when line-out it to an external amp. But we are talking about nitpicking and squeezing out the last bit of performance.

One thing that put me off Mojo2 for a bit was that I've saw a lot of complaints of a sudden white noise blow due to finicky usb connection issues - and many report it as not fixable issue.

 

[michael2v]

No cklicking in music, or other problems.. only between the tracks I can hear very, very quiet pop, but it is hard to hear... an it does not annoy me... maby they wanted to simulate vinyl experience it has someting to do with pcm/dsd coversion..

If you're using it with an iPhone, make sure not to select "Headphones" when first plugging it in and it prompts you to specify what kind of device it is. If you do, you can reset the USB settings (it's under "Sounds & Haptics" for some horrible reason), and at the prompt select "Other device." That made a huge improvement in the audio quality for my RU6.

 

[easylive]

If you're using it with an iPhone, make sure not to select "Headphones" when first plugging it in and it prompts you to specify what kind of device it is. If you do, you can reset the USB settings (it's under "Sounds & Haptics" for some horrible reason), and at the prompt select "Other device." That made a huge improvement in the audio quality for my RU6.

Many thanks, but Im android user, but for iphone users it will be helpfull for sure..

 

[lolhero]

would there be any noticable difference between using 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm unbalanced? Since Mojo2 only has 3.5 unbal. Would for example iBasso dc elite with 4.4 mm bal plug sound better?

 

[kalibri]

would there be any noticable difference between using 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm unbalanced? Since Mojo2 only has 3.5 unbal. Would for example iBasso dc elite with 4.4 mm bal plug sound better?

No, not really. I mainly use my mk3 with 3.5mm and they get loud enough and even when I tested with balanced connectors I couldn't tell a difference in sound.

In my experience when an IEM benefits from the extra power you can tell, the bass is fuller, the sound is more dynamic, etc, and the mk3 doesn't seem to care.

 

[lolhero]

No, not really. I mainly use my mk3 with 3.5mm and they get loud enough and even when I tested with balanced connectors I couldn't tell a difference in sound.

In my experience when an IEM benefits from the extra power you can tell, the bass is fuller, the sound is more dynamic, etc, and the mk3 doesn't seem to care.

It's weird though because I've been told by several people that the MK3's really like the high power because of that EST and so on. Mind I ask which DAC\Amp do you use with em?

 

[Click]

MMK3 does require more power than many other IEMs. Not sure what some people are talking about when they say it doesn't.

It's just not as power hungry as Symphonium IEMs.

 

[o0genesis0o]

would there be any noticable difference between using 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm unbalanced? Since Mojo2 only has 3.5 unbal. Would for example iBasso dc elite with 4.4 mm bal plug sound better?

If the same device has both, the balanced is usually better because the device has been designed so. I said usually because some devices and some IEMs do not show much if any difference. For example, Topping G5 is single ended only with a built-in 4.4mm “adapter”, so there is no reason why 4.4mm sounds better.

Tbh, if you go with Monarch III, just grab whatever dongle that reviews well and easy to buy.

 

[kalibri]

It's weird though because I've been told by several people that the MK3's really like the high power because of that EST and so on. Mind I ask which DAC\Amp do you use with em?

I have a drawer full of stuff but, my Zenfone 10's 3.5mm can power the mk3 just fine, so does my Q5K, BTR3k, BTR5, BTR7, iFi Go Blu, Fiio Q3, Shanling UP4 and UP5, etc all from 3.5mm.

I've tried balanced out put on most of the DACs above and yes, the mk3 gets louder but there's no perceptible difference in sound. The ZF10 and BT3k are not what I would consider powerful devices and the mk3 doesn't care.

There is the possibility people saying the mk3 needs more power were using under powered devices to start with, I have no idea what potatoes other people are using.

If I could trust what the Qudelix says it's outputting, 25mW is plenty loud for the mk3. All the devices I listed above are capable of more.