Chord Mojo Review
Disclaimer
Chord electronics has recruited me as a 'review captain' for Canada (I'm honoured) for the new Chord Mojo and provided a unit free of charge for review purposes. The unit will go on to other Canadian reviewers in the tour I'm organizing after I publish this review. This review is simply my opinion of the device and I am giving nothing less than my honest opinion.
Off the bat I have to apologize for this slightly long review. If you want to stick trough it I'll try my best to provide as much detail as I can and to articulate what I'm hearing from the Chord Mojo.
Introduction
Pretty much anyone who is in to high end Head Fi knows of the company Chord Electronics. They've been the purveyors of such products as the 2Qute DAC, Hugo portable DAC/amp, Hugo TT desktop DAC/amp, and DAVE DAC to name but a few. Over the last couple years Chord electronics seems to have been on a definite roll releasing highly regarded products to discerning listeners.
Lead by John Franks Chord has always been about uncompromising quality sound and DAC designer Rob Watts has been the leading force in their sound signature as the DAC designer for Chord. Rob takes a different approach to DAC design by forgoing the easy path of using off the shelf DACs from existing manufacturers and designs his own DACs in house (more later).
Of note was the release of the Hugo DAC/amp in 2014 for portable headphone use. The Head Fi community embraced the device for its transparent sound and drivability of a wide range of headphones. Since its release the Hugo has become a massive hit but there have been some barriers to its success as a truly portable device. First of all its size was a point of contention and though the Hugo was designed as a portable device many users have been using the Hugo as a desktop DAC. Secondly its price was not accessible to many users. Enthusiasts who would otherwise love to own a Hugo have kept away due to the price of admission.
Enter a new product form Chord..... The Mojo (Mobile Joy). No, I'm not talking about the candy I grew up with, or the magic sauce that gives Austin Powers his charm, or even my cat (yes, my cats name is Mo Jo). I'm talking about a truly portable DAC/amp device from Chord electronics with Hugo like sound at 1/4 the cost and a significantly smaller footprint, while still being designed and entirely manufactured in England. Whoah, this is a big deal!
Physical characteristics
Truly portable - Mojo continues with Chords unorthodox designs.
The Mojo measures just 82L x 60W x 22H (mm) and in the hand is quite small, I would say tiny really. The size however is not in any way an indication of build quality. The Mojo is made out of a block of aircraft grade aluminium and is superbly constructed. To hold it in the hand you feel a certain weight to the unit that defies its diminutive size. I'm still trying to figure out what they've packed in there that gives it such weight. Regardless, the Mojo is very solid and comes in any colour you want as long as it's black.
The design is 100% Chord.
On the front of the unit there is the Mojo name laser etched in the body with the Chord logo below it in a sculpted cutout. Above the logo there are the only three buttons 'balls' on the unit. The Mojo is designed for ease of use and I find the button arrangement is very easy to use and remember which button does what. There are two volume 'balls' that share the same cutout and the power 'ball' in its own cutout. Very simple and very easy to operate. Of course it wouldn't be a Chord product without the signature coloured button illumination.
The power button colour shows the sampling rate depending on the input source. There's nothing to set, nothing to change. What the Mojo is fed is what the Mojo reports.
Don't throw the box away. There's important information there.
The volume buttons change colour according to volume level. According to Rob the idea behind the colour range is related the colour spectrum of light. Red light, being the lowest volume, relates to infrared light which is relatively harmless (like low volumes). The colour range of the volume moves through the light spectrum from red to yellow to green to blue to purple (harmful ultraviolet light) and finally to white.
Just a portion of Mojo's coloured volume indicator.
The nice thing about the Mojo is the volume has more fine steps than the Hugo. This is excellent as it allows the user to fine tune the dB output to their preferred level very easily (more on this later).
On the back of the unit is the regulatory sticker with the serial number (I Photoshop'd mine out here) and a link to the Chord Electronics website. There are four rubber feet attached and eight screws that mate the top of the unit to the bottom.
Groovy lights!
Output
Mojo's got you and your friends covered.
On the top of the unit there are two 3.5mm headphone jacks to share your music with a friend. I wouldn't recommend plugging in an LCD-2 along side a pair of IEMs, but for headphones of similar efficiency it's a handy feature if you like to share with your friends and family. The headphone output impedance is a mere 0.075 Ohms so even the most sensitive IEMs won't be affected with the frequency shifting from the headphone output impedance.
To use the Mojo as a DAC to feed an external amplifier one only needs to press both volume buttons within two seconds of powering on the unit. This sets the output to a fixed level output of 3V. You can not bypass the amplification stage on the Mojo (same as Hugo) but the fixed level signal is very clean and there is no sense of noise I hear when using the fixed level output.
Inputs
All digital inputs and USB battery charging.
The only way to connect to the Mojo is with a digital interface. On the bottom of the unit you'll find three inputs. I had a hard time hearing any difference between the different inputs and the Mojo handled them all well. It really comes down to what sampling rate and format your source can output.
1) Micro USB input - Capable of 44kHz to 768kHz PCM and DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 in DoP format.
Driverless on Mac, Android and Linux OS. However Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 will require a driver which can be found on Chord’s Mojo webpage.
2) Coaxial S/PDIF 3.5mm two pole mono input - Capable of playing 44.1kHz to 384kHz PCM (768kHz special operation) and DSD64, DSD128 in DoP format.
3) Standard S/PDIF optical TOSlink input - Capable of playing 44.1kHz to 192kHz PCM and DSD64 in DoP format.
Obviously Chord wants the DAC to be the focus of the device. Though there are all the standard digital inputs for a mobile stack I must point out that it would have been nice to receive some digital interconnect cables in the box along with the main unit. I could see including an OTG cable, and a 3.5mm mono coaxial adapter or short cable, and a short optical interconnect or adaptor as very useful accessories.
In my opinion the short supplied micro USB cable is a hair too short for my iPhone 5s and camera connection kit (CCK). The bulk of the CCK and thickness of the supplied USB cable make it a bit awkward and I worry about stressing the USB input because of this.
I do find the inputs on the Mojo to be fairly solid although the coaxial input doesn't have a very solid click when inserting a cable. Not a huge deal and the plug isn't loose in the jack, it just doesn't have that stiff 'click' when inserted.
Battery
A reminder just how small the Mojo is.
Between the optical input and the USB input is the USB battery input. The battery takes about 4 hours to charge and has a run time of 8 to 10 hours. I've found the average run time after charging it 10 times to be approximately 9 hours, right within spec. There is no dedicated USB wall charger included with the Mojo but any smartphone charger or computer USB port or mobile battery pack with a minimum 1A output can charge the MoJo. Note that the included USB cable is ridiculously short to use as a charging cable. I suggest finding a longer micro USB cable for charging.
The included USB is very short.
I think it's very smart of Chord to have a separate USB charging port. Users may not want to keep their unit constantly at full charge when using as a DAC/amp in their desktop setups. I really appreciate this attention to detail and consideration for different users needs.
The battery indicator light below the battery USB port will change from blue then green on the upper end of the charge and then to yellow then red when the battery gets low. When the battery is depleted the small LED will blink and then the unit will shut itself off. For longer battery life I highly suggest not draining the battery to completely empty very often.
Usability
Mojo at home with the iPhone 5s.
X5ii with Mojo. Yes, I need a shorter cable.
The Mojo is simply a portable DAC/amp. You need a source for your music files and as mentioned earlier it only has digital input. The target audience for the Mojo is smartphone users but its capabilities can integrate well in a portable DAP and a desktop setup as well. It seems as though Chord is planning on making accessories for the Mojo to expand its capabilities but I'll refrain from any details until they officially announce them.
The CCK required for IOS devices.
For iDevice owners you will need to use Apple's CCK to output a digital signal to the MoJo, and for other smartphone users you will need an OTG specific USB cable to output the digital signal to the Mojo. Make sure your non-Apple smartphone is OTG compatible before attempting to use it with the Mojo. If wanting to pair a DAP with the Mojo you'll need an optical or a coaxial output from the DAP. Astell & Kern players use optical digital out while others like FiiO and Cayin use coaxial. The plug you'll need for coaxial is a 3.5mm two pole mono male cable fed to the MoJo digital coaxial input. For optical the input is a standard optical TOSlink port.
I used this adapter to test Mojo's
coaxial input.
The operation of the Mojo is focused on ease of use. There are no switches, and the input selection is automatic. The USB input takes priority over coaxial input which takes priority over the optical input. When more than one input is connected the Mojo will automatically select the priority input. Simple, easy and effective.
The volume also follows the simplicity paradigm, which is to say Mojo remembers the last set volume and that is all. You can not set a default volume level when turning it on nor can you limit the volume output. At first I thought this may be a negative but in use I find that the coloured volume lights make it very easy to know what volume level is set the moment the unit is turned on to avoid accidentally playing music at harmful dB levels. Chord has smartly thought of the simplest way to use the Mojo.
As I mentioned earlier the volume levels have finer resolution than the Hugo and I asked Rob what the volume range is and this is his reply:
“Mojo’s total volume range is -70 dB to +18 dB. The low level range is from -70 dB to -34 dB in two steps per colour change (so each colour has two steps).
Then from +2 dB to +18 dB it’s in one dB step per colour change for the top level range.”
I should point out that in the lower and upper ranges the volume button colours change independently of each other while in the middle range, -34 dB to +2 dB, the volume buttons change colour together. I think it’s a great option to have finer volume control at either end of the spectrum.
General Information and Q&A with Rob Watts
Chords focus on the Mojo is to connect with the 3.5 billion smartphone users in the wild. Mojo is designed and manufactured entirely in England and is produced on a mass production scale to keep costs down. They have a lot of faith in this product.
When Chord first approached me to review the Mojo I had a flurry of questions, and seeing as I don't own the Hugo some of them were regarding the differences between the two units. Before the Shard launch event I reached out to Rob Watts with some questions, and although he was obviously very busy before and during the launch he graciously took some time out of his schedule to answer my queries.
Here is how the Q&A went:
Q: Were you able to fit the same tap filter length as the Hugo (26, 384 taps) with the same WTA filter in the Mojo?
A: "Mojo shares an extremely similar code as Hugo - the only change is the WTA filter is redesigned to accommodate 768 kHz. The new filter is broadly equivalent apart from this."
(Comment): When I pushed the tap length question with Chord they replied that "it will be a good while in the future before they publish this information, if at all". "The implementation within Mojo is different, but it’s not inferior to anything that we’ve done".
Q: In the Mojo presentation draft it mentions “Hugo like sound quality and musicality”. What differences in audio presentation would you say the Mojo has compared to the Hugo?
A: "Bearing in mind it’s use I have optimized the noise performance in order to make it sound smoother."
Q: The design for the Mojo began in 2012. Is it safe to say the Mojo R&D led to the Hugo until the technology caught up for the Mojo’s design target? Or, were they completely separate design goals?
A: “The R&D of Hugo and Mojo ran in parallel - the very first prototype (2012) was more like Mojo, then work switched to Hugo. Then I worked on Mojo in the background, with development getting really busy starting in Nov 2014. We built over 50 prototypes, as I had a lot of issues to contend with - thermals, charging, and getting SQ to be identical when charging were major headaches."
Q: Does the Mojo deal with jitter with the same DPLL as the Hugo?
A: “Yes, the DPLL is identical."
Q: I see the Mojo has an even better THD spec than the Hugo.
A: “Lower noise means better measurements."
Q: Is the Mojo analogue section Class A like the Hugo?
A: “The actual OP stage is identical - same OP transistor silicon - but I used 6 small transistors in parallel rather than 3 large devices. It’s biased at the same Class A level."
Q: Does Mojo have cross feed?
A: “No cross feed.”
Thank you very much Rob!
So basically the analogue stage is pretty much the same as the Hugo while the DAC is tweaked somewhat.
From this I gathered that the Mojo is designed with Chord's typical focus on the highest quality audio performance with a leaning toward a slightly smoother sound for mobile listening enjoyment.
Did the Mojo live up to this hypothesis? Read on!
The Technology Behind the Sound
Before moving on to the sound impressions it is important to know about Mojo's unique approach to converting a digital signal to an analogue signal for driving headphones. As I eluded to earlier the Mojo doesn't use an off the shelf DAC. What it does use is a brand new Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA chip that is basically a blank canvas for Rob to program to suite his needs (the same approach used with Hugo's Spartan 6 FPGA chip as well as the rest of Chords DACs). This is a far more difficult task than the standard method of buying off the shelf hardware and plugging it in to a system (of course I'm grossly over simplifying here for emphasis). What this means is that if the output from his DAC doesn't suite his preference he has the flexibility (and know how) to change it. The challenge with the Mojo was that the diminutive design spec made it not feasible with the FPGA technology available when the Mojo project began in 2012. Chord had to wait for new FPGA tech that allowed the same performance as the Hugo with much lower power consumption. Chord says that this, and new battery technology, allowed the project to move forward once it became available.
Sound Impressions
The timing of the Mojo arriving at my door couldn't have been better as I have a break in my regular work schedule and was able to put in around 100 hours of listening over the past week. I was literally listening to the Mojo constantly, taking breaks only to compare to other gear and eat and sleep (sorry wife).
For the record I've never heard the Hugo so I have no point of reference to compare the Mojo to its larger, older brother. I have heard multiple other DACs, amps, and digital players over the years with many different implementations and I can confidently say that the Mojo sits right up there with some of the best that I've heard. The Mojo to me sounds very articulate and clean with a touch of warmth. There is an obvious attention paid to timing and control which gives the Mojo a laser like focus on the music it reproduces. It's a fast and energetic device with loads of power on hand.
Listening to Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven from his Unplugged Deluxe album I can easily distinguish Eric's guitar from the two guitars being played on either side of him. The vibration from the acoustic strings comes through easily and the imaging is top notch. I hear no blending of notes and each note is well defined. The bells that ring in this track are sharp as a tac and the decay of the sound is pretty much perfect in my opinion. When the backup singers on Eric's right chime in you can hear each singer as distinct voices in the chorus. The Mojo peers deep in to the music and Eric's toe tapping in the track is easy to hear throughout. This is some really good stuff.
Norah Jones is a special treat on the Mojo. Don't Miss You at All from her Feels Like Home album starts with a beautiful piano intro and again the clean and focused audio reproduction has me hearing the piano hammer impact and the resulting notes fade through the air in a way that immediately puts me in an intimate jazz club. When Norah begins to sing you can feel a slight rasp to her voice, the emotion behind her performance comes through clearly.
Moving on to more pop tracks with Lorde's Tennis Court from her Pure Heroine album the music is very well delineated. In less capable gear when the bass kicks in it seems to take over the track. Not so with the Mojo. Every instrument has its place and plays well with the other instruments. The initial impact and clarity of the instruments is of particular note when listening to this track. From the same album the track Royals has 'finger snapping' throughout the track which comes through clear as day. Sharp, focused, clear while not overwhelming. I see a recurring theme here.
Listening to the Interstellar OST is a pipe organ explosion of deep textured bass complimented with moments of subtlety that just feels right. The blackness of the Mojo's extremely quiet output is really showcased here as there are moments when not much is happening in the various tracks yet it's easy to sit back and lose yourself to the simple sound of a breeze blowing. When the complex pipe organ kicks in there is an abundance of texture to the notes, and a feeling of real weight and complexity. Simply gorgeous sound reproduction in my opinion.
The first album I load when testing new gear is always Pink Floyd's The Wall. This is one of those rare albums with such a broad multitude of instruments, background sounds, and emotion. The album is pure genius in my opinion and without writing a veritable essay on it I will just say that I've rarely felt this connected to The Wall's journey like I am with the Mojo. I'm not having to focus on what I want to hear. The multitude of sounds is simply presented in front of me in a such a clear way that I don't have to concentrate, but instead just listen. That's what I'm talking about!
I could break down every song I listened to but that would take this review an entire week to read. Needless to say that I am satisfied that the Mojo can play with a large variety of genres and didn't really run in to one song in my collection that I didn't like through the Mojo. Please see my song list at the end of the review.
If I were to break down the bass - mids - treble presentation I would put it like this:
Bass - Has good extension while remaining very fast and articulate with good impact when called for. It doesn't sound boomy at all and is very clean. I like the way the bass is reproduced and I don't feel like it's lacking. The warmth of the Mojo is slightly above clinical which suites me fine.
Mids - The heart of the music. Everything, and I mean everything in the mids sounds very linear to my ears. I don't find the mids recessed or emphasized. I don't find the mids to be lush or clinical. Depending on the headphone I'm using the upper mids seems to be a bit exaggerated but then I switch to another pair and it's perfect. There may be a slight emphasis in the upper mids, but then again perhaps some of my other gear has a coloured the sound and the Mojo is revealing the true nature of my headphones. In the end I've settled on the latter as to what I'm hearing going back to my other gear. Either way the mids from the Mojo lets you peer deep in to the music and the imaging is precise. It's very addictive.
Treble - The treble reproduced by the Mojo is very clear, yet not sibilant. It's present, yet smooth. I love the treble from the Mojo and have only heard this kind of clarity form one other source in my stable of gear, never mind from something so utterly small. I don't know how Rob and Chord have done this but I welcome the Mojo's treble with open arms. There is enough air and presence that it doesn't feel like the soundstage is too small nor is it too holographic. Just right in my opinion and very pleasant.
Overall a very well balanced sound with regard to frequency range with a slight warmth, a slight smoothness to the sound. My feeling is the Mojo will play well with a wide variety of headphones and IEMs. The timing on the Mojo is exceptional. Imaging is spot on and while the soundstage isn't huge it still allows the listener to get a sense of space in the recording. In case you haven't guessed by now I'm more a fan of imaging over soundstage by the way.
Headphone pairings
The family keeps growing.
The Mojo has impressive power specs and Chord says it can power any headphone with an impedance of 4-800 Ohms. Yes, from this very small device they have included class A biased performance (same as Hugo) for a very wide range of headphones and IEMs.
I've come to find that in general, more than other gear I've listened to, the Mojo allows the sound signature of the headphone to show through while at the same time enhancing their sound signature more than I'm used to hearing from each headset. Let me try to explain below.
Vmoda M-100
- volume, double red zone
I received the M-100 as a gift from a company I was freelancing for and it has never really been my cup of tea. I've always found the bass to be overwhelming and the mids recessed. With the Mojo I can actually tolerate them, no, I enjoy them for what they are. They still sound warm and punchy but it isn't overly fatiguing. The sound is still thick but Mojo helps with its clear timing and clear instrument separation. They still aren't my favourite but when on the go I'll pack them in the bag. Not bad.
AKG K550
- volume, barely double yellow
The K550 was my second foray in to Head Fi-dom back in the day and they sound very open for a closed can. At times they have some treble issues and can sound a bit harsh. With the Mojo the treble harshness seems to smooth out and the sound is warmer than I've heard them before. This is strange because I was expecting the Mojo, with its mids clarity, to make them sound a bit brighter. This is one of those enhancing shifts I wasn't expecting. The bass with the K550 still remains in the lower registers and the upper bass remains shelved a bit but the treble is an overall improvement with the Mojo. A good listen.
Audeze LCD-2.2 (pre-fazor)
- volume, low double blue
This pairing was a complete surprise to me. I've driven the LCD-2 with acceptable results from a portable device before but the Mojo really gives them the juice they need to have that, well, special 'mo jo'. The treble is clear and focused, the mids are ever present and frankly euphoric. The bass....... With this headphone its all about the bass. There is endless extension on the LCD-2 (depending on the source) and with the Mojo I find that the bass can go as deep as the track calls for. Instrument separation is fantastic and layering in the music is rather deep. This is one of my favourite pairings and the Mojo makes the LCD-2 sound like it was upgraded with faster drivers. Really impressive listen.
Audeze LCD-XC
- volume, upper double red
This is where the Audeze honeymoon ends for me. With the XC there is some emphasis in the upper mids and lower treble, and especially on my pair compared to its lower mids and upper bass. With the Mojo it seems just a bit too much and I find the XC to sound overall thin in comparison to being played from my other gear. This is strange to me because with the slightly warmer sound of the Mojo I expected the pairing with the XC to be a match made in heaven. Not so I'm afraid, another unexpected shift. I don't think it's a drivability issue as the XC is fairly easy to drive for a planar magnetic headphone. Still, what I do hear from the thinner, faster driver in the XC (over the LCD-2) is an extremely detailed presentation that really can show me the smallest detail in the recoding. I should also note that when using the Mojo as an external DAC to the Oppo HA-1 balanced out the LCD-XC falls back in line. This may be just a synergy issue. Overall a good listen.
JH Audio Angie Universal IEM
- volume, split lower red/blue
This is where the magic happens for me. Really, I don't think I've ever heard such beautiful music reproduction before, portable or otherwise. Similar to what was reported in the Head Fi MoJo thread with the JH Layla, the pairing with the smaller JH Siren Series Angie is very, very good. I don't know if it's the crossover in the Angie, the multiple balanced armature setup, the JH FreqPhase tech or simply the synergy with the Mojo. I could listen to this setup for hours (and I have). There are times I've needed to give my head a shake and just go to bed. One more track, one more track...... The sound is full yet textured, lush yet layered, clear yet impactful, detailed yet smooth. I love it! An excellent listen.
MoJo as a Desktop DAC
Mojo has no problem filling bigger shoes.
Given the Mojo’s clean DAC and detailed output it can easily be used as an external DAC to feed an external amplifier. I used the Mojo with the Oppo HA-1’s amplifier section with great success. The presentation is very detailed while not cold. Every instrument is well defined and there is no sense of sibilance or glare that I sometimes hear with the Sabre ESS9018 DAC built in to the HA-1. The recurring theme is transparency, timing accuracy, while at the same time remaining musical. This theme continues when used as an external DAC in a desktop setup.
Comparing the Audio-GD DAC-19(10th anv) R-2R DAC and the Mojo there is the same amount of detail from each unit but it's presented in a different way. The Mojo sounds more forward. Background sounds are a bit easier to pick out, more in focus. The DAC-19 has a sense of a bigger stage, more space and depth in the recording and a bit more timbre*. However the differences aren’t as large as I thought they might be. I wouldn’t say the Mojo is flat, nor would I say the DAC-19 is holographic. Neither is really warmer or colder than the other. It really comes down to a different presentation between the two, but they are close. Overall the Mojo plays louder to the external amp given its 3V fixed level output.
In the end I can easily recommend the Mojo as a desktop DAC.
* Edit 03/13/2016: Over the past couple months I've come to really appreciate the Mojo more for it's natural music presentation and find that the timbre of notes is more accurate on the Mojo than the DAC-19. This isn't obviously evident at first, but after more varied listening with larger comparison samples and different headphones, and more time with the unit, I've come to the conclusion that the Mojo surpasses the DAC-19 in natural music reproduction. It's difficult to pick out but it's there.
Conclusion
This review has turned out rather long and there is much more to say about the Mojo but I'll let others comment more about things like soundstage depth and height etc. I'm more about timing and imaging with my gear. What I hear from the Mojo is exceptional on both fronts. The presentation sounds effortless and different from most any other gear I've heard and I like it...... I like it a lot. The speed of the Mojo combined with its smoothness is something that I just haven't heard before.
Given the diminutive size and the amount of power in this tiny wonder I'm still having a knuckle dragging moment when trying to comprehend how Chord Electronics and Rob Watts have packed so much performance in to such a small device. For portable use I can't think of another device that is this capable of delivering this TOTL performance on the go at this price, and well above. If I were to sum up the Chord Mojo's sound in one word it would be "Veritas", Latin for truth and often associated with beauty.
Chord is right.....
..... The game has changed.
Thanks for reading!
Mojo Features
Mojo Technical Specifications
UPDATE, Feb 21/2016: Chord Electronics has allowed me to keep the Mojo tour unit free of charge. Although I had some hopes of this being the case it was not a guarantee when I did my review. To be honest I would have purchased my own unit if I were required to send the tour unit back. Many thanks again to Chord.
Disclaimer
Chord electronics has recruited me as a 'review captain' for Canada (I'm honoured) for the new Chord Mojo and provided a unit free of charge for review purposes. The unit will go on to other Canadian reviewers in the tour I'm organizing after I publish this review. This review is simply my opinion of the device and I am giving nothing less than my honest opinion.
Off the bat I have to apologize for this slightly long review. If you want to stick trough it I'll try my best to provide as much detail as I can and to articulate what I'm hearing from the Chord Mojo.
Introduction
Pretty much anyone who is in to high end Head Fi knows of the company Chord Electronics. They've been the purveyors of such products as the 2Qute DAC, Hugo portable DAC/amp, Hugo TT desktop DAC/amp, and DAVE DAC to name but a few. Over the last couple years Chord electronics seems to have been on a definite roll releasing highly regarded products to discerning listeners.
Lead by John Franks Chord has always been about uncompromising quality sound and DAC designer Rob Watts has been the leading force in their sound signature as the DAC designer for Chord. Rob takes a different approach to DAC design by forgoing the easy path of using off the shelf DACs from existing manufacturers and designs his own DACs in house (more later).
Of note was the release of the Hugo DAC/amp in 2014 for portable headphone use. The Head Fi community embraced the device for its transparent sound and drivability of a wide range of headphones. Since its release the Hugo has become a massive hit but there have been some barriers to its success as a truly portable device. First of all its size was a point of contention and though the Hugo was designed as a portable device many users have been using the Hugo as a desktop DAC. Secondly its price was not accessible to many users. Enthusiasts who would otherwise love to own a Hugo have kept away due to the price of admission.
Enter a new product form Chord..... The Mojo (Mobile Joy). No, I'm not talking about the candy I grew up with, or the magic sauce that gives Austin Powers his charm, or even my cat (yes, my cats name is Mo Jo). I'm talking about a truly portable DAC/amp device from Chord electronics with Hugo like sound at 1/4 the cost and a significantly smaller footprint, while still being designed and entirely manufactured in England. Whoah, this is a big deal!
Physical characteristics
Truly portable - Mojo continues with Chords unorthodox designs.
The Mojo measures just 82L x 60W x 22H (mm) and in the hand is quite small, I would say tiny really. The size however is not in any way an indication of build quality. The Mojo is made out of a block of aircraft grade aluminium and is superbly constructed. To hold it in the hand you feel a certain weight to the unit that defies its diminutive size. I'm still trying to figure out what they've packed in there that gives it such weight. Regardless, the Mojo is very solid and comes in any colour you want as long as it's black.
The design is 100% Chord.
On the front of the unit there is the Mojo name laser etched in the body with the Chord logo below it in a sculpted cutout. Above the logo there are the only three buttons 'balls' on the unit. The Mojo is designed for ease of use and I find the button arrangement is very easy to use and remember which button does what. There are two volume 'balls' that share the same cutout and the power 'ball' in its own cutout. Very simple and very easy to operate. Of course it wouldn't be a Chord product without the signature coloured button illumination.
The power button colour shows the sampling rate depending on the input source. There's nothing to set, nothing to change. What the Mojo is fed is what the Mojo reports.
Don't throw the box away. There's important information there.
The volume buttons change colour according to volume level. According to Rob the idea behind the colour range is related the colour spectrum of light. Red light, being the lowest volume, relates to infrared light which is relatively harmless (like low volumes). The colour range of the volume moves through the light spectrum from red to yellow to green to blue to purple (harmful ultraviolet light) and finally to white.
Just a portion of Mojo's coloured volume indicator.
The nice thing about the Mojo is the volume has more fine steps than the Hugo. This is excellent as it allows the user to fine tune the dB output to their preferred level very easily (more on this later).
On the back of the unit is the regulatory sticker with the serial number (I Photoshop'd mine out here) and a link to the Chord Electronics website. There are four rubber feet attached and eight screws that mate the top of the unit to the bottom.
Groovy lights!
Output
Mojo's got you and your friends covered.
On the top of the unit there are two 3.5mm headphone jacks to share your music with a friend. I wouldn't recommend plugging in an LCD-2 along side a pair of IEMs, but for headphones of similar efficiency it's a handy feature if you like to share with your friends and family. The headphone output impedance is a mere 0.075 Ohms so even the most sensitive IEMs won't be affected with the frequency shifting from the headphone output impedance.
To use the Mojo as a DAC to feed an external amplifier one only needs to press both volume buttons within two seconds of powering on the unit. This sets the output to a fixed level output of 3V. You can not bypass the amplification stage on the Mojo (same as Hugo) but the fixed level signal is very clean and there is no sense of noise I hear when using the fixed level output.
Inputs
All digital inputs and USB battery charging.
The only way to connect to the Mojo is with a digital interface. On the bottom of the unit you'll find three inputs. I had a hard time hearing any difference between the different inputs and the Mojo handled them all well. It really comes down to what sampling rate and format your source can output.
1) Micro USB input - Capable of 44kHz to 768kHz PCM and DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 in DoP format.
Driverless on Mac, Android and Linux OS. However Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 will require a driver which can be found on Chord’s Mojo webpage.
2) Coaxial S/PDIF 3.5mm two pole mono input - Capable of playing 44.1kHz to 384kHz PCM (768kHz special operation) and DSD64, DSD128 in DoP format.
3) Standard S/PDIF optical TOSlink input - Capable of playing 44.1kHz to 192kHz PCM and DSD64 in DoP format.
Obviously Chord wants the DAC to be the focus of the device. Though there are all the standard digital inputs for a mobile stack I must point out that it would have been nice to receive some digital interconnect cables in the box along with the main unit. I could see including an OTG cable, and a 3.5mm mono coaxial adapter or short cable, and a short optical interconnect or adaptor as very useful accessories.
In my opinion the short supplied micro USB cable is a hair too short for my iPhone 5s and camera connection kit (CCK). The bulk of the CCK and thickness of the supplied USB cable make it a bit awkward and I worry about stressing the USB input because of this.
I do find the inputs on the Mojo to be fairly solid although the coaxial input doesn't have a very solid click when inserting a cable. Not a huge deal and the plug isn't loose in the jack, it just doesn't have that stiff 'click' when inserted.
Battery
A reminder just how small the Mojo is.
Between the optical input and the USB input is the USB battery input. The battery takes about 4 hours to charge and has a run time of 8 to 10 hours. I've found the average run time after charging it 10 times to be approximately 9 hours, right within spec. There is no dedicated USB wall charger included with the Mojo but any smartphone charger or computer USB port or mobile battery pack with a minimum 1A output can charge the MoJo. Note that the included USB cable is ridiculously short to use as a charging cable. I suggest finding a longer micro USB cable for charging.
The included USB is very short.
I think it's very smart of Chord to have a separate USB charging port. Users may not want to keep their unit constantly at full charge when using as a DAC/amp in their desktop setups. I really appreciate this attention to detail and consideration for different users needs.
The battery indicator light below the battery USB port will change from blue then green on the upper end of the charge and then to yellow then red when the battery gets low. When the battery is depleted the small LED will blink and then the unit will shut itself off. For longer battery life I highly suggest not draining the battery to completely empty very often.
Usability
Mojo at home with the iPhone 5s.
X5ii with Mojo. Yes, I need a shorter cable.
The Mojo is simply a portable DAC/amp. You need a source for your music files and as mentioned earlier it only has digital input. The target audience for the Mojo is smartphone users but its capabilities can integrate well in a portable DAP and a desktop setup as well. It seems as though Chord is planning on making accessories for the Mojo to expand its capabilities but I'll refrain from any details until they officially announce them.
The CCK required for IOS devices.
For iDevice owners you will need to use Apple's CCK to output a digital signal to the MoJo, and for other smartphone users you will need an OTG specific USB cable to output the digital signal to the Mojo. Make sure your non-Apple smartphone is OTG compatible before attempting to use it with the Mojo. If wanting to pair a DAP with the Mojo you'll need an optical or a coaxial output from the DAP. Astell & Kern players use optical digital out while others like FiiO and Cayin use coaxial. The plug you'll need for coaxial is a 3.5mm two pole mono male cable fed to the MoJo digital coaxial input. For optical the input is a standard optical TOSlink port.
I used this adapter to test Mojo's
coaxial input.
The operation of the Mojo is focused on ease of use. There are no switches, and the input selection is automatic. The USB input takes priority over coaxial input which takes priority over the optical input. When more than one input is connected the Mojo will automatically select the priority input. Simple, easy and effective.
The volume also follows the simplicity paradigm, which is to say Mojo remembers the last set volume and that is all. You can not set a default volume level when turning it on nor can you limit the volume output. At first I thought this may be a negative but in use I find that the coloured volume lights make it very easy to know what volume level is set the moment the unit is turned on to avoid accidentally playing music at harmful dB levels. Chord has smartly thought of the simplest way to use the Mojo.
As I mentioned earlier the volume levels have finer resolution than the Hugo and I asked Rob what the volume range is and this is his reply:
“Mojo’s total volume range is -70 dB to +18 dB. The low level range is from -70 dB to -34 dB in two steps per colour change (so each colour has two steps).
Then from +2 dB to +18 dB it’s in one dB step per colour change for the top level range.”
I should point out that in the lower and upper ranges the volume button colours change independently of each other while in the middle range, -34 dB to +2 dB, the volume buttons change colour together. I think it’s a great option to have finer volume control at either end of the spectrum.
General Information and Q&A with Rob Watts
Chords focus on the Mojo is to connect with the 3.5 billion smartphone users in the wild. Mojo is designed and manufactured entirely in England and is produced on a mass production scale to keep costs down. They have a lot of faith in this product.
When Chord first approached me to review the Mojo I had a flurry of questions, and seeing as I don't own the Hugo some of them were regarding the differences between the two units. Before the Shard launch event I reached out to Rob Watts with some questions, and although he was obviously very busy before and during the launch he graciously took some time out of his schedule to answer my queries.
Here is how the Q&A went:
Q: Were you able to fit the same tap filter length as the Hugo (26, 384 taps) with the same WTA filter in the Mojo?
A: "Mojo shares an extremely similar code as Hugo - the only change is the WTA filter is redesigned to accommodate 768 kHz. The new filter is broadly equivalent apart from this."
(Comment): When I pushed the tap length question with Chord they replied that "it will be a good while in the future before they publish this information, if at all". "The implementation within Mojo is different, but it’s not inferior to anything that we’ve done".
Q: In the Mojo presentation draft it mentions “Hugo like sound quality and musicality”. What differences in audio presentation would you say the Mojo has compared to the Hugo?
A: "Bearing in mind it’s use I have optimized the noise performance in order to make it sound smoother."
Q: The design for the Mojo began in 2012. Is it safe to say the Mojo R&D led to the Hugo until the technology caught up for the Mojo’s design target? Or, were they completely separate design goals?
A: “The R&D of Hugo and Mojo ran in parallel - the very first prototype (2012) was more like Mojo, then work switched to Hugo. Then I worked on Mojo in the background, with development getting really busy starting in Nov 2014. We built over 50 prototypes, as I had a lot of issues to contend with - thermals, charging, and getting SQ to be identical when charging were major headaches."
Q: Does the Mojo deal with jitter with the same DPLL as the Hugo?
A: “Yes, the DPLL is identical."
Q: I see the Mojo has an even better THD spec than the Hugo.
A: “Lower noise means better measurements."
Q: Is the Mojo analogue section Class A like the Hugo?
A: “The actual OP stage is identical - same OP transistor silicon - but I used 6 small transistors in parallel rather than 3 large devices. It’s biased at the same Class A level."
Q: Does Mojo have cross feed?
A: “No cross feed.”
Thank you very much Rob!
So basically the analogue stage is pretty much the same as the Hugo while the DAC is tweaked somewhat.
From this I gathered that the Mojo is designed with Chord's typical focus on the highest quality audio performance with a leaning toward a slightly smoother sound for mobile listening enjoyment.
Did the Mojo live up to this hypothesis? Read on!
The Technology Behind the Sound
Before moving on to the sound impressions it is important to know about Mojo's unique approach to converting a digital signal to an analogue signal for driving headphones. As I eluded to earlier the Mojo doesn't use an off the shelf DAC. What it does use is a brand new Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA chip that is basically a blank canvas for Rob to program to suite his needs (the same approach used with Hugo's Spartan 6 FPGA chip as well as the rest of Chords DACs). This is a far more difficult task than the standard method of buying off the shelf hardware and plugging it in to a system (of course I'm grossly over simplifying here for emphasis). What this means is that if the output from his DAC doesn't suite his preference he has the flexibility (and know how) to change it. The challenge with the Mojo was that the diminutive design spec made it not feasible with the FPGA technology available when the Mojo project began in 2012. Chord had to wait for new FPGA tech that allowed the same performance as the Hugo with much lower power consumption. Chord says that this, and new battery technology, allowed the project to move forward once it became available.
Sound Impressions
The timing of the Mojo arriving at my door couldn't have been better as I have a break in my regular work schedule and was able to put in around 100 hours of listening over the past week. I was literally listening to the Mojo constantly, taking breaks only to compare to other gear and eat and sleep (sorry wife).
For the record I've never heard the Hugo so I have no point of reference to compare the Mojo to its larger, older brother. I have heard multiple other DACs, amps, and digital players over the years with many different implementations and I can confidently say that the Mojo sits right up there with some of the best that I've heard. The Mojo to me sounds very articulate and clean with a touch of warmth. There is an obvious attention paid to timing and control which gives the Mojo a laser like focus on the music it reproduces. It's a fast and energetic device with loads of power on hand.
Listening to Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven from his Unplugged Deluxe album I can easily distinguish Eric's guitar from the two guitars being played on either side of him. The vibration from the acoustic strings comes through easily and the imaging is top notch. I hear no blending of notes and each note is well defined. The bells that ring in this track are sharp as a tac and the decay of the sound is pretty much perfect in my opinion. When the backup singers on Eric's right chime in you can hear each singer as distinct voices in the chorus. The Mojo peers deep in to the music and Eric's toe tapping in the track is easy to hear throughout. This is some really good stuff.
Norah Jones is a special treat on the Mojo. Don't Miss You at All from her Feels Like Home album starts with a beautiful piano intro and again the clean and focused audio reproduction has me hearing the piano hammer impact and the resulting notes fade through the air in a way that immediately puts me in an intimate jazz club. When Norah begins to sing you can feel a slight rasp to her voice, the emotion behind her performance comes through clearly.
Moving on to more pop tracks with Lorde's Tennis Court from her Pure Heroine album the music is very well delineated. In less capable gear when the bass kicks in it seems to take over the track. Not so with the Mojo. Every instrument has its place and plays well with the other instruments. The initial impact and clarity of the instruments is of particular note when listening to this track. From the same album the track Royals has 'finger snapping' throughout the track which comes through clear as day. Sharp, focused, clear while not overwhelming. I see a recurring theme here.
Listening to the Interstellar OST is a pipe organ explosion of deep textured bass complimented with moments of subtlety that just feels right. The blackness of the Mojo's extremely quiet output is really showcased here as there are moments when not much is happening in the various tracks yet it's easy to sit back and lose yourself to the simple sound of a breeze blowing. When the complex pipe organ kicks in there is an abundance of texture to the notes, and a feeling of real weight and complexity. Simply gorgeous sound reproduction in my opinion.
The first album I load when testing new gear is always Pink Floyd's The Wall. This is one of those rare albums with such a broad multitude of instruments, background sounds, and emotion. The album is pure genius in my opinion and without writing a veritable essay on it I will just say that I've rarely felt this connected to The Wall's journey like I am with the Mojo. I'm not having to focus on what I want to hear. The multitude of sounds is simply presented in front of me in a such a clear way that I don't have to concentrate, but instead just listen. That's what I'm talking about!
I could break down every song I listened to but that would take this review an entire week to read. Needless to say that I am satisfied that the Mojo can play with a large variety of genres and didn't really run in to one song in my collection that I didn't like through the Mojo. Please see my song list at the end of the review.
If I were to break down the bass - mids - treble presentation I would put it like this:
Bass - Has good extension while remaining very fast and articulate with good impact when called for. It doesn't sound boomy at all and is very clean. I like the way the bass is reproduced and I don't feel like it's lacking. The warmth of the Mojo is slightly above clinical which suites me fine.
Mids - The heart of the music. Everything, and I mean everything in the mids sounds very linear to my ears. I don't find the mids recessed or emphasized. I don't find the mids to be lush or clinical. Depending on the headphone I'm using the upper mids seems to be a bit exaggerated but then I switch to another pair and it's perfect. There may be a slight emphasis in the upper mids, but then again perhaps some of my other gear has a coloured the sound and the Mojo is revealing the true nature of my headphones. In the end I've settled on the latter as to what I'm hearing going back to my other gear. Either way the mids from the Mojo lets you peer deep in to the music and the imaging is precise. It's very addictive.
Treble - The treble reproduced by the Mojo is very clear, yet not sibilant. It's present, yet smooth. I love the treble from the Mojo and have only heard this kind of clarity form one other source in my stable of gear, never mind from something so utterly small. I don't know how Rob and Chord have done this but I welcome the Mojo's treble with open arms. There is enough air and presence that it doesn't feel like the soundstage is too small nor is it too holographic. Just right in my opinion and very pleasant.
Overall a very well balanced sound with regard to frequency range with a slight warmth, a slight smoothness to the sound. My feeling is the Mojo will play well with a wide variety of headphones and IEMs. The timing on the Mojo is exceptional. Imaging is spot on and while the soundstage isn't huge it still allows the listener to get a sense of space in the recording. In case you haven't guessed by now I'm more a fan of imaging over soundstage by the way.
Headphone pairings
The family keeps growing.The Mojo has impressive power specs and Chord says it can power any headphone with an impedance of 4-800 Ohms. Yes, from this very small device they have included class A biased performance (same as Hugo) for a very wide range of headphones and IEMs.
I've come to find that in general, more than other gear I've listened to, the Mojo allows the sound signature of the headphone to show through while at the same time enhancing their sound signature more than I'm used to hearing from each headset. Let me try to explain below.
Vmoda M-100
- volume, double red zone
I received the M-100 as a gift from a company I was freelancing for and it has never really been my cup of tea. I've always found the bass to be overwhelming and the mids recessed. With the Mojo I can actually tolerate them, no, I enjoy them for what they are. They still sound warm and punchy but it isn't overly fatiguing. The sound is still thick but Mojo helps with its clear timing and clear instrument separation. They still aren't my favourite but when on the go I'll pack them in the bag. Not bad.
AKG K550
- volume, barely double yellow
The K550 was my second foray in to Head Fi-dom back in the day and they sound very open for a closed can. At times they have some treble issues and can sound a bit harsh. With the Mojo the treble harshness seems to smooth out and the sound is warmer than I've heard them before. This is strange because I was expecting the Mojo, with its mids clarity, to make them sound a bit brighter. This is one of those enhancing shifts I wasn't expecting. The bass with the K550 still remains in the lower registers and the upper bass remains shelved a bit but the treble is an overall improvement with the Mojo. A good listen.
Audeze LCD-2.2 (pre-fazor)
- volume, low double blue
This pairing was a complete surprise to me. I've driven the LCD-2 with acceptable results from a portable device before but the Mojo really gives them the juice they need to have that, well, special 'mo jo'. The treble is clear and focused, the mids are ever present and frankly euphoric. The bass....... With this headphone its all about the bass. There is endless extension on the LCD-2 (depending on the source) and with the Mojo I find that the bass can go as deep as the track calls for. Instrument separation is fantastic and layering in the music is rather deep. This is one of my favourite pairings and the Mojo makes the LCD-2 sound like it was upgraded with faster drivers. Really impressive listen.
Audeze LCD-XC
- volume, upper double red
This is where the Audeze honeymoon ends for me. With the XC there is some emphasis in the upper mids and lower treble, and especially on my pair compared to its lower mids and upper bass. With the Mojo it seems just a bit too much and I find the XC to sound overall thin in comparison to being played from my other gear. This is strange to me because with the slightly warmer sound of the Mojo I expected the pairing with the XC to be a match made in heaven. Not so I'm afraid, another unexpected shift. I don't think it's a drivability issue as the XC is fairly easy to drive for a planar magnetic headphone. Still, what I do hear from the thinner, faster driver in the XC (over the LCD-2) is an extremely detailed presentation that really can show me the smallest detail in the recoding. I should also note that when using the Mojo as an external DAC to the Oppo HA-1 balanced out the LCD-XC falls back in line. This may be just a synergy issue. Overall a good listen.
JH Audio Angie Universal IEM
- volume, split lower red/blue
This is where the magic happens for me. Really, I don't think I've ever heard such beautiful music reproduction before, portable or otherwise. Similar to what was reported in the Head Fi MoJo thread with the JH Layla, the pairing with the smaller JH Siren Series Angie is very, very good. I don't know if it's the crossover in the Angie, the multiple balanced armature setup, the JH FreqPhase tech or simply the synergy with the Mojo. I could listen to this setup for hours (and I have). There are times I've needed to give my head a shake and just go to bed. One more track, one more track...... The sound is full yet textured, lush yet layered, clear yet impactful, detailed yet smooth. I love it! An excellent listen.
MoJo as a Desktop DAC
Mojo has no problem filling bigger shoes.
Given the Mojo’s clean DAC and detailed output it can easily be used as an external DAC to feed an external amplifier. I used the Mojo with the Oppo HA-1’s amplifier section with great success. The presentation is very detailed while not cold. Every instrument is well defined and there is no sense of sibilance or glare that I sometimes hear with the Sabre ESS9018 DAC built in to the HA-1. The recurring theme is transparency, timing accuracy, while at the same time remaining musical. This theme continues when used as an external DAC in a desktop setup.
Comparing the Audio-GD DAC-19(10th anv) R-2R DAC and the Mojo there is the same amount of detail from each unit but it's presented in a different way. The Mojo sounds more forward. Background sounds are a bit easier to pick out, more in focus. The DAC-19 has a sense of a bigger stage, more space and depth in the recording and a bit more timbre*. However the differences aren’t as large as I thought they might be. I wouldn’t say the Mojo is flat, nor would I say the DAC-19 is holographic. Neither is really warmer or colder than the other. It really comes down to a different presentation between the two, but they are close. Overall the Mojo plays louder to the external amp given its 3V fixed level output.
In the end I can easily recommend the Mojo as a desktop DAC.
* Edit 03/13/2016: Over the past couple months I've come to really appreciate the Mojo more for it's natural music presentation and find that the timbre of notes is more accurate on the Mojo than the DAC-19. This isn't obviously evident at first, but after more varied listening with larger comparison samples and different headphones, and more time with the unit, I've come to the conclusion that the Mojo surpasses the DAC-19 in natural music reproduction. It's difficult to pick out but it's there.
Conclusion
This review has turned out rather long and there is much more to say about the Mojo but I'll let others comment more about things like soundstage depth and height etc. I'm more about timing and imaging with my gear. What I hear from the Mojo is exceptional on both fronts. The presentation sounds effortless and different from most any other gear I've heard and I like it...... I like it a lot. The speed of the Mojo combined with its smoothness is something that I just haven't heard before.
Given the diminutive size and the amount of power in this tiny wonder I'm still having a knuckle dragging moment when trying to comprehend how Chord Electronics and Rob Watts have packed so much performance in to such a small device. For portable use I can't think of another device that is this capable of delivering this TOTL performance on the go at this price, and well above. If I were to sum up the Chord Mojo's sound in one word it would be "Veritas", Latin for truth and often associated with beauty.
Chord is right.....
..... The game has changed.
Thanks for reading!
Mojo Features
- Mojo was designed for the music loving Smartphone owner.
- It is powerful, but small and comfortable to carry.
- It works with your iPhone, Android or Windows phone... Also DAPs.
- Mojo is also compatible with your Mac, PC, or Linux computer.
- Mojo has three digital inputs - USB, Coaxial, and Optical.
- Mojo charges in just 4 hours to provide up to 10 hours use.
- You can use any pair of headphones with Mojo, from 4Ω to 800Ω.
- With two 3.5mm analogue outputs you and a friend can listen too!
- Mojo plays all files from 32kHz to 768kHz and even DSD 512.
- Mojo is fully automatic and remembers its last used settings.
- Its case is precision machined from a single solid block of aluminium.
- Mojo is entirely designed and manufactured in Great Britain.
Mojo Technical Specifications
- Output Power @ 1kHz
- 600 ohms 35mW
- 8 ohms 720mW
- Output Impedance: 0.075 ohms
- Dynamic Range: 125dB
- THD @ 3v - 0.00017%
- Chord Mojo
- MacbookPro 17" - Audirvana+ 2.0
- Oppo HA-1
- Audio-GD DAC-19 (10th anniversary edition)
- FiiO X5
- FiiO X5ii
- iPhone 5s
- iPad (4)
- Audeze LCD-2 - 60 Ohm - 92 dB efficiency
- Audeze LCD-XC - 26 Ohm - 96 dB efficiency
- JH Audio Angie Universal IEM - 17 Ohm - 117 dB efficiency
- AKG K550 - 32 Ohm - 114 dB efficiency
- Vmoda M-100 - 32 Ohm - 103 dB efficiency
- MacbookPro 17" - Audirvana+ 2.0
- Oppo HA-1
- Audio-GD DAC-19 (10th anniversary edition)
- FiiO X5
- FiiO X5ii
- iPhone 5s
- iPad (4)
- Audeze LCD-2 - 60 Ohm - 92 dB efficiency
- Audeze LCD-XC - 26 Ohm - 96 dB efficiency
- JH Audio Angie Universal IEM - 17 Ohm - 117 dB efficiency
- AKG K550 - 32 Ohm - 114 dB efficiency
- Vmoda M-100 - 32 Ohm - 103 dB efficiency
[size=1em]Adele - 21[/size]
Awolnation - Megalithic Symphony
Amber Rubarth - Sessions From the 17th Ward (Binaural)
Bassnectar - Mesmerizing the Ultra
Beats Antique - Collide
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Legend
Bon Jovi - New Jersey / Slippery When Wet
Brian Adams - Reckless
C.C. Colletti - Bring it on Home
Depeche Mode - Pretty much all albums
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Enigma - MCMXC a.D.
Eric Clapton - Unplugged (Deluxe)
Eric Serra - The Fifth Element OST
Evanescence - Fallen
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice
Glen Hansard - Most albums
G n' R - Greatest Hits
Hans Zimmer - Gladiator OST - The Dark Knight Rises OST - Interstellar OST
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports
INXS - Listen Like Thieves
Lana Del Ray - Ultraviolence
Led Zeppelin - All albums
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Michael Stearns - Baraka OST
Morrisey - Viva Hate
Norah Jones - All albums
Pig Pen Theatre Co. - Bremen
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon - The Wall - Division Bell - The Endless River
R.E.M. - Various albums
Richard Thompson - Grizzly Man OST
Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits: 1974-78
The Beatles - Various albums
The Doors - The Very Best of the Doors
The Grapes of Wrath - Now and Again
The KLF - The White Room
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Past
The Tragically Hip - Yer Favourites
U2 - Various albums
Van Halen - 1984
Various Artists - Kill Bill Vol1&2 Soundtrack
Multiple classical recordings
Multiple binaural recordings
Awolnation - Megalithic Symphony
Amber Rubarth - Sessions From the 17th Ward (Binaural)
Bassnectar - Mesmerizing the Ultra
Beats Antique - Collide
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Legend
Bon Jovi - New Jersey / Slippery When Wet
Brian Adams - Reckless
C.C. Colletti - Bring it on Home
Depeche Mode - Pretty much all albums
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Enigma - MCMXC a.D.
Eric Clapton - Unplugged (Deluxe)
Eric Serra - The Fifth Element OST
Evanescence - Fallen
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice
Glen Hansard - Most albums
G n' R - Greatest Hits
Hans Zimmer - Gladiator OST - The Dark Knight Rises OST - Interstellar OST
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports
INXS - Listen Like Thieves
Lana Del Ray - Ultraviolence
Led Zeppelin - All albums
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Michael Stearns - Baraka OST
Morrisey - Viva Hate
Norah Jones - All albums
Pig Pen Theatre Co. - Bremen
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon - The Wall - Division Bell - The Endless River
R.E.M. - Various albums
Richard Thompson - Grizzly Man OST
Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits: 1974-78
The Beatles - Various albums
The Doors - The Very Best of the Doors
The Grapes of Wrath - Now and Again
The KLF - The White Room
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Past
The Tragically Hip - Yer Favourites
U2 - Various albums
Van Halen - 1984
Various Artists - Kill Bill Vol1&2 Soundtrack
Multiple classical recordings
Multiple binaural recordings
UPDATE, Feb 21/2016: Chord Electronics has allowed me to keep the Mojo tour unit free of charge. Although I had some hopes of this being the case it was not a guarantee when I did my review. To be honest I would have purchased my own unit if I were required to send the tour unit back. Many thanks again to Chord.
