[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

thanks, interesting option, is the Audioquest jitterbug same type of thing?

forgive me for not being to technical

No. Jitterbug implements some passive (R)LC filtering... the Intona provides true electrical isolation... think of an opto-isolator.

 

[Barndoor]

Amazon delivery driver just been.


Neet Airstream and Ravpower wireless hub.

Will have a play today.

 

[Mojo ideas]

Any chance to also have a "Super Poly" for the HUGO2 ?  

Same feature set than Poly, but adapted to HUGO2 form factor and with 2 SD card slots instead of 1 microSD  (or with 1 Tb internal SSD) ?

It's been underway for some time I think you'll be happy with it

 

[Bengkia369]

It's been underway for some time I think you'll be happy with it

Is that Super Poly be use on a Hugo 1?

 

[Mojo ideas]

While we're waiting for official news from Chord about what the Poly can do, I'd like set out what I think it does and how it does it.

I will say at the outset that I believe that no single device currently can do all the things the Poly does. It combines software and hardware for wireless connections, music cataloging, and transmission of data to the Mojo; onboard music storage via MicroSD card; a battery to power those functions; and a direct connection to the Mojo. End users will ultimately have to decide whether those functions and the way they have been implemented suit their needs for the price charged.

From what I can tell, the Poly:

1) eliminates the cable between the control point (the phone, pc, whatever) and the Mojo;

2) provides a microSD card for storage and direct playback of music to the Mojo. Current MicroSD cards max out at 256GB, with a theoretical 2TB upper limit. Chord has said that they opted for microSD to ensure the Poly had as small a footprint as possible. In my opinion, that is correct; more storage would have resulted in a bigger unit.

I presume that music of any format or resolution that the Mojo can handle can be stored and played directly to the Mojo from the MicroSD card. The phone, ipad, etc is merely telling the software on the Poly (an MPD implementation) what precisely to send from the card to the Mojo.

3) provides the ability to stream content from a phone, pc, ipad, etc. to the Mojo. Now this is where there has been a lot of confusion, and I too have questions about how Poly does this, but this is my best guess:

Rather than develop proprietary software that users would have to install on whatever platform they are using, they opted (wisely I think) to let users use whatever existing protocols (DLNA, Bluetooth, AirPlay, others?) that is compatible with their control point (again, an Android phone, Apple product, PC, etc.). This provides maximum flexibility for users, while saving Chord the headache of writing software for every conceivable platform people might want to use.

With this flexibility, however, comes some confusion, as well as the need for knowledge of a lot of sometimes obtuse protocols. For those with Apple products, AirPlay seems to be the way that content from those devices will stream to the Poly. For Android, I assume DLNA will be the method, but there may be others. There is an App called AirStream which supposedly lets your Android phone stream content via AirPlay and maybe DLNA. I am pretty sure, though, that it requires that the Android phone be rooted, another complex procedure not for the faint of heart. Also, I understand that the Poly can stream music directly from a device via Bluetooth.

With all of these methods, there are questions about what exactly is transmitted to the Poly from the source: what method will transmit bit perfect audio at the original resolution or format (I think DLNA does, but I believe AirPlay is limited to 16/44.1; are higher resolution files downsampled by the Apple device before sending to the Poly); does Bluetooth compress the music, etc. Can bit perfect music be streamed to the Poly no matter where you are; in other words, can music of whatever resolution or format your phone has access to--wherever you happen to be (home, office, commuting, coffeshop, etc.) at the time--be streamed at the same resolution and format to the Poly and thence to the Mojo?

As for the technology inside the Poly itself, it seems to have

1) a MicroSD card reader
2) builtin WiFi and antenna
3) builtin Bluetooth and antenna
4) a 2200 mAh LiPo battery to power the Poly
5) a processor and associated software (I guess this is what they call an SoC?) that receives the music data via WiFi, Bluetooth, or from Local storage, catalogs some of it in MPD (the local storage for sure; maybe NAS devices; others?); and sends that music to the Mojo. My understanding is that the Poly creates its own WiFi network; you connect your phone, etc. to the Poly by selecting that network (maybe its called "PolyWi"?) on your phone instead of your home or office network or Starbucks, etc.) You can then stream music stored on your phone to the Poly.

What I don't understand is how the Poly enables you to stream music from cloud-based storage or services like Spotify or Tidal. I guess one way would be for you to stream music over your cell phone's mobile data (LTE, 4G, whatever) connection, and then stream that to the Poly. Another way to do it is to have the WiFi Hub or Router in the Poly connect to any local network available to you and then your phone gets access to Spotify, Tidal, etc. through that. If that is how it's done, I don't know how you tell the Poly to join whatever WiFi network is available wherever you are at the time. I also don't know if the Poly takes a stream from the internet and sends it directly to the Mojo, or whether the stream flows through the Poly's WiFi hardware to the phone, and then back to the Poly via DLNA, Airplay or Bluetooth.

These are all questions that we will just have to wait for Chord to answer.

My original handmade device can not duplicate all of Poly's functions, mainly because the device I made was meant to be a portable DAP that relied on local storage and maybe storage on a NAS, all connected via my home network. I made no provision for streaming content when away from home.

I think I it is still possible to duplicate most, if not all, of the Poly's functions with relatively low cost parts, but of course, not with the Poly's style, quality and craftsmanship. However, it takes two separate components to do what the Poly does: a Raspberry Pi to provide software for all the connections (WiFi, AirPlay, DLNA), to catalog local and network storage, and to transmit data from the source to the Mojo; and a RAV Power WD-02 Wireless Hub/Battery Pack. The RavPower device sets ups a Wireless Hub to which you connect your phone, ipad, etc. It has a microSD slot to store music locally, which you can stream to the phone and then to the Raspberry Pi connected to the Mojo. You can stream music from the internet through the RavPower Hub, once you connect it to a Local Network wirelessly, or through a LAN port, also included in the device. It has a 6000 mAh battery pack to power both the Raspberry Pi and the RavPower Hub itself (which performs the SD Card Reader and the WiFi functions).I have used this setup to stream music from an iPad via Airplay, and from a rooted Android phone via AirStream. I haven't tried to stream music from Spotify and I don't have Tidal; I'm not sure you can play downloaded content from either of these.)

The Poly is obviously far more convenient than this setup, especially without trying to put it all in a box. And I say nothing about sound quality because no one knows about the SQ of the Poly yet as compared to other solutions.

Merely for my interest as a tinkerer, I am most curious about how Chord managed to charge both the Mojo's battery and the Poly's battery through the same port. I would love to be able to do that with my devices.

I think you've got it ... this is great summation! some aspects are still being worked on but we should know more shortly and I'll confirm everything as soon as I can

 

[headwhacker]

Amazon delivery driver just been.


Neet Airstream and Ravpower wireless hub.

Will have a play today.

The Ravpower is ok as a portable wireless DLNA server. Great when you are stationary (e.g. sitting on a coffee shop) but not great if you are walking and you put it in your backpack because I get signal drops/cut offs. 
 
I compared it with Asus wireless duo and the Asus is much better. I could pin it down to Asus having a better wireless radio (5Ghz AC) than the ravpower(2.4Ghz N).
 
However, the Ravpower is smaller and acts as a powerbank as well. So it is more versatile.

 

[GreenBow]

 

  However this doesn't matter because I never intend to use my Mojo out and about. Therefor to have a Poly for home use is not really economically viable.

 
Hi GreenBow, I hope you are having a nice Saturday. Just wanted to comment on this part, because I find it funny how everyone has their own view on how to best use the Poly and where it would be best suitable. There seem to be as many ways as there are posters in this thread. To me this shows how strong this product might become if it does what Chord sets out to do of course.
 
I see people writing about replacing their DAPs etc. and I find absolutely zero interest in this. My only intended use of Poly will be at home, nowhere else. Right now, I see no other option which will give me the same functionality, in this small package, with less hassle (big hopes up) and for this amount of money. Outstanding product if it holds its now announced promises. So each to their own, what one person sees as useless and expensive, another one sees as a big treat.
 
All the best

 
I have considered doing the same. However I don't need to spend £500 for a transport to do that, so no Poly for me. It would be ultra convenient to use mojo Poly at home, but far from necessary. Bearing in mind I won't use Bluetooth or wireless music. 
 
However I still would not consider the Poly with Mojo yet. Not until it was proven that the case would 100% protect from bend between Mojo Poly connection.

 

[jarnopp]

The Ravpower is ok as a portable wireless DLNA server. Great when you are stationary (e.g. sitting on a coffee shop) but not great if you are walking and you put it in your backpack because I get signal drops/cut offs. 

I compared it with Asus wireless duo and the Asus is much better. I could pin it down to Asus having a better wireless radio (5Ghz AC) than the ravpower(2.4Ghz N).

However, the Ravpower is smaller and acts as a powerbank as well. So it is more versatile.

Hi headwhacker,

I recently purchased a Wireless Duo (1 TB) and it seems great for streaming uncompressed to my phone/Mojo. But I'm pretty sure the documentation with mine says 2.4ghz, not 5. Can you verify with your unit? Maybe it's newer?

A little OT, but how to you like it and how might you use it with Poly, if you are inclined to get Poly?

 

[Barndoor]

Haven't touched the ravpower yet but have been playing with the Neet.





The Neet can play 24 bit 96KHz flac as can be seen from the green light on the mojo (after a firmware update but not out of the box). Sounds good.

When stacked together i can hear a buzz when no music is playing, but this goes when devices moved apart.

Have been playing using bubble from my phones usb and only using wifi created by the neet not my home network.

Have managed to play from a usb stick attached to the back of the neet, but so far is unreliable.

My battery pack is not the most compact and my optical is a bit long, but this is more about testing the concept for me.

 

[Barndoor]

Stack from a different angle without cables


Since my last post the neet hasn't managed to play a song without the wifi being dropped. Suspect my patience will run out very shortly and it will be back in a box on its way back to Amazon. Only has 2.4ghz wifi and not 5ghz.

 

[Barndoor]

Managed to connect the neet to my network and stream from my nas to it using a phone connected to my network. Lasted for about 2 seconds then the neet dropped the WiFi. Repeat, repeat,......
Experiment over; back to Amazon it goes.

 

[AndrewOld]

Managed to connect the neet to my network and stream from my nas to it using a phone connected to my network. Lasted for about 2 seconds then the neet dropped the WiFi. Repeat, repeat,......
Experiment over; back to Amazon it goes.

Maybe look out for a second hand Logitech Squeezebox Touch. You can stream your own music to it wirelessly or wired from your NAS, PC or Mac, outputs up to 24/192 optical, RCA or USB, it will play Spotify. Tidal, Qobuz, TuneIn radio, there is an absolutely superb remote control app for it called iPeng, and all the software is open source and rock solid.

 

[circlecrystal]

No one seems to worry abot RFI. As far as my experience concerned, RFI kills good music.

It's more harmful than jitter.

 

[Aeromarine]

No one seems to worry abot RFI. As far as my experience concerned, RFI kills good music.

It's more harmful than jitter.

agree on that! chord didn't mention about this issue at all for poly

 

[x RELIC x]

agree on that! chord didn't mention about this issue at all for poly

They did mention that they hired an expert in RFI when designing the Poly. I imagine that if it was a huge issue the mob would eat them alive. Let's hope it isn't an issue.