[Mython]

   
I believe I read that Fiio were considering doing something that would plug into the Mojo so that it would be similar to having a one piece DAP?

 

  All this talk of potential transports for the Mojo prompts me to mention the current Fiio thread, wherein their CEO, James, is contemplating manufacturing a dedicated transport.
 
And I must say I was amused by his comment, earlier today

 
Bit of a sore subject, mentioning Mojo in the Fiio transport thread

   I get the impression know quite a number of DAP-manufacturers have had their feathers more than a little ruffled by Mojos success, and are probably sick of hearing about it, LOL!
 
As for Fiio's proposed 'transport device', in the above thread, I wish them well with it, although I get the sense that Fiio may be getting nervous, now, about actually putting it into production
 
 

   
I also wonder if Chord have any intellectual property rights on the technology of the Mojo including the relevant software?
 
If not, I wonder how long it will take before someone tries to essentially copy the Mojo and even develop it further to make it more user friendly, etc.?

 

 
 
I think it's appropriate to be respectful of other manufacturers, and quietly cautious about what the future may bring, but Rob's code is the culmination of a lifes work, and would not be easy to 'fake' - at least not to the ears of a serious audiophile.
 

JF .... It is possible that someone might make a lookalike product but it's very unlikely that they could copy our code as its encrypted to a very high level military grade really. after all Hugo has been around for two years and we are not aware of any products claiming similar performance.

 

[Xacxac]

Yes, it will be interesting to see if they will reply.

I believe I read that Fiio were considering doing something that would plug into the Mojo so that it would be similar to having a one piece DAP?

I also wonder if Chord have any intellectual property rights on the technology of the Mojo including the relevant software?

If not, I wonder how long it will take before someone tries to essentially copy the Mojo and even develop it further to make it more user friendly, etc.? :blink:  

I believe 'copying' Mojo isn't easy. Mojo's heart is a FPGA chip. Someone needs to get a copy of Chord programming first before he could produce a similar chip. Then manufacture FPGA chips based on the programming. I don't think Chord would supply their chips to third party.

 

[Mython]

I believe 'copying' Mojo isn't easy. Mojo's heart is a FPGA chip. Someone needs to get a copy of Chord programming first before he could produce a similar chip. Then manufacture FPGA chips based on the programming. I don't think Chord would supply their chips to third party.

 
 
The chip is openly-available from Xylinx.
 
The code, as you rightly pointed-out, is where the DAC magic happens, and is proprietary and encrypted.
 
Remember that this is one of the main reasons Chord did not seek MFI certification for Mojo:
 

 

It would be good if the Mojo could have the Apple chip inside.  To say that it will work with all smartphone (inc Apple) is not strictly true since you need CCK cable - something none of the reviewers (so far) have mentioned.

I believe a requirement of using the camera kit Apple chip inside your product is complete design disclosure to Apple engineering hardware software the lot. We might be a bit mad but we're not totally crazy. If we had not much technology to hide. Say if we were just using a industry Dac chip we wouldn't have a problem in doing this, but for us today it's a very different story. This is why we will soon offer a plug in module that swallows the official Apple Camera adaptor leaving just the Lightning tale to plug into the I phone.

 

[Mojo ideas]

Yes, it will be interesting to see if they will reply.

I believe I read that Fiio were considering doing something that would plug into the Mojo so that it would be similar to having a one piece DAP?

I also wonder if Chord have any intellectual property rights on the technology of the Mojo including the relevant software?

If not, I wonder how long it will take before someone tries to essentially copy the Mojo and even develop it further to make it more user friendly, etc.? :blink:

All the core highly advanced Dac technology is proprietary to Rob Watts it is encrypted to a very high almost military level. As it encompasses thirty years of our support and his research and development work therefore it is highly unlikely that competitors could really duplicate what has been achieved by Rob and the Chord team.

 

[Takeanidea]

Having read through some of the Fiio thread it's fair to say that it's not James that wants to jump on the Mojo bandwagon more that Mojo owners want him to
I wonder whether they think it would be cheaper than Chord would make....

 

[Kamil Kupidura]

Hey, I had the mojo and crossfade wireless. My set up before I bought the mojo was a galaxy s6edge plus with a cayin c5 portable amp and hifimediy sabre android dac. My files were mp3.

If you arent using a decent portable amp and dac you would notice a big difference. If you are then you may be like me and not be able to tell the difference in sound.

I took the mojo back and decided I needed to upgrade my IEM's/headphones to high quality and upgrade my music files to FLAC minimum and I will try the mojo again.

For the money you could pick up a really nice pair of headphones/IEM's which would give you a bigger boost than the mojo in my experience. YMMV

Best of luck though!

 
Thank you for your response.
I do have FLAC files on my iphone. I listen to music in my office, hence a preference for smaller headphones. I live in Luxembourg and unfortunately I cant test mojo in the shop. I need to take decision only based on the reviews/opinions found on the internet.

 

[Takeanidea]

   
Thank you for your response.
I do have FLAC files on my iphone. I listen to music in my office, hence a preference for smaller headphones. I live in Luxembourg and unfortunately I cant test mojo in the shop. I need to take decision only based on the reviews/opinions found on the internet.

That's a shame but at least with the Mojo you won't go far wrong

 

[Light - Man]

All the core highly advanced Dac technology is proprietary to Rob Watts it is encrypted to a very high almost military level. As it encompasses thirty years of our support and his research and development work therefore it is highly unlikely that competitors could really duplicate what has been achieved by Rob and the Chord team.

 
Thanks guys, interesting replies!
 
It is also great to hear that all of Chords products are researched and produced in the UK.
 
It is clear to us all that the Mojo has made a massive impact in the market especially at its price point.
 
I would imagine that the likes of Astell and kern (AK) who are used to making massive margins on their products are not happy hearing that even people with the top of the range AK's are combining them with the Mojo.

 

[Mython]

  Having read through some of the Fiio thread is it not fair to say that it's not James that wants to jump on the Mojo bandwagon more that Mojo owners want him to?

 
James is generally quite mellow, in the interactions I've witnessed, here on head-fi; both publicly and privately. You never truly know, but my distant impression of him is that he seems a level-headed and approachable gentleman.
 
Having said that, it is understandable that (if I were a Fiio employee, for example), I would not wish to be incessantly reminded abut a competitor's highly-successful product(s), and might find it a little insulting to be asked to produce a product to suit a competitor's DAC.
 
As I said, it would be quite understandable!
 
 

  I wonder whether they think it would be cheaper than Chord would make....

 
I'm not sure what you mean - Chord are not competing with Fiio's proposed transport device (not directly).
 
They are competing with Fiio's DACs, of course, but that's not really what we're discussing

 

[Takeanidea]

The people who are on that Fiio thread are looking for something to hook up to their Mojo - in this case it's purely a DAP with various connectins and a specific sizer and thickness in mind. Chord are going to produce a bolt on device for the Mojo, which may include an SD card slot. Chord don't have to compete with Fiio ; they're in a different league

 

[esm87]

Thank you for your response.
I do have FLAC files on my iphone. I listen to music in my office, hence a preference for smaller headphones. I live in Luxembourg and unfortunately I cant test mojo in the shop. I need to take decision only based on the reviews/opinions found on the internet.

When I was posting my questions and impressions of the mojo here a few weeks ago I was in a similar situation to you, as it was I found a local audio shop that would accept a return.

Its a solid built unit, I think it looks awesome and the lights in the dark are cool lol. I genuinely do think that given my circumstances I couldnt extract the benefits of mojo, which is my problem and not the mojo itself. I really do believe its probably an awesome product that I will deffo try again soon with upgraded files and hardware. All these great members cant be wrong on its performance qualities.

All I can think is maybe you would benefit more by pairing the mojo with a higher end headphone/IEM. I only state that as I have the v moda wireless, which I enjoy alot, its awesome for my situation and uses.

Im looking forward to trying it again. If you buy it try and get it with a return just in case, good luck!

 

[x RELIC x]

• I don't know if they will ever do anything with a display, but it seems rather doubtful, considering Mojo has been touted as a smartphone companion, all along, and smartphone screens are as good as they get.

• I asked about Chord making a DAP, or transport, a couple of years ago, long before Mojo, and was told firmly that this is not something they have any desire to venture into.

If that still remains the case, then put the above 2 factors together, and I don't consider it likely that they'll make a module that would include a screen so as to totally eliminate the need for a smartphone or DAP.

Remember, it's not just about 'adding a screen' it would mean having to develop a GUI (do not underestimate how complex and expensive-to-develop something as seemingly-simple as a GUI can be), along with all the associated hidden control-code to interface with the hardware.


I'd love to be wrong about that, and who knows how far the SD module will take them, partially, down that road, but I just don't see a Chord 'transport-with-screen' (at least not for the next couple of years or more).

Heck, we all know it'd sell by the truckload, though!  

The caveat here is that John mentioned the SD card accessory with a small screen in one interview, as an all in one solution.

 

[flyingrhinorec]

  Do you mean this?
 

 
Thanks a million!
god bless you.

 

[Mython]

  The people who are on that Fiio thread are looking for something to hook up to their Mojo - in this case it's purely a DAP with various connections and a specific sizer and thickness in mind. Chord are going to produce a bolt on device for the Mojo, which may include an SD card slot. Chord don't have to compete with Fiio ; they're in a different league

 
 
On the 'transport' side of things, I really don't see it as direct competition, but that's just my opinion
 
I think there's definitely room in the market for both, although I understand Fiio's apparent nervousness about how small or large the 'digital transport' niche actually might be.
 
Fiio are talking about needing a firm 10,000 backers, minimum, to proceed.
 
Mojo has already sold close to 3 times that, so it'll be interesting to see how many Mojo customers buy into the Chord add-ons (my guess is at least 1/3rd, and probably more)

 

[x RELIC x]

On the 'transport' side of things, I really don't see it as direct competition, but that's just my opinion

I think there's definitely room in the market for both, although I understand Fiio's apparent nervousness about how small or large the 'digital transport' niche actually might be.

Fiio are talking about needing a firm 10,000 backers, minimum, to proceed.

Mojo has already sold close to 3 times that, so it'll be interesting to see how many Mojo customers buy into the Chord add-ons (my guess is at least 1/3rd, and probably more)

I think FiiO isn't seeing the big picture. They could even double down by marketing a pairing of the T3 with their upcoming Q5. Won't be as good as the Mojo, but there are so many uses for such a device, including desktop setups.