[Takeanidea]

  Hey guys,
 
Trying to go through the 1445 pages of material this past 3 days. I hate to repeat a question. Sorry in advance.
I'm really new to the hi-fi world. My sole investment up to date is the akt8ie in-ears from Astell&Kern/Beyerdynamics. I'm using this to listen to 320kbs mp3 from iPhone 6 and MacBook Pro. It was a huge upgrade in SQ for me, after the Etymotic hf5. 
 
I was always intimidated by the DACs. Thinking of carrying another piece of equipment is a hassle by itself. But, after researching for 3 days, i think that Mojo is a very good choice.
 
My question is, will it transform my listening experience? Yes, i know that this is not an easy question. There are lots of variables at hand.
Just think of it this way. If we compare it to my headphone switch mentioned before. The difference you would hear after that.
 
Just bear in mind, this would be my first ever DAC. I cannot claim that i'm a veteran audiophile. Just a guy enjoying little nuances in a recording.
Of course, at the end of the day, being a newbie, the question arises. After spending 900 EUR on headphones, another 600 would be doable, but does it really worth it? 

I have personally found so far it's far too much of a pain using it with my phone out and about , use it all the time for my Macbook Pro and still love it. You are extremely unlucky not to have the chance to listen first before you buy, I think you should get it in print that if you are not happy it has transformed your listening experience then you get a full refund upon return within 30 days. None of the shops I have dealings with would have a problem with that 

 

[jarnopp]

I have personally found so far it's far too much of a pain using it with my phone out and about , use it all the time for my Macbook Pro and still love it. You are extremely unlucky not to have the chance to listen first before you buy, I think you should get it in print that if you are not happy it has transformed your listening experience then you get a full refund upon return within 30 days. None of the shops I have dealings with would have a problem with that 

I agree with is, plus the sonic benefits while on the go in a noisy environment are questionable for the extra effort. BUT, if you are using at home or in the office, even from an iPhone with 320kb files, the Mojo is an amazing upgrade to the iPhone DAC or even to most home system DACs.

 

[cj3209]

  My question is, will it transform my listening experience? Yes, i know that this is not an easy question. There are lots of variables at hand.
Just think of it this way. If we compare it to my headphone switch mentioned before. The difference you would hear after that.
 
Just bear in mind, this would be my first ever DAC. I cannot claim that i'm a veteran audiophile. Just a guy enjoying little nuances in a recording.
Of course, at the end of the day, being a newbie, the question arises. After spending 900 EUR on headphones, another 600 would be doable, but does it really worth it? 

 
I have and enjoy the MoJo.  The question of whether it's worth it is that 'it depends.'  IMHO, the MoJo way outperforms many similarly priced alternatives so if 600 EUR is your budget, then I think the MoJo is a good buy.  But if you wanted to only spend 300 EUR, not sure if paying double will get you double the sound quality.
 
Plus, if you only listen to music a few times a week, why get a MoJo?  Get a cheaper portable DAC and move on.
 
Also, you can probably find used MoJos as well.
 
Good luck and have fun!
 
CJ

 

[Mython]

   
Also, you can probably find used MoJos as well.

 
 
I would respectfully guide people away from buying Mojos secondhand. With any portable DAC, there is the potential for dropping having occurred, or excessive leverage having been (accidentally) applied to connection sockets, etc.
 
Just my personal opinion; not trying to rain on anyone's parade

 

[Soundizer]

Does anyone know if the Chord Mojo case will be available in different colours other than the current dark grey/black?

 

[betula]

I understand Mython's concerns about second hand portable DACs, this is a legit warning. However buying Mojo second hand on Head-Fi is quite safe IMO. There is one on sale for £310 at the moment. (You're welcome.)
I also bought mine as new for £350, and it indeed was as new (opened box).
 As long as it works, even a once occurred drop shouldn't mean you can't buy it, as Mojo is very durable. You just need to be cautious, who you buy it from. (Also, many people use Mojo mainly as desktop DAC, where dropping it is less likely.)

 

[Slaphead]

I have personally found so far it's far too much of a pain using it with my phone out and about , use it all the time for my Macbook Pro and still love it. You are extremely unlucky not to have the chance to listen first before you buy, I think you should get it in print that if you are not happy it has transformed your listening experience then you get a full refund upon return within 30 days. None of the shops I have dealings with would have a problem with that 

That's pretty much it for me. The Mojo is a wonderful device, but when it comes to mobile use it's a real pain, unless your idea of mobile is transporting it in your bag, together with appropriate headphones, to listen to it in a hotel room. I tend to treat the Mojo as the ultimate compact desktop DAC/Amp.

To be honest I don't bother with anything other than the output of whatever iToy happens to be with me when I'm mobile as I truly believe that any advantages of outboard DAC/Amp combos are lost in the background cacophony of the average city, train, bus or whatever.

I do have a Dragonfly Red as well, which is mostly used when I'm listening to music on my balcony - yeah, I find it a pain to transport the Mojo to the balcony as well, and much prefer the Dragonfly's in line solution for my outside, but not mobile listening.

 

[betula]

That's pretty much it for me. The Mojo is a wonderful device, but when it comes to mobile use it's a real pain, unless your idea of mobile is transporting it in your bag, together with appropriate headphones, to listen to it in a hotel room. I tend to treat the Mojo as the ultimate compact desktop DAC/Amp.

To be honest I don't bother with anything other than the output of whatever iToy happens to be with me when I'm mobile as I truly believe that any advantages of outboard DAC/Amp combos are lost in the background cacophony of the average city, train, bus or whatever.

I do have a Dragonfly Red as well, which is mostly used when I'm listening to music on my balcony - yeah, I find it a pain to transport the Mojo to the balcony as well, and much prefer the Dragonfly's in line solution for my outside, but not mobile listening.

I use my Mojo as desktop DAC. However I find it as a bonus that it is more or less portable, when I take it for a trip 4-5 times a year.

How would you describe the sonic differences between Mojo and your Dragonfly?

 

[Traveller]

 

...Back on topic regarding the Orfeu Negro versions ; I'm having a very hard time A/Bing them because the DSD versions are obviously louder - maybe ~3clicks of Mojo's volume controls. I am surprised you didn't mention it in your OP considering you were comparing the PCM against the DSD variants... . I will test them using my main system later; I have a basic Sound Level Meter which should help even out the playing field...

 

...the foobar warning about asio is due to the fact that asio drivers are third party drivers by the dacs manufacturers so in some cases there might have been problems/conflict of asio drivers with Windows process. but chord asio drivers have never given any problems...

 
Thanks - that certainly sheds some light on the ASIO concerns. I did try both out when I first installed Foobar a few weeks back (on regular redbook stuff, PCM 16b44K) and leaned towards WASAPI. I am STILL not 100% sure there's a real difference... you know how things can be in this hobby...

 

...during my comparison of the dsd and pcm version I did not hear any volume difference. in your case there must have been +6db gain which is by default in foobar sometimes while playing dsd. that gain is not required in foobar as chord dacs apply +6db gain to dsd during processing.

 
On the other hand, the difference in gain between the Orfeu Negro's PCM and DSD recordings is quite noticeable and not only to me (check the link I posted above). I first noted it using Foobar and then again using UAPP with my home system. Maybe both Foobar* and UAPP have some kind of gain for DSD, what do I know... .
 
In any event, using my basic Sound-Level meter I managed to get them very close with four clicks less on Mojo's volume. I'm still analyzing the differences but right off the bat the sound stage is vastly different, the instruments taking on a lot of air and the stage deepening while also narrowing just a bit. It's of course much easier to appreciate the sound stage with loudspeakers

  I haven't noticed this treble roll-off posters have attributed (only) to the DSD256 version but I will give it a run later on with my Etymotics ER-4S.
 
*FWIW, I disabled Foobar's "Replay Gain" the second I installed it. UAPP has no such counterpart that I know of. As for the SACD plugin options, I selected DSD as recommended by many; selecting said option greys out the "PCM" options (such as gain control).
 

 

[captblaze]

 
*FWIW, I disabled Foobar's "Replay Gain" the second I installed it. UAPP has no such counterpart that I know of. As for the SACD plugin options, I selected DSD as recommended by many; selecting said option greys out the "PCM" options (such as gain control).

 
 
you may also want to reduce the buffer length to 50 ms (output in menu) and under advance/ playback WASAPI change the hardware buffer on both push and event to one. if you get stuttering increase the buffer size by 3 times 1,3,9,12 also check high worker process. you can also crank up the full file buffering up.
 
the tips are from Windows X user guide on how to set up Foobar 2000 while using his Fidelizer software, but the settings work regardless
 
Added WASAPI to the instructions... tastes good on sushi also

 

[Deftone]

iv got a pretty strong emotional attachment to mojo, slightly strange because its just hardware so i dont know why.

 

[Dexter Morgan]

iv got a pretty strong emotional attachment to mojo, slightly strange because its just hardware so i dont know why.

It's the magical colored orbs.

 

[bixby]

   
 
I would respectfully guide people away from buying Mojos secondhand. With any portable DAC, there is the potential for dropping having occurred, or excessive leverage having been (accidentally) applied to connection sockets, etc.
 
Just my personal opinion; not trying to rain on anyone's parade

I'll bet you don't buy anything used using that logic.

 

[Deftone]

It's the magical colored orbs.

 
i do love rubbing my mojos balls... wait.. 

 

[Mython]

 

   
 
I would respectfully guide people away from buying Mojos secondhand. With any portable DAC, there is the potential for dropping having occurred, or excessive leverage having been (accidentally) applied to connection sockets, etc.
 
Just my personal opinion; not trying to rain on anyone's parade

I'll bet you don't buy anything used using that logic.

 
LOL - I'm going to bite my tongue