[Takeanidea]

It's worth the wait. Some stuff in the headfi world takes months to arrive...............

 

[Yubacore]

  Fair point - but completely untampered with = perfect - and very few systems are completely perfect.
 
Here's an interesting read...  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed%E2%80%93Solomon_error_correction
And another http://www.info.biz.hr/Typo3/typo3_01/dummy-3.8.0/fileadmin/Mirko_Brand/ATT00045.pdf

 
That is an interesting read, thanks.
 
As much as I hate quoting wikipedia, here's what it says on the CIRC error correction used for CD playback since 1982:
 

Spoiler: Click for detailed description

Reed–Solomon coding is a key component of the compact disc. It was the first use of strong error correction coding in a mass-produced consumer product, and DAT and DVD use similar schemes. In the CD, two layers of Reed–Solomon coding separated by a 28-way convolutional interleaver yields a scheme called Cross-Interleaved Reed–Solomon Coding (CIRC). The first element of a CIRC decoder is a relatively weak inner (32,28) Reed–Solomon code, shortened from a (255,251) code with 8-bit symbols. This code can correct up to 2 byte errors per 32-byte block. More importantly, it flags as erasures any uncorrectable blocks, i.e., blocks with more than 2 byte errors. The decoded 28-byte blocks, with erasure indications, are then spread by the deinterleaver to different blocks of the (28,24) outer code. Thanks to the deinterleaving, an erased 28-byte block from the inner code becomes a single erased byte in each of 28 outer code blocks. The outer code easily corrects this, since it can handle up to 4 such erasures per block.

The result is a CIRC that can completely correct error bursts up to 4000 bits, or about 2.5 mm on the disc surface. This code is so strong that most CD playback errors are almost certainly caused by tracking errors that cause the laser to jump track, not by uncorrectable error bursts.^[2]

 
"This code is so strong that most CD playback errors are almost certainly caused by tracking errors that cause the laser to jump track, not by uncorrectable error bursts."
 
So, I'm no expert and I do get the impression that many people here know a lot more than me about this, but I'm thinking that in 2015, it should be within the realm of possibility to transfer a bunch of 1s and 0s to a DAC chip without much fuss.

 

[singleended58]

I can understand your frustration we a chord requested that distributor placed there purchase orders in a timely manor . Many did but not all. I believe that we at chord are coping well in supplying many additional hundreds of units of a brand new products that had not been ordered until just about fourteen days ago. So please understand we are doing our very best. I can also say that moon are also passing on information as they get it. Please also remember we are supplying the world and not just the USA.

 


Anyone at Moon Audio can raise your voice OR at least let us know what is really happening with the delays? I am also frustrated about this lack of communication ad NOT just post up the delayed date and keep leaving us in the dark?!

 

[jamestux]

   
That is an interesting read, thanks.
 
As much as I hate quoting wikipedia, here's what it says on the CIRC error correction used for CD playback since 1982:
 

Spoiler: Click for detailed description

Reed–Solomon coding is a key component of the compact disc. It was the first use of strong error correction coding in a mass-produced consumer product, and DAT and DVD use similar schemes. In the CD, two layers of Reed–Solomon coding separated by a 28-way convolutional interleaver yields a scheme called Cross-Interleaved Reed–Solomon Coding (CIRC). The first element of a CIRC decoder is a relatively weak inner (32,28) Reed–Solomon code, shortened from a (255,251) code with 8-bit symbols. This code can correct up to 2 byte errors per 32-byte block. More importantly, it flags as erasures any uncorrectable blocks, i.e., blocks with more than 2 byte errors. The decoded 28-byte blocks, with erasure indications, are then spread by the deinterleaver to different blocks of the (28,24) outer code. Thanks to the deinterleaving, an erased 28-byte block from the inner code becomes a single erased byte in each of 28 outer code blocks. The outer code easily corrects this, since it can handle up to 4 such erasures per block.

The result is a CIRC that can completely correct error bursts up to 4000 bits, or about 2.5 mm on the disc surface. This code is so strong that most CD playback errors are almost certainly caused by tracking errors that cause the laser to jump track, not by uncorrectable error bursts.^[2]

 
"This code is so strong that most CD playback errors are almost certainly caused by tracking errors that cause the laser to jump track, not by uncorrectable error bursts."
 
So, I'm no expert and I do get the impression that many people here know a lot more than me about this, but I'm thinking that in 2015, it should be within the realm of possibility to transfer a bunch of 1s and 0s to a DAC chip without much fuss.

Agreed - but CDs aren't compressed and don't run on handheld computers with multi funcitonal OSes and software either...

I've never stated that a more expensive DAP will give you a better sound - just that it can be different and everyone should make thier own mind up  

 

[jamestux]

   
I get what you're saying but I think this comparison is not fair. When you see an image on the screen, a lot of things come into play that are far less accurate than a few gadgets handling a digital string of information, namely the computer screen (most of which are very inaccurate!), and the observer's eyes. I don't think we have a similar thing happening in the world of audio, before even reaching the DAC! The logical thing would be to compare the screen to the headphone and the eyes, well, to the ears...

Understood - and without testing all the DAPs with various software and CODECs how would you know whether my comparison is fair or not?

Personally I think it is more likely that there would only be marginal differences in DAPs when used as a transport - but the point I was responding to was that ALL DAP will ALWAYS sound the same through your mojo BECAUSE it's digital.

It sounds like we've agreed that there COULD be SOME difference between players used as transports right?  If so then we're saying the same thing so lets drop it 

 

[Yubacore]

  Understood - and without testing all the DAPs with various software and CODECs how would you know whether my comparison is fair or not?

Personally I think it is more likely that there would only be marginal differences in DAPs when used as a transport - but the point I was responding to was that ALL DAP will ALWAYS sound the same through your mojo BECAUSE it's digital.

It sounds like we've agreed that there COULD be SOME difference between players used as transports right?  If so then we're saying the same thing so lets drop it 

 
 
I agree that statement is way too simplified. What I mean is that if it's done right, it should be very close in fidelity. However, since we're talking about differences that don't matter at all in a mass market device, that fidelity will be sacrificed without a second thought if the average user somehow benefits. That must be why the volume control on your phone works over digital
 
Yes I agree that we are agreeing.

 

[MoonAudio]

Currawong said: "They are likely overwhelmed. They run out of a small place and deal with a crap-load of orders. I really doubt that they could inform what is likely hundreds of people about delays without causing further delays in shipping.

Anyone got good news in the last minute of 10/27/15 yet? I have checked my email every 30 min or less but nothing from Moon Audio shows up. That makes me worried more. Hopefully I will get a shipping info from the 2nd batch soon (?)

 
We appreciate Singleended58’s note and they are right. We run Moon-Audio.com with a small team of music lovers in Cary, NC. We are manufacturers as well as distributors. In fact, we started Moon-Audio.com after friends loved Drew’s cables so much and worldwide demand grew enough to let us quit our day jobs (in early 2010).

Despite our small size, we’ve always been one of the larger US re-sellers of Chord Electronics. We owe that position to Drew’s ears. When Drew heard Chord’s Hugo, he knew something special changed. Digital music could be portable and sound great.

Drew returned years ago after hearing Hugo and inspired our team to set about doing what we do best - building cables so Chord’s DACs, headphones, earphones and IEMs we love sound amazing. Moon-Audio.com’s early advocacy of Hugo helped make Moon Audio one of the largest US distributors of Chord’s products despite our small size, large enough to fly Drew to London for Chord’s Mojo launch last week.
 
Drew LOVED what he heard and we committed to buy tens of thousands of dollars of Chord Mojos via the company’s American distributor. We ONLY sell things we love and gear that collaborates with and proves why we make our Dragon cables.

We are doing everything we can to satisfy our customers need for Chord’s new “black magic” DAC. We shipped our first allotment of 15 Mojos and we are paying for our next shipment (of 50) to be shipped overnight arriving next Tuesday. We will continue to ship based on order sequence (first ordered, first shipped) as fast as they arrive (from Chord’s American distributor) the same day as they arrive.

“Overwhelmed” isn’t what we are feeling. We are as frustrated as our customers, but we are in this (audio) for love not money. We build every Dragon audio cable by hand one-at-a-time (old world style Moon Ambassador Marty Smith recently wrote). We run our business by a set of “core values” including:
 

1. We are PASSIONATE about music and sound.
   
2. We love artists, musicians, audio engineers, composers and all who create music.
   
3. We love fellow music lovers, audiophiles, hifi hobbyists, and all who are passionate about music and sound quality.
   (read the rest of our Core Values)
   
   

We know our values don’t relieve, “Where’s my order,” frustrations. Please know we are doing everything we can to relieve your (and our) frustration. Despite claims to the contrary, we don’t make a lot of money on the gear we love. Our business is built on the growing international reputation of our audio cables. When Drew’s ears LOVE something, we commit everything we have, go all in and do everything we can to support music lovers, audiophiles and people on this thread and our community at Moon-Audio.com.

If you are a customer THANK YOU. We truly appreciate your business & support of our company. If you are waiting on Chord’s new magic wand of a DAC, please know we are doing all we can, making sure to be fair (by shipping in order sequence) and yes spending most of our waking hours right now working on MOJO.

We will try to publish an order sequence chart when / if smoke clears enough to do so. As Singleended58 noted, at the moment all of our time is packing and shipping, receiving and then packing and shipping some more. We are trying to email everyone individually to let them know an expected ship date of their order as soon as we can get this list in order.

Please check our Facebook page or Youtube channel for updates on shipping times, delivery times & more as we posted a video this morning both places in order to get this message out in the quickest way possible.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding, ongoing support and can’t wait for your feedback, ideas and comments.

Thank you,

Nichole Baird

CFO/VP of Marketing

106 Brady Court
Cary, NC 27511 
919-649-5018 

http://www.moon-audio.com
Follow Moon-Audio.com Today!

 

[rmillerx]

I called and spoke with someone at Moon Audio and they confirmed that they EXPECT the 2nd batch to come in Nov 2nd.  They were polite and said that the demand for this product far exceeded their expectations and that they can't control the fact that their order was delayed in shipping to them.  They asked that I please bear with them and that as soon as they receive their order that they will be distributed a.s.a.p.   
 
Out of curiosity, I had called Todd The Vinyl Junkie first and he didn't expect his first order until maybe the 2nd week of November. (if curious, please verify with him)  He mentioned his Deal of the Day on the AK DAP and after saying good-bye I ordered one online.  (case included free!)
 
As a reader of this forum I would think that this would be a great place for distributors/resellers to get the word out when shipments were delayed, but I can also understand why they might be hesitant to do so.  
 
Personally, I would appreciate a personal email but a note on their blog explaining the situation would be my second choice.  In any event, I plan on bearing with them for now.  
 
- I am not a representative nor spokesman for either company, just sharing what I learned over the phone-

 

[Takeanidea]

Daps sound good, but Chord made this device because they know how many people have phones, how much storage these phones can handle and will be able to handle in the future and this thing sounds absolutely superb with a mobile. If you just have a mobile why not try the Mojo first with an OTG or a CCK before getting a DAP and see how good it is?

 

[highfell]

I don't have the DX90 anymore. I remember when I use the coax out of DX50 with UHA-6SMKII that it was prone to interference. With optical input I never had any noise. 

I don't have any interference with the Dx90 & the Hugo, so it may have been the Opamps in the UHA- 6SMKii that caused the problem. But it's good that the optical input was free of any noise.

 

[obsidyen]

Daps sound good, but Chord made this device because they know how many people have phones, how much storage these phones can handle and will be able to handle in the future and this thing sounds absolutely superb with a mobile. If you just have a mobile why not try the Mojo first with an OTG or a CCK before getting a DAP and see how good it is?

Agreed... Mojo works very well with iPhone 6s and takes to sound to a much higher level! That is high praise as iPhone 6s already sounds very very good. Using Tidal and Deezer, nothing else is needed. There isn't, probably there won't ever be (unless Chord or a similar high-end audio company releases one) a DAP that can quite reach the sound quality of Mojo. Mojo is a game changer, for 399 quid, you get far better sound than the 3000 quid AK 380. All you need is a compatible (preferably an iPhone since Android phones can be incompatible) smartphone.
 
I hope Fiio hurries up and releases that Lightning cable soon.

 

[Torq]

  I called and spoke with someone at Moon Audio and they confirmed that they EXPECT the 2nd batch to come in Nov 2nd.  They were polite and said that the demand for this product far exceeded their expectations and that they can't control the fact that their order was delayed in shipping to them.  They asked that I please bear with them and that as soon as they receive their order that they will be distributed a.s.a.p.   
 
Out of curiosity, I had called Todd The Vinyl Junkie first and he didn't expect his first order until maybe the 2nd week of November. (if curious, please verify with him)  He mentioned his Deal of the Day on the AK DAP and after saying good-bye I ordered one online.  (case included free!)
 
As a reader of this forum I would think that this would be a great place for distributors/resellers to get the word out when shipments were delayed, but I can also understand why they might be hesitant to do so.  
 
Personally, I would appreciate a personal email but a note on their blog explaining the situation would be my second choice.  In any event, I plan on bearing with them for now.  
 
- I am not a representative nor spokesman for either company, just sharing what I learned over the phone-

I wound up cancelling my order.
 
Partly that was out of frustration regarding lack of communication, but mostly because Moon Audio couldn't commit to receiving stock on 11/2 nor that my order was in that batch.
 
That was starting to sound like I'd not get the thing until the 2nd week of November anyway (when Moon Audio are currently saying they'll get their 3rd shipment in) which is also when my local Chord dealer expects their shipment, so leaving it on a pre-paid pre-order wasn't getting me very much.
 
Any future pre-orders are going to be of the "charge you only when we ship" nature (which is, for example, how Schiit operates).
 
When Mojo is shipping from stock, if my local dealer hasn't gotten theirs in yet, maybe I'll give Moon Audio another try.
 
For now, I'll snag an ALO Audio International+ Optical Edition, since I want something other than my RSA Intruder for my next long trip.

 

[Torq]

Daps sound good, but Chord made this device because they know how many people have phones, how much storage these phones can handle and will be able to handle in the future and this thing sounds absolutely superb with a mobile. If you just have a mobile why not try the Mojo first with an OTG or a CCK before getting a DAP and see how good it is?

I actually think my iPhone 6S (and the 6, before that) output, via the CCK, sounds better than the digital output from my AK120 (at least into my current DACs).
 
My principal reason for using a DAP as well is that when I travel there is a lot of flying involved, which means streaming is typically not an option (in flight WiFi is not ubiquitous and rarely works well for streaming - if it's not blocked outright).  And, additionally, I'm often in the middle of nowhere (no cell coverage, much less WiFi).  My music collection is huge, and phones just aren't capable of that sort of storage without a lot of messing about.
 
I'm gone long enough, often enough, and am generally busy enough, the having to pre-select what music I'll take and/or "manage" my music collection are things I just don't have the time, patience or inclination for.

 

[spook76]

Quick question, is the micro USB connection on the Mojo the same size as the micro USB connection on the Hugo? Thanks

 

[Jazzi]

It's terribly disappointing to not know which batch your order sits in.  If I'm in the second batch I'll just sit and wait, but if I knew for sure I was in the third batch I'd cancel my order and look elsewhere. Oh wait!  Now I know why they won't tell you which batch you're in.