[almarti]

Get the HD800, they will blow your mind

I will test and consider.

 

[almarti]

The focal elevar is another one to consider.

I also have the hd600. I have purchased so many headphones to replace them. (AKG 701 and many 7 series, hifiman 400i, focal elear, hd650, audeze LCD 2 and a few more) they all bring something better to the table, but lack some other things I like about the hd600. In the end i always go back to the hd600, because it accomplish most of the things I like in sound.

The hd600 sounds fantastic with the mojo. This hobby takes time, money and some experimentation.

I have sold or returned all the headphones i mentioned above and many more. No matter what people say, I think the hd600 is still among the best headphones in the world. To me the most important factor is the naturalness of the sound. Accuracy and technicality are good only if natural and realistic sound are there.

From my limited experience these are my favorite headphones, that I own by the way. This is my own wall of fame.

Grado sr60
Senheiser HD600
Oppo PM3
Audeze LC3

I like each of them for different reasons, but they all share the one thing I appreciate the most on a headphone, NATURAL SOUND.

They all sound fantastic with cord mojo. Yes, the LCD3 too sounds good with mojo too.

Obviously I use the LCD 3 with a desktop rig most of the time, but I had to see if the mojo was able to drive them and I was very, very surprised. The little mojo can actually drive it pretty well.


My point is. go ahead and purchase the headphones you think you'll like. Better if the shop offers returns. You have to listen, compare and experience yourself. You may find the headphone that replaces your hd600 or you may end up like me, realizing how wonderful the hd600 already are.

Excellent consultancy, I appreciate it. Now I need to find a store in Barcelona letting me listen and compare. I will monitor closely against HD600 if price gap is worth

 

[Light - Man]

Is anyone using the new Focal Listen closed headphone with or without the Mojo and if so how does it pair and what do you think of it?

 

[miketlse]

Excellent consultancy, I appreciate it. Now I need to find a store in Barcelona letting me listen and compare. I will monitor closely against HD600 if price gap is worth

it is online, and not in barcelona, but it is a competitive price https://zococity.es/focal-elear

 

[TG04]

could i please share in this info?  i'd like to know what my options are ....

 

[tunes]

John Franks (Chord owner) has said the Hugo 2 will get its own Poly-like module for streaming remote content. (Maybe the ""Roly"?)


Will the Roly have an SD card with at least 200Gigs to store my music library flac files and stream TIDAL DIRECTLY or via Bluetooth from the iPhone that controls the Roly? I guess I'm confused about using the Roly as if the HUGO is now a dap but still needs a UI with the phone??!

 

[jarnopp]

John Franks (Chord owner) has said the Hugo 2 will get its own Poly-like module for streaming remote content. (Maybe the ""Roly"?)


Will the Roly have an SD card with at least 200Gigs to store my music library flac files and stream TIDAL DIRECTLY or via Bluetooth from the iPhone that controls the Roly? I guess I'm confused about using the Roly as if the HUGO is now a dap but still needs a UI with the phone??!

Well, for starters, I made up the name "Roly" to go with the Poly, and there has not been enough detail released about Poly, let alone the Hugo module, but for speculation and some "light reading" I would direct you to the Poly thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/831347/chord-electronics-poly-advanced-wireless-microsd-module-for-mojo-specs-in-1st-post

 

[god-bluff]

Is anyone using the new Focal Listen closed headphone with or without the Mojo and if so how does it pair and what do you think of it?

If the Listen sounds anything like the Spirit Classic then with Mojo it will sound sensational.

My personal somewhat modest 'end game' pairing. Right up to the point when my (3rd pair) Focal's headband started cracking. The Mojo was promptly sold. My (broken) heart was no longer in it

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

I guess I'm confused about using the Roly as if the HUGO is now a dap but still needs a UI with the phone??!

This is just not a good road to go down. Trust me, I know first hand.

 

[jwbrent]

This is just not a good road to go down. Trust me, I know first hand.

Wise advice.

 

[Music Alchemist]

About preamp volume with extreme EQ settings...
 
I confirmed that the Mojo is like pretty much anything else: if you boost or cut frequencies by extreme amounts, it can distort, but if you reduce the volume in your player (or whatever else) by the level of your highest boost or cut and increase the volume of the Mojo, everything sounds fine.

 

[Rob Watts]

 

A related question is whether Mojo sounds better when using the Coax, Optical or USB. Which is best?

My experience with USB versus optical suggests that optical is the winner. It is consistent with Rob Watts' explanation here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-the-official-thread-please-read-the-3rd-post/11010#post_12330131

Optical, of course, has the restriction of limiting playback to 192kHz/24-bit. Also, thought I am not entirely sure about this, it does not support native DSD transmission.

Optical will support DSD with DoP on the optical - but only DSD64. Also, if you use a plastic fibre, only use very short lengths - for longer lengths you need a quality glass fibre. Running optical at 192 kHz is close to the edge for some optical transmitters and cables.
 
Rob

 

[Bulbsofpassion]

Re Optical cables, I can't speak for DSD but this 1m cable is £6 in the UK and works perfectly at 192khz on my 2015 Macbook Pro:
 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fisual-Pearl-Mini-Toslink-Optical-Special/dp/B00856P9BQ/

 

[sandalaudio]

As mentioned on Rob's post, 192 kHz pushes the limit of the original TOSLINK optical S/PDIF standard, so too does the DSD DoP (which needs 176.4 kHz).
 
In many DACs over the years (not limited to but including Mojo), I had a lot of issues with bad optical (and coax) cables that were fine for 44.1 kHz but had intermittent popping noises on 88.2 kHz+ playback.
 
In the end I bought the cheapest Audioquest one (green one, about $50?) not because it makes music sound better or anything, but at least it was super reliable (no pops) and very thin so it's easy to work with.
 
Some of the nasty cheap optical cables might look fancy with chunky fat braided sheath etc (they even have gold plated TOSLINK connectors... 

) but they let me down in countless occasions.
 
Aside from the actual fibre/plastic cable quality, there is quite a big difference between each cable brand in terms of how the end of the fibre is terminated (where the light goes in and out). Some cables have the fibre just cut by a sharp knife, some are ground down by a grinding saw (very rough surface), some have a flat piece of mineral glass stuck on it, others have a convex lens glass instead.
 
I can't say which method is better technically, but the important thing is that the cheap ones often have a very rough tip finish and I measured very large attenuation (like 30% worse) because of the scattering. Even the expensive ones can get damaged or deteriorated very easily by accidentally touching and scuffing the tip if you carry the cable around frequently without the end-caps on.
 
FYI I've posted some photos of the fibre end a couple of years ago.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-dac-amp-faq-in-3rd-post/2250#post_12023147
 
If the signal is deteriorated so much then I'm sure the Mojo's S/PDIF receiver PLL must work extra hard, so that might affect the sound quality, but I haven't really noticed any subjective difference myself.

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

About preamp volume with extreme EQ settings...

I confirmed that the Mojo is like pretty much anything else: if you boost or cut frequencies by extreme amounts, it can distort, but if you reduce the volume in your player (or whatever else) by the level of your highest boost or cut and increase the volume of the Mojo, everything sounds fine.

This isn't a problem with the DAC. Your EQ settings are causing overflow on the numeric data. When you back off the gain universally, the gain in the EQ no longer causes overflow.