[jdpark]

Well yeah, any Chord enthusiast knows that. What I'm saying is that the amplification in Chord DAC/amps is not going to compromise the sound quality when connected to another amp, so although it's technically double amping, it's not "conventional" double amping. This is a crucial distinction, because many amps do color the sound when used as preamps.

I don't understand why people keep going over these points. The Mojo has a headphone amplifier setting, and a line out setting. You should not use headphones with the line out mode, and you should not send the analogue signal to an external amp in the headphone amplifier mode. This is very clear in the manual. No one who uses the line out would be considered "double amping".

Obviously, being the experimenter that I am, I've tried using the headphone amp mode for powering an external amp, such as the Schiit Magni. It gets distorted and doesn't sound good. Yet, when using the line out mode, it sounds great. But by all means, this is a thread where everything worth saying, is worth saying at least 50 times.

 

[DJtheAudiophile]

Delete.

 

[Hooster]

I don't understand why people keep going over these points. The Mojo has a headphone amplifier setting, and a line out setting. You should not use headphones with the line out mode, and you should not send the analogue signal to an external amp in the headphone amplifier mode. This is very clear in the manual. No one who uses the line out would be considered "double amping".

Obviously, being the experimenter that I am, I've tried using the headphone amp mode for powering an external amp, such as the Schiit Magni. It gets distorted and doesn't sound good. Yet, when using the line out mode, it sounds great. But by all means, this is a thread where everything worth saying, is worth saying at least 50 times.

I do not think you understand. This so called line out mode is just a volume setting that works for line out. You could set the volume differently and still use the Mojo line out.There is no inherent difference between the level that Chord has chosen when you select line out.

If you overload the device downstream of mojo it will of course sound bad. The answer is simply to turn the volume of the Mojo down. If you insist on calling discrete volume settings modes, fine. I just call them volume settings.

 

[DJtheAudiophile]

iPhone + Mojo, Sept-2017 New stack build with custom cable and custom cases
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ip...uild-with-custom-cable-and-custom-case.22654/

Teaser:

Great review! I've been using a similar setup since 2016! Going rubberbandless is a beautiful thing!

Apple - iPod Touch (128GB)
Forza AudioWorks - FAW Copper Series/Pyre Lightning LOD
SwitchEasy - Nude
Chord Electronics - Mojo
Chord Electronics - Leather Case
Audeze - Sine
Orbit Concepts - Deloop Headphone Bag
Compact Discs Imported To Waveform Audio File Format

 

[jdpark]

I do not think you understand. This so called line out mode is just a volume setting that works for line out. You could set the volume differently and still use the Mojo line out.There is no inherent difference between the level that Chord ha chosen when you select line out.

If you overload the device downstream of mojo it will of course sound bad. The answer is simply to turn the volume of the Mojo down. If you insist on calling discrete volume settings modes, fine. I just call them volume settings.

What don't you understand about the line out mode? Chord has said very clearly, it sends out 3v signal in line out mode, and 2v signal in the headphone volume mode. These are two distinct modes with different voltages. How is that not clear to you? The headphone amp is not meant to be sent to an amp/preamp and the line out is not meant to be sent to headphones. The line out mode is not a volume setting. It is not the same signal voltage as the regular headphone out. Perhaps you never learned how to use the Mojo with an amp?

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/support/dacs/engage-line-level-mode/line-level-mode-mojo/

 

[x RELIC x]

I don't understand why people keep going over these points.

Because it's continually misunderstood how the implementation is done. Chord and Rob have confirmed many times that the line out mode is simply a digital volume preset, nothing is bypassed. Rob has also confirmed that the 'amp' is basically just the analogue stage of the DAC, you can't seperate the sound from the DAC from the analogue stage in the Mojo. There is no traditional seperate 'amp' section and that's how Rob designs all his current DACs.

Regarding the differences you heard, if you used a higher volume than the line-out volume preset then the distortion was likely from clipping the amp's input. If you used a lower volume then you may have been reacting to the fact that we humans perceive as little as 0.5dB as more dynamic, it's just the way we perceive louder volumes, so likely the 3Vrms preset sounded more dynamic and cleaner to you simply because it was louder.

What don't you understand about the line out mode? Chord has said very clearly, it sends out 3v signal in line out mode, and 2v signal in the headphone volume mode. These are two distinct modes with different voltages. How is that not clear to you? The headphone amp is not meant to be sent to an amp/preamp and the line out is not meant to be sent to headphones. The line out mode is not a volume setting. It is not the same signal voltage as the regular headphone out. Perhaps you never learned how to use the Mojo with an amp?

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/support/dacs/engage-line-level-mode/line-level-mode-mojo/

Sorry, Chord says nothing about a seperate amp in that link. They just say the setting is not remembered in line-level mode. I would recommend reading the information from Rob in the third post of this thread for confirmation. Also, they never said headphone output is 2V, the output will be entirely dependant on what volume the Mojo is set to. Just trying to keep the information straight here.

Edit: This is one of many posts regarding the output stage and how Mojo's is different:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cho...in-3rd-post-◄★☆.784602/page-384#post-12102313

This is confirmation about the line-out mode:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cho...in-3rd-post-◄★☆.784602/page-627#post-12259792

 

[Hooster]

"Sorry, Chord says nothing about a seperate amp in that link. They just say the setting is not remembered in line-level mode. I would recommend reading the information from Rob in the third post of this thread for confirmation. Also, they never said headphone output is 2V, the output will be entirely dependant on what volume the Mojo is set to. Just trying to keep the information straight here."

Many thanks, Relic. I try not to educate others unless I know what I am talking about. I hope this has cleared things up.

 

[jdpark]

Okay guys/gals, it seems I was partially incorrect. (Not the first time.) While we do not have the problem of double amping when hooking up the Mojo to an external amp, it seems that the Chord site's usage of the term "line out mode" was inherently a bit confusing. It means, if I understand now, that IF you want exactly 3V Rms to go to your amp/preamp THEN you can use the preset volume function to send out 3Vrms. It is generally a useful function, because most amplifiers are very happy to have 3VRms and actually the industry standard seems to be more like 2.4V, and I think some headphone amps can take considerably lower than that. However, if I understood correctly from other posts, the 3V double purple volume setting (aka line out mode) is not the highest volume available, though for many IEMs it is much higher volume than one would normally use with sensitive phones. There is probably a reason why Chord set this volume to send to an amp/preamp, as higher than that may overload some amplifiers, though one could send out less, as long as you don't go so low as to approach the amp's own noise floor or force the amp to clip. Suffice it to say, I learned that you can use the double purple volume function, or adjust down a bit, and safely send analogue signal to an external amp. That's good, because 3v is actually louder than most of my amps need.

 

[Rob Watts]

Yes it should be thought of as a preset level, rather than line out mode - even if you are indeed actually doing it for a line out function. All that happens is the volume is set to give 3V RMS at 0dBFS (or 3v RMS maximum possible).

 

[Music Alchemist]

Thanks to everyone for going to the trouble of explaining things so I didn't have to. hehe

Audeze - Sine

I had the SINE recently! One of the best closed-backs I've heard. (Though it can't compete with the better open-backs.)

However, if I understood correctly from other posts, the 3V double purple volume setting (aka line out mode) is not the highest volume available, though for many IEMs it is much higher volume than one would normally use with sensitive phones.

Yep, it can go much louder than that...which would only apply to low sensitivity and/or higher impedance headphones. (Or passive speakers driven directly from the Mojo.)

 

[hjribeiro]

Hi Guys

I have been looking everywhere and i am bit confused.

I have bought a mojo to amp my Sennheiser HD650 from my laptop. Also us it on the office to make my IEM sound nicer.

I also have an Xbox One and was wondering if I could plug my mojo there on the optical output? Has anyone tried that? What cable do I need?

Thanks

HJR

 

[IQBALSH]

Since I purchased my mojo a few weeks ago, I have tried a number of different cables to connect with my iPhone/MacBook Pro.

1. An audioquest carbon iPhone lightening to USB cable plus the audioquest dragon tail. Both cables Connected together. Sadly this config didn't work, the supplier said that yhe dragon tail doesn't have an apple certified certificate,

2. An Actung Cable from eBay, they are based in Manchester, UK.

3. Curious cable for the mojo, This was shipped from Queensland in Australia.

Configuration 1 was useless for me, the quality of the cable looked good, but sadly no sound.

Configuration 2, nice quality cable, the micro USB side looked ok, but not to the same standard as the USB-A side. I personally didn't really notice a significant SQ difference compared to the short cable supplied by chord. I had concluded that I was going to be on the a USB cable only transfers a digital signal and isn't going to make a difference.

Configuration 3, I connected my iPhone and Headphones, played the 1st track, my jaw dropped, I'm no audiophile and probably didn't notice the differences with configuration 2, however with the Curious Cable I was surprised how lively the sound was, seperation and clarity. I'm really pleased with the cable, it is double the price of the actung cable and the sound quality reflects that, the actung cable was ok I guess for the price, but the curious cable has left me speechless, my Grado SR325i have never sounded so good.

 

[musickid]

if i have my oppo pm1 headphone plugged into mojo is it possible to feed a line out from mojo to a tube amp without having to disconnect the headphone each time? i would worry about wearing out the ports doing that constantly. i have some beyers dt880 600 ohm in need of a good otl tube amp. it would be great if i could leave the headphone and line out plugged in continuously. all this talk made me curious even though earlier i was against a third party amp.

 

[435279]

I also have an Xbox One and was wondering if I could plug my mojo there on the optical output? Has anyone tried that? What cable do I need?

Yes it will work, set the XBOX to output stereo PCM and not Dolby.

For a cable something like this, would be OK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasi...qid=1505804105&sr=1-4&keywords=optical+cables

 

[Music Alchemist]

if i have my oppo pm1 headphone plugged into mojo is it possible to feed a line out from mojo to a tube amp without having to disconnect the headphone each time? i would worry about wearing out the ports doing that constantly. i have some beyers dt880 600 ohm in need of a good otl tube amp. it would be great if i could leave the headphone and line out plugged in continuously. all this talk made me curious even though earlier i was against a third party amp.

Yeah, you can do that, as long as you don't mind sound coming from the headphones. You'd need to make sure the line level volume isn't potentially dangerous to your headphones, as they are quite sensitive, after all. And you'd need to make sure you're at a low enough volume before putting them on your head.