[lentoviolento]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for a pair of closed cans to pair with the little Mojo.

Do you have any experience with the akg k550 (mk1/2)? Otherwise, any hint with a budget of 150 euros?

Right now I am using it with senn hd579 and shure srh440.

cheers!

Tom

akg 550 sucks...
senn 579 is too bright for my taste.
my two cents are : sell the mojo, buy a fiio or a dragon fly or whatever and buy a better hp....

 

[cheesycake7]

I'd agree with the above quotes. The differences between DACs only become apparent if you're using very resolving headphones or speakers. If you got a decent DAC in the $100 or less range, it would probably sound just as good as the Mojo through the Audioengine A5+ speakers.

To be honest, even when listening through very high-end headphones, the difference between a $100 DAC and a $500 DAC is fairly subtle.

Hmm maybe I should consider saving a bit on my budget and going for the Audioengine D1/Dragonfly Black/Red or one of the Fiio DACs....

Yes and no. While with middle of the road equipment DACs may be hard to differentiate, a good dac will scale with your system. Also, with listening, the Mojo itself reveals itself to be an exceptional dac, even with decent but not summit fi gear. There wouldn’t be over 35,000 posts here about it if not. When needed, going portable is an added benefit.

Hmm maybe I'll still get the Chord Mojo then...

I have to agree, I think people really overstate the differences in DACs. If the DAC is capable of proper dynamic reproduction, has very low distortion and jitter it should sound fine. Case in point. I was trying to decide if I should keep my NAD M51 and Mojo after getting the iFi iOne DAC. Now I'm not saying there is no chance that there aren't audible differences, but they must be very modest as I tried really hard to spot them. After about a week of comparing all three I was able to sell the M51 and Mojo (loved both of those devices) and just keep the iOne. I use resolving headphones and decent speakers with the iOne and it does a fantastic job and I can't imagine how I could justify spending significantly more on a DAC when in my mind the headphones or speakers contribute the most audible characteristics into the listening chain. This is just my experience and feeling at this point and I'm not trying to start the DAC measurements war again, but I do agree with you, any decent capable DAC should provide excellent listening pleasure if the headphones or speakers match the users preferences and the amplification can power them properly.

Or not...

There are some real differences and good science behind why. If interested, this is a good read:
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2018/01/audiophile-myth-260-detestable-digital.html

AHHHH I can't decide now . Is it safe to say at least that, even a cheap, decent DAC will show a good improvement in my system? I'm really not sure if I should consider selling the A5+s and going for a set of 5.1s like the Tannoy HTS 101-XPs and a receiver, but really not sure if I want to spend that much extra.

 

[miketlse]

Hmm maybe I should consider saving a bit on my budget and going for the Audioengine D1/Dragonfly Black/Red or one of the Fiio DACs....



Hmm maybe I'll still get the Chord Mojo then...



Or not...



AHHHH I can't decide now . Is it safe to say at least that, even a cheap, decent DAC will show a good improvement in my system? I'm really not sure if I should consider selling the A5+s and going for a set of 5.1s like the Tannoy HTS 101-XPs and a receiver, but really not sure if I want to spend that much extra.

Demo a Mojo - it will beat all the competitor DACs in that price range.
Then you can make an informed decision - at the moment you are trying to make a decision, based on other peoples preferences.

 

[lentoviolento]

Hmm maybe I should consider saving a bit on my budget and going for the Audioengine D1/Dragonfly Black/Red or one of the Fiio DACs....



Hmm maybe I'll still get the Chord Mojo then...



Or not...



AHHHH I can't decide now . Is it safe to say at least that, even a cheap, decent DAC will show a good improvement in my system? I'm really not sure if I should consider selling the A5+s and going for a set of 5.1s like the Tannoy HTS 101-XPs and a receiver, but really not sure if I want to spend that much extra.

Listen.. There s no audible differences between dacs.. Buy some on amazon so you can a/b.. And then tell me if i am not right....

 

[miketlse]

Listen.. There s no audible differences between dacs.. Buy some on amazon so you can a/b.. And then tell me if i am not right....

Those of us who have already bought several dacs, can already tell you that you are not right.
However you are free to believe whatever you want.

 

[AndrewH13]

Listen.. There s no audible differences between dacs.. Buy some on amazon so you can a/b.. And then tell me if i am not right....

Quote of the year so far, on a Chord DAC thread!

I presume you have heard Hugo or Dave?

 

[miketlse]

Quote of the year so far, on a Chord DAC thread!

Yes that quote goes straight to first position on the leaderboard.

 

[lentoviolento]

Yes that quote goes straight to first position on the leaderboard.

you wouldnt be the first fools to fail a blind test....

 

[lentoviolento]

i keep believing what i want , you keep spending money convincing yourself that you are "audiophile"...

 

[SomeGuyDude]

That's outrageous!! What was the problem again? Go fix it at any electronics service. Hell, send it to me and I'll fix it for free if it's just soldering\resoldering\replacing USB connector! (I don't think the shipping worths it though), let's get real, yes it sounds amazing, yes it is marvelous engeneered, but regular soldering, not microscopic soldering, is just... Soldering!!
Is the connector made on Mars or something? I'm sure it's got some stardust in composition, otherwise how stupid would we have to be to fall for this one?!

I have no clue. I might ask them to give it back just so I can open it up and tinker with it myself.

 

[Mython]

Listen.. There s no audible differences between dacs.. Buy some on amazon so you can a/b.. And then tell me if i am not right....

you wouldnt be the first fools to fail a blind test....

i keep believing what i want , you keep spending money convincing yourself that you are "audiophile"...

You are as entitled to your opinion as anyone, but if you truly believe that everyone other than you is a fool for believing different DACs sound different, then why are you posting here?

Are you here just to troll the thread?

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Listen.. There s no audible differences between dacs.. Buy some on amazon so you can a/b.. And then tell me if i am not right....

Rule of thumb: if there's an audio difference between DACs it means at least one of them is ****ing up. Amplifiers can certainly color sound, but a data conversion is supposed to be straight 1:1, whatever the spectrogram looks like is what the analog signal should be. It'd be like if your DVD player changed what a movie looked like.

 

[tommasoff]

akg 550 sucks...
senn 579 is too bright for my taste.
my two cents are : sell the mojo, buy a fiio or a dragon fly or whatever and buy a better hp....

Not for mine! I really like them. They have a rather rounded and comfortable sound, quite musical and not too analytic. I have been using a pair of akg k701, and those are definitely too bright to me, especially compared to the senns.
Not really agreeing about selling the Mojo. I preferred to invest in a good source in order to get everything from all (a lot) my headphones, even the cheaper ones. This doesn't mean that I won't buy a premium set of cans, but this will not happen in the nearest future.
Btw, lets stick to my original question: any suggestion for a good pairing with a budget of 150 euros?
About the k550, why do you say that? Can you please explain your point? I have read several reviews and they don't seem so bad, like you say.

thanks

Tom

 

[musickid]

lento as an example I have owned mojo/yulong u100 dac and modi multibit dac. mojo scales very nicely with low to mid priced headphones. compared to the other two similar priced dacs the mojo at 400 pounds is a completely different experience. like having a headphone mini concert when you like. the mojo following here is entirely because it does really sound better for real. try it and see. forget about the name audiophile see how a superior dac increases music enjoyment. calling people fools who are trying to help you is not cool bro.

tommas try beyer dt880 250ohm or 32 ohm premium home edition. fits your budget and excellent with german engineering. I have dt880 600ohm and when used with Hugo 2 still sounded fantastic. open and airy great for jazz/female vocals

not all dacs recreate the analogue signal as precisely as each other. therefore the comparison 1:1 cannot be true here.

 

[Mython]

Amplifiers can certainly color sound, but a data conversion is supposed to be straight 1:1, whatever the spectrogram looks like is what the analog signal should be. It'd be like if your DVD player changed what a movie looked like.

So, you believe that all DVD players use absolutely identical MPEG decoding and signal processing algorithms to create their output signal? Nope. Even the encoders for DVD movies do not use identical algorithms to each other. They all try to adhere to the boundaries of the relevant specifications, but their means of getting there varies widely, and the quality of the images they output varies widely, accordingly.


If two camera lenses are of identical size, and both are made from glass of identical degree of transparency, then does that mean that they will/must produce images of identical clarity? Nope.
They, too, will each be designed and manufactured according to certain theoretical, practical and economic constraints.

Rule of thumb: if there's an audio difference between DACs it means at least one of them is ****ing up.

There is no such thing, in the Hi-Fi world, as a perfect Digital to Analogue Converter, up to, and including, this point in time. That fact is mathematically provable. ALL Hi-Fi DACs (and indeed, all studio Analogue to Digital Converters) in the world, up to, and including, this point in time, are flawed, to varying degrees, as they attempt to approximate the reconstruction of the original analogue music signal, from a flawed digital encoding, as best their designers (and manufacturers) can, within the constraints of their knowledge, budget, and the technical state of the art of the silicon components they employ. Rob Watts (designer of Chord Electronics DACs) is getting closer and closer to ideal DAC performance, but hasn't quite reached perfection yet. Many other DACs are mathematically provable to be substantially inferior in the accuracy with which they attempt to reconstruct the analogue waveform.

In the Hi-Fi world, Digital to Analogue Conversion is not as simple as a pocket calculator performing a '2+2=4' type of calculation. If you believe it is that simple, then you are being rather naive.