[gazzington]

I plugged in my new hd650 and the combo sounded amazing. Such a lot of power in this little black box and the sound is incredible

 

[miketlse]

I plugged in my new hd650 and the combo sounded amazing. Such a lot of power in this little black box and the sound is incredible

Glad you are enjoying it. Like many before you, I predict that Mojo will inspire you to revisit your music collection, and discover facets of the music that you never heard before.

 

[gazzington]

Yeap that's already started. Never heard Fleetwood Macs - rumours sound so good

 

[miketlse]

Yeap that's already started. Never heard Fleetwood Macs - rumours sound so good

Yes precisely. I remember one post that described how the shimmer of the cymbals at a certain point during Dreams, was completely new. I listened to the track in question and it is true, but I also listened to several other versions of the track, and the shimmer is not there.
So inevitably you will end up being more discriminating, as to which version of a track is available, because when faced with the option of listening to a great version, or an ordinary version, then the great version wins.

 

[greatwhite58]

What case have you got for your mojo? The official one is quite pricey!

No case yet.

 

[scarfacegt]

Anyone using it in an hifi setup or as an dac on a headphone amp? How do i use it as just and dac and connect to an amp?

 

[miketlse]

Anyone using it in an hifi setup or as an dac on a headphone amp? How do i use it as just and dac and connect to an amp?

Yes some owners do use it as a source for a pre-amp or amp.
There is a lot of info in the FAQ in post #3, so read that for a start, and feel free to ask any follow-on questions.
A key thing to remember, is that the line-out mode is just a short cut to the default 3V output. 3V can be a bit 'too hot' for some amplifiers, so if needed you can use the volume balls to adjust the voltage down a bit, for example to 1.9V which is close to the historical AV standard.
To set the output level to 3V ( line level ) for connection to a preamplifier press both volume buttons
together when switching on the unit. Both volume balls will illuminate light blue. This mode is not
remembered so when you switch off it will reset back to the previous volume stored for safety reasons.

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Has anyone experienced the Mojo keeping its 3V setting even after turning off and on again? It happened twice to me. Fist time, it almost killed my Fitear 335. Luckily I notice the huge hiss at the beginning of the song and unplugged it quickly. Second time, I saw the volume balls was illuminated in violet and had to decrease the volume (usually they are pink-ish).

The Mojo remembers what volume you had last and does not reset when you turn it off.
Line out mode is an exception, unless you have pressed a volume button while in it. Then the volume you set will be saved, if you did not change volume in Line out mode, it will not save to 3V for obvious reasons.


To set the output level to 1.9V RMS, first follow the above guidance, to attain 3V, and then continue further, with the following:

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Yes 4 clicks down will set it to 1.9v (both balls indigo). Each step is always a 1 dB change.

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Please no worries!
However, iwas wondering if you could answer, the Mojo on line level mode - does this still run thru the Mojo's amp? from how i understand your earlier descriptions, buth the amping and DAC is done in the FPGA?
thus there is no way to truly use it as a dac without double amping?
Line level mode is just a volume preset for the volume control - nothing else changes.

Mojo has an FPGA (which is digital logic only) a discrete DAC (turning digital signals to analogue via flip-flops and resistors) and a single output amplifier - and that is it.

Conventional DAC headphone amps use differential outputs and have two I to V converters (current to voltage), a differential to single ended converter, and an output amplifier. Wrapped up with that is a analogue filter. So that's a lot of passive components and four amplifiers in the signal path.

Because Mojo's FPGA has extensive digital filtering (at 2048 FS) and has a noise shaper that runs at a very high rate (104MHz) and uses a discrete DAC, I can keep the analogue section radically simpler, and this is one reason why Mojo is so transparent compared to all other DAC amps.

Rob
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@xtr4 i understand the FPGA designs makes the dac and amp essentally the same... what im really trying to get at is, can the FPGA's amp functions be bypassed so it is used simply as a DAC, and the two 3.5mm outs are true line outputs to prevent double amping
Paste
No, you need at least one amplifier to do the critical I to V conversion. Now it is possible to design a voltage only DAC (no amp at all), but they sound poor due to lots of problems - the largest being the huge amount of distortion you get doing it that way. Believe me, if I could make it simpler I would. The key that Mojo has is extremely low distortion and noise (0.00017% 3V 300 Ohms) but only one single amplifier in the signal path - and this amp combines headphone drive, filtering and I to V conversion in a single stage.

Rob

For physically-connecting Mojo to active speakers, see: www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-the-official-thread-please-read-the-3rd-post/13350#post_12423100



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I just carried a quick amp test and my results are as follows:

Portaphile 627x: Sadly this amp proves to be the worst offender. Mojo has out classed this amp by a large margin.
Meir Audio quickstep: This amp did not alter the sound but to me there is no point in pairing it with quickstep as Mojo alone offers far more volume than paired with quickstep.
Wagnus Epsilon S: Expanded the soundstage which was nice but like the other amp the amp section is just nowhere as powerful as Mojo. I felt transparency also took a hit.
Analg2paper TR-07hp: This was the best pairing of the lot. Like other amps the transparency took a hit but the added bonus was the bass had a nicer reverb. To my ears the bass become extended the the decay was a lot more natural. The mid-bass to my ears was reduced and sub-bass become a little more prominent.

Summary: Add an amp if you like to color the sound and play around with the tuning, I see no real value in adding amp. So far I dont have any amp that is as powerful as mojo.

 

[gazzington]

Yes precisely. I remember one post that described how the shimmer of the cymbals at a certain point during Dreams, was completely new. I listened to the track in question and it is true, but I also listened to several other versions of the track, and the shimmer is not there.
So inevitably you will end up being more discriminating, as to which version of a track is available, because when faced with the option of listening to a great version, or an ordinary version, then the great version wins.

Hey, which version is the best to your ears? I often wonder what is the best recorded album ever from an audiophiles perspective.

 

[miketlse]

Hey, which version is the best to your ears? I often wonder what is the best recorded album ever from an audiophiles perspective.

This post was the start point for the interest in dreams. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mojos-greatest-hits.802832/page-12#post-13250541
This was my response, but I don't know offhand which version of the CD I listened to:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mojos-greatest-hits.802832/page-12#post-13251812
Record companies are very clever at slightly modifying a track, so that each version of the track has unique DRM. Consequently if one album is available from several streamers, plus re-releases by multiple labels, each version is probably slightly different.
The Steve Hoffman forum is a good place to find threads by audiophiles debating which release of an album is the best. Often the audiophiles cannot reach a consensus, but that is common whether the topic is cables, power supplies, ...............

 

[OK-Guy]

Hey, which version is the best to your ears? I often wonder what is the best recorded album ever from an audiophiles perspective.

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, the holy-grail of listening for the mouse-fart during the Recording, some have gone mad during their the quest of trying hear it, be warned.

 

[miketlse]

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, the holy-grail of listening for the mouse-fart during the Recording, some have gone mad during their the quest of trying hear it, be warned.

An alternative quest would be this, when listening to Dark Side of the Moon: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/...-of-the-moon-10-things-you-didnt-know-201743/
"If you listen close to the end of “Eclipse,” the album’s closing track, a passage from an orchestral version of the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” can be heard; the song was apparently playing in the background at the studio while Abbey Road doorman Gerry O’Driscoll (who delivered the immortal lines, “There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark. The only thing that makes it look light is the sun.”) was being recorded."

 

[Deftone]

if there is going to be a mojo 2 then i can predict one beast of a hype train breaking through the portable market again

 

[headfry]

I've been using the Mojo for two years now and continue to be very pleased with its
musicality and excellent, balanced performance.

All of the trolls denigrating Chord and this product (not on this site but on some others)
in my mind have been exposed as being biased, angry and wrong.

Love the Mojo, from its build quality and modern design to its fantastic sound which continues
to crush many of its similarly priced competitors....to me its custom FPGA sound really is magic!

 

[Mediahound]

My prediction - Mojo 2 coming soon!:

Or it could be a Hugo 2 Poly attachment.

 

[maxh22]

Mojo is still just as great as ever but its been nearly three years since it was announced so it would make sense that a new model is in the works.