[surfgeorge]

Thanks for the birthday wishes

I went to a headphone specialist shop and tried 5 headphones using a USB stick with some reference music. The classical recordings proved to be the most revealing test material. They set me up with a PC for my USB stick and a Mojo to drive the headphones.

The Audeze and Grado options were rejected quickly by my ears. Too brash, shouty and muddled, especially with classic music.

That left Sennheiser HD600 and HD660s and the nice sales chap added in Quad ERA1 (a bit of an upsell at £600).

Whilst the Quad were very impressive, clean and mostly neutral, they are not worth the extra money over the HD660s.

I chose the HD660s in the end. They had a little more detail and power at the low frequency (e.g. timpani) and a much wider stereo soundstage. The HD600 were excellent too and probably more neutral, but they seemed to place instruments in between my ears rather than in the room around me. My ears like Sennheiser.

All good if you had a chance to listen to them!
Reading reviews can be a curse...

 

[Kentajalli]

If you decide try Neutron, despite Mojo sounding great with no resampling, if you upsample to 768khz (player can do that in realtime) sounds more detailed. UAPP also has upsampling function, however there you dont actually notice increase in quality, while with Neutron yes. Choose UAPP if you wish play with bit perfect and just play music, while if you use EQ, resampling and other effects definitely try Neutron.

Actually I recommend to use as little sound processing with any app (UAPP or Neutron) if you intend to connect it to a Mojo.
You see Mojo (if I understand it correctly) works differently to other dac's.
Mojo takes the signal and upsamples it many many times (this is what all those thousands of TAPS come in). it does this with simple 44.1kHz all the way to DSD512 - indeed internally the final DAC side is only PCM - even DSD gets converted to PCM (otherwise the volume control wouldn't work!).
Now you paid extra money for Mojo to do this with utmost finesse - any processing before hand can interfere with Mojo.
By all means try them, you will eventually come to the same conclusion.
Indeed Neutron can output at higher bitrates or it can oversample them at 2X, 4X, . . . . but it is very CPU intensive.
With lesser DAC's the over sampling cleans the sound a bit, but with Mojo, it robs it of micro detail slightly.

 

[andrewfd]

Taking a slightly different approach, does anyone recommend an Android tablet I could get for music playback:

- able to hold my c. 250gb music collection probably with a micro SD card expansion slot
- able to install UAPP
- USB C for my Mojo and all the chargers I have
- cheap or used in good eBay condition

This would take the whole upnp server and WiFi home loan out of the equation.

 

[anoutsos]

I am trying to decide on a bedside system designed around my Mojo. At the moment I am using my Android phone as the streamer, with the excellent USB Audio Player PRO app. However, I've just noticed that for an additional €500 one can attach a Chord Poly streamer. The reviews of Poly interface are not that great if one considers playing from the built-in SD card (using UPnP I believe), and so I am not sure I want to spend that money and have problems with connection drop-outs, etc. Also, using the Android app above, I have a nice interface to the albums and gapless playback. My question is, do people think that instead of the Poly a better option is to buy an Android tablet (e.g. with an 8" screen) and have it permanently connected to the Mojo by my bed? Can you foresee any issues with that setup? I am guessing that the USB Audio Player PRO app will still work and that the USB-C connection (with a OTP cable) will still be compatible with the Mojo. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I am trying to decide on a bedside system designed around my Mojo. At the moment I am using my Android phone as the streamer, with the excellent USB Audio Player PRO app. However, I've just noticed that for an additional €500 one can attach a Chord Poly streamer. The reviews of Poly interface are not that great if one considers playing from the built-in SD card (using UPnP I believe), and so I am not sure I want to spend that money and have problems with connection drop-outs, etc. Also, using the Android app above, I have a nice interface to the albums and gapless playback. My question is, do people think that instead of the Poly a better option is to buy an Android tablet (e.g. with an 8" screen) and have it permanently connected to the Mojo by my bed? Can you foresee any issues with that setup? I am guessing that the USB Audio Player PRO app will still work and that the USB-C connection (with a OTP cable) will still be compatible with the Mojo. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I just bought a poly this week. It's a fantastic companion for the Mojo. I picked it up for a great price from another head fier. It took me about 2 hours to figure out the best ways to set it up for my use cases. The easiest set up is hotspot mode for the Poly and streaming to it from my iPhone using Airplay. Once I figured out that is what I wanted to do , it took 1/2 hour to set up. Then, I had to get the highest quality sound quality set up working. That took me longer because I had to use trial and error to figure out how each of the players worked and how the Poly worked with them. 4 hours one night, gave up and posted a message here to get a tip, got the tip and I was up and running within about another 1/2 hour. I finally end up up with mconnect as a DNLA app connecting my iPhone and the poly to a wifi network including my pocket router for setting up in hotel rooms and using the Poly as renderer meaning the stream comes directly from Tidal and bypasses the iPhone. This is the best sound I've ever heard coming out of my Mojo. It sounds great. I would highly recommend it. If I could only have one dac/amp, I would keep this one and get rid of everything else I have.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I am trying to decide on a bedside system designed around my Mojo. At the moment I am using my Android phone as the streamer, with the excellent USB Audio Player PRO app. However, I've just noticed that for an additional €500 one can attach a Chord Poly streamer. The reviews of Poly interface are not that great if one considers playing from the built-in SD card (using UPnP I believe), and so I am not sure I want to spend that money and have problems with connection drop-outs, etc. Also, using the Android app above, I have a nice interface to the albums and gapless playback. My question is, do people think that instead of the Poly a better option is to buy an Android tablet (e.g. with an 8" screen) and have it permanently connected to the Mojo by my bed? Can you foresee any issues with that setup? I am guessing that the USB Audio Player PRO app will still work and that the USB-C connection (with a OTP cable) will still be compatible with the Mojo. Any thoughts? Thanks.

To answer your question about the mojo/poly as a bedside system, this is one of the uses I have for my mojo/poly. You don't need a separate Android device. You can use your phone to control it. You just need a good wifi network in your bedroom. It streams at over 1Mbps.

If you are going to make it a fixed desktop solution, I would be concerned about the batteries. I know you can remove the Mojo battery, but I am not sure about the poly. You could burn it out and I am not sure if there are readily available battery options for it.

Here is what you can do instead. You can buy a Bluesound Node 2i streamer and connect it via optical cable to your mojo. This is a glorious sound. Then, you can remove the Mojo battery and run it as a true desktop solution and not have any lingering battery problems. That sound is better than the Poly and blows me away. It was the pairing that got me to purchase a Poly in the first place since I knew the potential sound quality improvement that was possible. I plan on using the mojo/poly as a mobile solution for some high end IEMs I just bought and as a travelling desktop solution. I love my mojo/poly.

 

[Kentajalli]

I am trying to decide on a bedside system designed around my Mojo. At the moment I am using my Android phone as the streamer, with the excellent USB Audio Player PRO app. However, I've just noticed that for an additional €500 one can attach a Chord Poly streamer. The reviews of Poly interface are not that great if one considers playing from the built-in SD card (using UPnP I believe), and so I am not sure I want to spend that money and have problems with connection drop-outs, etc. Also, using the Android app above, I have a nice interface to the albums and gapless playback. My question is, do people think that instead of the Poly a better option is to buy an Android tablet (e.g. with an 8" screen) and have it permanently connected to the Mojo by my bed? Can you foresee any issues with that setup? I am guessing that the USB Audio Player PRO app will still work and that the USB-C connection (with a OTP cable) will still be compatible with the Mojo. Any thoughts? Thanks.

An option - a cheap one

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

An option - a cheap one

Now that is a hack. You even need a hack saw to cut off one of the jacks. This is not for everyone and definitely not for me. If you want Bluetooth 5.0, just purchase a $109 BTR5. If the quality isn't good enough in that product, wait until next year and their next product probably will be. Fit and finish does matter.

 

[Kentajalli]

Now that is a hack. You even need a hack saw to cut off one of the jacks. This is not for everyone and definitely not for me. If you want Bluetooth 5.0, just purchase a $109 BTR5. If the quality isn't good enough in that product, wait until next year and their next product probably will be. Fit and finish does matter.

Actually you can use it off the box, it just won't look as good.
I have had BTR5 - the xduoo mojo combo is a hell of lot better sounding.
See this.

 

[alxw0w]

Review of XDuoo 05BL Pro and Chord Mojo
Ok - The item arrived from China today faster than expected.
For those of you not familiar with this device - this is a Bluetooth reciever with a single digital coax output. It is made for XDuoo's own DAC, but as it happens can be connected to a Chord Mojo to add bluetooth to it.

So here is my quick find after about an hour or two with the device.
Pros:
- Small, cute, light. Does function properly as it should!
- better sound quality than expected (after some minor discoveries)
- pretty good range! see later
- easy to use, media buttons work too.
- cheap enough
Cons:
- Not a lot actually

This item is about 1mm thinner than Mojo, not counting its flared ears at ends. And internally the whole thing is actually a littler smaller than Mojo's width - so technically for those who are good with DIY and a fine saw, it can be made to fit the exact size of Mojo's end with cutting off the sides carefully and repositioning the jack, to make it look like a mini Poly ! Those who dont want to do so much, can simply resolder the output leads internally to the other (otherwise not connected) jack, and remove the current jack, to make a reasonable fit for Mojo.
Indeed it does have LDAC, aptX HD etc. at varying bitrates and sampling frequencies - they all function well, and Mojo responds to differing sampling frequencies with colour change.
Sound quality:
You see I did have a Fiio BTR5 and I did put it through its paces extensively. This guy is better by a good margin!
For one thing, Fiio had a terrible range with LDAC 990kb/s - less than a meter sometimes! XDuoo managed a good 4 meters in opensight, it only started to crackle once I stepped out of the room.
Distortion is low acros the bandwidth. BUT the bandwidth becomes narrower - the very low bass and very high treble gets muted a little.
Also compared to USB, sound looses that extra airiness that Mojo can resolve around instruments - sound stage flattens a bit.
Remember, I am comparing a lossless USB direct connection to a compressed (by the phone) BT alternative. A lot of it is/was to be expected - so I am nit-picking, there is no way a compressed audio BT connection was going to match a direct lossless connection.
Indeed the device is doing very well. I am impressed.
Codecs, Sampling Frequencies & bit rates
I played with those settings, to cut the long story short, the best combination was
LDAC 16bit 48kHz 990kb/s
Indeed 24bit made no improvements to my ear (still early days though), 660kb/s sounded as good too. However 44.1kHz and 96kHz settings made the sound loose a bit of its three dimensionality, perhaps because of extra data the codec has to compress.
However, somehow on well recorded SACD material the sound was a little better on 24bit 96kHz, but on standard CD, I preferred the mentioned setting.
Mistakes I made at first !
this is a little warning section, so you don't repeat my mistakes.
- If it is the first time you connect anything to COAX input of Mojo, the volume is set at zero! remember to put it up, or you wonder why there is no sound! Also Mojo remembers the volume setting for different inputs independently.
- I use Neutron player on my Android phone, I forgot to set High-Res Bluetooth under Generic driver settings. This meant that Hi-res audio was not routed directly to BT codec.
- My bloody phone activated its internal Dolby Atmos crap enhancer by default on bluetooth, so what I heard at beginning was very off-putting. took me a little while before I realized the damn thing comes on by itself.
Once it was switched off the sound became a very close version of USB direct connection.
Conclusion
to add bluetooth functionality to a Mojo at this price is a steal! never mind one that sounds good enough not to embarrass itself.
Besides apart from Poly I do not know of another alternative! do you ?
I have not checked battery performance yet - I will report anything else I find.
Weirdly! or is it I am imagining it, my Mojo seems to keep its cool connected to COAX compared to USB , I mean it has not warmed up yet after about an hour so far! Curious . . .
I have known myself to change my mind after long auditioning a device.
But until (if) I do, I recommend this, it really impressed me.
Diana Krall, on the girl in the other room sounds very clear and lush with XDuoo and Mojo - I easily listened to the entire album while writing this.

Alternative could be Shangling M0. I was using it with Mojo for some time. It also has LDAC (also aptx and aptx-hd). Or you can use shangling as transport and play music from sd card.

 

[Kentajalli]

Alternative could be Shangling M0. I was using it with Mojo for some time. It also has LDAC (also aptx and aptx-hd). Or you can use shangling as transport and play music from sd card.

I don't see a digital out to feed the Mojo.

 

[alxw0w]

I don't see a digital out to feed the Mojo.

Usb to Mojo. Shanling has possibility to act as a transport only.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-dac-amp-☆★►faq-in-3rd-post-◄★☆.784602/post-15841280

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Actually you can use it off the box, it just won't look as good.
I have had BTR5 - the xduoo mojo combo is a hell of lot better sounding.
See this.

That would be better. It's cheap, I might try it.

To be honest, I stopped using my mojo almost completely until I got the poly because the form factor and lack of a streaming capability made it less useful versus my alternatives. I didn't like the rubber bands to handle the USB connects to my iPhone. I don't think this hack would work well for me either. Someone should just design a properly fitting cost effective bluetooth 5.0 module to pair with the Mojo and release it. I guess the market size is too small.

But now that I have the poly, the form factor is perfect. It feels nice in the hand and sounds great using DNLA software like mconnect. The problem is that the mojo and poly combo is expensive and really not well designed and it's somewhat hard to set up. But, now that I have it working, it's a great solution and I would recommend it. I saw several bargains for sale on Head fi for between $725-850 for the pair.

Given the trajectory Fiio is heading, I would expect them to release a BTR7 (this may just be wishful thinking) that would be comparable in sound quality to the Mojo and of similar size. That company knows how to design property functioning and well designed products.

 

[Kentajalli]

Usb to Mojo. Shanling has possibility to act as a transport only.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-dac-amp-☆★►faq-in-3rd-post-◄★☆.784602/post-15841280

AAh...
Interesting.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Usb to Mojo. Shanling has possibility to act as a transport only.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-dac-amp-☆★►faq-in-3rd-post-◄★☆.784602/post-15841280

How does this solution sound? Does it sound better than the USB dongle to an iPhone or Android device?