[lextek]

Cool, same here, have you tried the HD600 directly to the Mojo?
I find that the Mojo can drive them and a slightly more details comparing to the crack head. I have to compare properly tho.

I agree the Crack adds the lush tube sound. I've spent some time today just with Mojo out of the the iPad Min with the HDs. Super detailed, but easy to listen to. It even worked with my iPhone 4S w/cck which I thought you had to have a Lighting equipped I device.

 

[georgelai57]

 
No worries as long your DAP or source has a regular mono 3,5mm ouput you can use regular short (> 10 cm) stereo 3,5mm to 3,5mm audio cables. No need for real coax cables with 75 ohms, as long the cable keeps as short as possible.
 
Like iBasso DX50/DX90, old FiiO X3 or X5 all have coax mono output and can use a regular 3,5mm stereo cable for the Mojo.
 
If you use i.e. the new FiiO X3 2nd Gen / X5 2nd Gen or Shanling M2 the use a different coax output and a regular stereo cable will not work.
 
I use a cheap FiiO L17 cable between my iBasso DX50 and Mojo works perfect, zero issues.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I had always thought that co-axials were wired differently and when some people used stereo ICs instead into a mono coaxial output, that kind of puzzled me.

 

[georgelai57]

George, this is how a coaxial cable looks inside:





Note the dielectric (non-conductive) material between the signal and ground. Also note the extra shielding on the outside. The difference is that a regular interconnect will not have the shielding around the outside, and the ground and signal wires aren't as isolated in a regular stereo interconnect but at these very short lengths the differences should be negligible.

Hi,
 
Thanks for the picture. It's a lot clearer now to me though the industry would have helped if they had called them, I don't know, something like "shielded mono"! I had assumed they were wired differently so how did coaxial, mono and stereo became interchangeable when it came to connecting to a Mojo for DX-50/90 and old X3/5. Now I know.
 
Cheers.

 

[viper2377]

My rig.

 

[tmarshl]

Hi

I've just picked up a Mojo and have to say I think it really is a miracle of engineering to produce such sound quality from a tiny box (I was amazed how small it was when I opened the box) it really has made an amazing difference to my full size cans (HD700 and HE400i)

I however have a query regarding DSD files, according to the box and manual the button should glow white when playing DSD files however mine seems to glow the light pink colour which is supposed to indicate 768khz this is from iPod touch using Onkyo HD player, anyone else noticed this or have any ideas why ?

Thanks, Carl

Mine glows white when playing DSD files.  The sound is fantastic.

 

[tmarshl]

  Okay, tell me the truth - is the Mojo a better sounding device - and a smarter investment - than an ak240? (Given I could add any old player (like the ak100 or the x3ii) for source). Cause I'm getting second thoughts here - I was supposed to get a 240, but now it looks like the game has changed...
 
Would be using it with Angie or Dita The Answer Truth Edition. 

 
I had an AK240 for my mobile rig for a while.  I ended up selling it and now use an iPhone 6 > Chord Mojo > JH13s for mobile.  In addition to all the other features of the iPhone, I find that the sound quality of the iPhone 6/Mojo/JH13s combination is outstanding.  To me it was better than the AK240 alone.  For DSD files I am using the Onkyo HF player app.  Of course, YMMV.   

 

[x RELIC x]

Hi,

Thanks for the picture. It's a lot clearer now to me though the industry would have helped if they had called them, I don't know, something like "shielded mono"! I had assumed they were wired differently so how did coaxial, mono and stereo became interchangeable when it came to connecting to a Mojo for DX-50/90 and old X3/5. Now I know.

Cheers.

Basically the digital signal doesn't care what we label things. It's looking for a signal path and a ground, and that's all.

For reference this is a typical TRS connection:



The tip (L+) acts as the signal wire in a regular coaxial cable, and the ring (R-) acts as the ground. The sleeve (which is usually ground in a stereo jack) is ignored in the MoJo's 3.5mm TS jack. The biggest difference in the cable from the perspective of the Mojo and connecting device is the shielding. There are real effects of using a proper coaxial cable for noise and interference and signal loss but with these short lengths it really shouldn't matter.

That said I'm still interested in trying a 'proper' coaxial interconnect from Moon Audio or similar. In a pinch this will do, unless attempting to use a configuration in a shared jack like on the FiiO X3ii, X5ii, and X7 because the signal and ground will not line up in the jack.

Here is how a Mojo compatible mono 3.5mm TS plug corresponds to a coaxial cable. The shield in a coaxial cable acts as the ground as well.

 

[Carl6868]

Mine glows white when playing DSD files.  The sound is fantastic.

Thanks for the reply, that's strange that mine isn't white I will have to do some tests over the weekend

 

[mscott58]

Thanks for the reply, that's strange that mine isn't white I will have to do some tests over the weekend

Was it not at all white or possibly kind of white-ish? I've found it not to be brilliant white, but white-ish as it's a blend of all of the colors at the same time (since with light all colors = white, while with paint/ink all colors = black). Cheers 

 

[che15]

I previously commented on how I loved everything about the mojo except the soundstaging.

I am Glad to say that I would like to take that back. The first Two times I tried it, it was congested, not much sense of air and space. The third time i tried it, decided to give it another go and boy am I Glad I did. The first Two, I didn't have a proper coaxial cable in hand and simply used a 3.5mm interconnect. This time I had a proper coaxial cable to compare with.

The difference is astounding. It is way bigger than any cable differences I have experienced and mind you, it was a basic Belden wire which would have cost 2 dollars a meter at most. It was nothing fanciful.

I know people might be skeptical of cable differences, but with regards to digital cables, I understand that the 75ohm cable requirement for coaxial is not merely snake oil. It is actually something that is taught in the classical engineering school, not simply hifi mumbo jumbo snake oil. It's got something to do with transmission line theories and what not and how an improper resistivity would bring about signal loss due to the creation of certain filters, at least that's what I was told by proper Engineers. I won't go into too much detail as I am not well versed in this area. But whoever out there is using an analog cable, please try a proper digital cable. The resolution, transparency, and staging and spatial cue reproduction takes a huge huge leap.

While previously I mentioned the improvement of the mojo with amping, I am now Glad to say that I prefer it unamped by a portable amp. The staging opens up more yes that is true, but as someone else pointed out, the finesse, the resolution, absolutely suffers. This is even with my Favourite pure 2 amplifier. And now, the staging is open and airy enough that I don't feel The need to boost it with the pure 2.

Could u please send me a link to where u got the coax cable, I keep looking online without any luck.
Thanks

 

[youkeum]

After much trial and error, I found if I follow the following procedure I am able to connect my Lavricable between my iPod Touch and Mojo on the first try and it should work with the Fiio L19:

1. Turn off iPod Touch
2. Turn on iPod Touch
3. Log in
4. Turn on music app (Onkyo, iTunes etc)
5. Turn on Mojo
6. Connect interconnect to the Mojo
7. Connect interconnect to iPod Touch

As for why, I believe nether of our cables are MFI certified (regardless of what Fiio says). Notice Fiio is only selling in Asia (China and Vietnam) away from enforceable intellectual property laws.

it works! thank you spook

 

[youkeum]

it's almost done. i like my ipod+mojo rig.

one last problem is a RF noise. does any one have good idea for this? like covered case.

 

[Currawong]

Today's rig. I did a shoot-out of the Mojo, X5II and Calyx M as DACs, all of them through the Wyrd. The latter two were improved with iZotope up-sampling from my computer, but the Mojo was more realistic through the Ethers. It wasn't a big enough difference I'd care in a portable set-up though, especially on public transport.
 
 

Spoiler: OT about digital cables.

  There are real effects of using a proper coaxial cable for noise and interference and signal loss but with these short lengths it really shouldn't matter.

 
A "proper" cable would be connecting two 75 Ohm components with 75 Ohm BNC jacks and a 75 Ohm cable. The 75 Ohms refers to the characteristic impedance of the cable (something which is a PITA to understand). If you don't have the impedance matched between components, you'll get signal reflections and that will screw up the square wave, which is what a digital signal looks like in the analog domain. You can see this on an oscilloscope very easily. TS and TRS jacks aren't 75 Ohm, and most RCA plugs aren't either, though they are used often nowadays for digital.  Regardless, how much it will screw things up in a DAC depends on the DAC's design. Nowadays with jitter not being a problem in just about every device out there, any differences are probably going to be how much noise gets in over the connection, either from the DAP or phone or through the cable. 
 
Post brought to you by this phallic contraption sitting on my desk. 
 

 

[LouisLoh]

   
I had an AK240 for my mobile rig for a while.  I ended up selling it and now use an iPhone 6 > Chord Mojo > JH13s for mobile.  In addition to all the other features of the iPhone, I find that the sound quality of the iPhone 6/Mojo/JH13s combination is outstanding.  To me it was better than the AK240 alone.  For DSD files I am using the Onkyo HF player app.  Of course, YMMV.   

How'd you compare the following setups:
 
1. iP6 > Mojo > JH13
2. iP6 > Hugo > JH13
3. iP6 > JH13
 
TIA

 

[Peterlovemusic]

For the X5ii I used the FiiO adaptors with a long 75 Ohm coaxial cable since the X5ii coaxial connection is shared with the line out via a TRRS jack with the signal at the top pole and not the tip, so this is my only solution right now for the X5ii.

For the X5 classic I just used a 3.5mm stereo interconnect and it works fine. No hiss, no noise, no interference. To be fully shielded and compliant with the coaxial standard you can browse Moon Audio (or other custom cable makers) for a true 75 Ohm coaxial interconnect, but in a pinch what I've done will work fine.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I prefer the X5/Mojo combo to the AK240 SE with the JH Angie.
 

Spoiler: I'm fixed!!

Given that this is a tour unit I had to send it back to Chord to fix the rare hiss. They repaired the unit (same extremely early serial#) very quickly and shipped it back in no time. Kudos again to Chord for the prompt attention to this. I'm confident that any units shipped recently will have no coaxial hiss, and if it does Chord has your back!

Nice little detail...

where can i buy this coaxial cable?  thx