Chord Mojo(1) DAC-amp ☆★►FAQ in 3rd post!◄★☆

[Superdrag81]

Just purchased/pre-ordered on moon audio...hopefully i got into their second order before it sold out!

 

[Deftone]

Hmmm i wonder if adding a iFi Mercury usb cable > iFi iPurifier/2 > AQ mini adapter to the chain would make any difference.

 

[elnero]

  I'll just leave this here. 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/chord-mojo/reviews/14291

Very nice review! Looking forward to hearing it for myself. 

 

[singleended58]

I ended up going out last night with an iPhone 6plus, a blackberry, mojo AND Fiio x5. Weighed a ton!

 


How does the Mojo sound with iPhone 6+ compared to Fiio X5? What connection are you using between Mojo and X5? Thanks.

 

[Yubacore]

Since we're on the topic of sources: Some new smartphones have native support for DSD. Will this be an advantage if used for transport with the MOJO? I'm guessing a third party app will have to be installed anyway, am I right?

 

[NZtechfreak]

  Since we're on the topic of sources: Some new smartphones have native support for DSD. Will this be an advantage if used for transport with the MOJO? I'm guessing a third party app will have to be installed anyway, am I right?

 
Yes, third party app. Onkyo HiFi player is one, USB Audio Player Pro another (the latter being Android only and recommended over Onkyo's player).

 

[Yubacore]

Ok, so this may be a broader topic, but not entirely off topic here: What makes a good transport? Will different phones sound different at all, and what causes that difference? (I'm thinking it's like having an external soundcard for your computer, which should sound pretty much the same regardless? But, I have no experience with any of this).

 

[Torq]

Sound-wise, a "good" transport would have the lowest possible levels of jitter and an in-spec implementation of the specific optical/electrical interface.  So, clock quality would be a factor (to a certain extent), as would be the implementation of the physical layer being used.  Depending on the DAC implementation, the source clock/jitter importance would be more or less important (not using the clock from the incoming data fixes one source of jitter issues).

For example, I find it difficult to believe that any of the AK players from the original AK100 up to the latest AK380 sound any different via their optical outputs into a Mojo.
 
Beyond that it's all about size, capacity, UX and battery life in whatever balance is important to you.
 
My 0.01 GBP at least ...

 

[Yubacore]

 
Sound-wise, a "good" transport would have the lowest possible levels of jitter and an in-spec implementation of the specific optical/electrical interface.  So, clock quality would be a factor (to a certain extent), as would be the implementation of the physical layer being used.  Depending on the DAC implementation, the source clock/jitter importance would be more or less important (not using the clock from the incoming data fixes one source of jitter issues).

For example, I find it difficult to believe that any of the AK players from the original AK100 up to the latest AK380 sound any different via their optical outputs into a Mojo.
 
Beyond that it's all about size, capacity, UX and battery life in whatever balance is important to you.
 
My 0.01 GBP at least ...

 
So you think the AKs sound the same via USB and optical, but superior to non-hifi transports, if I understand this correctly.
 
Thanks, this is helpful.
 
How much does this affect sound in the end, in your opinion? I'm new here and I don't know what consensus on level of audiophile delusion we're labouring under here is, so it's hard to interpret what exactly impressions in a review translates to. Do you think, for example, that 10 random people from this thread could in a blind A/B test identify with any degree of consistency if the same track is fed to the MOJO from an AK380 or an android phone in airplane mode?

 

[Torq]

   
So you think the AKs sound the same via USB and optical, but superior to non-hifi transports, if I understand this correctly.
 
Thanks, this is helpful.
 
How much does this affect sound in the end, in your opinion? I'm new here and I don't know what consensus on level of audiophile delusion we're labouring under here is, so it's hard to interpret what exactly impressions in a review translates to. Do you think, for example, that 10 random people from this thread could in a blind A/B test identify with any degree of consistency if the same track is fed to the MOJO from an AK380 or an android phone in airplane mode?

To be clear ...
 
The AK players I've heard through external DACs, using their optical outputs (the only digital outputs the AK players have; they don't do USB-out), don't sound any different to me.  I'm not saying there aren't differences, but I've never heard any.  My listening has been through an iDecco, Linn Accurate DS (well, technically, DSM), Bifrost and Yggdrasil.
 
Through their headphones outputs ... so going through their respective DACs and analog stages ... there are definite differences.  I don't care for the analog output of the AK240 or AK100ii or AK120ii at all.  The 100/120 and 380 were better for me, but the 380 isn't something I'd personally deem "reasonable value" (a 4490 Bifrost toasts it, albeit without being portable).
 
I can't speak for others ... however, I'd be very surprised if I could tell the difference between any Android phone (or iPhone with suitable software and cables) and an AK380 feeding any reasonably competent DAC.  Certainly I cannot reliably tell the difference between my nMP/Roon with an optical connection to my Yggy vs. my iPhone doing the same via USB with the same files and the built-in music app or the Onkyo player.

 

[oohmygod]

If i using a Chord Mojo, does it means that there is no differences in using a iphone or a AK240 as the source?

 

[jamato8]

I am really enjoying the Mojo with optical in. Fed from any number of optical output devices, very good sound! 

 

[Torq]

My response is not "Mojo" specific ... so take this with an appropriately sized grain/pinch/handful/bag of salt ...
 
In listening to AK100, 120, AK100ii, AK120ii, AK240 and AK380 and various iPhone models, played via either optical or USB (as appropriate), into iDecco, Linn Akurate DS(M), Bifrost and Yggdrasil I cannot, personally, tell any difference.  I am not saying that no difference exists, just that I cannot hear it (using their respective on-board analog/amp stages makes a definite difference, however).
 
I have my hearing tested annually and am pretty protective about it.  My audiologist tells me that I'm untypical and "on par with a 13 year old girl" (for reference I'm male and 45), for whatever that is worth.  My girlfriend is perpetually annoyed that I can hear her whisperings from another room, and over the talking of our guests at dinner, when it is least convenient for her ... though that's how I discovered she "wanted me to ask".
 
I'd be extremely surprised if I could tell the difference between reasonably competent transports with any DAC over any interface ... but that's just me ... and just my opinion; I have my own, subconciuos biases,  and I've not heard everything in the world.

 

[timtunes]

Help
 
The iPhone Camera Connection still appears to only work for the iPad, not the iPhone 6S - anyone with similar experience?

 

[gavinfabl]

Help

The iPhone Camera Connection still appears to only work for the iPad, not the iPhone 6S - anyone with similar experience?

Works fine with the 6S. I assume you connected the micro usb lead that came with the Mojo to the Apple Camera USB cable?

eg This apple cable http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MD821ZM/A/lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter?fnode=58aa180b3625904d80fbcbeb3f9ba1cd78f998d3517aaa890814bb4a30edfd7f99e8209e8d0a43c385a6518c6d786fd2f5d5b2aae6f7d0dccaf8627e194269fc2f16b5e800e54d0d42871e9644bb6e5bd977afee76db53209351eb9500ed117c