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

[Yubacore]

   
 
What I do know as a fact is Transport Player EQ changes the sound signature coming out of the MoJo - not a little bit but so much that anyone can hear the difference.
 

 
 
Yeah, maybe I should have stipulated in my post above, that I think it should be the same as long as the transport can resist tampering with the material before sending it. If the transport doesn't have a "bypass" mode that really works, it's worthless IMO.

 

[jamestux]

   
My very basic understanding - is the optical cable uses SPDIF Protocol
 
http://www.ni.com/example/3255/en/#toc3
 
So if the transport changes its output stream based on the transports implementation (either transport hardware or software)
 
The transports output streams would vary - so the Mojo would adhere to the protocol and process the data and output different sound signatures
 
If all the transports just read the raw data and passed it over to the Mojo directly in exactly the same sequence for the data streams - then they would all sound the same irrespective of different transport.
 
This is just my laymans interpretation - I could be completely wrong - so feel free to correct/educate me
 
What I do know as a fact is Transport Player EQ changes the sound signature coming out of the MoJo - not a little bit but so much that anyone can hear the difference.
 
Transport Volume settings have no effect

Either way - The Mojo is well worth the money and does sound very good with every transport I have tried so far

Something still has to convert the data into the audio for the SPDIF output too...
 
And my phone volume DOES change the volume coming out of the Mojo (I've found it works best when I set it to max on my phone and then play with the volume in the Mojo though).
 
So I'm still sticking to the statement that the Mojo does not see the RAW data, but a reconstruction created by the DAP.

As both you and Duncan have pointed out EQ settins make a difference with your players - so they have to be having an effect

 

[Torq]

The second batch has been delayed AGAIN:

1st batch arrived 10/22. 2nd shipment arrives 11/2, 3rd shipment 2 weeks later and almost sold out.

 
I just saw that too and it is extremely disappointing.
 
I can't wait to hear what happened, overnight, to delay the 2nd shipment by a week ... 
 
I get that pre-orders can have delays, but that's why you say "estimated to arrive" not "arrives".  The latter makes me assume they've got shipping information and quantity in hand.  At this point I have no faith in the revised date, nor do I know if I am actually in the 2nd batch ... especially if they are saying that the 3rd shipment is almost sold out already.  Is that because the 2nd shipment isn't as big as was expected or just due to more orders?
 
You don't wind up a week late in the space of a day.
 
Frankly it feels like the dates are quoted just to keep people interested; I imagine most people would wait to order if they knew, up front, it was going to be several weeks.
 
And I find the lack of communication, particularly when you're charing people's cards weeks before you ship a product (and not, apparently, even knowing WHEN you'll be shipping), pretty unprofessional.  That's either some really janky eCommerce solution they've got or they don't know how to use it.
 
This is a shame as it was my first order with Moon Audio, my first order of a Chord product, a very rare instance of "buying without hearing first", and the first pre-order I'd made for anything in a very long time since those always tend to be a lot of hope and disappointment.  And now it is, essentially, a worst-case first-order scenario - I won't be placing the other pre-orders that would otherwise have happened come Monday ... I'll wait for actual stock and order elsewhere.
 
If they can't guarantee the 11/2 date and that I'm in the second batch then I'll be cancelling this order too ... I don't like people sitting on my money and not delivering anything for it.

 

[Yubacore]

 
The battery takes up most of the space - the actual circuit board is very slim but well packed with goodies.

 
So is that the battery we see attached to the inside of the "lid" (the top part with the buttons)?

 

[jamestux]

   
As far as my grasp of these things reaches, any possible deterioration should only start once we leave the digital realm, in the DAC.
 
Should it matter much which device is converting the zeroes and ones of a FLAC file into the zeroes and ones in a PCM stream? Is there any room for interpretation in this conversion between lossless formats? I mean, wouldn't it be like converting between different lossless video or image formats, which can be done without any loss as many times as you like? Even with PDF which is a mess of a format as terrible as any, and the old PCX lossless from the beginning of time. Try it, convert between these a million times if you like, and you will have files that are identical to the point where they give the same checksum. That's what lossless means. It would be interesting to have a device for just saving the PCM or DSD stream from a transport directly to a file, instead of processing it in a DAC, and then compare those files.

Correct - the conversion SHOULD be lossless, but even CD players themselves are corrected and estimating data when they read  Copying the file once it's created SHOULD NOT affect it's quality (and computers are very good at checking this )

However as I said in the post that Piercer responded to the device, OS< software and codec used will all change how that PCM stream is created that gets fed to the MOJO.

Maybe all devices are close enough to be indistinguishable in which case just pick your player based on aesthetics, UI, storage and format support.
 
What I am saying is effectively copy the image you see on screen each time instead of the file.  That's the ouptut

 

[wirefriend]

   
(...) It would be interesting to have a device for just saving the PCM or DSD stream from a transport directly to a file, instead of processing it in a DAC, and then compare those files.

As far as I understand UAPP Android app does this kind of thing:
"Plays natively up to 32-bit/384kHz or any other rate/resolution your DAC supports by completely bypassing the Android audio system. Other Android players are limited to 16-bit/48kHz, even on Android ".
Please keep in mind that to doesn't mean it doesn't alter any bit of the source. It needs to read the file, uncompress it (if it is FLAC or ALAC), then stream bits from memory /buffer to the cable and for that it needs to pack it in groups, sequence and send them in certain pace (not all at once etc.) to the DAC. More things happen there for sure. And trust me - it is VERY difficult to write any software without any bugs.

 

[Sonic77]

   
I just saw that too and it is extremely disappointing.
 
I can't wait to hear what happened, overnight, to delay the 2nd shipment by a week ... 
 
I get that pre-orders can have delays, but that's why you say "estimated to arrive" not "arrives".  The latter makes me assume they've got shipping information and quantity in hand.  At this point I have no faith in the revised date, nor do I know if I am actually in the 2nd batch ... especially if they are saying that the 3rd shipment is almost sold out already.  Is that because the 2nd shipment isn't as big as was expected or just due to more orders?
 
You don't wind up a week late in the space of a day.
 
Frankly it feels like the dates are quoted just to keep people interested; I imagine most people would wait to order if they knew, up front, it was going to be several weeks.
 
And I find the lack of communication, particularly when you're charing people's cards weeks before you ship a product (and not, apparently, even knowing WHEN you'll be shipping), pretty unprofessional.  That's either some really janky eCommerce solution they've got or they don't know how to use it.
 
This is a shame as it was my first order with Moon Audio, my first order of a Chord product, a very rare instance of "buying without hearing first", and the first pre-order I'd made for anything in a very long time since those always tend to be a lot of hope and disappointment.  And now it is, essentially, a worst-case first-order scenario - I won't be placing the other pre-orders that would otherwise have happened come Monday ... I'll wait for actual stock and order elsewhere.
 
If they can't guarantee the 11/2 date and that I'm in the second batch then I'll be cancelling this order too ... I don't like people sitting on my money and not delivering anything for it.

I may cancel, I need to talk to my son see what he thinks, if it was just me, it would be cancelled already, my son was a little excited about this, I hope he is willing to wait and we can order this from someone else. No communication make you look like amateurs and unprofessional, and really rude.

 

[jamestux]

   
 
Yeah, maybe I should have stipulated in my post above, that I think it should be the same as long as the transport can resist tampering with the material before sending it. If the transport doesn't have a "bypass" mode that really works, it's worthless IMO.

Fair point - but completely untampered with = perfect - and very few systems are completely perfect.
 
Here's an interesting read...  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed%E2%80%93Solomon_error_correction
And another http://www.info.biz.hr/Typo3/typo3_01/dummy-3.8.0/fileadmin/Mirko_Brand/ATT00045.pdf

 

[sonickarma]

So I'm still sticking to the statement that the Mojo does not see the RAW data, but a reconstruction created by the DAP.


As both you and Duncan have pointed out EQ settins make a difference with your players - so they have to be having an effect

I agree and never disagreed with that statement

 

[Staxton]

   
I just saw that too and it is extremely disappointing.
 
I can't wait to hear what happened, overnight, to delay the 2nd shipment by a week ... 
 
I get that pre-orders can have delays, but that's why you say "estimated to arrive" not "arrives".  The latter makes me assume they've got shipping information and quantity in hand.  At this point I have no faith in the revised date, nor do I know if I am actually in the 2nd batch ... especially if they are saying that the 3rd shipment is almost sold out already.  Is that because the 2nd shipment isn't as big as was expected or just due to more orders?
 
You don't wind up a week late in the space of a day.
 
Frankly it feels like the dates are quoted just to keep people interested; I imagine most people would wait to order if they knew, up front, it was going to be several weeks.
 
And I find the lack of communication, particularly when you're charing people's cards weeks before you ship a product (and not, apparently, even knowing WHEN you'll be shipping), pretty unprofessional.  That's either some really janky eCommerce solution they've got or they don't know how to use it.
 
This is a shame as it was my first order with Moon Audio, my first order of a Chord product, a very rare instance of "buying without hearing first", and the first pre-order I'd made for anything in a very long time since those always tend to be a lot of hope and disappointment.  And now it is, essentially, a worst-case first-order scenario - I won't be placing the other pre-orders that would otherwise have happened come Monday ... I'll wait for actual stock and order elsewhere.
 
If they can't guarantee the 11/2 date and that I'm in the second batch then I'll be cancelling this order too ... I don't like people sitting on my money and not delivering anything for it.

I'm in the exact same boat and I feel the same way: First time buyer of a Chord product, first order from Moon Audio, first blind purchase of a product without substantial reviews.
 
Based on what I've heard, these are the facts, which I would love for Moon Audio or Chord to flesh out. 
 
1. Moon did not receive the 2nd batch on 10/27. 
2. Moon will receive 2nd batch on 11/2, but they don't know how many they are getting.
 
So, if this is correct, they can't know if a particular order will be in the 2nd batch, since they don't know how many they will get. Presumably, what they do know is how many orders they have received that have not been fulfilled, and presumably
Chord knows how many they are shipping to Moon in each batch.
 
It would be nice to know this information. 

 

[jmills8]

No need to be bratty little kids. Go do something, run, read, paint. Soon you can eat your cake.

 

[Yubacore]

   
 
What I am saying is effectively copy the image you see on screen each time instead of the file.  That's the ouptut

 
I get what you're saying but I think this comparison is not fair. When you see an image on the screen, a lot of things come into play that are far less accurate than a few gadgets handling a digital string of information, namely the computer screen (most of which are very inaccurate!), and the observer's eyes. I don't think we have a similar thing happening in the world of audio, before even reaching the DAC! The logical thing would be to compare the screen to the headphone and the eyes, well, to the ears...

 

[cattlethief]

   
I really have to respond to this. It makes me kind of sad. If you understand interconnects and digital data transfer then it is not possible to have different sounds from different sources.
 
1) File format will have no affect on the data being transmitted - which will ultimately be PCM or DSD (for the moment)
2) Once the bits of data arrive in the electronic buffer of the Mojo they will be stored as charge in transistors on silicon. All knowledge about how they got there is completely destroyed. The transfer mechanism of the bits has no impact on the nature of the bits once they are in the Mojo - that's what 'digital is digital' means. The bits in the Mojo are then fed to the DAC's. The bits going in the DAC CANNOT be affected by how they got from source to the Mojo.
 
AARRGGGHHH!!!!! 
 
Imagine if the same laws applied to transferring picture or word documents! Do you ever worry about whether you send a picture to someone by email that it will be different to if you sent it on a USB stick, or burnt to a CD? Of cource not, because digital is digital!

Audirvana improves the digital output from a mac,so in a way it is changing the source,also try listening to the app relisten on your iphone even when connecting to the mojo the sound improves,its free to try!

 

[Sonic77]

No need to be bratty little kids. Go do something, run, read, paint. Soon you can eat your cake.

Your right, my order for 2 mojo's is cancelled, Chord and I , thank you!!!!!  

 

[Mojo ideas]

I'm in the exact same boat and I feel the same way: First time buyer of a Chord product, first order from Moon Audio, first blind purchase of a product without substantial reviews.

Based on what I've heard, these are the facts, which I would love for Moon Audio or Chord to flesh out. 

1. Moon did not receive the 2nd batch on 10/27. 
2. Moon will receive 2nd batch on 11/2, but they don't know how many they are getting.

So, if this is correct, they can't know if a particular order will be in the 2nd batch, since they don't know how many they will get. Presumably, what they do know is how many orders they have received that have not been fulfilled, and presumably
Chord knows how many they are shipping to Moon in each batch.

It would be nice to know this information. 

I can understand your frustration we a chord requested that distributor placed there purchase orders in a timely manor . Many did but not all. I believe that we at chord are coping well in supplying many additional hundreds of units of a brand new products that had not been ordered until just about fourteen days ago. So please understand we are doing our very best. I can also say that moon are also passing on information as they get it. Please also remember we are supplying the world and not just the USA.