[jarnopp]

I’m on the Mojo train now — only just fell in love with the original. Purchased secondhand for a nice price. It’s lovely with my Focal Clears and Dunu SA6’s.

The battery is, unfortunately, not in ideal condition. The unit itself is in beautiful cosmetic condition but the battery reserve only approximates about 50% or less of the original spec of ~8 hours.

I ran into an issue last night which I am attempting to rectify as per recommendations in this thread. I was playing from my iPad Pro to the Mojo, using the CCK and playing 24/96 via Qobuz. The CCK was connected to power via a high quality USB-to-lightning adaptor, drawing from my quality surge protector‘s USB jack. I’m then using the split USB-to-2x-microUSB provided in Chord’s M9 accesory kit. After a few seconds of playback, the song would pause — I looked at the Qobuz screen and noticed that the output device would toggle between the iPad’s onboard sound and the Mojo. The indicator light on the power bubble would go off, but the volume bubbles remained on. This suggests to me that something is telling the iPad that the mojo is not open for business.

Strangely enough, this was not an issue that I encountered with simultaneous charge/play via my MacBook Pro. Perhaps the battery was closer to a full charge when I listened with the MBP.

A post somewhere (many replies) above suggests that this would happen when the Mojo is not at full charge. Given the battery’s condition (whether worn normally from years of use, or malfunctioning), I am not confident that it will rectify the issue. I’ll report back after a second attempt following the Mojo having sat on the charger for 10 hours, so as to ensure it’s been maximally charged to its available capacity.

In any case, I love this thing. I can’t presently afford to upgrade to a Mojo 2; though this is good for me, as although they’re new and exciting, I don’t have the need. So I will be looking into options to have Mojo look at the battery itself, replacing if necessary — hopefully this is a possible outcome of reaching out to customer service? — or finding the right battery and implementing the replacement myself. Having read through much of the information posted in this thread, especially the first couple of posts for the ‘official word’, I’m really happy to be a Chord customer, albeit only by virtue of the secondary, used market for the time being. It seems like this company is doing wonderful things and I am ecstatic and proud to be enjoying music at this quality of sound for such an affordable price.

thoughts, tips, advice welcome.

Moon Audio should be able to send you a replacement battery for about $75. It’s easy to change yourself.

 

[GreenBow]

Mojo gets the message across beautifully, Hugo2 makes you sit up and pay attention!

Perfect summary!

With TT2, you can barely move.

I’m on the Mojo train now — only just fell in love with the original. Purchased secondhand for a nice price. It’s lovely with my Focal Clears and Dunu SA6’s.

The battery is, unfortunately, not in ideal condition. The unit itself is in beautiful cosmetic condition but the battery reserve only approximates about 50% or less of the original spec of ~8 hours.

I ran into an issue last night which I am attempting to rectify as per recommendations in this thread. I was playing from my iPad Pro to the Mojo, using the CCK and playing 24/96 via Qobuz. The CCK was connected to power via a high quality USB-to-lightning adaptor, drawing from my quality surge protector‘s USB jack. I’m then using the split USB-to-2x-microUSB provided in Chord’s M9 accesory kit. After a few seconds of playback, the song would pause — I looked at the Qobuz screen and noticed that the output device would toggle between the iPad’s onboard sound and the Mojo. The indicator light on the power bubble would go off, but the volume bubbles remained on. This suggests to me that something is telling the iPad that the mojo is not open for business.

Strangely enough, this was not an issue that I encountered with simultaneous charge/play via my MacBook Pro. Perhaps the battery was closer to a full charge when I listened with the MBP.

A post somewhere (many replies) above suggests that this would happen when the Mojo is not at full charge. Given the battery’s condition (whether worn normally from years of use, or malfunctioning), I am not confident that it will rectify the issue. I’ll report back after a second attempt following the Mojo having sat on the charger for 10 hours, so as to ensure it’s been maximally charged to its available capacity.

In any case, I love this thing. I can’t presently afford to upgrade to a Mojo 2; though this is good for me, as although they’re new and exciting, I don’t have the need. So I will be looking into options to have Mojo look at the battery itself, replacing if necessary — hopefully this is a possible outcome of reaching out to customer service? — or finding the right battery and implementing the replacement myself. Having read through much of the information posted in this thread, especially the first couple of posts for the ‘official word’, I’m really happy to be a Chord customer, albeit only by virtue of the secondary, used market for the time being. It seems like this company is doing wonderful things and I am ecstatic and proud to be enjoying music at this quality of sound for such an affordable price.

thoughts, tips, advice welcome.

Some folk found batteries that work fine with Mojo, on AliExpress. ... Might be worth looking that up, and you'll find it searching in this thread. Could be an idea to see if that battery type is available on Ebay too.

Or contact Chord Electronics or a retailer.

 

[czuba]

I ran into an issue last night which I am attempting to rectify as per recommendations in this thread. I was playing from my iPad Pro to the Mojo, using the CCK and playing 24/96 via Qobuz. The CCK was connected to power via a high quality USB-to-lightning adaptor, drawing from my quality surge protector‘s USB jack. I’m then using the split USB-to-2x-microUSB provided in Chord’s M9 accesory kit. After a few seconds of playback, the song would pause — I looked at the Qobuz screen and noticed that the output device would toggle between the iPad’s onboard sound and the Mojo. The indicator light on the power bubble would go off, but the volume bubbles remained on. This suggests to me that something is telling the iPad that the mojo is not open for business.

Strangely enough, this was not an issue that I encountered with simultaneous charge/play via my MacBook Pro. Perhaps the battery was closer to a full charge when I listened with the MBP.

A post somewhere (many replies) above suggests that this would happen when the Mojo is not at full charge. Given the battery’s condition (whether worn normally from years of use, or malfunctioning), I am not confident that it will rectify the issue. I’ll report back after a second attempt following the Mojo having sat on the charger for 10 hours, so as to ensure it’s been maximally charged to its available capacity.
[...]
thoughts, tips, advice welcome.

Hi all,

I've quoted the issue I'm dealing with above. It turns out that charging the Mojo to 100% capacity has not remedied the situation.
I'm including a short (>60 second) video below which highlights the problem.

https://imgur.com/a/n05d7j5

Any tips would be warmly appreciated.

Follow-up edit:

I've circumvented the problem, but I still think it's of interest for documentation purposes.

Note again that this issue is only present during simultaneous charging/playing, utilizing the CCK -> USB-to-(2x)-micro-USB chain (with the latter cable being provided in Chord's 'Mojo Cable Accessory pack': the "1x Dual Play and Charge microUSB Adapter"). The Chord plays just fine through the CCK without being supplied power.

I've just tested it during simultaneous charge/play with a different cabling: a separate USB-to-micro-USB direct from my surge protector to the charging port, and USB-to-micro-USB from the CCK to the microUSB input on the Mojo.

https://imgur.com/a/VseMYXT

This works without issue -- so I am guessing (constrained by my extremely limited knowledge in this area) that the iPad itself is not providing enough power to drive both the charging of the Mojo and the digital audio signal. Note again (as mentioned above) that this was not an issue using the same "dual charge/play" cable with a Macbook Pro.

 

[miketlse]

Hi all,

I've quoted the issue I'm dealing with above. It turns out that charging the Mojo to 100% capacity has not remedied the situation.
I'm including a short (>60 second) video below which highlights the problem.

https://imgur.com/a/n05d7j5

Any tips would be warmly appreciated.

Does remind me of some issues posted a while back, related to Apple operating system updates.
Only a vague memory, but I think the root of the issue was the never ending battle with battery management (to maximise battery charge).
Apple updates often seemed to include code intended to detect when the battery load was high, and then reduce the power drain through devices connected via cable. Sometimes the power drain was reduced to such a low level that the 'handshake' between the apple device and the connected device was temporarily lost.
If enough users posted the issue on the Apple support forum, then the code/settings would be corrected in the next Apple update patch.

Has your iPad Pro has an operating system update recently?
You could also check the Apple support forum, to discover if other users are posting about the issue, and if the root cause identified.

 

[czuba]

Has your iPad Pro has an operating system update recently?
You could also check the Apple support forum, to discover if other users are posting about the issue, and if the root cause identified.

The Pro has the latest version of iOS installed. Since I can just as easily make use of simultaneous play/charge with a different cable config, I'm not particularly motivated to deal with Apple's support forums. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's at least useful to be able to bear in mind that the iPad Pro isn't (presently) capable of dual use. I will report back on my next post as to whether this dual charge/play use works without issue on the iPhone 12 mini.

 

[syazwaned]

Hi can anyone compare mojo with zen dac?

 

[the1andonly]

Hi can anyone compare mojo with zen dac?

Destroys it... Not even close, you want to be looking closer to like iFi Micro iDSD Black Label or Signature no idea what that is compared to xDSD probably the new gryphon will do. Big shoutout to the person who hooked me up with this so I can make this bluetooth monstrosity, they know who they are!

 

[syazwaned]

Thanks friend. Appreciate it.

 

[chesebert]

Destroys it... Not even close, you want to be looking closer to like iFi Micro iDSD Black Label or Signature no idea what that is compared to xDSD probably the new gryphon will do. Big shoutout to the person who hooked me up with this so I can make this bluetooth monstrosity, they know who they are!

good choice. Mojo was a breakthrough product when it was first introduced - you are getting a taste of hi-end sound in a portable dac. I suspect Mojo is good enough for most people. Add a Poly for better sound.

 

[syazwaned]

Destroys it... Not even close, you want to be looking closer to like iFi Micro iDSD Black Label or Signature no idea what that is compared to xDSD probably the new gryphon will do. Big shoutout to the person who hooked me up with this so I can make this bluetooth monstrosity, they know who they are!

How good is B2 with Mojo? I use my B2 with Apogee Groove, feel like it has less dynamic than I wanted it to be

 

[the1andonly]

How good is B2 with Mojo? I use my B2 with Apogee Groove, feel like it has less dynamic than I wanted it to be

The Blessing isn't very picky TBH, the first time I tested it when I got it was on apple iPhone dongle and it sounded great, that said it does sound better of better gear like most stuff... If you want analytical and thinner sound with more separation in the soundstage go for iFi Black Label and if anything is too harsh you have some ability to tone it down with the DAC settings on the side. If you want absolute smooth with a thicker sound and more filled in soundstage go for Mojo!

EDIT-Also the BL isn't super analytical anyway, it has a more typical implementation skew toward the Burr-Brown chip vs something like the signature that has the same DAC chip but is tuned more analytically and cold

good choice. Mojo was a breakthrough product when it was first introduced - you are getting a taste of hi-end sound in a portable dac. I suspect Mojo is good enough for most people. Add a Poly for better sound.

If you can believe it I sold my previous Mojo/Poly combo.... went for a poly update after years and it was a nightmare due to handshake issues, don't get me wrong Chord was very accommodating during the situation but it took a long time and hours upon hours of troubleshooting and I was soured from it, then I started yearning for at least a Mojo again and saw with the new release prices would be good but vowed this time to just use a BT adapter double sided taped to it... I also only use IEMs and Elegia with this setup (and soon Monarch MKII) so it doesn't get hot and mess up the tape, also needed to do something with this BT adapter, should have gotten one with AAC but this is a pretty decent and nice unit with AptX and LL and needed to be used or sold... still need a LL transmitter for my TV though, wonder how much that will run me!

 

[surfgeorge]

How good is B2 with Mojo? I use my B2 with Apogee Groove, feel like it has less dynamic than I wanted it to be

I have had the B2 and used it with my phone, Mojo and Hugo 2.
IMO the B2 did not scale as much as my other IEMs and while it is tuned very well I was not too impressed by its technicalities with either source.
EDIT: To put this in context - I had very high expectations based on the hype around the B2. It is still a very good IEM for the price.
That said, the Mojo is a great little DAC/Amp and with the release of the Mojo2 you now have the chance to either get a used Mojo for a great price or if you can, get the new Mojo 2.
I have always considered the original Mojo the best value investment in my head-fier carreer!

 

[damdl]

Destroys it... Not even close, you want to be looking closer to like iFi Micro iDSD Black Label or Signature no idea what that is compared to xDSD probably the new gryphon will do. Big shoutout to the person who hooked me up with this so I can make this bluetooth monstrosity, they know who they are!

I second that, I've used a Zen for an extended time as well as mojo, I would say that the most striking thing is the stage. Whenever I used the Zen I felt that everything was unidimensional, like looking into a picture. Mojo surrounds you with the music and everything is just "meatier" you listen to a guitar and it feels real, in the Zen you know it's a guitar but it feels like you have a glass in front of it.

Clarity and detail are kilometers better on mojo, and the low range of frequencies is bliss. Zen bass is just your neighbor Xplod subwoofer on 11.

 

[autarch1]

I have been using a Belkin Soundform Connect as an Airplay receiver to connect to my Mojo through the optical input. Is there any reason to think that the audio quality would be better if I purchased a Poly instead? Airplay is the most convenient option for me at my work so that I can quickly switch between several Apple devices.

 

[chesebert]

I have been using a Belkin Soundform Connect as an Airplay receiver to connect to my Mojo through the optical input. Is there any reason to think that the audio quality would be better if I purchased a Poly instead? Airplay is the most convenient option for me at my work so that I can quickly switch between several Apple devices.

How much do you care about sound quality while using mojo as a background music device?