Chord Mojo 2 Thread ___ [product released January 31, 2022 -- starting on page 95 of thread]

[Olliver]

If it helps anyone, I created an Excel sheet to play around with and predict the DSP effects. Try it and feel free to make improvements to the factors I used, which I tried many best to estimate from Rob's PDFs (in the Watts Up thread).

https://mega.nz/file/SzgG0JJQ#WHIJKWvgsmMXA9JRKiA1uf_Ggq0UfaUEoRsmoXnnK_Q

Edit: added image of Excel tool
Edit2: I also changed the horizontal axis to start at 10 and show 00, 1000, etc. as this is more intuitive and you can better read the frequencies.


PS: My Mojo 2 has 7 screws

Thank you very much for sharing this.
I was hoping someone would do something like this.

 

[weexisttocease]

Received my Mojo 2 and Poly yesterday. Surprised how small it is and very handy too. Grip is also good with the official leather case.

The GoFigure App was relatively easy to use and no problems with Poly configuration and MAFA App. Did a quick listening with the budget Lokahi and was impressed with the details and transparency, a very monitoring sound with a little warmth. It sounded like a completely new IEM.

 

[lwells]

I've had a lot more time to compare my mojo 2 to my OG mojo now. Here are some of my findings:

• Initially I found that i preferred a +3 dB on the 125 Hz shelf to give it this 'punch' in guitars that I felt was missing from the OG. Now I prefer it flat.
• To me, the OG is a bit more 'in your face' with guitars. It makes my music (rock/electronic/OST) more dramatic and engaging. Then I started to notice that these elements were missing texture that the Mojo 2 was presenting. My benchmark here is Thrice "Hurricane" when the electric guitars enter.
• What took me about a week to process was the more natural and convincing sense of space the Mojo 2 creates. Hanz Zimmer "Wallace" from Blade Runner 2049 is a damn near religious experience on my Emotiva Airmotiv 4s. I'm in a giant smooth stone temple with impossibly tall columns.
• Using my IEMs (Alclair RSM quads) I actually prefer not to have cross-feed. The OG presents an elliptoid stage centered at my forehead. Oddly, the Mojo 2 seems to be centered in the middle of my head putting live vocals between my ears. The cross feed then makes the vocalist seem larger. Maybe what I am experiencing is an increased depth, however that depth shifts forward toward me. I prefer listening to my speakers. Perhaps it's time for new IEMs when my $250 powered 2chs give me more joy.
• The OG NEVER seemed harsh. But the Mojo 2 is somehow much easier to listen to. Part of me wants to perceive this as less engaging. But at the same time I feel like the Mojo 2 is egging me on to turn the volume higher and higher. It still wants to party.
• I can see light though the split on the case at the headphone inputs. I didn't notice until I turned the brightness up and perfectly angled the case toward me. This does not bother me at all.

For IEMs, I'm using the included USB cable.

For my speaker setup, I have an ALLO DigiOne sig using coax.

 

[jinx20001]

I've had a lot more time to compare my mojo 2 to my OG mojo now. Here are some of my findings:

• Initially I found that i preferred a +3 dB on the 125 Hz shelf to give it this 'punch' in guitars that I felt was missing from the OG. Now I prefer it flat.
• To me, the OG is more a bit more 'in your face' with guitars. It makes my music (rock/electronic/OST) more dramatic and engaging. Then I started to notice that these elements were missing texture that the Mojo 2 was presenting. My benchmark here is Thrice "Hurricane" when the electric guitars enter.
• What took me about a week to process was the more natural and convincing sense of space the Mojo 2 creates. Hanz Zimmer "Wallace" from Blade Runner 2049 is a damn near religious experience on my Emotive Airmotiv 4s. I'm in a giant smooth stone temple with impossibly tall columns.
• Using my IEMs (Alclair RSM quads) I actually prefer not to have cross-feed. The OG presents an elliptoid stage centered at my forehead. Oddly, the Mojo 2 seems to be centered in the middle of my head putting live vocals between my ears. The cross feed then makes the vocalist seem larger. Maybe what I am experiencing is an increased depth, however that depth shifts forward toward me. I prefer listening to my speakers. Perhaps it's time for new IEMs when my $250 powered 2chs give me more joy.
• The OG NEVER seemed harsh. But the Mojo 2 is somehow much easier to listen to. Part of me wants to perceive this as less engaging. But at the same time I feel like the Mojo 2 is egging me on to turn the volume higher and higher. It still wants to party.
• I can see light though the split on the case at the headphone inputs. I didn't notice until I turned the brightness up and perfectly angled the case toward me. This does not bother me at all.

For IEMs, I'm using the included USB cable.

For my speaker setup, I have an ALLO DigiOne sig using coax.

the problem with comparing speakers to IEM's is the earphones are designed primarily to give you precise tuning in a very controlled space (that being the ear canal), often the best ''most ideal'' sound from earphones is rather bland because there is very little air being moved. ofcourse manufacturers can compensate for this by employing more drivers, different kinds of drivers and ofcourse tuning the sound where more fun can be found, so the typical sub bass boost with a sprinkle of highs as icing on the cake, but a user is unlikely to find them more laid back and fun than actual speakers of reasonable quality.

where in ears and headphones shine is in the minutiae, the controlled environment allows manufacturers to specifically find details in the music that you may never hear or focus on with general speakers, bass can be tighter and more multi layered when compared to a general home subwoofer, highs can have layering rather than a simple tweeter tss tss tss sound, vocals can be more natural and undisturbed, to get the same quality in the sound from speakers would take thousands upon thousands of dollars/pounds/whatever and a room with great acoustic alterations in order to get there.

with all that said there is no doubt you can have more fun listening to speakers, you are less focused on how the music sounds from a critical standpoint usually and more focused on just singing along and enjoying the music which is why we can have both and enjoy both, at the same time ofcourse you can also get heaps of joy from in ears but they usually need a little something extra... such as better amplification or some secret sauce tuning and extra drivers.

 

[lwells]

with all that said there is no doubt you can have more fun listening to speakers, you are less focused on how the music sounds from a critical standpoint usually and more focused on just singing along and enjoying the music which is why we can have both and enjoy both, at the same time ofcourse you can also get heaps of joy from in ears but they usually need a little something extra... such as better amplification or some secret sauce tuning and extra drivers.

For me, it's been quite the opposite. I think most people venture into more expensive IEMs because it is still more accessible (affordable) than a speaker setup. I know this was the case for myself and my friends until I found these Emotivas. Also, I tend to be more critical when using speakers because there is so much larger of a soundstage to 'look' at. With my IEMs, I just get wrapped in sound and chill out.

With that said, my OG mojo and speakers keep me on my toes while my toes are still tapping. With the Mojo 2, I can chill out more and my toes are still tapping. Tapping my toes is a sign to me that I'm listening for musicality.

 

[jinx20001]

For me, it's been quite the opposite. I think most people venture into more expensive IEMs because it is still more accessible (affordable) than a speaker setup. I know this was the case for myself and my friends until I found these Emotivas. Also, I tend to be more critical when using speakers because there is so much larger of a soundstage to 'look' at. With my IEMs, I just get wrapped in sound and chill out.

With that said, my OG mojo and speakers keep me on my toes while my toes are still tapping. With the Mojo 2, I can chill out more and my toes are still tapping. Tapping my toes is a sign to me that I'm listening for musicality.

yeh i can agree with that for the most part, except i know for sure im far more critical when listening to in ears compared to speakers... probably because if im listening to speakers im doing the housework aswell... that might explain it haha, when i sit down and use headphones im naturally far more focused on that.

 

[mnp75]

If it helps anyone, I created an Excel sheet to play around with and predict the DSP effects. Try it and feel free to make improvements to the factors I used, which I tried many best to estimate from Rob's PDFs (in the Watts Up thread).

https://mega.nz/file/SzgG0JJQ#WHIJKWvgsmMXA9JRKiA1uf_Ggq0UfaUEoRsmoXnnK_Q

Nice work! The visualization makes it very clear that it actually might make sense to put equal numbers to ALL 4 bands – the result is NOT an equally elevated flat line, but a V-shape. As someone mentioned already earlier in the thread, but it wasn't instinctively clear that that would be the case…

E.g. here's everything set to +4:

 

[lwells]

Nice work! The visualization makes it very clear that it actually might make sense to put equal numbers to ALL 4 bands – the result is NOT an equally elevated flat line, but a V-shape. As someone mentioned already earlier in the thread, but it wasn't instinctively clear that that would be the case…

E.g. here's everything set to +4:

I noticed Chord's hosting of the manual is broken. You can also find it here: https://www.richersounds.com/media/pdf/M/o/Mojo_2_User_Manual_f0dd.pdf

 

[jarnopp]

Nice work! The visualization makes it very clear that it actually might make sense to put equal numbers to ALL 4 bands – the result is NOT an equally elevated flat line, but a V-shape. As someone mentioned already earlier in the thread, but it wasn't instinctively clear that that would be the case…

E.g. here's everything set to +4:

Thanks. The default setting was just illustrative and I was trying to replicate “Graph 2” in the Chord manual to verify it was doing what it should. I think you could make a tab for each headphone you have and paste in the frequency graphs, notes, etc. might be overkill…it’s just a hobby, right?

 

[mnp75]

Thanks. The default setting was just illustrative and I was trying to replicate “Graph 2” in the Chord manual to verify it was doing what it should. I think you could make a tab for each headphone you have and paste in the frequency graphs, notes, etc. might be overkill…it’s just a hobby, right?

Yeah that's actually kinda one thing that I wish that the Mojo 2 had: a way to save certain settings as a preset that you can quickly get back to. At least right now when I've been trying out different headphones, speaker setups and different kind of music, I end up toggling EQ & crossfeed back & forth constantly.

But of course would've made the menu system even more complex. So recording favorite settings either in your head, on a sheet or just in text document will have to do!

 

[surfgeorge]

I've had a lot more time to compare my mojo 2 to my OG mojo now. Here are some of my findings:

• Initially I found that i preferred a +3 dB on the 125 Hz shelf to give it this 'punch' in guitars that I felt was missing from the OG. Now I prefer it flat.
• To me, the OG is a bit more 'in your face' with guitars. It makes my music (rock/electronic/OST) more dramatic and engaging. Then I started to notice that these elements were missing texture that the Mojo 2 was presenting. My benchmark here is Thrice "Hurricane" when the electric guitars enter.
• What took me about a week to process was the more natural and convincing sense of space the Mojo 2 creates. Hanz Zimmer "Wallace" from Blade Runner 2049 is a damn near religious experience on my Emotiva Airmotiv 4s. I'm in a giant smooth stone temple with impossibly tall columns.
• Using my IEMs (Alclair RSM quads) I actually prefer not to have cross-feed. The OG presents an elliptoid stage centered at my forehead. Oddly, the Mojo 2 seems to be centered in the middle of my head putting live vocals between my ears. The cross feed then makes the vocalist seem larger. Maybe what I am experiencing is an increased depth, however that depth shifts forward toward me. I prefer listening to my speakers. Perhaps it's time for new IEMs when my $250 powered 2chs give me more joy.
• The OG NEVER seemed harsh. But the Mojo 2 is somehow much easier to listen to. Part of me wants to perceive this as less engaging. But at the same time I feel like the Mojo 2 is egging me on to turn the volume higher and higher. It still wants to party.
• I can see light though the split on the case at the headphone inputs. I didn't notice until I turned the brightness up and perfectly angled the case toward me. This does not bother me at all.

For IEMs, I'm using the included USB cable.

For my speaker setup, I have an ALLO DigiOne sig using coax.

Interesting impressions! Thanks for sharing.
Could you do a comparison with your IEMs and the DigiOne Signature input vs USB input (I assume you are using a PC or Laptop?)
I found USB fom my laptop to sound clearly the worst of all options I tried, but it also depends on the computer. My MacBook Pro 2014 sounds way better than the current HP laptop over USB. Optical out from the MBP gave the smoothest sound and darkest background.

 

[keithmarsh]

Absolutely love this 4.4 adapter. So sturdy and solid. Feel much more comfortable with having it in my pocket and not having the headphone sockets have strain put on them. I find that it doesn’t colour the sound either like some adapter do!

 

[keithmarsh]

(Added 2nd picture to original post)

 

[Baten]

Absolutely love this 4.4 adapter. So sturdy and solid. Feel much more comfortable with having it in my pocket and not having the headphone sockets have strain put on them. I find that it doesn’t colour the sound either like some adapter do!

Is that "truly" balanced, then?

@Rob Watts any concerns using such an aftermarket product?

 

[chesebert]

Is that "truly" balanced, then?

@Rob Watts any concerns using such an aftermarket product?

Of course not truly balanced unless the add on part is converting SE to balanced with an opamp. This SE aversion is stupid all around if you ask me.