AussieMick
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Why the sarcasm and negativity? Can’t we just be nice?
Chord Mojo 2 Thread ___ [product released January 31, 2022 -- starting on page 95 of thread]
- Thread starter TheEldestBoy
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Yes absolutely, I had to return the FiiO cable. A few pages back I wrote a detailed description of the differences I could hear.
I’m gonna follow Chords advice: the only MFi Apple Certified solution is the Apple Camera Adapter. I found a significant difference and get almost 0 RF interference, where as it was quite bad with the fiio cable.
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headfry
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....then why do so many hear substantial sound and music quality improvements listening to a file on an SD card in Poly over a generic USB cable connection.
????
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I don't know, but that is not necessarily due to a USB cable.
It reminded me of a typical religious question:
- I don't believe in god.
- You don't? Then tell me who made the earth and the sky, you and me?
- I don't know.
- See, god exists!
Digital audio is immune to noise, it is digital, it is either on or off, flickering is irrelevant. Like Morse Code, only its existence and duration matters, a bit of hum on the signal, does not change the message, once decoded. And digital signal is not analogue really, they just call it digital!
Now Chord portable DACs can not afford the power drain, so have no isolation on USB input. So if there is noise on the USB input, although it would make no issue to the actual digital signal, the noise can creep into the ground plane of the device and affect the analogue section.
But it also requires another connection to the ground plane for this noise to have a current flow! A noisy player plugged into a Mojo, running on batteries and headphones, can not have a noise current flow on the ground plane, so the noise does it no harm - only if you use it as a desktop DAC connected to an amp. Now you have two connections to the ground wire, and noise may flow into the system.
At any rate, a standard USB cable always suffices.
Note that, standard phone chargers do not have a ground wire , so plugging in a charger while listening does not affect the device either.
In short, God may exist or not, we have no evidence for it - but as Keyser Soze said, I am afraid of him!
So there . . . .
headfry
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yeah, as long as others don't judge that many users have a different experience in this area.
Listening to my generic stock USB cable versus my Curious Hugo Link to me is night and day. To someone else
it could sound the same, but that isn't my experience. And I paid CAD $125 used for it, so not a huge expenditure.
Since the 1's and 0's are carried as an analogue signal through the USB cable, it is possible that
it is prone to the same issues that other cables can have - such as headphone cables, interconnects....
regardless, just because there may not be fully convincing theoretical/scientific explanations
(although there is currently quite a bit) doesn't necessarily invalidate those that hear an improvement.
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But they are NOT carried over as an analogue signal!
First you falsely say since " 2 + 2 = 22 " then you use that to come to a wrong conclusion!
Just look up the definition of an Analogue signal - it means a varying signal in concert to another , this is exactly what a digital signal is NOT.
It is either 0 or it is 1 - it is never 1.5 or 0.7 - even if noise causes it, it wouldn't matter, when it is above 0.6, it is assumed as 1 and when less than 0.4 it is assumed as 0.
Another example, you have seen old war movies in which two ships send signals by code using a handheld floodlight.
The two ships talk to each other, regardless of any sea mist in between! don't they? are you telling me if the light should dim a little occasionally, it can make a difference to the message being transmitted?
Another way too think of it is.
Your tv is digital it converts the digital too light.
Light is a wave form.
You can’t see digital as you can’t hear digital.
We are human and only receive analog be it in light or sound.
Both are wave forms.
Hope that makes sense??
Your tv is digital it converts the digital too light.
Light is a wave form.
You can’t see digital as you can’t hear digital.
We are human and only receive analog be it in light or sound.
Both are wave forms.
Hope that makes sense??
headfry
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...you're welcome to that view but that's not my understanding, but regardless I go with what my ears are telling me.
Did you watch the video I posted? If so, your thoughts?
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You made me watch that!
few points:
- To test a USB cable the man has used the digital signal from a player, put it through a DAC and then put it through an ADC and then compared the audio and digital signals.
If he had done it right, with absolute correct timing and absolute level matching, he may have had better results, there are just too many variables here at play, to say absolutely it was the cable.
- Any RF noise mentioned does not originate from the cable! the cable is just a conduit. the RF is either at the player and/or at the other device the DAC is connected to. If the RF noise finds a way to flow through different ground planes it can cause an issue. The USB cable can filter some of it out, if it employs a ferrite core or two, but that is about it.
- A faulty USB cable, a substandard one can cause glitches in the sound, but even that can not alter the digital signal as a whole.
- Any effect the noise or RF may produce (the brightness in sound he mentions) , is due to the noise creeping into the analogue section of the DAC. At any rate the DAC he used being a Hugo TT2, has Galvanic Isolation on its USB input, so RF finds it very difficult to get through! IIRC the filter works at -120dB.
If you want to know what your USB cable sound is, connect your DAC with optical cable, and compare with USB.
On a TT2, I bet 999999 out of 1000000 can not even a measure a difference, let alone hear one. (optical by default is noise free - until someone make a fancy one!)
AussieMick
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Optical isn’t noise free at all. The send and receive chips for optical create their own noise, too. Have you listened to what Nuno Vittorino, Paul McGowan, Darren Myers, Garth Powell and others say on the topic of noise and measurement of such?
Noise on a digital signal is irrelevant - so let it be noisy! It won't matter. You can even inject some if you like.
Furthermore, whatever noise there maybe, it can not pollute the DAC, as there are no electrical connections.
You do know that the Voyager spacecraft uses a similar error-correction to a humble CD audio. Yet it can send accurate noise free pictures, from a tiny transmitter from the edge of the solar system and beyond to earth, exposed to huge amounts of noise on the way. The sun to name one!
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Wish I’d known this back in uni, I could‘ve really stood out with that level of critical reasoning, my professor would have given me a big gold star and a special seat in the corner with a hat to wear, I imagine he’d also ban me from the pcb station and playing with soldering irons.
And the video?, less said about that the better as there is so much to critique regarding his reviews and methodology it would take less time for you do a 4yr degree course in electronic engineering and gain an understanding of what you are talking about.
Is this the cable you are using ?+1.
There are significant differences between cables for mobile use, but that is related to length, connectors and aesthetics. The first two of those can have an impact on sound from a reliability perspective but not from a quality perspective, assuming the conductors are not made of damp string. The third factor can certainly have an substantial influence subjectively.
My considerations for a cable for a portable device is; short, right angle connectors and solid connection. I use a DDHIFI cable which was overly expensive for what it is but very capably fulfills my primary requirements.
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005002559819525.html
Do you find any difference in SQ when connected vs the lightening adapter and stock micro usb?
Finally got my mojo on today - Mojo 2 used from a good German seller. This thing is a micro brick with the force of an army to unleash delectable fidelity. A small miracle really. My distant memory tells me this has gotta be somewhere in the ballpark of 75% close to the Qutest I formerly had.
I got it connected to my new custom-built tube amp from Ultrasonic Studios that I call Finyssey (Odyssey-Infinity hybrid)
shown with former DAC and a few random tubes momentarily balanced in front for the photo
A few observations after a few hours of use:
- The Mojo 2 REALLY needs a tube amp to shine. Comparing it with HD-600 (with upgraded silver cable and ferrite clamps) directly to the Mojo 2 gave a sound that while pleasing and definitely hi-fi and resolving, sounded fairly dull, flabby and congested in comparison with connected to this beast of a tube amp where the soundstage is much bigger, more sparkle, well defined imaging and instrument separation and far better PRaT including faster transient response.
- Upsampling to 192Khz / 32bit really improves things a LOT vs. redbook standard (that's the highest mine seems to go with coax cable connected to my DDC). The details and soundstage / 3D effect really pops out more
- If using as a preamp, the chosen Y-cable (3.5mm to dual RCA) really makes a difference.
Of course YMMV by quite a lot, not all tube amps are created equal, and even the audio cable, gain setting and which tubes are used can make a big difference.
I got it connected to my new custom-built tube amp from Ultrasonic Studios that I call Finyssey (Odyssey-Infinity hybrid)
shown with former DAC and a few random tubes momentarily balanced in front for the photo
A few observations after a few hours of use:
- The Mojo 2 REALLY needs a tube amp to shine. Comparing it with HD-600 (with upgraded silver cable and ferrite clamps) directly to the Mojo 2 gave a sound that while pleasing and definitely hi-fi and resolving, sounded fairly dull, flabby and congested in comparison with connected to this beast of a tube amp where the soundstage is much bigger, more sparkle, well defined imaging and instrument separation and far better PRaT including faster transient response.
- Upsampling to 192Khz / 32bit really improves things a LOT vs. redbook standard (that's the highest mine seems to go with coax cable connected to my DDC). The details and soundstage / 3D effect really pops out more
- If using as a preamp, the chosen Y-cable (3.5mm to dual RCA) really makes a difference.
Of course YMMV by quite a lot, not all tube amps are created equal, and even the audio cable, gain setting and which tubes are used can make a big difference.
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