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

[Gus141]

Interesting! Now I’m wondering if I should get them to update my Mojo 2 replacement. Thanks for sharing this.

My guess is it is already upgraded, and any newly manufactured ones have the new firmware as well. But I bet your dealer can tell you if it has the newest firmware, and if not, I would recommend it. It has helped in my case.

 

[Kentajalli]

To those of you who got the Mojo 2 update or are thinking of getting it done, I made a video about my experience.



Chibs

Interesting !
I have had Mojo Classic, Mojo2. I still have Hugo2. But never had an iPhone.
What I do have is a cheap 3 year old Huawei phone. I almost never experienced the white noise! The odd times I did, was either a bad cable or loose connection.
I am also a DIYer. Since my phone is limited in storage (128+256GB max) and can not be upgraded further than 384GB, I made my own USB cable (can find the post and pictures with a search). The DIY cable has a tiny USB Hub and a thumbnail 500GB storage built into it, so when I plug it in, my phone sees the 500GB and my DAC simultaneously through the same wire, and I can play from that storage into the DAC.
Do I need to say it?
No white noise ! BTW, as far as I know all three mentioned DACs share the same USB input circuitry.
Why not use a cheap Android phone as DAP, and if you must, use your beloved iPhones as, . . . phones only.

 

[BS5711]

I am sure, well obviously not “sure” but I mean it seems logical to me based on my experience, that white noise from USB DACs is caused by either a fundamental incompatibility in the USB system of the source and the DAC or a “glitch”, sorry for the technical terms , in the connection or data flow that causes a form of incompatibility in that there is a failure in the data transfer that the DAC does not know how to deal with.

As I said above I have only had white noise issues twice with my original Mojo and both were when plugging and unplugging cables quickly and repeatedly when A/Bing, never in normal use over the course of 18 months or so using it a few days a week all day while working and sometimes with a USB-C equipped iPad mini 6.

White noise issues are not peculiar to Chord DACs of course.

I had a white noise burst with an ifI Go Bar once when messing with swapping between Apple Music and Tidal quickly from the same 2014 MacBook Pro and it was quite apparent the Go Bar thought it was receiving MQA when PCM was introduced to it. Stop the track and restart and issue solved.

The most significant white noise issue I have had was with a Schiit Modi with Unison USB when fed from a FiiO M11 Plus DAP. Every single time I would get white noise after about 30 seconds, mid song not on the change of tracks. It happened every time without fail and no cable made any difference. Plug it into an iPad pro (lightning era) and it was fine. M11 Plus into a Modi Multibit (non Unison) absolutely no problem, same M11 Plus into the onboard (Unison) ESS DAC card if a later Asgard 3 and also no problem.

I don’t doubt that there are USB incompatibility considerations between the Mojo and the M1 based Mac, that I understand the upgrade is intended to correct, but it seems unlikely that the USB management of an M1 based Mac is the same as an iPhone of any vintage so why would a firmware designed to fix a specific issue fix another issue altogether. Unless of course the USB of an M1 Mac and an iPhone are identical but given that the firmware doesn’t fix the iPhone issue that doesn’t seem to ge the case.

Seems to me that if a user likes the Mojo 2 sufficiently and don’t want white noise that their current source creates they would just change the source to one that doesn’t create issues. The simplest route seems to be a DAP with coaxial out, works for me with my original Mojo which I understand shares the same USB management as the Mojo 2.

 

[Gus141]

…
Why not use a cheap Android phone as DAP, and if you must, use your beloved iPhones as, . . . phones only.

Very good advice, and I do use multiple android-based DAPs (not phones) —many of which I love their internal head amps without needing to use and external DAC— but one of my favorite setups is to use an iPad Pro mounted to a magic keyboard with Apple Music and Qobuz apps playing bit-perfect out to a Mojo 2.

 

[559938]

Anyone using a valve headphone amp with Mojo2? I’m completely happy with the Mojo2/Stellia combo but wonder if adding a tube amp would give me some variety at times. Prevent the upgrade bug. The Icon Audio HP8 is on my radar

 

[Chibs]

I am sure, well obviously not “sure” but I mean it seems logical to me based on my experience, that white noise from USB DACs is caused by either a fundamental incompatibility in the USB system of the source and the DAC or a “glitch”, sorry for the technical terms , in the connection or data flow that causes a form of incompatibility in that there is a failure in the data transfer that the DAC does not know how to deal with.

As I said above I have only had white noise issues twice with my original Mojo and both were when plugging and unplugging cables quickly and repeatedly when A/Bing, never in normal use over the course of 18 months or so using it a few days a week all day while working and sometimes with a USB-C equipped iPad mini 6.

White noise issues are not peculiar to Chord DACs of course.

I had a white noise burst with an ifI Go Bar once when messing with swapping between Apple Music and Tidal quickly from the same 2014 MacBook Pro and it was quite apparent the Go Bar thought it was receiving MQA when PCM was introduced to it. Stop the track and restart and issue solved.

The most significant white noise issue I have had was with a Schiit Modi with Unison USB when fed from a FiiO M11 Plus DAP. Every single time I would get white noise after about 30 seconds, mid song not on the change of tracks. It happened every time without fail and no cable made any difference. Plug it into an iPad pro (lightning era) and it was fine. M11 Plus into a Modi Multibit (non Unison) absolutely no problem, same M11 Plus into the onboard (Unison) ESS DAC card if a later Asgard 3 and also no problem.

I don’t doubt that there are USB incompatibility considerations between the Mojo and the M1 based Mac, that I understand the upgrade is intended to correct, but it seems unlikely that the USB management of an M1 based Mac is the same as an iPhone of any vintage so why would a firmware designed to fix a specific issue fix another issue altogether. Unless of course the USB of an M1 Mac and an iPhone are identical but given that the firmware doesn’t fix the iPhone issue that doesn’t seem to ge the case.

Seems to me that if a user likes the Mojo 2 sufficiently and don’t want white noise that their current source creates they would just change the source to one that doesn’t create issues. The simplest route seems to be a DAP with coaxial out, works for me with my original Mojo which I understand shares the same USB management as the Mojo 2.

Reasonably put. My problem lays in the way I use the mojo 2 portably. I like Apple music for this and have my entire library downloaded to my phone. Apart from that, I don't rely on any of my own downloaded files. If I do end up getting a dap, none of them are compatible with apple music (correct me if I have that wrong). An additional annoyance is just an other piece of tech to have to make sure is charged before leaving the house. Not to mention now an extra bulge in my pocket. If it ain't simple, I don't end up using it. My phone and the Mojo 2 is pretty simple (white noise aside). I've been just schlepping this combo with the camera adapter and while bulkier than the DD hifi cable, it's definitely not as bulky as a separate DAP + my phone (Which I never leave behind anyway).
I do subscribe to Qobuz and roon as well but use this mainly for my loud speaker setup + my office HP setup. Perhaps I could get a Polly but that still doesn't help for my leaving the house scenario.

Apple loves their proprietary / walled ecosystem and I suspect that this issue has to do with the handshake process in these aftermarket cables. Both mojos work flawlessly when connected to my DDC / Streamers. My new one works flawlessly with Apple's camera connector. It's just a shame that the "It just works" mantra doesn't apply outside apple's walled garden.
In the end it's just a minor quirk I got excited about the potential for a firmware to fix. It didn't and that's fine. It doesn't change my opinion about how effing awesome the Mojo 2 is. Still one of my favourite things!

Chibs

 

[559938]

Reasonably put. My problem lays in the way I use the mojo 2 portably. I like Apple music for this and have my entire library downloaded to my phone. Apart from that, I don't rely on any of my own downloaded files. If I do end up getting a dap, none of them are compatible with apple music (correct me if I have that wrong). An additional annoyance is just an other piece of tech to have to make sure is charged before leaving the house. Not to mention now an extra bulge in my pocket. If it ain't simple, I don't end up using it. My phone and the Mojo 2 is pretty simple (white noise aside). I've been just schlepping this combo with the camera adapter and while bulkier than the DD hifi cable, it's definitely not as bulky as a separate DAP + my phone (Which I never leave behind anyway).
I do subscribe to Qobuz and roon as well but use this mainly for my loud speaker setup + my office HP setup. Perhaps I could get a Polly but that still doesn't help for my leaving the house scenario.

Apple loves their proprietary / walled ecosystem and I suspect that this issue has to do with the handshake process in these aftermarket cables. Both mojos work flawlessly when connected to my DDC / Streamers. My new one works flawlessly with Apple's camera connector. It's just a shame that the "It just works" mantra doesn't apply outside apple's walled garden.
In the end it's just a minor quirk I got excited about the potential for a firmware to fix. It didn't and that's fine. It doesn't change my opinion about how effing awesome the Mojo 2 is. Still one of my favourite things!

Chibs

Why doesn’t Poly help your leaving the house scenario? AirPlay from your phone? Or put your library on an SD card?

 

[MgMGM]

Which model iPhone do you have? Which DD hifi cable did you get?

Iphone 6s ( Fits real well blu taked to the mojo) I cant remember model number for cable but it is the short one about 100mm with right angle connectors. Easy to find and works. It is that easy. After that simply enjoy the tunes and dont stress bout tech n stuff.

 

[BS5711]

Reasonably put. My problem lays in the way I use the mojo 2 portably. I like Apple music for this and have my entire library downloaded to my phone …….. If I do end up getting a dap, none of them are compatible with apple music (correct me if I have that wrong) …….

Chibs

I get the other device and another battery etc but everything is a compromise of course.

That is in fact incorrect.

I use a Fiio M11 Plus with Apple Music and other than not scrolling through a long playlist menu quite as fast as my iPhone the Apple Music app works just as well as it does on my iPhone or iPad.

The FiiO and some other DAPs do away with the Android 48khz thing and, as such, the Apple Music app works bit perfect. If I play a 24/192 song from Apple Music it shows on the receiving DAC as exactly that.

Also the M11 Plus can take a 1TB SD card so you can download all your library to a card if the built in memory isn’t sufficient. I can’t recall what the memory is.

Certainly out and about the extra bulk might not be ideal but around home, sitting on a comfy chair it would work perfectly and as best I can tell would be an end to the white noise concern.

 

[Chibs]

I get the other device and another battery etc but everything is a compromise of course.

That is in fact incorrect.

I use a Fiio M11 Plus with Apple Music and other than not scrolling through a long playlist menu quite as fast as my iPhone the Apple Music app works just as well as it does on my iPhone or iPad.

The FiiO and some other DAPs do away with the Android 48khz thing and, as such, the Apple Music app works bit perfect. If I play a 24/192 song from Apple Music it shows on the receiving DAC as exactly that.

Also the M11 Plus can take a 1TB SD card so you can download all your library to a card if the built in memory isn’t sufficient. I can’t recall what the memory is.

Certainly out and about the extra bulk might not be ideal but around home, sitting on a comfy chair it would work perfectly and as best I can tell would be an end to the white noise concern.

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[Chibs]

Why doesn’t Poly help your leaving the house scenario? AirPlay from your phone? Or put your library on an SD card?

So you're saying I could Airplay from my phone while not connected to a wifi network?
Not sure I can put my Apple music library on an external SD card. If I could Poly is back to being a consideration.

 

[559938]

So you're saying I could Airplay from my phone while not connected to a wifi network?
Not sure I can put my Apple music library on an external SD card. If I could Poly is back to being a consideration.

Use your phone’s hotspot and you’re off and running.

 

[tlcocks]

I am sure, well obviously not “sure” but I mean it seems logical to me based on my experience, that white noise from USB DACs is caused by either a fundamental incompatibility in the USB system of the source and the DAC or a “glitch”, sorry for the technical terms , in the connection or data flow that causes a form of incompatibility in that there is a failure in the data transfer that the DAC does not know how to deal with.

As I said above I have only had white noise issues twice with my original Mojo and both were when plugging and unplugging cables quickly and repeatedly when A/Bing, never in normal use over the course of 18 months or so using it a few days a week all day while working and sometimes with a USB-C equipped iPad mini 6.

White noise issues are not peculiar to Chord DACs of course.

I had a white noise burst with an ifI Go Bar once when messing with swapping between Apple Music and Tidal quickly from the same 2014 MacBook Pro and it was quite apparent the Go Bar thought it was receiving MQA when PCM was introduced to it. Stop the track and restart and issue solved.

The most significant white noise issue I have had was with a Schiit Modi with Unison USB when fed from a FiiO M11 Plus DAP. Every single time I would get white noise after about 30 seconds, mid song not on the change of tracks. It happened every time without fail and no cable made any difference. Plug it into an iPad pro (lightning era) and it was fine. M11 Plus into a Modi Multibit (non Unison) absolutely no problem, same M11 Plus into the onboard (Unison) ESS DAC card if a later Asgard 3 and also no problem.

I don’t doubt that there are USB incompatibility considerations between the Mojo and the M1 based Mac, that I understand the upgrade is intended to correct, but it seems unlikely that the USB management of an M1 based Mac is the same as an iPhone of any vintage so why would a firmware designed to fix a specific issue fix another issue altogether. Unless of course the USB of an M1 Mac and an iPhone are identical but given that the firmware doesn’t fix the iPhone issue that doesn’t seem to ge the case.

Seems to me that if a user likes the Mojo 2 sufficiently and don’t want white noise that their current source creates they would just change the source to one that doesn’t create issues. The simplest route seems to be a DAP with coaxial out, works for me with my original Mojo which I understand shares the same USB management as the Mojo 2.

I still say try the DDhifi Mfi09S first

 

[BS5711]

I still say try the DDhifi Mfi09S first

I get your point but if Chord acknowledged that the problem was significant enough with certain equipment to justify a firmware update, which is very much NOT the way Chord does things, I believe it seems reasonable that the root cause of the issue is beyond what a cable can fix, unless that cable contains circuitry like the Apple CCK does.

People report problems when disturbing cables and my only white noise issues were when intentionally messing with the cables, perhaps the reason some cables seem to fix the problem for some people is more to do with the physical connection afforded by the cable not some inherent magic in the cable itself.

The ddhifi cables (at least their USB-C ones) are a nice secure fit with a good solid click into place, maybe that is the only difference, they are not as easily disturbed ??



ddhifi are now doing a new lightning to USB-C cable that they say offers compatibility with dongles that require higher current and has “lightning 2.0”. I read on the ifI Go Bar thread that this one works with iPhone 14. Might be another option worth trying, at least it clearly has something different in the USB implementation to others, might just be the trick for later model iPhones and Mojo 2.

https://www.ddhifi.com/productinfo/1980334.html

 

[tlcocks]

I get your point but if Chord acknowledged that the problem was significant enough with certain equipment to justify a firmware update, which is very much NOT the way Chord does things, I believe it seems reasonable that the root cause of the issue is beyond what a cable can fix, unless that cable contains circuitry like the Apple CCK does.

People report problems when disturbing cables and my only white noise issues were when intentionally messing with the cables, perhaps the reason some cables seem to fix the problem for some people is more to do with the physical connection afforded by the cable not some inherent magic in the cable itself.

The ddhifi cables (at least their USB-C ones) are a nice secure fit with a good solid click into place, maybe that is the only difference, they are not as easily disturbed ???

I don’t know. Maybe. But for $70 it’s worth a try. Again, I just feel lucky not having noise issue. I’d buy a cheap Android phone as mentioned earlier. This could be returned if it doesn’t work. Best Buy.