It's not a design fault as much as a software issue. I've only had white noise issue once with the Mojo 2 and it was due to my Sony player acting odd. A reboot of the Sony fixed the issue. In your case with white noise and the bad channel, this could've been a defective unit. Getting a new unit will unlikely have the same issue. I don't blame you for being cautious, but you're going to see a disproportionate amount of issues reported in this thread vs. real life issues. Chord did issue a "recall" of sorts when multiple Mac users reported the white noise issue on their M1 based computers. Again, software issue and not a design flaw. Some argue that the USB chip used in the Mojo 2 is substandard compared to other chips.
White noise happens with multiple other DACs--it's not a Mojo specific issue. Most of the white noise reported here boils down to the USB C cable being used. The boutique cables (not necessarily Audioquest) aren't always built to USB 2 specifications. Some cheap cables also cause issues. And finally, a software glitch on the phone side of your chain can cause an issue.
If you don't want to chance another Mojo 2, that's understandable. However, it's not accurate to say that the Mojo 2 is a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up our iems.
That's fair enough, just felt like it to me when it nearly blew my head off. Also not knowing exactly what causes the issue is still a bit of a gamble. I've got other usb-c dac/amps and I've never had this issue.
I would love to have confidence in another Mojo 2 but the experience I had was a shocker, having white noise at full volume blasting into my ear canals wasn't pleasant and just shouldn't happen. I would still say it's a design flaw and should have some sort of failsafe circuit built in, it is borderline dangerous but your view is still valid.
That's fair enough, just felt like it to me when it nearly blew my head off. Also not knowing exactly what causes the issue is still a bit of a gamble. I've got other usb-c dac/amps and I've never had this issue.
I would love to have confidence in another Mojo 2 but the experience I had was a shocker, having white noise at full volume blasting into my ear canals wasn't pleasant and just shouldn't happen. I would still say it's a design flaw and should have some sort of failsafe circuit built in, it is borderline dangerous but your view is still valid.
There’s been some discussions at the audiophilestyle forum on the white noise issue due to a super sensitive usb module of the mojo 2. Upsampling everything to pcm 705khz before feeding to the mojo 2 fixes the issue.
There’s been some discussions at the audiophilestyle forum on the white noise issue due to a super sensitive usb module of the mojo 2. Upsampling everything to pcm 705khz before feeding to the mojo 2 fixes the issue.
Should we have to go to these lengths to get a product to work? It's a real shame because the product is great when it's working and I would love to have confidence to buy another.
Should we have to go to these lengths to get a product to work? It's a real shame because the product is great when it's working and I would love to have confidence to buy another.
Yup, i remember being freaked out when it happened to me, that was 6 months ago. I would have sold the Mojo 2 if I didn't know about using Hqplayer to upsample to PCM 705.6khz fixes the issue.
Yup, i remember being freaked out when it happened to me, that was 6 months ago. I would have sold the Mojo 2 if I didn't know about using Hqplayer to upsample to PCM 705.6khz fixes the issue.
Definitely a love and hate relationship with the Mojo 2. With hqplayer upsampling and the preferred choice of digital filters the Mojo 2 sounds at least on par with some of the most expensive dacs out there.
I have been using the Mojo 2 since the 21st June and only experienced the white noise issue once and that was playing DSD files from my Shanling M2X. I changed the setting from Native DSD to DSD over PCM and that solved the problem. I also use an Aune X5s 8th Anniversary Edition Bluetooth Transport/Player via an optical cable and never had a problem. Regarding optical I can agree with Rob Watts that it does sound a bit better than USB C. As per a previous comment there will be way more people with zero issues, if something is wrong we do love a moan.
Well, just because I haven't had a problem doesn't mean that there isn't a problem. That is a fact.
@Rob Watts can you elaborate the firmware update that was done for the Apple M1 related white noise?
I've had white noise on other DAC/amps via USB. So it is not a Chord specific issue. I have an Astell and Kern that is absolutely unusable with MacOS as a USB DAC. Even though we don't have to install drivers anymore to run USB DACs, software and firmware drivers still exist on board the device to communicate from the phone/tablet/computer to the Mojo 2. And, there is no guarantee that the UAC2 protocol is strictly adhered to by either the source or DAC manufacturer. The only way to get a fix is to report the issue to Chord and hope they get it fixed. Chord is not known for rapid firmware fixes. There's a solid amount of computing power in the Mojo 2. It's not just an off the shelf DS chip design.
I agree that having a full 3V blast to my IEMs would be unfortunate to say the least. But, in @Cam9102 case with the persistent noise in one channel, that indicates a defective unit.
Which indicates a defective unit. The white noise blast shouldn't cause damage to the Mojo 2. Possibly the IEM, but not the Mojo 2. The white noise is caused by whatever software/firmware issue caused the glitch. The Mojo 2 can't go beyond it's max output voltage unless it is defective/broken. It could be any number of potential defective components in the unit. I don't get the impression that the Chord QC is any worse than any other boutique manufacturer.
Personally, I would've asked your retailer to send the unit back to Chord for diagnostics and gotten a new one. But it is completely understandable that you want to walk away. You didn't pay to be a QC tester for Chord. It should be made clear though that you didn't have the same white noise issue that others here are commenting on who are upsampling using HQ Player.
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