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

[BS5711]

If you are wondering how these adapter is being wired, they are taking the left and right signal from the different 3.5mm output. Doing it this on paper minimise the interference (crosstalk).

I am going to leave the sound impressions alone, I know a lot of people believe everything has a sound, I don't

However, I think the bold part I copied above is technically inaccurate.

In the Mojo the two 3.5mm jacks are connected to the same output from the DAC (and what little amp exists) and the adapter connects to the same two signal outputs and a ground regardless of how they are wired internally. It is literally just a different wiring set up connecting to the same place.

How can the cross talk change when the circuit is functionally identical ?

In fact the ddhifi adapter in the image above (I know that isn't the one you were referring to) connects all terminals of both 3.5mm jacks to the 4.4mm jack.

 

[559938]

T

Hi guys, after reading your good comments I'm interested in buying the Mojo 2. I'll use it mainly with IEMs, IER Z1R - MEST MkII

And I have some questions about the equipment:

-If the 3.5mm inputs of the Mojo 2 when connecting the cables, do they tend to rotate, are they loose like other DAPs? or are they fixed tight?

I have 4.4 balanced cables and I'll use a 3.5m adapter



- The DSP EQ function, will it lose some audio information if it is used with less or more frequency?

The DSP is called “the world’s first lossless DSP” and in practice it certainly seems to leave no artefacts in the sound, unlike other EQ I’ve used, which always leaves me feeling it’s a degradation

 

[RockLee]

I do hear improvement with this adapter over the usually 4.4 to 3.5 adapter from DJ44C. DJ44C sort of kills off the dynamic to my ears.

I also had a zephone adapter. Between the zephone and garagebox. the details, music flow and sq on garagebox is better. My garagebox is the neotech palladium plated silver and silver version. I also hear the garagebox having a darker background. I believe this is due it garagebox being shielded. Zephone is made out of plastic. Also garagebox comes with 3.5mm and 4.4mm jack so it's convenient for me since i have use for both and need not plug in and out the adapter. Not to mention it looks prettier especially with the matching Dignis case


If you are wondering how these adapter is being wired, they are taking the left and right signal from the different 3.5mm output. Doing it this on paper minimise the interference (crosstalk).

Disclaimer: The is my own opinion and of course bought with my own money. I know there are non-believer in cables and this sort on snake oil and i'm fine with it. I'm just answering since you asked. Just hoping this will not start a war here.

I have DDHiFi adapters, including the DJ44CPro , which has original Pentaconn and silver soldered, they say they did it so that the sound travels without losses

And I have tested that in this version, the bass and the voices are more pronounced when I use my Hiby R3, it could be that the original Pentaconn material being pure copper, is providing this sensation

But when I put the other plastic adapter, it also does its job, but there I do feel a loss of information.

It is my humble perception but that is how I feel

I think that depending on the materials and how the adapters were made, the sound can be worse or better

 

[Rob Watts]

@Rob Watts Can you enlighten us on the best settings for the Mojo2 + Poly? With and without Rune?

I noticed when setting up WIFI Hotspot under Playback Settings there is an option for DSD and MPD Bit Perfect. MPD Bit Perfect is only available if one adds DSD as well. According to your presentation, you don't like DSD due to phase shift errors, huge amounts of noise floor modulation.


53:50 (timestamp)

Thank you for your time. Very impressed with the Mojo2 + Poly. Also, can you elaborate about the additional current the Mojo2? Will it be a decent pairing with the DCA Stealth? Thanks.

I haven't used Roon (it's not good with 6TB of music) nor Poly, but my advice is always send my DACs the original recording in the format that it was mastered in. If DSD, don't let the source convert it to PCM, and certainly not let the source mess with PCM via EQ, volume or upsampling. In other words always send bit perfect data.

Correct, I do see DSD as fundamentally flawed from a technical POV.

I use a Hugo 2 with DCA Stealth, and certainly get enough volume even when flying. Mojo 2 has almost identical OP power as Hugo 2., so unless you are a head banger and play at ear damaging levels, Mojo 2 will be fine with Stealth.

 

[theory_87]

I have DDHiFi adapters, including the DJ44CPro , which has original Pentaconn and silver soldered, they say they did it so that the sound travels without losses

And I have tested that in this version, the bass and the voices are more pronounced when I use my Hiby R3, it could be that the original Pentaconn material being pure copper, is providing this sensation

But when I put the other plastic adapter, it also does its job, but there I do feel a loss of information.

It is my humble perception but that is how I feel

I think that depending on the materials and how the adapters were made, the sound can be worse or better

Cable believer will argue the internal wiring, the socket and plug material and even the soldering makes a different in the final sound. Unfortunately i'm a cable believer which means I will spend more (within what i deem reasonable amount) for the minor improvement

I am going to leave the sound impressions alone, I know a lot of people believe everything has a sound, I don't

However, I think the bold part I copied above is technically inaccurate.

In the Mojo the two 3.5mm jacks are connected to the same output from the DAC (and what little amp exists) and the adapter connects to the same two signal outputs and a ground regardless of how they are wired internally. It is literally just a different wiring set up connecting to the same place.

How can the cross talk change when the circuit is functionally identical ?

In fact the ddhifi adapter in the image above (I know that isn't the one you were referring to) connects all terminals of both 3.5mm jacks to the 4.4mm jack.

That is why i say on paper. Some people believe crosstalk can also appear after the circuit. This is what a zephone adapter manufacturer and another cable manufacturer told me. In real world, just trust your ears. I also can't justify the crosstalk claims.

Also if you don't find any or believe there is different between normal 4.4 to 3.5 adapter and these fancy adapter, who am I to judge you? In fact you just saved yourself money and I'm happy for you. Most important is enjoying the music that is why we are all here. Peace

 

[BS5711]

Cable believer will argue the internal wiring, the socket and plug material and even the soldering makes a different in the final sound. Unfortunately i'm a cable believer which means I will spend more (within what i deem reasonable amount) for the minor improvement


That is why i say on paper. Some people believe crosstalk can also appear after the circuit. This is what a zephone adapter manufacturer and another cable manufacturer told me. In real world, just trust your ears. I also can't justify the crosstalk claims.

Also if you don't find any or believe there is different between normal 4.4 to 3.5 adapter and these fancy adapter, who am I to judge you? In fact you just saved yourself money and I'm happy for you. Most important is enjoying the music that is why we are all here. Peace

All good, you do you for sure, I have no argument with what you believe, whatever it is it would not be the most out there thing talked about on HF !!

But we have a different take on the term “on paper”. To me that means that it is a technical fact that can be proven with data. The exact opposite of some people believing something to be true due to their subjective experience.

Not that it is a big deal, I just like to see facts stated accurately when the subject is one of technical correctness not subjective opinion. In this instance I believe that (solder, wire etc aside because you are welcome to believe that of course) it doesn’t matter how you wire the adapter ultimately you are connecting the four wires of the headphone or IEM cable to the exact same L and R signal and a common ground inside the device and therefore the cross talk cannot possibly be different. The DAC/amp circuitry defining cross talk not the wires connected to it.

 

[Currawong]

I haven't used Roon (it's not good with 6TB of music) nor Poly, but my advice is always send my DACs the original recording in the format that it was mastered in. If DSD, don't let the source convert it to PCM, and certainly not let the source mess with PCM via EQ, volume or upsampling. In other words always send bit perfect data.

Correct, I do see DSD as fundamentally flawed from a technical POV.

I use a Hugo 2 with DCA Stealth, and certainly get enough volume even when flying. Mojo 2 has almost identical OP power as Hugo 2., so unless you are a head banger and play at ear damaging levels, Mojo 2 will be fine with Stealth.

I only have a couple of recordings that were direct-to-DSD, so those are best played back as they are. Some people are not aware that most, if not all SACDs and DSD recordings were made from PCM, at best from DXD, so will have gone through multiple steps.

As for Roon, the hardware has to be scaled depending on the amount of music. I have about 2TB, and run Roon on a 2012 i7 Mac Mini with 16 GB of RAM and an SSD (the music is on a spinning disk) and that works fine.

Not that it is a big deal, I just like to see facts stated accurately when the subject is one of technical correctness not subjective opinion. In this instance I believe that (solder, wire etc aside because you are welcome to believe that of course) it doesn’t matter how you wire the adapter ultimately you are connecting the four wires of the headphone or IEM cable to the exact same L and R signal and a common ground inside the device and therefore the cross talk cannot possibly be different. The DAC/amp circuitry defining cross talk not the wires connected to it.

There was some discussion years back about the Hugo 2, with people feeling that it was better with an amp (from the RCA outputs) or with a headphone cable made to connect to the RCA sockets. The culprit, I recall, has to do with the headphone plugs and/or socket and the crosstalk they have.

From Wikipedia:

Where the electric, magnetic, or traveling fields of two electric signals overlap, the electromagnetic interference created causes crosstalk. For example, crosstalk can comprise magnetic fields that induce a smaller signal in neighboring wires.

Also, there is a post directly addressing this from a decade ago.

 

[Kentajalli]

Look cool.

I have the PW audio version which is slightly cheaper. It’s significantly sturdier and less stressful on the 3.5mm Mojo2 jacks. I’d highly recommend this style adapter over the one you showed any day. But sonically, I can’t argue the extra cost matters.

my DIY cable has the softest cable you have ever seen. It puts virtually no stress on the 3.5mm jack, being right-angled also helps.
I recently changed my portable DAC to a dongle that only has balanced out. So I got a balanced jack, cut the end of my Sennheiser IEM cable, and soldered the new one.
What you see is the leftover from the original.
I just soldered a female balanced port to the same cable, so basically I could use my IEMs with 3.5mm too.
Total cost of everything was £5 + solder and paste!

 

[Daniel Johnston]

I do hear improvement with this adapter over the usually 4.4 to 3.5 adapter from DJ44C. DJ44C sort of kills off the dynamic to my ears.

I also had a zephone adapter. Between the zephone and garagebox. the details, music flow and sq on garagebox is better. My garagebox is the neotech palladium plated silver and silver version. I also hear the garagebox having a darker background. I believe this is due it garagebox being shielded. Zephone is made out of plastic. Also garagebox comes with 3.5mm and 4.4mm jack so it's convenient for me since i have use for both and need not plug in and out the adapter. Not to mention it looks prettier especially with the matching Dignis case


If you are wondering how these adapter is being wired, they are taking the left and right signal from the different 3.5mm output. Doing it this on paper minimise the interference (crosstalk).

Disclaimer: The is my own opinion and of course bought with my own money. I know there are non-believer in cables and this sort on snake oil and i'm fine with it. I'm just answering since you asked. Just hoping this will not start a war here.

^ This

Do you have to spend $100+ on an adapter? No. But these style adapters are nice and you may hear a difference. YMMV.

I like how this one retains the 3.5mm output. The PW is all in 4.4. That in itself is worth the extra $$ of the garagebox to me.

 

[Kentajalli]

But we have a different take on the term “on paper”. To me that means that it is a technical fact that can be proven with data. The exact opposite of some people believing something to be true due to their subjective experience.
Not that it is a big deal, I just like to see facts stated accurately when the subject is one of technical correctness not subjective opinion. In this instance I believe that (solder, wire etc aside because you are welcome to believe that of course) it doesn’t matter how you wire the adapter ultimately you are connecting the four wires of the headphone or IEM cable to the exact same L and R signal and a common ground inside the device and therefore the cross talk cannot possibly be different. The DAC/amp circuitry defining cross talk not the wires connected to it.

Well technically there is some truth to that claim, under special circumstances.
On a single-ended wiring situation, there is only one return wire (the ground or -ve). If there is any impedance between this shared connection at the socket to the output stage's ground (path A), one might suffer crosstalk.
Having said that, the variable are tiny. For one, the impedance from the socket's ground wire to the output stage, on the circuit board should be significantly high! so having two separate ground wires meeting at output stage would be beneficial, i.e. using both sockets on the Mojo.
In reality?
Hardly measurable and certainly not audible.
So there is your objective reasoning.

If path A has significant impedance, then using Path A and B are preferred.

 

[BS5711]

One would hope and fully expect that the Mojo OG and 2 are sufficiently well designed such that the above was a non issue.

 

[BS5711]

There was some discussion years back about the Hugo 2, with people feeling that it was better with an amp (from the RCA outputs) or with a headphone cable made to connect to the RCA sockets. The culprit, I recall, has to do with the headphone plugs and/or socket and the crosstalk they have.

From Wikipedia:


Also, there is a post directly addressing this from a decade ago.

At a glance through that conversation the outcome seems to be, much like the post from Kentajalli, there might be an extremely small technical difference but any technical differences that might exist is far below any remotest chance of audibility.

Also, while physically separating the electrical signals might be technically better, in the case of the adapter the signal paths come back in close contact when they terminate in the 4.4mm jack. Obviously with the Hugos RCA output option that doesn’t happen.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Tough workout for the little Mojo 2.

Comparing the HEDD V2 (right) and V2 GT made easy.

 

[559938]

Tough workout for the little Mojo 2.

Comparing the HEDD V2 (right) and V2 GT made easy.

Oh, do tell more!

 

[alekc]

What you said is totally valid, I agree that 20 minutes with a device is not much and should only be taken as that. I wish I could provide a comprehensive review.

I only commented on what I was certain about, that it's not as detailed as I would expect a $3K device being. "Pleasant" had a positive connotation to it, but at $3K I expect it to be pleasant and incisive. It's like why I added a tube amp to my Hugo 2. I get that balance and I had that reference going into my listen of the SP3000T.

Granted, A&K is trying to fit a lot of technology into a relatively small package, that has to be admired. Part of me can understand the price, but then another part of me questions whether it's too much of a challenge.

@joshnor713 personally I think A&K SP3kT considering list price is overpriced and I would never consider it without a very considerable discount. Same goes for SE300. Beating Mojo 2 with all its technicalness and transparency at its price level is very hard. I know I will be retiring to Mojo 2 occasionally. When using Mojo 2 exclusively I had a tendency to go back and listen to Mojo OG and I still highly value OG while being very happy and fortunate to own both at the same time.