[thehutch]

I don’t mean this in a snarky way at all. If I’m missing something please educate me. The Poly is a wireless streaming device With a SD card slot so it kind of doubles as a dap controlled via smartphone app.

The Poly can create its own Wi-Fi network so you can stream lossless audio from your phone over DLNA or Airplay. It is many times superior (in sound quality) to Bluetooth.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I don’t mean this in a snarky way at all. If I’m missing something please educate me. The Poly is a wireless streaming device With a SD card slot so it kind of doubles as a dap controlled via smartphone app.

Sure, anyone can post words about what something does. But, until you have actually heard it, you have no idea what it is like to use and what it does for the musical listening experience.

As streamers do, the Poly significantly improves the sound quality of music. But, the networking problems where network connections drop frequently and the lack of a decent music player makes DAPs like the DX300 a much better value and much easier to use with equivalent sound quality. The micro USB issue is an issue, but a very very very small one relative to networking and music player.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

The Poly can create its own Wi-Fi network so you can stream lossless audio from your phone over DLNA or Airplay. It is many times superior (in sound quality) to Bluetooth.

exactly.

 

[Thrill Killer]

Nothing special. But for me and other people, the pictures are fake

Fake? Based off of what?

 

[Thrill Killer]

Still unclear if these are real. They’re from a long while ago.

How old are these pics then? Their post date is 17hrs ago. If you have pics from an older time, please share your source.

 

[jarnopp]

How old are these pics then? Their post date is 17hrs ago. If you have pics from an older time, please share your source.

April: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-2-speculation-thread.885405/page-10

 

[Thrill Killer]

April: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-2-speculation-thread.885405/page-10

It'd be a pretty elaborate fake if it was fake. Everything that the pics show is what one would expect from a next gen from the original mojo. Fabricate a case and connections, inputs, outputs, all for what? We will find out soon. I'm gonna stop by the local Chord dealer this week and see what he says, if he's heard or seen anything. I'll report back either way.

 

[jarnopp]

It'd be a pretty elaborate fake if it was fake. Everything that the pics show is what one would expect from a next gen from the original mojo. Fabricate a case and connections, inputs, outputs, all for what? We will find out soon. I'm gonna stop by the local Chord dealer this week and see what he says, if he's heard or seen anything. I'll report back either way.

Right. Plus, the Chord tease lines up pretty well with those leaked photos from earlier this year.

 

[Earbones]

With respect, a lot of the guys who keep insisting that the Poly is “so much more than just Bluetooth” perhaps don’t understand just how simple to implement the Poly’s functions are in 2021.

Back in 2017, it was most likely separate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips/cards, but there are plenty of duals available today, with the added benefit that it’s a native single connection to the antennae rather than double wiring, which can cause issues (probably the root of the Poly’s Wi-Fi issues some people apparently experience). DLNA and Airplay are excessively simple to implement as well. The entire board-space required (including reader chip) would be very, very small. The physical SD card reader port is actually the biggest engineering trick just due to space, but again, in 2021, it’s well-tread territory with small devices… It raises the cost a bit though, which is why we don’t see it in more mobile DACs. Although when I think about iFi, with their value proposition-oriented marketing, I am surprised they haven’t done it in one of their mobile devices. Or maybe they have? I haven’t yet done a deep-dive on any of their most recent offerings.

In any event, the point is, the functionality of the current Poly is not this insurmountable, pie-in-the-sky add-on you appear to think it is in 2021. It would be pretty easy for Chord to implement internally in the Mojo 2. Honestly, a theoretical Poly 2 with modern components would be mostly empty inside, were it the same dimensions as the Poly 1.

So looping back around to the “keeping Micro-USB vs going full USB-C” discussion, I just don’t see Chord dropping a Mojo 2 with Micro-USB to ensure backwards compatibility with the current Poly. It just doesn’t make sense. Consider this: even if Chord does believe that the best way to implement Bluetooth, WiFi, AirPlay, DLNA and MicroSD functionality is via a secondary device rather than internalizing it all… the way that tech is implemented has still improved dramatically in the last half-decade. They could make a secondary device that performs a lot better than the current Poly, and it would be much smaller to boot. Why would they upgrade the Mojo experience, but not the Poly experience? And assuming they do intend to upgrade the Poly experience, why would they keep the obsolete Micro-USB standard?

I understand a lot of people have invested in the Poly 1, but that’s audiophillia, folks. Something bigger and badder is always coming out. Obsolescence happens. The Poly 1 has been around for half a decade… That’s an incredibly good run for a product of it’s type. Nobody is owed compatibility for a decade or more… I mean, we’re not even talking analog tech here, for which such an argument could be made (a 1980’s McIntosh tube amp sounds just as good as a current one, no reason to replace it, so make your new processor backwards compatible, blah blah). We’re talking mobile digital connectivity... that tech changes with the breeze.

 

[mainguy]

With respect, a lot of the guys who keep insisting that the Poly is “so much more than just Bluetooth” perhaps don’t understand just how simple to implement the Poly’s functions are in 2021.

Back in 2017, it was most likely separate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips/cards, but there are plenty of duals available today, with the added benefit that it’s a native single connection to the antennae rather than double wiring, which can cause issues (probably the root of the Poly’s Wi-Fi issues some people apparently experience). DLNA and Airplay are excessively simple to implement as well. The entire board-space required (including reader chip) would be very, very small. The physical SD card reader port is actually the biggest engineering trick just due to space, but again, in 2021, it’s well-tread territory with small devices… It raises the cost a bit though, which is why we don’t see it in more mobile DACs. Although when I think about iFi, with their value proposition-oriented marketing, I am surprised they haven’t done it in one of their mobile devices. Or maybe they have? I haven’t yet done a deep-dive on any of their most recent offerings.

I agree, I think if Chord are smart they'd aim for 500-600ish for poly 2 + mojo 2. They'd dominate the market at that price, if they go for the original 900 total, not so much. Way too many good DAPs in that price range now.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I agree, I think if Chord are smart they'd aim for 500-600ish for poly 2 + mojo 2. They'd dominate the market at that price, if they go for the original 900 total, not so much. Way too many good DAPs in that price range now.

In my opinion if anything the price will increase. The question is by how much, 20% or 50%?. They recently increased their prices on the TT2, M Scaler - probably others as well. And these are existing units, same model, higher price due to... I suppose inflation and the current shortage of materials. IMHO the Mojo 2 alone will be at least 800 USD or EUR.

Look also at their history with Hugo to Hugo 2 increase. TT to TT2 increase. To me it's clear that there will be a price increase.

 

[Another Audiophile]

In my opinion if anything the price will increase. The question is by how much, 20% or 50%?. They recently increased their prices on the TT2, M Scaler - probably others as well. And these are existing units, same model, higher price due to... I suppose inflation and the current shortage of materials. IMHO the Mojo 2 alone will be at least 800 USD or EUR.

Look also at their history with Hugo to Hugo 2 increase. TT to TT2 increase. To me it's clear that there will be a price increase.

Going without saying that the price will be higher. The question is how relevant they will be. I don’t think any new unit will make the number mojo made. They might be late to the party.

 

[thehutch]

Going without saying that the price will be higher. The question is how relevant they will be. I don’t think any new unit will make the number mojo made. They might be late to the party.

Even in the current form factor and without wireless, I don’t see why a Mojo with higher resolution but the same sound signature wouldn’t remain competitive with other portable DAC/amps. What would be holding it back if it’s a huge lead up in SQ?

 

[Another Audiophile]

Even in the current form factor and without wireless, I don’t see why a Mojo with higher resolution but the same sound signature wouldn’t remain competitive with other portable DAC/amps. What would be holding it back if it’s a huge lead up in SQ?

Convenience. That's the word. Todays DAPs are "good enough" for portable devices.

 

[thehutch]

Convenience. That's the word. Todays DAPs are "good enough" for portable devices.

Chord obviously thinks you’re wrong