[keithmarsh]

I didn't write the USB firmware, so I can't give a firm opinion on this. But I contacted Chord last night, and they responded that so far only two reports have been sent to Chord support and so far it suggests that it is a USB sync issue. At the start of sending a track, the source and Mojo 2 communicate to establish sync and set the sample rate. If sync is lost, such as when you break the USB connection, then you can get the noise, which will continue until a re-sync occurs, such as stopping the track and re-starting.

Chord suggests also that the source be set to exclusive mode, as this has fixed source issues.

The only times I have heard this has been when losing USB connection by pulling out the cable and reattaching. Or when you shut down the DAC but keep the source running. Upon restart the source does not re-sync correctly. I always close any source app before shutting down the DAC. It's never happened to me whilst playing a track.

Note that all of the Chord DACs have identical USB firmware and USB decoder.

If you are getting it after having checked the USB cables (use a type 2 certified cable), the USB connections, and confirmed it is in exclusive mode, then I suggest that you email Chord support.

Thanks for the feedback. To your last point - the issue does happen in exclusive mode, with different (good quality) cables and it also happens during playback when no cables have been touched / moved.

As you suggest is would be great if everyone experiencing the issue to contact Chord so it may be investigated a little further.

 

[flyte3333]

As you suggest is would be great if everyone experiencing the issue to contact Chord so it may be investigated a little further.

This has been a classic feature since Mojo 1. Reported on this forum and others.

A bigger problem with higher sample rates in my past experience.

Unfortunately I think everyone that has reported it on forums over the years assumed Chord Tech Support read the forums and perhaps never reported it to Chord Support directly.

 

[jinx20001]

I didn't write the USB firmware, so I can't give a firm opinion on this. But I contacted Chord last night, and they responded that so far only two reports have been sent to Chord support and so far it suggests that it is a USB sync issue. At the start of sending a track, the source and Mojo 2 communicate to establish sync and set the sample rate. If sync is lost, such as when you break the USB connection, then you can get the noise, which will continue until a re-sync occurs, such as stopping the track and re-starting.

Chord suggests also that the source be set to exclusive mode, as this has fixed source issues.

The only times I have heard this has been when losing USB connection by pulling out the cable and reattaching. Or when you shut down the DAC but keep the source running. Upon restart the source does not re-sync correctly. I always close any source app before shutting down the DAC. It's never happened to me whilst playing a track.

Note that all of the Chord DACs have identical USB firmware and USB decoder.

If you are getting it after having checked the USB cables (use a type 2 certified cable), the USB connections, and confirmed it is in exclusive mode, then I suggest that you email Chord support.

thank you for that information and again for taking the time to talk with us about it, i emailed chord and got the same response as another member here about the loss of sync with two different sample rates, ive only had the issue once and it was while listening to music but i was hopping between applications so it is entirely possible there were differing signals being sent at one point or another to trigger the white noise, stopping the audio/music only stopped the white noise however it did continue when i resumed the audio so the only solution was to turn the dac off and back on. there was no disturbance to the USB cable as it was being used as a desktop dac/amp at the time, very stable and still, i was using USB-C - USB connection to the PC motherboard for audio and i also had a USB connected to the power for charging/maintaining charge, that cable is capable of 2A minimum.

i have not had the issue since and have only had it happen once, if it happens again ill be happy to report back here and throw an email over to chord just for informational purposes, hopefully not causing a nuisance but to be helpful as im sure avoiding this ever happening is the goal.

 

[jinx20001]

This has been a classic feature since Mojo 1. Reported on this forum and others.

A bigger problem with higher sample rates in my past experience.

Unfortunately I think everyone that has reported it on forums over the years assumed Chord Tech Support read the forums and perhaps never reported it to Chord Support directly.

i would suggest you are probably right on this, Rob just said that chord have received only 2 reports of this issue with the mojo 2 and i know for sure i was one of them and thats after seeing what 5 or 6 reports on here at least over the last few days so it is likely people just restart the device and carry on without ever reporting the wider issue to chord... im sure chord probably dont want the headache and after having a successful launch its not what they want to hear but its important that they know and can provide fixes or suggestions as rob has done above, so so far customer service is doing just fine which is all we can ask.

 

[jinx20001]

I didn't write the USB firmware, so I can't give a firm opinion on this. But I contacted Chord last night, and they responded that so far only two reports have been sent to Chord support and so far it suggests that it is a USB sync issue. At the start of sending a track, the source and Mojo 2 communicate to establish sync and set the sample rate. If sync is lost, such as when you break the USB connection, then you can get the noise, which will continue until a re-sync occurs, such as stopping the track and re-starting.

Chord suggests also that the source be set to exclusive mode, as this has fixed source issues.

The only times I have heard this has been when losing USB connection by pulling out the cable and reattaching. Or when you shut down the DAC but keep the source running. Upon restart the source does not re-sync correctly. I always close any source app before shutting down the DAC. It's never happened to me whilst playing a track.

Note that all of the Chord DACs have identical USB firmware and USB decoder.

If you are getting it after having checked the USB cables (use a type 2 certified cable), the USB connections, and confirmed it is in exclusive mode, then I suggest that you email Chord support.

one thing i will say that just came to mind is, when i plugged the mojo 2 into my pc it automatically installed drivers and appears as a chord device, after i had the white noise issue i decided to manually reinstall the driver for the device and now it appears as ''chord 44.1khz 768khz version 1.0.62'' since i did the manual driver install ive not had the issue at all.

is it possible that the driver installed automatically is not right and actually you should download the driver manually for installation from chord website as another way to avoid the issue?

cheers.

 

[Kentajalli]

I didn't write the USB firmware, so I can't give a firm opinion on this. But I contacted Chord last night, and they responded that so far only two reports have been sent to Chord support and so far it suggests that it is a USB sync issue. At the start of sending a track, the source and Mojo 2 communicate to establish sync and set the sample rate. If sync is lost, such as when you break the USB connection, then you can get the noise, which will continue until a re-sync occurs, such as stopping the track and re-starting.

Chord suggests also that the source be set to exclusive mode, as this has fixed source issues.

The only times I have heard this has been when losing USB connection by pulling out the cable and reattaching. Or when you shut down the DAC but keep the source running. Upon restart the source does not re-sync correctly. I always close any source app before shutting down the DAC. It's never happened to me whilst playing a track.

Note that all of the Chord DACs have identical USB firmware and USB decoder.

If you are getting it after having checked the USB cables (use a type 2 certified cable), the USB connections, and confirmed it is in exclusive mode, then I suggest that you email Chord support.

Unfortunately this is not new, it happens sometimes on Mojo Classic or Mojo one as well, but I have not experienced it on Hugo2 for some reason.
Bad cable, glitch on the track, disk with bad sectors can cause it, as well as glitches on OS, DAP software etc.
its just that the usb input on Chord DACs is sensitive to BS and not forgiving, I learnt to live with it.
if there are no scenarios , it works fine, so there is always something!
but the same 'something' on a (say) Fiio, just makes it go silent, instead of a scary loud white noise!
Perhaps on future builds, you could make it default to silence in case of synch issues.

 

[gc335]

I'm excited for my Mojo 2! Hopefully it ships today. I'm looking for a newer Hugo 2 if anyone is ok parting with theirs.

 

[Garpov]

Richer Sounds in the United Kingdom. Also my poly and mojo1 are with 6 years warranty and already replaced the batteries in both free of charge.

Thanks for the tip, just phoned Richer Sounds, they had one M2 in stock which is being delivered Thursday and they threw in the 6 year guarantee for free.

 

[lwells]

Would you by chance happen to know if it is safe to keep the OG Mojo to just sit hooked on to a laptop (few days and nights in a row) with both charging and data ports connected if the battery is removed (my one died and now my mojo is a desktop amp)

Or am I risking frying my headphones and burning my home down?

I’ve had this for years. My house is still there. Pretty sure you’re safe.

 

[chesebert]

He also states that he is not an audiophile. Some reviewers only have emotional adjectives to explain the visceral feeling they get from sound, which is a favorite style of mine, as long as it's also evened out with some sort of technical point of reference. Makes it better than the traditional cold, encyclopedic detailed scientific review style. I for one want to try anything that's said to move someone to tears.

I would be more critical if I were you. This was how audiophile grade brilliant pebbles got popular in the past - yes with all the emotionally charged “reviews”.

Even if we assume the intention of the publication was pure, that writer had no business reviewing audiophile product given his lack of listening and gear experience.

 

[Rob Watts]

Would you by chance happen to know if it is safe to keep the OG Mojo to just sit hooked on to a laptop (few days and nights in a row) with both charging and data ports connected if the battery is removed (my one died and now my mojo is a desktop amp)

Or am I risking frying my headphones and burning my home down?

Although it wasn't designed to run without a battery, it will be fine. Certainly won't fry your headphones!

one thing i will say that just came to mind is, when i plugged the mojo 2 into my pc it automatically installed drivers and appears as a chord device, after i had the white noise issue i decided to manually reinstall the driver for the device and now it appears as ''chord 44.1khz 768khz version 1.0.62'' since i did the manual driver install ive not had the issue at all.

is it possible that the driver installed automatically is not right and actually you should download the driver manually for installation from chord website as another way to avoid the issue?

cheers.

So for Windows, install the driver from Chord's website. Otherwise Win 10/11 will use generic audio drivers, which will not be as ideal as Chord's. Also, you have the option of using ASIO too.

 

[iDesign]

Note that all of the Chord DACs have identical USB firmware and USB decoder.

Thank you for confirming my suspicions that all Chord DACs do indeed share identical USB firmware and decoders. I have had the issue with my DAVE, Blu MkII, and Mojos for sometime now and noticed reports from owners of DACs across the entire Chord range. It appears to be much more common/frequent in Apple devices equipped with USC-C and running the latest versions of MacOS or iPadOS. The issue sometimes presents immediately after the devices are connected but mostly occurs in the middle of a track. It has absolutely nothing to do with changing sample rates. The loud white noise poses a risk not just to hearing (think in ear monitors) but can potentially destroy the left driver of an expensive/delicate speaker or headphone like the Focal Utopia which is already prone to driver failure. I would encourage Chord to find ways to resolve this problem as soon as possible as it’s not a small issue that can go uncorrected. As soon as someone experiences a costly driver repair or a reviewer writes about it, the issue will become a nightmare in Maidstone. Lastly, Chord’s support team needs to stop cutting and pasting the same standard response to owners about Exclusive Mode— its wrong, makes them look inept, and a lazy way to resolve the issue.

 

[ChrisGB]

I've experienced the white noise issue under the following circumstances:

Connected to laptop W10 via USB C streaming from Amazon Music HD. All notifications turned off. Chord USB driver installed. Frequency, between 15 seconds and a few minutes. Worse with high Sampling rate streams.

Corrected to workstation W11 via USB A to USB C cable and supplied USB A to USB micro. Same issues as laptop at similar frequency of occurrence.

Connected to Shanling M6 DAP (OS modified to remove Android audio resampling). via USB C to USB C cable Playing a DSD256 .DSF file from SD card. Drops out intermittently to begin with, then drops out permanently. All other file formats and streams play perfectly.

Lots of electrical noise on both PC connections, no discernable noise on DAP connection.

 

[kumar402]

Mojo is for portable use so can’t skip USB but for desktop use or desktop DAC, it’s better to use a streamer or a DDC and avoid USB altogether.

 

[chesebert]

Mojo is for portable use so can’t skip USB but for desktop use or desktop DAC, it’s better to use a streamer or a DDC and avoid USB altogether.

What would you replace USB with? Spdif? AES? I2S? None of them has any data integrity checking protocol and spdif and AES mux clock with the signal and subject to jitter.