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

Mar 19, 2022 at 2:10 PM Post #3,271 of 12,433
Anyone find that poorly recorded songs or dynamic range compressed songs are unlistenable with Mojo2? I am thinking Mojo 2 is highly transparent in that way. I can pick out distortion in the music at a low volume even ...
Would love to hear others thoughts on this. I’ve heard the original Mojo may be more laid-back in some respects and perhaps this is one of them? I’ve run into big trouble a few times with highly resolving equipment, purportedly being “better”, that degrades the listening experience.

As an extremely happy owner of a Mojo, who is very interested in the Mojo 2, I would like to know if listening to poorly recorded tracks will be a potential issue.
 
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Mar 19, 2022 at 3:42 PM Post #3,272 of 12,433
Would love to hear others thoughts on this. I’ve heard the original Mojo may be more laid-back in some respects and perhaps this is one of them? I’ve run into big trouble a few times with highly resolving equipment, purportedly being “better”, that degrades the listening experience.

As an extremely happy owner of a Mojo, who is very interested in the Mojo 2, I would like to know if listening to poorly recorded tracks will be a potential issue.
It would be unpleasant if you listen with highly transparent / resolving headphones. For instance, with poor recordings, I use Nighthawks that are pretty dark and soft resolving
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 4:13 PM Post #3,273 of 12,433
i’m a fan of the duoo X10Tii

nice to have physical controls, a screen, and while it has coax out, currently enjoying optical.

use it with stellia, cascade, kse1200, and when beingreally mobile, the $25 cca nra, which does classical and jazz very well.

i have the poly as well, but the lack of screen and physical controls can be annoying. No-look track skipping with physical controls is so much easier than busting out the smartphone and getting to the app.
C93BDF79-AE3E-4D04-A64F-C763411CCAE9.jpeg
I think you would be better off with a short 'flexible' optical cable. That way the Mojo wouldn't be offset from the DAP and could be positioned however you want it. I also think a very stiff connection causes more stress to the connectors since there is no give.
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 6:12 PM Post #3,274 of 12,433
It would be unpleasant if you listen with highly transparent / resolving headphones. For instance, with poor recordings, I use Nighthawks that are pretty dark and soft resolving
Interesting. I think many folks here have at least one, and probably several, highly resolving and transparent headphones they plan to use the Mojo 2 with…
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 6:18 PM Post #3,275 of 12,433
Does anyone here use the Mojo 2 with a full-size / desktop tube amp? If so, does the tube saturation gel well with its sound signature? Or what about the concept in general of external amps with it - due to having no line out it becomes double amping, so does that exacerbate the micro details or dynamics too much?
 
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Mar 19, 2022 at 7:33 PM Post #3,276 of 12,433
Interesting. I think many folks here have at least one, and probably several, highly resolving and transparent headphones they plan to use the Mojo 2 with…
I use it with both type of cans. I take back what I said earlier. Just tried HQplayer with M2. It's marvellous. Wow .. Such realism and soul engaging ...
 
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Mar 19, 2022 at 7:35 PM Post #3,277 of 12,433
Does anyone here use the Mojo 2 with a full-size / desktop tube amp? If so, does the tube saturation gel well with its sound signature? Or what about the concept in general of external amps with it - due to having no line out it becomes double amping, so does that exacerbate the micro details or dynamics too much?
I use McIntosh MHA200. I think M2 has a nice amp out. But with MHA200, I find the sound just extra engaging and expansion of soundstage around my head.
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 7:56 PM Post #3,278 of 12,433
Does anyone here use the Mojo 2 with a full-size / desktop tube amp? If so, does the tube saturation gel well with its sound signature? Or what about the concept in general of external amps with it - due to having no line out it becomes double amping, so does that exacerbate the micro details or dynamics too much?
I use the Hugo 2 with a tube amp (sorry, didn't upgrade my Mojo 1 to the 2 yet). Bear in mind that with Chord's DACs, you're not double-amping. They don't have an amp (volume/gain is controlled digitally). So don't have to worry about this.

The Hugo 2, being neutral, pairs beautifully with a tube amp. Trading a little resolution/transparency for body/warmth, more-so depending on the amp you get. Since the Mojo 2 is more like it now, bet it'd be a similar thing. I would personally not pair the Mojo 1 with a tube amp; just would be too much warmth.
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 8:38 PM Post #3,279 of 12,433
The Chord Mojo (and I'm sure the Hugo2 as well) has one (1) amp stage.
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 9:43 PM Post #3,280 of 12,433
I use McIntosh MHA200. I think M2 has a nice amp out. But with MHA200, I find the sound just extra engaging and expansion of soundstage around my head.
I was wondering, what is your Mojo 2 volume level when connected to the MHA200? The Mojo 2 does not have a fixed line level out, so I was wondering how to set the Mojo 2 volume when connected to the MHA200. Thanks.
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 9:50 PM Post #3,281 of 12,433
I use McIntosh MHA200. I think M2 has a nice amp out. But with MHA200, I find the sound just extra engaging and expansion of soundstage around my head.
Nice. Do you know of a cable worth recommending to use the Mojo with an amp? I'm looking for single 3.5mm to dual RCA cable. A short y-splitter cable with premium metals, not just an adapter because I want to use it with my thick, heavy aftermarket RCA cable.

I've also used my former Chord Qutest with tube amps and it was fantastic.
 
Mar 19, 2022 at 10:15 PM Post #3,283 of 12,433
I was wondering, what is your Mojo 2 volume level when connected to the MHA200? The Mojo 2 does not have a fixed line level out, so I was wondering how to set the Mojo 2 volume when connected to the MHA200. Thanks.
It varies from song to song, but usually I put the MHA200 volume at 12'o unity gain and I adjust M2 volume to a normal listening level (i.e. light blue) then from there I use MHA200 volume knob. However, M2 amp out is impressive- Sound quality is pretty much constant for all volume range and I could not hear distortion even at max volume, but it got hot, so I try to keep M2 volume lower.
Nice. Do you know of a cable worth recommending to use the Mojo with an amp? I'm looking for single 3.5mm to dual RCA cable. A short y-splitter cable with premium metals, not just an adapter because I want to use it with my thick, heavy aftermarket RCA cable.

I've also used my former Chord Qutest with tube amps and it was fantastic.
I am currently using 3.5mm - RCA adaptor from Audioquest. It does a good job with Mojo. Cables do make difference, IMO. I was using Balden cable from Bluejean; well made cable and does the job. However, I recently replaced that with Lavricable silver RCA. They use Aeco plugs that sounds very good. I read that the hollow pin RCA plugs that Aeco makes sound better than WBT plugs from some cable DIY forum.

The difference was not night and day, but the overall soundscape became more expensive. Treble was more relaxed, I could hear more music due to more extended decay. I thought about getting Y cable, but its application is limited so I got the RCA adaptor and premium RCA cables that made more sense for my use case.
 
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Mar 19, 2022 at 10:43 PM Post #3,284 of 12,433
It varies from song to song, but usually I put the MHA200 volume at 12'o unity gain and I adjust M2 volume to a normal listening level (i.e. light blue) then from there I use MHA200 volume knob. However, M2 amp out is impressive- Sound quality is pretty much constant for all volume range and I could not hear distortion even at max volume, but it got hot, so I try to keep M2 volume lower.

I am currently using 3.5mm - RCA adaptor from Audioquest. It does a good job with Mojo. Cables do make difference, IMO. I was using Balden cable from Bluejean; well made cable and does the job. However, I recently replaced that with Lavricable silver RCA. They use Aeco plugs that sounds very good. I read that the hollow pin RCA plugs that Aeco makes sound better than WBT plugs from some cable DIY forum.

The difference was not night and day, but the overall soundscape became more expensive. Treble was more relaxed, I could hear more music due to more extended decay. I thought about getting Y cable, but its application is limited so I got the RCA adaptor and premium RCA cables that made more sense for my use case.
Much thanks for your input! Saw the silver cable you're using and I see how it can make sense with an adapter. My custom silver RCA cable on the other hand is much thicker and heavier like a snake, so would put strain on the adapter. I'm checking on the cable thread here for any premium quality short y-splitter recommendations, unless someone else here has another suggestion.

For the digital input, I'm thinking of going with BlueJeans though. I've had what I consider world-class results with their cheap Belden 1694A BNC coax cable between my DDC and DAC's with specific premium ferrite chokes on it, in my personal opinion rivaling the WAVE reference cables which I extensively compared it to. I'll have to see if they can terminate it RCA to 3.5mm though.

PS - I also found the BlueJeans RCA cables somewhat lacking, but used as RCA/BNC coax with special ferrite chokes, the story dramatically changed.

But does the Mojo 2 coax connection use a 2-pin connection like this?
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(lower portion of photo. Credit goes to miketlse)
 
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Mar 20, 2022 at 5:06 AM Post #3,285 of 12,433
Guys, since you are talking about cables, can you please help me choose a decent short USB C cable to connect my Mojo 2 to my Android phone? I am a bit confused, sorry..
Is this one, good? If not, from where could I buy a better one in the UK? Yesterday, after receiving my Mojo 2, I've connected it to my POCO F2 Pro phone, using this cable, because it is the only one available in my home now. It played but it did not sound right... It did not sound well, I don't know why.. Can you please help?

Thank you

PS: Also, when it comes to Mojo's inputs, USB C is preferable to Micro-USB input, correct?
 
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