[Chris Kaoss]

Glad you like Reflection! First time hearing it? For me it's the perfect test track given how well it's recorded and tests the entire frequency spectrum.

How well does the Mojo OG drive your VOs? It drives my LCD-5s quite well I must say. And the EQ to cool down the midrange at 3kHz is perfect.

Yes, was the first time.
Although Tool is in my stable for quite a while, I've to say. ^^

Mojo drives them very well, with slightly more authority driven by the R28, and Mojo as DAC, thou.
As a portable setup it's really impressive and a great pairing with the VO, which adresses the short comings of the VO perfectly, imo.

 

[dsrk]

I acquired an IE600 as my first IEM. Ran it off the apple dongle for the first week and had the impression that it couldn't image whatsoever. All sounds overlapped and every piece of the drum kit in Reflection by Tool was rendered in the same location.

I knew this imaging with the Apple dongle and IE600 was off because my desktop chain of Bifrost 2/64 -> Ferrum Oor -> LCD-5 places each piece of the intro drum sequence into 6 distinct areas (there’s center, center left, center lefter, far left, slightly right of center and far right). Then the cymbals start at 1:03 in the far left. So after writing my impression linked above, I hooked up the IE600 to my desktop chain and the lack of imaging disappeared. No longer was everything in one overlapping blob in front of me.

Since it’s a bit impractical to carry my desktop chain with me to work, I decided to do a shootout between the Qudelix 5K and Chord Mojo 2. Both are hooked up to my iPhone via USB.

I’m going to keep this comparison brief because I heard the difference between the Mojo 2 and 5K immediately. With Reflection by Tool as the test track, the Mojo 2 creates the image I expect from my desktop setup- maybe not as accurate and precise but very very close. The Qudelix 5K is one blob again, albeit a slightly wider blob than the dongle. On the 5K, the far left and far right sounds from the drum kit are both rendered in the front and overlap the center drums.

I focus on imaging because it’s a binary criteria i.e. it’s either present or it’s not. Not some subjective term like clarity or timbre or dynamics. And I want to emphasize that these are my subjective, sighted impressions. I personally would love to do some volume-matched A/B testing so if anyone is in the Washington DC Metro area and wants to tinker with me sometime please PM me. I feel pretty confident that if I can only listen to the Lateralus album by Tool, I can distinguish between them.

In short, the 5K is getting returned and the Mojo 2 is staying.

Q5K may be a good dongle DAC with great PEQ but Mojo 2 is in a different league altogether IMO. Probably the best portable DAC/AMP available right now, especially considering its size and form factor.

 

[Derivative]

Still enjoying M2 as the core of my basic desktop set-up.
Recently acquired the Empyrean and the EQ + Xfeed on the M2 takes them to another level, to my ears.

Now thinking of ways I can get incremental improvements in SQ.
I currently run the M2 directly from laptop through the USB-C port, and mostly using battery power. Source is Qobuz.
Signal then goes to LP G109 amp through 3.5mm to RCA cable. I'm happy with the amp for now.

What are fellow head-fiers thoughts on the following:
1 - ifi iPower supply: as mentioned I use M2 mostly on battery power so not certain this is useful, but I'd consider if the consensus is that it makes a difference to use it powered by the ifi.
2 - galvanic isolator, most likely something from Intona, to clean up the USB signal. Also considering Wyred 4 Sound's Recovery.
3 - USB to optical converter, so the M2 is receiving an optical signal. I read that it sounds better through the optical input.
4 - better cables: I use sturdy but basic cables. This would be my lowest priority but still interested in exploring.

Combining some or all of the above is definitely possible, but being fairly new to all this I'd love to hear others' thoughts. Also, have I missed anything from the list? Many thanks for any advice.

So I ended up buying a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery from the Classifieds. It is marketed as a "USB reclocker" and sits between laptop and Mojo2 to hopefully reduce any noise from the laptop's USB port.
Initial listening impressions are positive: it's not a massive change in SQ but the background definitely comes across as "blacker". It's all incremental but for the outlay I think it's worth it and this will stay in the chain.
Signal remains bit-perfect in Exclusive Mode and laptop continues to recognise the Mojo2 directly (rather than the Recovery).
Interestingly: when playing certain 192khz tracks from Qobuz, I used to still get a little bit of white noise through Mojo2, nothing major but noticeable and I put it down to the sampling rate just being too much for the cables at times. This is now completely gone with the Recovery...

I also bought the Topping HS01 as kindly suggested by Kentajalli, awaiting delivery from Shenzenaudio.
I will compare it to the Recovery and if both work well then one will go in my other listening set-up, RPi into Naim DAC-V1.

 

[okan]

Is anyone using campfire solaris og with mojo 2? I am planning to buy mojo 2 and I am curious if there is hissing.

 

[Chrome_CW]

--

 

[Chrome_CW]

I've had Mojo 2 for several months now, I was lucky enough to get one shortly after it was released.

I previously had Mojo 1 for roughly 5 years and have never experienced the white noise issue at all.

However, in the last 2 weeks I've had 2 disturbing experiences where the Mojo 2 has made a very loud whining sound through the headphones shortly after the power on cycle has completed.

Set up is PC as source connected to Mojo 2 via spdif out to optical in.

The first time it happened I powered on Mojo then powered on PC shortly afterwards. The PC had not booted to Windows yet when the Mojo finished power cycle and emitted a very loud whining noise, starting at a high pitch and descending lower for around a 1-2 sec duration, similar to the sound a balloon makes when quickly releasing the air from it. I had just put the headphones on my head at the time and managed to rip them off quickly because it was ear splitting. My wife actually ran in from the other room asking what the noise was (open back headphones).

The second time it happened the PC had fully booted into windows before I powered on Mojo, but it emitted exactly the same whining noise, luckily I didn't have headphones on this time.

I would appreciate an explanation from @Rob Watts as to whether the device is faulty or if this is another known issue?

Either way I feel I'm probably going to return the Mojo.

I've experienced the same issue twice as well - both times at power-up.

Mojo2 basically came on at full volume and played through what sounded like a couple of sine wave type of sounds. The first time I had my headphones on and I was honestly afraid it would cause hearing damage.....but since then I've just decided to power the Mojo2 on before putting the headphones on my ears.

Other than this, I'm really LOVING the unit and would rather NOT return it - especially since I bought it in Canada and live in the US and that is more complicated....but I would like to let @Rob Watts know that it isn't just one unit that has experienced this.

I think in both instances I was connected via USB-C...but am not 100% certain

 

[Garpov]

This is definitely the same issue I was describing.

 

[Soundizer]

I just received Mojo 2 a few days ago and have about 15hours listening time, driving Focal Clear MG headphones.

Delighted:
1. Love the organic natural tonality. This is especially obvious compared to EsSabre DACS including previous experiences with RME-ADI2 and Topping DX5 Pro + (new 2022 model).
It is also a more natural sounding in delivery vs iFi Diablo/Signature.
2. Some improvements in air and space between instruments compared to Mojo 1.
3. More Silky/Smooth sounding vs iFi Diablo/Signature.

Disappointed:
1. iFi Diablo/Signature has far better air and space via 4.4 connection.
2. iFi Diablo/Signature delivers better slamming low end base via 4.4 connection. More enjoyable.


Will see how it goes, but might replace with previously owned Diablo.

 

[lowrider007]

What closed backed headphones do you guys recommend pairing with the Mojo 2?

I was thinking Dan Clark Audio Aeon closed but I'm in the UK and don't realy want to import them with all the added costs involved.

 

[Soundizer]

What closed backed headphones do you guys recommend pairing with the Mojo 2?

I was thinking Dan Clark Audio Aeon closed but I'm in the UK and don't realy want to import them with all the added costs involved.

Actually i have same predicament. Was thinking Aeon Noir 2, but not paying UK Price premium.
Otherwise considering Focal Radiance.

 

[Nostoi]

What closed backed headphones do you guys recommend pairing with the Mojo 2?

I was thinking Dan Clark Audio Aeon closed but I'm in the UK and don't realy want to import them with all the added costs involved.

DCA quite hard to drive from Mojo 2. What's your budget and tuning preference?

 

[jarnopp]

DCA quite hard to drive from Mojo 2. What's your budget and tuning preference?

DCA Aeon2/Noire is not hard to drive from Mojo/Mojo2. It’s a great pairing (preferring the perforated pads, so Noire). Double red is sufficient for pop at ~80dB and double green for classical. Plenty of headroom, punch and detail from this combo. Even in the UK, it’s worth ordering.

 

[Nostoi]

DCA Aeon2/Noire is not hard to drive from Mojo/Mojo2. It’s a great pairing (preferring the perforated pads, so Noire). Double red is sufficient for pop at ~80dB and double green for classical. Plenty of headroom, punch and detail from this combo. Even in the UK, it’s worth ordering.

Uh huh. Sure, Mojo 2 can technically drive them, but really - please trust me on this if you're considering the Noire especially - not to their full merits. Compare Mojo 2 to Mojo 2 plus external portable amp, it's night/day. Only then, can you see the dynamics the Noire is capable of.

 

[lowrider007]

DCA quite hard to drive from Mojo 2. What's your budget and tuning preference?

About £500, if you look at my sig I enjoy all those headphones, not really a fan of beyerdynamic's though, recently I've been really enjoying my old k240's with the Mojo 2, so it doesn't have to be expensive, I noticed on eBay there are some Focal Elegia's for around £250, I've never tried Focal before so would be interesting to see how they sound, would the Mojo 2 be able to power those ok?

 

[Nostoi]

About £500, if you look at my sig I enjoy all those headphones, not really a fan of beyerdynamic's though, recently I've been really enjoying my old k240's with the Mojo 2, so it doesn't have to be expensive, I noticed on eBay there are some Focal Elegia's for around £250, I've never tried Focal before so would be interesting to see how they sound, would the Mojo 2 be able to power those ok?

No problem for Mojo 2 to drive Focal headphones. I did try the Elegia a while back with them and the pairing was pretty good, though clamp pressure was quite tight. At the price, I would also suggest Denon 7200/9200. Audio-Technica WP900 is a very nice pairing, though slightly spicy in top end. I'm actually enjoying Meze 99 with silver cable on Mojo 2 right now - nicely balanced, bass bloat tamed with cable, superbly comfortable. I went through most of the recent portable headphones from MSR7B to Meze Liric and probably find Meze 99 to hit the sweet spot on all fronts. If you want something a little more neutral, look at Austrian Audio Hi-X60.