[betula]

Yeah. Sad for people affected. I wonder if it's a fault, or a new design.



I think the general impression is that the Mojo is the best DAC up to the 2Qute. 2Qute price dropped recently to £800.

Since adding an amp, can only degrade the signal, there's not really any point thinking any more about it. I'm not saying amplifiers are a bad idea. I just mean that adding cables to an amp, and an amp signature, all move away from the DAC signature. If you're happy with Mojo, and think the Hugo 2 is for you, then save up for the Hugo 2. It's actually quite surprising how good the Hugo 2 is, and to me worth the price. .. However it takes a while to maybe fully get accustomed to the Hugo 2, so a shop demo might not quite be enough. Or maybe it is, but for me it took time to adjust. Even though I knew straight away.

I think the problem with being faced with the decision to buy the Hugo 2 is, "Will I feel it worth it?". ... I think it was.

(Good luck anyway.)
...

I spent two weeks with Hugo2. I know it is better than Mojo. The question is exactly as you said. At my current financial situation I could pay £7-800 for a better sound, but not £1800.

2Qute is selling for £700 at many places, but I'd still need an amp with it.

 

[Phronesis]

I spent two weeks with Hugo2. I know it is better than Mojo. The question is exactly as you said. At my current financial situation I could pay £7-800 for a better sound, but not £1800.

2Qute is selling for £700 at many places, but I'd still need an amp with it.

Honestly, if upgrading from the Mojo causes financial strain, I would just stick with the Mojo. I have both the Mojo and Hugo 2, and find the difference to be incremental; IMO, the upgrade is warranted only if no financial strain is involved. Bigger bang for the buck would probably come from upgrading your headgear.

 

[betula]

Honestly, if upgrading from the Mojo causes financial strain, I would just stick with the Mojo. I have both the Mojo and Hugo 2, and find the difference to be incremental; IMO, the upgrade is warranted only if no financial strain is involved. Bigger bang for the buck would probably come from upgrading your headgear.

That is already happening. Aeon Flow is about to arrive.
What brought these questions up in me is that people keep saying the Aeons and similar headphones hugely benefit from a full sized amp vs Mojo. I am just trying to find out how much truth is in this statement before investing in a class A amp.

 

[Rob Watts]

Maybe a strange question after >2400 pages of posts, but I have a question to @Rob Watts about headphone choice.
I read that you like/love the Audioquest Nighthwaks with the Mojo. I tried the Nightowls, and really liked them, but I have never listened to any high-end headphones (>400 Euros), so I don‘t have that much experience.

So the question to Rob Watts is, if you had the choice between Nighthawk original and Nightowl Carbon, which one would you chose, and for what reasons?
BTW - I love the Mojo and very much admire how you combine profound engineering with love for and understanding of music to create devices like the Mojo! I am looking now at the Qutest as a source for my stereo system.

Thanks for you great work and especially for working to make this level of performance available at Mojo price levels

Thank-you. To be honest I have not been able to have a serious listen to the Nightowls, and it was very much on my radar - until I heard the Mr Speakers Aeon closed. I heard the prototypes of the Aeon, then heard the pre-production units, then ordered a pair. The production unit sounded identical to the initial units I heard - extremely transparent, with better depth and pin-point imagery, but with the low distortion bass qualities that I love in the Nighthawks - and being closed they are superb with flights (my principle use of headphones - having spent 150 hours so far just this year in the air). But I would say I still like the warmth of the Nighthawks - but the extra transparency of the Aeon's wins overall.

That is already happening. Aeon Flow is about to arrive.
What brought these questions up in me is that people keep saying the Aeons and similar headphones hugely benefit from a full sized amp vs Mojo. I am just trying to find out how much truth is in this statement before investing in a class A amp.

No not in my opinion Mojo or Hugo 2 can easily drive these headphones with huge amounts of capacity in reserve! Adding an external amp just destroys transparency.

 

[x RELIC x]

That is already happening. Aeon Flow is about to arrive.
What brought these questions up in me is that people keep saying the Aeons and similar headphones hugely benefit from a full sized amp vs Mojo. I am just trying to find out how much truth is in this statement before investing in a class A amp.

Listening to those that think a massive max power output spec (I realize you only said full sized amp) is what makes something like the AEON sound good is like listening to someone who still believes the Earth is flat. We should understand the math and not the perpetuated myths. There is preference and then there is objective truth. The AEON’s specifications of 13 Ohm and 95dB/mW requires the following amount of power to reach these SPL peaks:

http://www.digizoid.com/power.php



This is well within the Mojo’s Class A power output to make you deaf in minutes at 120dB peaks with no distortion. This is the objective math. A more powerful amp with more max power available will not actually use more power when listening at the same SPL. I repeat, the extra power will not be used at the headphone unless listening louder. Sure, something much less efficient, like the Susvara, will need more than the Mojo can provide to reach decent peaks, but that headphone is not very sensitive at all. I see waaaaay too many recommendations for the max power (marketing) spec but not near enough about distortion characteristics, or impedance, or slew rate, or power supply implementation, or tuning, etc..

Now if the conversation was about tuning and synergy, man, there’s a whole host of amps that may serve your needs! When others say the AEON ‘benefits’ from a full sized amp I would drill down to find out what they actually mean by benefit.

 

[cirodts]

According to you, between a hifiman sundara and a sennheiser hd 660s which matches better with the sound of the mojo?

 

[betula]

No not in my opinion Mojo or Hugo 2 can easily drive these headphones with huge amounts of capacity in reserve! Adding an external amp just destroys transparency.

Listening to those that think a massive max power output spec (I realize you only said full sized amp) is what makes something like the AEON sound good is like listening to someone who still believes the Earth is flat. We should understand the math and not the perpetuated myths. There is preference and then there is objective truth. The AEON’s specifications of 13 Ohm and 95dB/mW requires the following amount of power to reach these SPL peaks:

http://www.digizoid.com/power.php



This is well within the Mojo’s Class A power output to make you deaf in minutes at 120dB peaks with no distortion. This is the objective math. A more powerful amp with more max power available will not actually use more power when listening at the same SPL. I repeat, the extra power will not be used at the headphone unless listening louder. Sure, something much less efficient, like the Susvara, will need more than the Mojo can provide to reach decent peaks, but that headphone is not very sensitive at all. I see waaaaay too many recommendations for the max power (marketing) spec but not near enough about distortion characteristics, or impedance, or slew rate, or power supply implementation, or tuning, etc..

Now if the conversation was about tuning and synergy, man, there’s a whole host of amps that may serve your needs! When others say the AEON ‘benefits’ from a full sized amp I would drill down to find out what they actually mean by benefit.

Thanks for clarification and reassuring. This was my thinking too. Perhaps people who can't imagine listening without a full sized amp just need that coloration/taste to the music.

 

[x RELIC x]

Thanks for clarification and reassuring. This was my thinking too. Perhaps people who can't imagine listening without a full sized amp just need that coloration/taste to the music.

Admittedly, I really like the impact and macro dynamics of the Liquid Gold, but rarely listen to it because I find (emphasis for me) I prefer to hear more nuance in the music rather than a certain dominant signature or certain macro impact. I also know that the advertised 9W max power of the Liquid Gold is a complete waste for my current headphones but would be great if I got something like the Susvara. FWIW I never have the volume louder than 1/8 (balanced) or 1/4 (SE) of the total volume on the Liquid Gold which can make fine tuning the loudness difficult with such a small range to play with before it gets too loud.

Taken as a whole, if someone prefers the sound of additional gear (distortions and all) then that’s simply going to be the ‘better’ gear for them, every time. That’s why the more gear you can audition it becomes more about finding out what you want rather than a spec on a piece of paper that may or may not contribute to what you are looking for. Some high powered amps can be bright and may be described as extra ‘detailed’. Some high powered amps can be warmer and may be described as impactful. Like I said, I’ve found that I prefer transparency so that’s why I don’t add the amp too often to my Chord gear, YMWV.

My previous post was more about how I believe we should seek to experience what we want with the knowledge of where the ‘improvements’ actually are for what we are seeking, and not just follow a certain spec.

 

[musickid]

Has anyone found the mojo to overheat if played for a long while with the case on?

 

[GreenBow]

I spent two weeks with Hugo2. I know it is better than Mojo. The question is exactly as you said. At my current financial situation I could pay £7-800 for a better sound, but not £1800.

2Qute is selling for £700 at many places, but I'd still need an amp with it.

If I were you, I would hold on to your money. Unless you really want a headphone upgrade.

Also if you bought a 2Qute, you would need an amplifier that can handle 3V line-level in. That usually means a nice quality amplifier. E.g. The Marantz PM6006 only handles 2.5V in. ............ I do not know all the budget amplifiers. However you need to spend about £500-£600 to get an amplifier with enough tolerance to 3V line-level in. E.g the Rega Brio has 10V line-level in. .... I guess though that you are thinking of headphone amplifiers. Rather than hi-fi amplifiers with headphone sockets.

Personally I would always say, hold onto your money unless you are sure. I was looking for an amplifier and speaker pairing for ages. The main choice was Marantz PM6006, or Cambridge CXA60, and no idea which speaker. I haggled with myself for ages, maybe a year or more. Then suddenly the Rega Brio was out, and also the Dynaudio Emit M10. Both amp and speakers were sweeping the awards with every pro reviewer. I bought them and never looked back. (They even make my Meridian Explorer sound great.) .. I'd say hang on to your money until you are sure, or you can no longer cope with what you have.

 

[betula]

If I were you, I would hold on to your money. Unless you really want a headphone upgrade.

Also if you bought a 2Qute, you would need an amplifier that can handle 3V line-level in. That usually means a nice quality amplifier. E.g. The Marantz PM6006 only handles 2.5V in. ............ I do not know all the budget amplifiers. However you need to spend about £500-£600 to get an amplifier with enough tolerance to 3V line-level in. E.g the Rega Brio has 10V line-level in. .... I guess though that you are thinking of headphone amplifiers. Rather than hi-fi amplifiers with headphone sockets.

Personally I would always say, hold onto your money unless you are sure. I was looking for an amplifier and speaker pairing for ages. The main choice was Marantz PM6006, or Cambridge CXA60, and no idea which speaker. I haggled with myself for ages, maybe a year or more. Then suddenly the Rega Brio was out, and also the Dynaudio Emit M10. Both amp and speakers were sweeping the awards with every pro reviewer. I bought them and never looked back. (They even make my Meridian Explorer sound great.) .. I'd say hang on to your money until you are sure, or you can no longer cope with what you have.

Thanks, the way forward might be saving up a bit more for a second hand Hugo2.

 

[musickid]

Keep mojo and save for a TOTL headphone which is easy to drive with high sensitivity. I use the oppo pm1 £1100 and i'm looking at the sony mdr z1r as an option £1700. Pair one of these cans with a mojo for a compelling experience. Just an idea. I would choose this over a h2 with a cheap headphone if my budget only allowed one of the two options? Many options.

 

[betula]

Keep mojo and save for a TOTL headphone which is easy to drive with high sensitivity. I use the oppo pm1 £1100 and i'm looking at the sony mdr z1r as an option £1700. Pair one of these cans with a mojo for a compelling experience. Just an idea. I would choose this over a h2 with a cheap headphone if my budget only allowed one of the two options? Many options.

Thanks, I bought the Aeon Flow Open last week. I have a feeling that will be pretty compelling with Mojo once it arrives.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Thanks, I bought the Aeon Flow Open last week. I have a feeling that will be pretty compelling with Mojo once it arrives.

Awesome! I'd like to know your opinion on those...

 

[daberti]

Thanks, I bought the Aeon Flow Open last week. I have a feeling that will be pretty compelling with Mojo once it arrives.

Can't wait for your findings