[miketlse]

So you don’t accept that this is a design flaw?

Yes it is a design flaw of the iPhone.
People have been posting for four years, that iPhones cause the worst RFI issues for the Mojo, but Apple have not mitigated the issue.

Virtually all owners realise that they can spend several months posting complaints about the Mojo, or:

• change the cell band
• add a ferrite choke to the cable
• use another music transport, such as a dap
• use an optical cable rather than usb
• add a thin iron sheet inside their phone case, to block the RFI

Unfortunately you have made it clear that you do not think that you should have to change anything in your current way of working.
We can all see that you are frustrated and angry. There are many long-term posters here who have spent 4 years trying to help newbies solve their issues.
The return on experience is also that when someone is posting a stream of frustrated posts, it is often best to let them get it out of their system, because until then it is nigh on impossible to reason with them.

 

[Hooster]

It's almost as if different people have different opinions.

Crazy, right?

I am just trying to be real here, considering things like looks, ergonomics, connectivity and sound quality in the world of desktop dacs.

 

[miketlse]

They told me the light is white, even though it's actually purple. The purple, they claim, is light leakage from the other LED's, even though the other LED's in those two pictures are orange.
What do you guys think?

The answer is in this post.
Each of those balls is lit by 3 primary colour leds, and if all 3 leds are lit equally, the ball colour will be white. Slight differences from 'equally' can result in the faint purple tinge seen by some owners.
It also means that it is possible for a small amount of light from each led, to be leaked to the adjacent ball as well, which can also sometimes affect the colour accuracy.

 

[hifinoob005]

I figured it out.

In the chart below after blue there are supposed to be three shades of purple, after which white follows.



From the manual:

The + and – volume balls are illuminated to indicate the volume setting. The standard range is from brown to white for maximum volume.
At maximum volume the – ball will remain on white whilst the + ball will change through the colours from red to white at maximum volume. This gives a finer adjustment at very high volume.

This is what volume close to 100% looks like while playing DSD.



As it's described above, close to 100% volume the - ball stays "white" while the + ball changes color from brown to white.
The ON/OFF ball in the picture is taken while playing DSD and is supposed to be "white" .

The - ball (at close to 100% volume) matches color with the ON/OFF ball while playing DSD.
I guess this is what "white" looks like on the Mojo.


100% volume:

 

[521994]

You are kidding yourself if you think the Mojo is a 5 star desktop dac. I would give it about 3, max.

I liked it a lot as a desktop and from my experience is the best dac I’ve heard for 300 great British pounds. But that’s again my subjective opinion based on taste

 

[521994]

Yes it is a design flaw of the iPhone.
People have been posting for four years, that iPhones cause the worst RFI issues for the Mojo, but Apple have not mitigated the issue.

Virtually all owners realise that they can spend several months posting complaints about the Mojo, or:

• change the cell band
• add a ferrite choke to the cable
• use another music transport, such as a dap
• use an optical cable rather than usb
• add a thin iron sheet inside their phone case, to block the RFI

Unfortunately you have made it clear that you do not think that you should have to change anything in your current way of working.
We can all see that you are frustrated and angry. There are many long-term posters here who have spent 4 years trying to help newbies solve their issues.
The return on experience is also that when someone is posting a stream of frustrated posts, it is often best to let them get it out of their system, because until then it is nigh on impossible to reason with them.

That’s a bit patronising but it’s ok. I see the point of the iPhone and you might be right. I found the solution on a dragonfly as portable dac. It seems that the iPhone works well with it. All started with a question why this issue is not highlighted in reviews because as you said “newbies” should get any useful information before making a purchase. No hate here or anger, just a concern from a fellow audiophile. To be honest I liked the sq so much that it was a disappointment not be able to use it as my portable dac.

 

[miketlse]

That’s a bit patronising but it’s ok. I see the point of the iPhone and you might be right. I found the solution on a dragonfly as portable dac. It seems that the iPhone works well with it. No anger here. All started with a question why this issue is not highlighted in reviews because as you said “newbies” should get any useful information before making a purchase. No hate here or anger.

That's ok then.
When posters are angry and frustrated, the emotion gets in the way of having a rational discussion, so it is often best to let everything calm down, and then talk about the issues/solutions in a rational manner.

 

[ZappaMan]

Everything is a compromise

 

[miketlse]

Everything is a compromise

Certainly every design is a compromise (in that they are the chosen solution to satisfy often conflicting design requirements), but you will always find someone on head-fi, willing to argue the opposite position.

 

[Hooster]

I liked it a lot as a desktop and from my experience is the best dac I’ve heard for 300 great British pounds. But that’s again my subjective opinion based on taste

I can concede that the Mojo could very well be the best sounding desktop dac you can buy for 300 quid.

 

[captblaze]

Why I have to over engineer something that cost that much. I bought it as advertised “mobile joy” and mobile joy is not. I don’t agree that I should be trying this and that. As I said I owned two units. I was using a cable to connect it to my iPhone, stacked them together with an elastic band and the noise was unbearable. Consequently, for me this is a failed product. At the beginning I though I had a faulty unit but that’s not the case. This is an inherent problem with the mojo. That’s why for me is 5 stars as desktop and 1 star as mobile dac/headphone amplifier. Anyone else sharing this experience? Btw never had this issue with the dragonfly red and cobalt.

I was confused and thought you wanted options, but if you insist on griping, I'll move on

 

[miketlse]

All started with a question why this issue is not highlighted in reviews because as you said “newbies” should get any useful information before making a purchase. No hate here or anger, just a concern from a fellow audiophile. To be honest I liked the sq so much that it was a disappointment not be able to use it as my portable dac.

I can't explain the reviews, but i agree with you that 'newbies” should get any useful information before making a purchase'.
I have been posting on this thread for nearly four years, and know the great effort that @Mython put in to create the FAQ in post #3. It contains so much distilled knowledge and best practice recorded by the early Mojo owners, that it would be a good read for newbies or prospective owners, but sadly most of them are unaware of its existence.
I too liked using Mojo as a desktop dac, thankfully without leaving it on charge 24/7.
Sadly when I tried using Mojo as an input source to amplifiers, it was clear that the amplifier removed so much of the transparency, that i was disappointed.
Then I got the Hugo 2, and found that for a while the Mojo sounded 'congested' as a desktop dac, but then a few months later when I tried using the Mojo again, I enjoyed its musicality again.
Currently the Hugo 2 is my principal desktop dac (with mojo as backup), but the mojo is first choice for mobile scenarios (this includes walks, use at work, use with poly, use with dap, etc), but nowadays I never use it with a phone.

 

[ZappaMan]

Why I have to over engineer something that cost that much. I bought it as advertised “mobile joy” and mobile joy is not. I don’t agree that I should be trying this and that. As I said I owned two units. I was using a cable to connect it to my iPhone, stacked them together with an elastic band and the noise was unbearable. Consequently, for me this is a failed product. At the beginning I though I had a faulty unit but that’s not the case. This is an inherent problem with the mojo. That’s why for me is 5 stars as desktop and 1 star as mobile dac/headphone amplifier. Anyone else sharing this experience? Btw never had this issue with the dragonfly red and cobalt.

It would be interesting to know, what Is the difference between the dragonfly and mojo that explains why one is more sensitive then the other.

 

[headmanPL]

I didn’t mean to offend and my apologies if I did. I used the mojo only as on the go portable DAC/amp and therefore I could either stack it or wrap my self with cable later to keep them apart. All I am saying is that mojo was a good product that failed to deliver the advertised purpose. My surprise is that the community will be outrageous of poor designed products but not with the mojo. I would expect the return rate to be high but it seems that is not. I will not be surprised if mojo 2 will have the same issues.

I never experienced the RF noise though I often leave my mobile on top of the Mojo. I added Poly last year for 2 main reasons. First, I was frustrated with the pop's and clicks Android caused to the audio stream. The other reason was I kept breaking the OTG cable, so wireless connectivity was an obvious solution if I wanted to keep the Mojo (and I really love the sound)

It's not an advert for Poly, just to say that the choice of phone, cable (optical sounds superb) do have an affect on the sound. It's a question of how much each person's setup is affected, by how much, and what is in your control to manage any problems.

 

[miketlse]

I never experienced the RF noise though I often leave my mobile on top of the Mojo. I added Poly last year for 2 main reasons. First, I was frustrated with the pop's and clicks Android caused to the audio stream. The other reason was I kept breaking the OTG cable, so wireless connectivity was an obvious solution if I wanted to keep the Mojo (and I really love the sound)

It's not an advert for Poly, just to say that the choice of phone, cable (optical sounds superb) do have an affect on the sound. It's a question of how much each person's setup is affected, by how much, and what is in your control to manage any problems.

I often think that the original design/marketing of Mojo was 'of its era' five years ago.
Five years later, provided online streaming is not important, then there are many daps that can provide an enjoyable source to the mojo, avoiding all the pops and clicks issues.
This is not a criticism of Mojo, but rather a recognition of the timeline of a product life. Phones may have been the original music source, but the longevity of Mojo means that now daps and Poly can provide better audio quality.