[stevemiddie]

  I don't understand why the AK320's DAC chip is relevant if using it with the Mojo.  The Mojo is the DAC so all the AK320 is doing is sending the bits across -surely those bits are identical whether you use an AK320, AK380 or a much cheaper DAP? or am I missing something?

Agreed.    Why is the DAC relevant when using with the Mojo? 

 

[ken6217]

  I don't understand why the AK320's DAC chip is relevant if using it with the Mojo.  The Mojo is the DAC so all the AK320 is doing is sending the bits across -surely those bits are identical whether you use an AK320, AK380 or a much cheaper DAP? or am I missing something?

You are correct but that isn't what I meant. I was going to listen to the AK320 with and without the Mojo to compare.
 
The AK320 is the cheaper DAP. Same dual DAC's but other differences. HD size and other things. I do not know if the 320 and 380 sound close or almost close. For AK's sake, I would hope not. I'm not sure how they justify the 2X price tag, especially since my AK320 sounds better than the AK240SS that I had which was $1200 more.
 
I'm looking forward to hooking up the Mojo today.

 

[NaiveSound]

Got Angie, tested with mojo and while the Mojo makes it sound better, they are not near as fun as the se846 (which I guess I wish were funner and more musical)

The Mojo is awesome and makes both earphone sound great, but Angie is not for me, allredy getting returned.

 

[Mython]

 
 I'm not sure how they justify the 2X price tag, especially since my AK320 sounds better than the AK240SS that I had which was $1200 more.

 
 
 
iRiver can't truly justify their pricetags.
 
 
They just charge the absolute maximum they think they can get away with, and a few thousand people, with varying motives, open their wallets, each time a new model is released.
 
So iRiver just carry on with their inflated pricetags, because they know that they can get away with it.
 
However, I hope Chord have given the industry something to think about, with the performance of the Mojo, @ $599.
 
Of course, it is rather ironic that the Mojo has led to an increase in sales for the AK100 series DAPs. Extremely ironic.
 
Although I don't foresee it happening, I think we all know that if Chord were to produce a DAP with Rob's DAC tech inside, it'd probably change the face of the TOTL DAP industry in one fell-swoop.
 
Even without a Chord DAP, I know Rob, John & the Pumphouse team want to advance the state of the mobile-audiophile industry, and I think it's great that they're doing so without being greedy about it. They could so easily have taken the same approach as a certain greedy Korean company, but they decided to shake things up, which shows positive and serious intent, and not a little class, IMHO (and just so you all know; I do not work for Chord, and do not have any Chord product for my contribution in this thread. I contribute to this thread because I respect what Chord is trying to do for the mobile segment of the hi-fi industry. We all stand to benefit from it).

 

[stevemiddie]

   
 
 
iRiver can't truly justify their pricetags.
 
 
They just charge the absolute maximum they think they can get away with, and a few thousand people, with varying motives, open their wallets, each time a new model is released.
 
So iRiver just carry on with their inflated pricetags, because they know that they can get away with it.
 
However, I hope Chord have given the industry something to think about, with the performance of the Mojo, @ $599.
 
Of course, it is rather ironic that the Mojo has led to an increase in sales for the AK100 series DAPs. Extremely ironic.
 
Although I don't foresee it happening, I think we all know that if Chord were to produce a DAP with Rob's DAC tech inside, it'd probably change the face of the TOTL DAP industry in one fell-swoop.
 
Even without a Chord DAP, I know Rob, John & the Pumphouse team want to advance the state of the mobile-audiophile industry, and I think it's great that they're doing so without being greedy about it. They could so easily have taken the same approach as a certain greedy Korean company, but they decided to shake things up, which shows positive and serious intent, and not a little class, IMHO (and just so you all know; I do not work for Chord, and do not have any Chord product for my contribution in this thread. I contribute to this thread because I respect what Chord is trying to do for the mobile segment of the hi-fi industry. We all stand to benefit from it).

Absolutely I wish that Chord could produce a DAP

 

[GreenBow]

   
However, I hope Chord have given the industry something to think about, with the performance of the Mojo, @ $599.

 
I hope this happens, that other hi-fi manufacturers compete, because the cost of decent hi-fi gear is a rip-off.

 

[aangen]

Got Angie, tested with mojo and while the Mojo makes it sound better, they are not near as fun as the se846 (which I guess I wish were funner and more musical)

The Mojo is awesome and makes both earphone sound great, but Angie is not for me, allredy getting returned.

Awesome and in depth review. I learned so much. Thank you!
 
Oh wait....

 

[NaiveSound]

Awesome and in depth review. I learned so much. Thank you!

Oh wait....

I was so not impressed and so Disappointed that after about 15 songs I threw them back in the box and went to ups to ship is back as a return, wasn't worth the time to write impressions, to me they are well below se846, it'd nice you can adjust bass, and that's about it, some highs are better rolled off and more extention, but to me they are overall inferior, expecially the size and fit and of course you can change se846 signature around a little bit.

I wanted to like them,

Anyways mojo made them sound better Ober my note 5 and over dx80. But that's just mojo making it'd magic
I have a question, does mojo need a *burn in * period like other things hifi?

 

[AudioBear]

Got Angie, tested with mojo and while the Mojo makes it sound better, they are not near as fun as the se846 (which I guess I wish were funner and more musical)

The Mojo is awesome and makes both earphone sound great, but Angie is not for me, allredy getting returned.

Try 64 Ears ADEL A10s or A12s.  The ADEL technology is just amazing.  I am sitting here listening to Amber Rubarth's Sessions from the 17th Ward out of Audirvana on my MacBook Air to Mojo to the the A12s and I am having trouble concentrating on what I am writing. 
 
It has forced me to turn my attention to making sure I have bit perfect copy's of all my CDs. 
 
My spell checker turned "Rubarth" to "Rebirth" and it didn't want to take no for an answer when I changed it.

 

[STR-1]

  I don't understand why the AK320's DAC chip is relevant if using it with the Mojo.  The Mojo is the DAC so all the AK320 is doing is sending the bits across -surely those bits are identical whether you use an AK320, AK380 or a much cheaper DAP? or am I missing something?

I don't have the technical knowledge to explain why this, and it might have nothing to do with the DAC part, is but just to say that firmware upgrades to the AK380 (and I guess also to he AK320) can make a massive difference to the sound quality, even when playing through the Mojo or Hugo.  I have just experienced such a big change (moving from firmware version 1.17 to 1.19), unfortunately a change for the worse.

 

[Sound Eq]

Got Angie, tested with mojo and while the Mojo makes it sound better, they are not near as fun as the se846 (which I guess I wish were funner and more musical)

The Mojo is awesome and makes both earphone sound great, but Angie is not for me, allredy getting returned.

i am listening to mojo with shure 846 and i am really enjoying it so much, i was about to buy the angie can you tell me why u did not like angie with mojo

 

[Sound Eq]

 
I don't have the technical knowledge to explain why this, and it might have nothing to do with the DAC part, is but just to say that firmware upgrades to the AK380 (and I guess also to he AK320) can make a massive difference to the sound quality, even when playing through the Mojo or Hugo.  I have just experienced such a big change (moving from firmware version 1.17 to 1.19), unfortunately a change for the worse.

you know what i feel like you, i was on 1.17 and upgraded to 1.19 and i feel it became more bright, which i hoped not to happen
 
i wish i could get back to 1.17 whether as a standalone dap or when connected to mojo
 
we gotta find a way to move back to 1.17

 

[pytter]

 
You are correct but that isn't what I meant. I was going to listen to the AK320 with and without the Mojo to compare.
 
The AK320 is the cheaper DAP. Same dual DAC's but other differences. HD size and other things. I do not know if the 320 and 380 sound close or almost close. For AK's sake, I would hope not. I'm not sure how they justify the 2X price tag, especially since my AK320 sounds better than the AK240SS that I had which was $1200 more.
 
I'm looking forward to hooking up the Mojo today.

Ah - that makes sense - let us know how the comparison goes!

 

[Skyyyeman]

Stereophile rave review of Mojo
 
The latest (February, 2016) issue, received a few days ago, has a rave review of the Mojo by John Atkinson, editor. The review is not yet available online but should appear on the Stereophile.com site sometime this month. It’s also not yet been posted in this thread.
 
John mentioned that he first saw the Mojo at its N. American introduction held at Stereo Exchange in Manhattan (on 10/15/15). So he didn’t waste any time in reviewing it since, to be available for publishing, the review had to be completed some two months in advance. I saw him at the Stereo Exchange event in the Chord/Audeze section, along with one or two other Stereophile writers and some jazz magazine writers. (Yes, there are advantages to living in the big city.)
 
I’ll leave the specifics of the review for members to see when it finally appears online (or when you get a copy of Stereophile.)  But here are a few highlights:
-“With its matte-black finish of anodized aluminum and its three illuminated matte-surfaced glass balls, set in machined recesses…it is drop dead gorgeous.”
 
-“But beauty is not just skin-deep. Inside the Mojo’s elegant exterior beats a heart of modern silicon.”
 
-“Chord’s Mojo combined authoritative, well-defined low frequencies with smooth, detailed highs and excellent soundstaging.”
 
-He used several headphones including the HD600, LCD-X, Audioquest NightHawk and UE 18 Pro. He compared the Mojo with the Apogee Groove and Aurender Flow ($1,300), both highly rated, and felt the Mojo bested them both.
 
-Measurements conclusion:  Overall, the Chord Mojo offers measured performance that is superb for a portable device, and would not be out of place in a high-priced conventional D/A processor.  (Underlines mine. To Stereophile, could “high priced” reasonably be considered to be $5,000+, or even much higher, say $15,000.  How bout $30,000?  Or approaching dCS at $$60,000+?)
 
-Overall conclusion:  “Yes, Chord’s Mojo is beautifully styled. But it also produced beautiful sound quality… All I can say is “Wow!”
 
Yes, Wow!

 

[Mython]

  Stereophile rave review of Mojo
 
The latest (February, 2016) issue, received a few days ago, has a rave review of the Mojo by John Atkinson, editor. The review is not yet available online but should appear on the Stereophile.com site sometime this month.  It’s also not yet been posted in this thread.
 

 
 
Rest assured; it will be posted, on Page1 of this thread, when it goes live on the Stereophile website.
 
In the meantime, thanks for the summary