Chord Mojo(1) DAC-amp ☆★►FAQ in 3rd post!◄★☆
Nov 28, 2016 at 3:51 AM Post #26,596 of 42,759
  I have connected to VE RA2, and personally i feel the soundstage has widen up, instrumentation separation is better and also a better controlled bass.. but it's early impressions.. i am just trying to check what's others impressions...
 
What's your impressions ?

 
This is a very interesting topic indeed, which I've been experimenting myself only recently, after buying the Liquid Carbon.
 
The main findings (to my ears at list) so far are that:
- the addition of the amp seems to open up the soundstage (for some reasons) and bass feel more punchy, however I experience that this depends a lot on the track you are playing.
- With some tracks the effect above is clear and music sounds immediately more "fun" and "alive". However with some other tracks this effect is barely noticeable while a deterioration of the details and transient reproduction is clearly audible.
 
What I described above is even more true with the Hugo.
 
Very first impressions from someone who's not a pro, so I hope it makes some sense...
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 6:58 AM Post #26,597 of 42,759
  So, going to sell my Bifrost/Asgard 2 and get a MJOLNIR 2 and then use my Mojo as my dac until I can afford another. Any thoughts?


I have had some high end dacs (also a Bitfrost) prior to Mojo.    However, I love the sound/performance of the Mojo and don't find myself looking for more fwiw.  You will be happy I think.
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 7:19 AM Post #26,598 of 42,759
Yes your right I'm sure the British reader would understand if I said that Mojo is our version of an audio Tardis from TVs Doctor Who it's far bigger on the inside than even much larger units . As it has about five hundred times the digital processing and a kick arse 5volts RMS output stage with an incredibly low output impedance of just 75 milli Ohms too few desktops even comes close. But many look at Mojo and don't understand that I wonder if some of them have ever gotten past the first level volume tier when they say a Mojo is bested by some other units sometimes.


We don't see the phrase 'kick arse' in print often enough, imo...
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 7:41 AM Post #26,599 of 42,759
  So, going to sell my Bifrost/Asgard 2 and get a MJOLNIR 2 and then use my Mojo as my dac until I can afford another. Any thoughts?

 
Don't really see the point in getting a Mjolnir unless you're using really hard-to-drive cans. Might as well use just Mojo until you feel the need to upgrade your whole system at once.
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 7:58 AM Post #26,600 of 42,759
 
  I have connected to VE RA2, and personally i feel the soundstage has widen up, instrumentation separation is better and also a better controlled bass.. but it's early impressions.. i am just trying to check what's others impressions...
 
What's your impressions ?

 
This is a very interesting topic indeed, which I've been experimenting myself only recently, after buying the Liquid Carbon.
 
The main findings (to my ears at list) so far are that:
- the addition of the amp seems to open up the soundstage (for some reasons) and bass feel more punchy, however I experience that this depends a lot on the track you are playing.
- With some tracks the effect above is clear and music sounds immediately more "fun" and "alive". However with some other tracks this effect is barely noticeable while a deterioration of the details and transient reproduction is clearly audible.
 
What I described above is even more true with the Hugo.
 
Very first impressions from someone who's not a pro, so I hope it makes some sense...

Interesting .. i feel the same way.. Mojo's DAC is great.. but Amp part .. i know it can drive all power hungry headphones available in world..
But it's not about the power.. there are many other aspects.. those who have paired their mojo with a good Amp, they can sense what i am trying to say !
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 8:35 AM Post #26,601 of 42,759
Interesting .. i feel the same way.. Mojo's DAC is great.. but Amp part .. i know it can drive all power hungry headphones available in world..
But it's not about the power.. there are many other aspects.. those who have paired their mojo with a good Amp, they can sense what i am trying to say !

I am still a bit sceptical though because I am sure the introduction of anything between Mojo and headphones in principle will result in losss of detail/definition, you can't avoid that.
But I also understand that if for some reasons the amp ads some (coloration?) of its own and you like what you hear, than why not?
A big dilemma...
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 8:58 AM Post #26,602 of 42,759
So, going to sell my Bifrost/Asgard 2 and get a MJOLNIR 2 and then use my Mojo as my dac until I can afford another. Any thoughts?


Sounds good. You'll likely be using Mojo a while, since it will take quite a while to save for Dave. Depending on which headphones you want to drive, you might wait on the Mjolnir until you try Mojo alone, too.
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 9:27 AM Post #26,603 of 42,759
Interesting .. i feel the same way.. Mojo's DAC is great.. but Amp part .. i know it can drive all power hungry headphones available in world..
But it's not about the power.. there are many other aspects.. those who have paired their mojo with a good Amp, they can sense what i am trying to say !

I am still a bit sceptical though because I am sure the introduction of anything between Mojo and headphones in principle will result in losss of detail/definition, you can't avoid that.
But I also understand that if for some reasons the amp ads some (coloration?) of its own and you like what you hear, than why not?
A big dilemma...
Why are you assuming that there will be a loss of details/defination ..

is not possible to increase the soundstage, increase the separation, increasing the punchiness of bass without altering the frequency ?

May be you try to connect ur mojo or hugo to a decent amp and share your impressions...i was skeptical like you from last 10 months..and i was happy..

but now i realized what i was missing from last 10 months from my mojo ans hd650
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 9:38 AM Post #26,604 of 42,759
Interesting .. i feel the same way.. Mojo's DAC is great.. but Amp part .. i know it can drive all power hungry headphones available in world..
But it's not about the power.. there are many other aspects.. those who have paired their mojo with a good Amp, they can sense what i am trying to say !


I've paired the Mojo with the likes of the Oppo HA-1, Liquid Carbon, and Liquid Gold. With these amps I've only used a very small portion of the volume to drive my headphones. In some regards they sound great - added soundstage, more bass oomph, sparkling treble, etc. The biggest difference is that when my headphones are driven direct from the Mojo (and the DAVE) there is more variety to the music. They don't add the same colouration to everything. Not all songs are wider in the soundstage, not all the bass is phat, not all the treble is emphasized. There is more variance from hard sounds to soft sounds. More accurate timbre of the individual notes IMO. That's what I love about the Mojo, the fact that it is very transparent and lets the music shine, not just the flavour of the amp. Nothing wrong with either option (that's why I own the Liquid Gold), but it's really a preference and not anything to do with capability to drive most headphones. That's my 2 cents. YMMV.


Why are you assuming that there will be a loss of details/defination ..

is not possible to increase the soundstage, increase the separation, increasing the punchiness of bass without altering the frequency ?

May be you try to connect ur mojo or hugo to a decent amp and share your impressions...i was skeptical like you from last 10 months..and i was happy..

but now i realized what i was missing from last 10 months from my mojo ans hd650


Yes, it's impossible to add a component and also add transparency. 1+1 =/= 0.

I think it's funny how the hd650 is always the benchmark for the Mojo when the Mojo is criticized. Good grief, it's not the only headphone out there and synergy, again, is simply not the same as drive ability. Perhaps the hd650 isn't the end all be all headphone that's out there. I'm glad you like the hd650 from your amp, in the end that's what matters, the smile on your face as you listen.
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 9:54 AM Post #26,605 of 42,759
Well, since both the Hugo and the Mojo don't have a separate amp built in and always output from their line-out stage (yes, even for headphones) the differences you are hearing is in the DAC and the WTA filter implementation of each unit. Let me repeat this....
There is no traditional seperate headphone amp in the Hugo or the Mojo.

 
Every chord virgin should read this before even coming to this thread.
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 10:00 AM Post #26,606 of 42,759
Why are you assuming that there will be a loss of details/defination ..

Because I hear it.
My impression is that Mojo (and for that matter even more Hugo) deliver a quite precise representation of what the sound engineer intended to deliver.
If you don't like this picture you can try to tune it for example with EQ or even with an amp, but you will inevitably distort the original picture often with a loss of detail.

But there is nothing wrong in liking the sound of the Mojo out of an amp, anything that floats your boat...
It happens to me with some songs, I can give you an example: to my ears the album Buena Vista Social Club (FLAC 96/24) sous much more entertaining if I ad the Liquid Carbon, while with others this is not the case... go figure...
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 10:13 AM Post #26,607 of 42,759
I still buy 95% of my music on Redbook CD!
popcorn.gif
(yes, I am an old fart, but Hugo was an awakening for me, about how bloody good Redbook can sound)

 
Same here i just love a physical collection and the fact that 16/44 is more than good enough for my ears. the only time i will buy digital is when the master is better than CD
 
for example; Megadeth - Th1rt3en on CD this is DR6 but the "hi-res" version is DR12
 
but this is rare, i still think we are not hearing everything from redbook CD the Dave is proof of this.
 
Nov 28, 2016 at 10:27 AM Post #26,610 of 42,759
   
Every chord virgin should read this before even coming to this thread.

Quote:
Well, since both the Hugo and the Mojo don't have a separate amp built in and always output from their line-out stage (yes, even for headphones) the differences you are hearing is in the DAC and the WTA filter implementation of each unit. Let me repeat this....

There is no traditional seperate headphone amp in the Hugo or the Mojo.

The thing is there still are transistors in the output stage so it's not that simple. Adding an amp after that then will decrease transparency but isn't that like every DAC?

Lets say we are feeding signal from Gungnir to Mjolnir 2: You lose some of the transparency already in the cables and then even more in the amplifier, whether that makes a difference or not though I have no idea...
 

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