Chord Mojo issue solutions thread.

[miketlse]

   
I love the sound of the Mojo and it is FREAKING amazing; but damn, this thing is fussy. You would think for the price they would include a charger. Remember Chord you have to engineer the human out. Whatever... I bought another charger and this fixed overheating problems. A DAC that overheats! Sounds amazing but poorly engineered in some respects. I also have had odd Windows problems. When I am tired at the end of the day and just want to listen to music and my stuff to work.

 
These comments are based on my viewpoint of working in engineering design, but having read most of the posts in this thread (so i hope they do not offend Rob watts or John Franks).
 
The mojo is an amazing product, but always remember that all engineered products are necessarily a compromise of some sorts, unless you want to buy a 'money no object' DAC/headphone amp costing £50,000.
 
1 - The mojo provides most of the Hugo musical experience, but has had to be engineered down to a price-point/physical size, that makes it suitable as the entry-level mobile product in the Chord lineup. At the current price-point of £399, the next two price-points are probably £449 and £499 - so do you prefer to spend £449 and get a free charger, which you could have bought for £20 otherwise?
 
2 - The DAC does not overheat, because it contains three thermal cutouts to switch the mojo off before overheating happens - so Chord have engineered the human out of that decision http://www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-the-official-thread-please-read-the-3rd-post/1830#post_12018034
 
3 - I think that rob watts has posted that windows devices, generate less issues that android or apple devices
 
4 - i think that most people delight in having gear that just lets them listen to their music without requiring the human to make lots real-time decisions. Buying the appropriate charger is a one-off decision , so you don't have to repeat the decision every day.
Apple have focussed on engineering the human out of having to think when using their products - but the design decisions usually lead down the path of reducing the number of user decisions that can be made. So you end up in the closed universe, where the cables, connectors, music formats, music sources etc, are already defined for the user, and no divergance from that universe will be tolerated. But this amount of design effort does come at a price $$$$$$. You pays your money, and you makes your choice.

 

[OmsJtmz32]

Hi guys, bought the mojo recently and realised there was some sort of noising coming out of it without having anything plugged in. When i plugged in my CIEM and used the coaxial input, i can also hear the noise, however when i use the USB input to connect to my andriod device, the noise disappears. Is there anything wrong with my unit? I can send it back while it is still on warranty.

 

[BzzzzzT]

   
These comments are based on my viewpoint of working in engineering design, but having read most of the posts in this thread (so i hope they do not offend Rob watts or John Franks).
 
The mojo is an amazing product, but always remember that all engineered products are necessarily a compromise of some sorts, unless you want to buy a 'money no object' DAC/headphone amp costing £50,000.
 
1 - The mojo provides most of the Hugo musical experience, but has had to be engineered down to a price-point/physical size, that makes it suitable as the entry-level mobile product in the Chord lineup. At the current price-point of £399, the next two price-points are probably £449 and £499 - so do you prefer to spend £449 and get a free charger, which you could have bought for £20 otherwise?
 
2 - The DAC does not overheat, because it contains three thermal cutouts to switch the mojo off before overheating happens - so Chord have engineered the human out of that decision http://www.head-fi.org/t/784602/chord-mojo-the-official-thread-please-read-the-3rd-post/1830#post_12018034
 
3 - I think that rob watts has posted that windows devices, generate less issues that android or apple devices
 
4 - i think that most people delight in having gear that just lets them listen to their music without requiring the human to make lots real-time decisions. Buying the appropriate charger is a one-off decision , so you don't have to repeat the decision every day.
Apple have focussed on engineering the human out of having to think when using their products - but the design decisions usually lead down the path of reducing the number of user decisions that can be made. So you end up in the closed universe, where the cables, connectors, music formats, music sources etc, are already defined for the user, and no divergance from that universe will be tolerated. But this amount of design effort does come at a price $$$$$$. You pays your money, and you makes your choice.

 
You are correct. At the price point compromises must be made throughout the product and I don't feel this is negative in any way.
 
I do think the Mojo is amazing and does represent some "new" ground. I REALLY appreciate Chord making a DAC that is at a lower price point.
 
The post was made after a frustrating experience of using a properly rated charger that was causing the Mojo to shutdown by constantly activating it's thermal cutout. I did look into the issue and got a new charger and cord and this did solve my problem. Thanks Energizer for making a charger and cord that works great. I have not had a single problem since. Occasionally the Mojo will need to be reset to work in Spotify after inactivity in Windows 10 or I have to reset the computer to get it to be recognized. I love my Mojo and would not give it up for a second. It just sounds amazing and lately I have had no issues with mine. It is still one of the best or the best audio purchase I have made.

 

[miketlse]

   
You are correct. At the price point compromises must be made throughout the product and I don't feel this is negative in any way.
 
I do think the Mojo is amazing and does represent some "new" ground. I REALLY appreciate Chord making a DAC that is at a lower price point.
 
The post was made after a frustrating experience of using a properly rated charger that was causing the Mojo to shutdown by constantly activating it's thermal cutout. I did look into the issue and got a new charger and cord and this did solve my problem. Thanks Energizer for making a charger and cord that works great. I have not had a single problem since. Occasionally the Mojo will need to be reset to work in Spotify after inactivity in Windows 10 or I have to reset the computer to get it to be recognized. I love my Mojo and would not give it up for a second. It just sounds amazing and lately I have had no issues with mine. It is still one of the best or the best audio purchase I have made.

 
No probs, i hope that i didn't offend.
 
i did sense that maybe you had come home after a particularly tiring day, and all your frustrations were put into one post.
 
I don't think windows is alone in causing frustration after periods of inactivity - all operating systems should use some form of handshaking within the communication protocols used for data transfer, and inactivity causes the handshake to be lost. The handshake has to be re-established, from either the host or the mojo side. 

 

[LeeMark]

Well, just a follow up regarding my USB input issue and getting new MOJO to replace my old one that was not working properly.  I feel there is a design flaw with the MOJO regarding the USB input, especially if you want to use it portably.  There is usually some amount of torque when a micro USB is plugged in that is the plugged into the CCK or directly into the iPhone.  Over time, because of the nature of the micro USB, which is thinner and is physically less sturdy than a micro or regular USB connection, that can bend the USB input and overtime the connection becomes loose.  After using  new USB/lightning cable, over time the connection becomes spotty and can easily lose connection by just tapping the cable.  I also think this torque can even affect the USB input not eh MOJO, thus causing an issue that required replacement.  I almost wish there was another way to connect the iPhone to the MOJO other than through the USB.  I mainly got this for portable use for streaming music.  I have a desktop unit that I use my other headphones with (ALO PanAm with HE-1000).  Has anyone else had this issue and so, other than constantly getting the USB fixed or replaced, what solutions have people used.  I hope this all made sense. Thanks in advance.

 

[BzzzzzT]

   
No probs, i hope that i didn't offend.
 
i did sense that maybe you had come home after a particularly tiring day, and all your frustrations were put into one post.
 
I don't think windows is alone in causing frustration after periods of inactivity - all operating systems should use some form of handshaking within the communication protocols used for data transfer, and inactivity causes the handshake to be lost. The handshake has to be re-established, from either the host or the mojo side. 

 
No offense taken! It is always the best to look at things from other perspectives VS. one. I did have a tiring day and it was a frustrating problem. Things tend to frustrate you the most when you really love them and have some emotional investment. This is a sign that one really likes the product. This is definitely less frustrating than when I work on my tube amps and screw something up
 
The Windows handshake issue is minor and plagues other things on my system. It's just a standard OS pain. I am very much enjoying my Mojo! It takes balls these days to design a device that plays nice on all the crazy devices and platforms out there. This seems just as difficult as designing a DAC. 

 

[TheoS53]

Hoping someone can help me here. 

I just received a Mojo review unit, but unfortunately I can't seem to get it working on my LG G3 running official Android 6.0

Can anyone here confirm that they've got the Mojo working on a G3?
 
Thanks in advance

 

[jmills8]

Hoping someone can help me here. 


I just received a Mojo review unit, but unfortunately I can't seem to get it working on my LG G3 running official Android 6.0


Can anyone here confirm that they've got the Mojo working on a G3?

 
Thanks in advance

try the Onkyo music player app.

 

[TheoS53]

try the Onkyo music player app.

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried Onkyo, and the app I use with my Fiio E18 (HibyMusic), but unfortunately no luck

 

[jmills8]

Thanks for the reply.


I've tried Onkyo, and the app I use with my Fiio E18 (HibyMusic), but unfortunately no luck

when you turn on the mojo something pops up right? Ignore it and go to the music player.

 

[TheoS53]

when you turn on the mojo something pops up right? Ignore it and go to the music player.

Nope, that's the problem, nothing pops up.

With my E18, I have to first open the app and then connect the DAC. Then a pop up appears asking if I want to allow the app to use the USB device. But with the Mojo, none of that happens

 

[jmills8]

Nope, that's the problem, nothing pops up.


With my E18, I have to first open the app and then connect the DAC. Then a pop up appears asking if I want to allow the app to use the USB device. But with the Mojo, none of that happens

maybe its the cable

 

[TheoS53]

maybe its the cable

ok, this is really strange. So i tried both micro-to-micro OTG cables that came with my E18 (both of which work perfectly with the E18), with no luck. 

I dug around and found another OTG cable (female full usb on 1 end) and now I'm able to use the Mojo with my phone. Very strange indeed. 
 
Thanks for your input

 

[jmills8]

ok, this is really strange. So i tried both micro-to-micro OTG cables that came with my E18 (both of which work perfectly with the E18), with no luck. 


I dug around and found another OTG cable (female full usb on 1 end) and now I'm able to use the Mojo with my phone. Very strange indeed. 

Thanks for your input

cool

 

[miketlse]

  ok, this is really strange. So i tried both micro-to-micro OTG cables that came with my E18 (both of which work perfectly with the E18), with no luck. 

I dug around and found another OTG cable (female full usb on 1 end) and now I'm able to use the Mojo with my phone. Very strange indeed. 
 
Thanks for your input

 
I think the two plugs at the end of OTG cables have their pins grounded differently, so they will only connect the mojo correctly, if the correct plug is in the mojo, and the other in the phone.
So retry your original cable, and if it doesn't work first time, try reversing the cable, and try again.