* I'm looking for an A/B switch box to help with my testing and I wonder if anyone knows a god passive A/B headphone out switch box?
Out of all the hype, I ordered MOJO on amazon and finally arrived today, and I blocked a whole night try to make a conclusive test on MOJO's SQ against MacBook Pro (note that this is not against iPhone or any mobile devices).
Before the purchase, I have seen https://www.head-fi.org/threads/macbook-pro-2016.825335/ claiming that the MOJO sounds no different and could be worse than the MacBook Pro Touchbar, but I just can't believe how this was possible as MOJO is so well claimed and also not cheap.
Gear used in the test: Chord Mojo, 2017 MacBook Pro Touchbar, LCD3 Fazor, T1, LCDx, HD800s.
TL
R - Yes, the MacBook Pro and MOJO sounds about the same except maybe HD800s on string instruments.
Technique for the test:
1) I first volume matched my MBP output and MOJO as much as possible.
2) I found that MBP is able to switch from MOJO (which showed up as "Mojo" in System Preference > Sound)) to headphone jack (which showed up as "headphone" in System Preferences > Sound) automatically when the headphone is unplugged from MOJO and vice versa, this makes the test a lot easier. *
3) Songs are played through Spotify maximum quality. For each song, I listen from the beginning 5-10 times, and I did a MBP > MOJO > MBP > MOJO > MBP ... pattern. This is really time consuming and I was only able to do 5 songs in one night.
* I'm planning to make a output switching box so that I can switch from two sources passively seamlessly.
A selection of representative songs:
1. La La Love You by Pixies. Tested on LCDx.
The first 30 seconds of the song features prominent drum and slams, and this is where I paid attention to the most. I chose LCDx as it has a decent bass extension allowing me to listen on the layers of the drum well. From repeated listening, I could tell very little difference between MOJO and MBP when it comes to the amount and weigh of the slam, however, I can tell the drum to be ever slightly more clearly separated from the guitar on MBP, but I can't verify and reproduce this feeling all the time. The only thing I can repeatedly verify is the drum kick's suspense sound is audibly sharper and faster on MBP, making the drum solo more exciting on the MBP.
2. Unchained Melody by Lykke Li on T1.
IMO this is a very well recorded vocal piece by Lykke, and it's well within T1's strength. This is where I really started to feel disappointed by MOJO. In all honestly, I couldn't perceive at all much difference in the first two or three A/Bs until I started to pay attention to the piano. Keep in mind T1 is a 600Ohm headphone and I'm at 90% volume on the MBP when I did the volume match. When I started to listen to the piano in the song, I feel MBP has an overall higher dynamic difference between the piano and vocal. MOJO added a slight grain to the piano while reducing the overall dynamic of the vocal when compared to MBP. The vocal/piano saparation on MBP is cleaner, with more detail in dynamic and less grainy.
3. Quartet in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K 478 II. Andante by Emanuel Ax/Mozart on HD800s.
My ear was already getting a little tired when it came to the 3rd song. I was paying a lot of attention to the overall soundstage, air, and treble on the violin, and I repeated the 2:20-2:40 for 10 times just to understand the dynamic differences. I have to say that MOJO in this case produced a sharper attack and a fuller sound for the violin between 2:20 - 2:40, but it's very very slight difference. I'm not sure if the fuller sound is due to lack of detail as MBP sounds slightly more nuanced and uncertain on the violin. The soundstage is about the same, the rest of the performance are about the same.
4. Irreplaceable by Beyonce on HD800s.
I chose this song on HD800s because it has a terrible recording and super bloated bass section with a lot of string and vocal energy, and I want to see how well both devices can reveal the flaws especially the sibilance in vocal as well as overly bloated bass. In this case, I feel MOJO and MBP again sound exactly the same. On a side note, I never heard HD800s had this amount of bass until I found this song on spotify.
5. 2049 - Benjamin Wallfish Blade Runner 2049 by Hans Zimmer on HD800s.
I think Han Zimmer is really good at pushing dynamics in drums and artificial ringtones, thus choosing this piece fo the test. It's tricky to the volume matching on this song as it is just really quiet most of the time. I do feel MOJO has slightly more boom in the first few notes in the drum kick but that's about it. The rest of the sound, spacious, big, epic, exotic synthetic sounds are all performed in the exact way on MBP to my years.
6. Let's Have A Kiki by Scissor Sisters on LCD3f
This is a pop song with plenty of dynamic. Switching from HD800s to LCD3f brought a lot of warmth that I liked. Now back to MOJO and HD800s. Similar to my comparison group 1, I feel MBP has a more clean separation on the vocal narration from the drum and the shaker, and there is nothing MOJO is doing more than MBP.
------
Now let's take a look at the marketing copy of MOJO in the back:
To a un-informed consumer, let's break everything down:
Mojo is an award winning way to hear more from your headphones. I have plenty of (decent) headphones, I did not hear more from my headphones.
Turns your smartphone, tablets, games console or computer into a high-resolution music player. I didn't get higher resolution from my MBP.
Works with .... - Mojo makes them all sound better. No it doesn't.
What we're looking at is a product with basic false claim printed on the box, doesn't do what it promised to do, winning many awards here and there. If it is not that the tolerance in Headfi community is this high, this would require a total product recall
.
I'd like to see other opinions on this.
Edit: I just discovered obviously MOJO sounds the same to the newer iOS device as well
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-vs-ipad-iphone.834358/
Out of all the hype, I ordered MOJO on amazon and finally arrived today, and I blocked a whole night try to make a conclusive test on MOJO's SQ against MacBook Pro (note that this is not against iPhone or any mobile devices).
Before the purchase, I have seen https://www.head-fi.org/threads/macbook-pro-2016.825335/ claiming that the MOJO sounds no different and could be worse than the MacBook Pro Touchbar, but I just can't believe how this was possible as MOJO is so well claimed and also not cheap.
Gear used in the test: Chord Mojo, 2017 MacBook Pro Touchbar, LCD3 Fazor, T1, LCDx, HD800s.
TL
R - Yes, the MacBook Pro and MOJO sounds about the same except maybe HD800s on string instruments. Technique for the test:
1) I first volume matched my MBP output and MOJO as much as possible.
2) I found that MBP is able to switch from MOJO (which showed up as "Mojo" in System Preference > Sound)) to headphone jack (which showed up as "headphone" in System Preferences > Sound) automatically when the headphone is unplugged from MOJO and vice versa, this makes the test a lot easier. *
3) Songs are played through Spotify maximum quality. For each song, I listen from the beginning 5-10 times, and I did a MBP > MOJO > MBP > MOJO > MBP ... pattern. This is really time consuming and I was only able to do 5 songs in one night.
* I'm planning to make a output switching box so that I can switch from two sources passively seamlessly.
A selection of representative songs:
1. La La Love You by Pixies. Tested on LCDx.
The first 30 seconds of the song features prominent drum and slams, and this is where I paid attention to the most. I chose LCDx as it has a decent bass extension allowing me to listen on the layers of the drum well. From repeated listening, I could tell very little difference between MOJO and MBP when it comes to the amount and weigh of the slam, however, I can tell the drum to be ever slightly more clearly separated from the guitar on MBP, but I can't verify and reproduce this feeling all the time. The only thing I can repeatedly verify is the drum kick's suspense sound is audibly sharper and faster on MBP, making the drum solo more exciting on the MBP.
2. Unchained Melody by Lykke Li on T1.
IMO this is a very well recorded vocal piece by Lykke, and it's well within T1's strength. This is where I really started to feel disappointed by MOJO. In all honestly, I couldn't perceive at all much difference in the first two or three A/Bs until I started to pay attention to the piano. Keep in mind T1 is a 600Ohm headphone and I'm at 90% volume on the MBP when I did the volume match. When I started to listen to the piano in the song, I feel MBP has an overall higher dynamic difference between the piano and vocal. MOJO added a slight grain to the piano while reducing the overall dynamic of the vocal when compared to MBP. The vocal/piano saparation on MBP is cleaner, with more detail in dynamic and less grainy.
3. Quartet in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K 478 II. Andante by Emanuel Ax/Mozart on HD800s.
My ear was already getting a little tired when it came to the 3rd song. I was paying a lot of attention to the overall soundstage, air, and treble on the violin, and I repeated the 2:20-2:40 for 10 times just to understand the dynamic differences. I have to say that MOJO in this case produced a sharper attack and a fuller sound for the violin between 2:20 - 2:40, but it's very very slight difference. I'm not sure if the fuller sound is due to lack of detail as MBP sounds slightly more nuanced and uncertain on the violin. The soundstage is about the same, the rest of the performance are about the same.
4. Irreplaceable by Beyonce on HD800s.
I chose this song on HD800s because it has a terrible recording and super bloated bass section with a lot of string and vocal energy, and I want to see how well both devices can reveal the flaws especially the sibilance in vocal as well as overly bloated bass. In this case, I feel MOJO and MBP again sound exactly the same. On a side note, I never heard HD800s had this amount of bass until I found this song on spotify.
5. 2049 - Benjamin Wallfish Blade Runner 2049 by Hans Zimmer on HD800s.
I think Han Zimmer is really good at pushing dynamics in drums and artificial ringtones, thus choosing this piece fo the test. It's tricky to the volume matching on this song as it is just really quiet most of the time. I do feel MOJO has slightly more boom in the first few notes in the drum kick but that's about it. The rest of the sound, spacious, big, epic, exotic synthetic sounds are all performed in the exact way on MBP to my years.
6. Let's Have A Kiki by Scissor Sisters on LCD3f
This is a pop song with plenty of dynamic. Switching from HD800s to LCD3f brought a lot of warmth that I liked. Now back to MOJO and HD800s. Similar to my comparison group 1, I feel MBP has a more clean separation on the vocal narration from the drum and the shaker, and there is nothing MOJO is doing more than MBP.
------
Now let's take a look at the marketing copy of MOJO in the back:
To a un-informed consumer, let's break everything down:
Mojo is an award winning way to hear more from your headphones. I have plenty of (decent) headphones, I did not hear more from my headphones.
Turns your smartphone, tablets, games console or computer into a high-resolution music player. I didn't get higher resolution from my MBP.
Works with .... - Mojo makes them all sound better. No it doesn't.
What we're looking at is a product with basic false claim printed on the box, doesn't do what it promised to do, winning many awards here and there. If it is not that the tolerance in Headfi community is this high, this would require a total product recall
.I'd like to see other opinions on this.
Edit: I just discovered obviously MOJO sounds the same to the newer iOS device as well
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-mojo-vs-ipad-iphone.834358/
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