[yianni1066]

When using my headphones plugged directly into the iPhone 6 I can tell a huge difference between my Apple earpods, Sennheiser Momentums and my Oppo PM3's. The Oppo is miles better than the Sennheiser and the Sennheiser is miles better than the earpods. It is noticeable, it is obvious and it is a pleasure.

When I plug these into the Mojo, I get the same result, the Oppo is miles better than the Sennheiser and the Sennheiser is miles better than the earpods. It is noticeable, it is obvious and it is pleasurable.

So when it comes to whether I can tell a difference in the sound, at least in headphones I can.

Here's the problem, when I compare the earpods into the iPhone and then the Mojo... I can't tell a difference!! When I plug the Sennheiser into both, I can't tell the difference!! I was told the earpods and the Momentums are simply not good enough for the Mojo... OK. I Plug my PM3's into the iPhone and then the Mojo and compare, I can't tell the difference!! How expensive a pair of headphones do you need for the Mojo to do it's magic... Or even be slightly better??

Is my iPhone 6 dac THAT good??? I doubt it when I read rave reviews of how great and improvement the Fiio i1 and Audeze's Cypher, which both are cheap INLINE slim dacs!!!!

Is it possible that my mojo is broken? Would it ever act as a passthrough only and amplify only? I find this hard to believe because if it's not being the DAC then what is? So it can't be broken, right!?

I feel like i've wasted £400 and I should have added that to the £350 i spent on the PM3's and bought a £750 headphone.

 

[yianni1066]

I thought that I would add that I have a Custom Cans cable. Litz braided separating left and right etc etc. It cost £111 ($150 usd) its a beautiful thing to look at. I was dubious and sceptical at what difference a cable can make. I believed the difference would be subtle if anything.

How wrong I was. Cable fan now!! It made a huge difference! The highs on my PM3 (an issue on the PM3) are there, the soundstage seems much improved, spacious even. The lows seem much tighter. An absolute pleasure!!

Mojo?? Nothing!

 

[techboy]

Actually, an iPhone headphone out/DAC is very good but not very powerful. And the headphones you’ve listed don’t need powerful amping. So you’re 99% there with just an iPhone and that’s it.

Mojo is the most hyped product I’ve seen or heard in the history of HiFi and it doesn’t really deliver compared to other products.

Mojo’s forte isn’t SQ. There’s no hiss. And it goes very loud. But the SQ is comparable to a Modi 2 or Modi 2 Uber at best. For amping a Magni 3 will beat it hands down.

But there are virtually no products that are so small and portable, yet do DSD and are so feature rich. That’s it’s forte. It can’t compete with the Schiit Stack.

 

[Grimbles]

Literally could not resist this. Nothing helpful to add, just here for the puns.

 

[TYATYA]

I suggest you try to focus on bass respond, texture and detail of bass. Amount of bass can fools someone that is better sq, but not. A samsung note5 can give more bass quantity than that from AK120ii for example, but bass quality is unmatch. Lack of hearing experience person might think that note5 has better sq.
Also hear and feel layer of instruments in sound of Mojo.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Here's the problem, when I compare the earpods into the iPhone and then the Mojo... I can't tell a difference!! When I plug the Sennheiser into both, I can't tell the difference!! I was told the earpods and the Momentums are simply not good enough for the Mojo... OK. I Plug my PM3's into the iPhone and then the Mojo and compare, I can't tell the difference!! How expensive a pair of headphones do you need for the Mojo to do it's magic... Or even be slightly better??

Most likely the high sensitivity doesn't get to the point where there's distortion audible to you running them off the iPhone, which means you're not stressing it to the point that it sucks compared to the Mojo.

Think about it like this. If you take the Audi/VW 1.8T engine and the Porsche 3.8L turbo flat six and put them in a very light chassis (sensitivity), but drive that chassis around the streets and not breaking any laws (that you're not listening loudly), you're not going to notice any difference except how one might be very slightly smoother from stop to stop.

Is my iPhone 6 dac THAT good??? I doubt it when I read rave reviews of how great and improvement the Fiio i1 and Audeze's Cypher, which both are cheap INLINE slim dacs!!!!

If they're cranking it up chances are those in line DACs will still do better than the iPhone on its own. Think of this as taking an A4 to the track, which is a good car, but then you put on better suspension and an exhaust upgrade and go around the same track after.

Is it possible that my mojo is broken? Would it ever act as a passthrough only and amplify only? I find this hard to believe because if it's not being the DAC then what is? So it can't be broken, right!?

Lightning has no analogue outputs so it can't work that way. This is why earphone dongles on the no 3.5mm models need to have an in-line DAC chip, same way the Lightning docks still have a line out port but if you took them apart there's a DAC chip in there, something the old 30-pins didn't need to have.

I feel like i've wasted £400 and I should have added that to the £350 i spent on the PM3's and bought a £750 headphone.

But if you spent on a more expensive headphone that has lower sensitivity plus too low or too high impedance, then your iPhone6 will have a clear problem driving it, then you'd be asking why the more expensive headphone totally sucks.

That said, I'd more likely recommend a custom IEM - most have high enough sensitivity and aren't hard to drive for any other reason so you can just use the smartphone.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Get better headphones, I guess. But I could easily tell the difference with the Mojo compared to cheap gear, even with cheap headphones.

But the SQ is comparable to a Modi 2 or Modi 2 Uber at best.

It can’t compete with the Schiit Stack.

LOL!!! The Mojo is leagues better than entry-level Schiit and is comparable to systems costing thousands. I used it with thousands of dollars worth of headphones as well as speakers.

I think it's better than the Modi Multibit as well. (And the measurements support this.) I owned two of each.

For those who want to learn a bit about Chord's technical superiority, read here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-dave.766517/page-344#post-12938860

 

[yianni1066]

Thanks all for your comments.

 

[ahmadfaizadnan]

I can hear the difference even with cheap iems or earbuds. With full-size cans, it sounds even better. The sound quality is not perceived by how loud the volume is but the details in the song. If you can't hear the difference between mp3 and flac, then the chance to hear what mojo capable with is even less.

 

[Music Alchemist]

If you can't hear the difference between mp3 and flac, then the chance to hear what mojo capable with is even less.

I hope you mean low bit rate MP3 vs lossless...because the Mojo makes much more of a difference than high bit rate MP3 vs lossless, the latter of which is subtle enough that most people can't distinguish between them in tests.

 

[ahmadfaizadnan]

I hope you mean low bit rate MP3 vs lossless...because the Mojo makes much more of a difference than high bit rate MP3 vs lossless, the latter of which is subtle enough that most people can't distinguish between them in tests.

Yeah. A high bit rate mp3 definitely sounds better especially with mojo. It's not about mojo but some of us even me at first cannot distinguish the major difference until two years ago.