LH Labs Geek Out v2+ Discussion Thread

[DecentLevi]

  Okay, you talked me into it. 
 
Just spent the last half-hour or so putting the Geek Out V2+ Infinity and the Chord Mojo in a short-face-to-face contest. This clearly is not a definitive study by any stretch of the imagination, and is only using one headphone and in SE versus balanced mode (don't have a 3.5mm balanced adapter yet for my 2.5mm TRRS terminated Noble K10's - it's on its way here). Used one of my favorite Peter Gabriel reference tracks - "The Time of the Turning (reprise)" from OVO. 
 
While they're both excellent, my ears at this point would have to give the win to the Mojo. They're both really resolving and impactful, but the Mojo is just a bit more musical. The mids are what really do it for me (the reason I love my K10's and LCD-3's) and the Mojo just has a smidge more "magic" in the mids, a bit more emotion that really is captivating. I think it's how Rob Watts implemented the FPGA chip using the technology from the Hugo and his other TOTL products. In the OVO track the trumpet that opens the song just has a bit more texture and nuance and emotion, and the vocals and other instruments then come in and combine in a way that makes me want to tap my toes maybe 15-20% more than the V2+ Inf. As always YMMV and this is just IMHO...
 
When it comes to form factor, well it's not a fair fight. The Mojo is built like a tank, and the V2+ is still trying to find its real skin. I hear the new chassis is coming along, but we'll have to hope it's better than the prototype. Also the Mojo accepts not only USB (like the V2+) but also coax and optical, so it's a bit more flexible and can therefore be paired with more portable transports (e.g. Fiio's coax and AK's optical as well as all the smartphones with some type of USB). On the other hand the V2+ has the adjustable gain and filters, where the Mojo doesn't, but the Mojo has plenty of power. 
 
So if I had to recommend one right now, in it's current form, I'd have no problem saying jump on the Mojo train and don't look back.
 
Cheers 

@mscott58 - well written review. Would you please tell us which test songs (or genre) and which headphones you were using for this comparison?

 

[mscott58]

  @mscott58 - well written review. Would you please tell us which test songs (or genre) and which headphones you were using for this comparison?

Sure. It's all in the first paragraph, with the relevant bits in bold here:
 
"Just spent the last half-hour or so putting the Geek Out V2+ Infinity and the Chord Mojo in a short-face-to-face contest. This clearly is not a definitive study by any stretch of the imagination, and is only using one headphone and in SE versus balanced mode (don't have a 3.5mm balanced adapter yet for my 2.5mm TRRS terminated Noble K10's - it's on its way here). Used one of my favorite Peter Gabriel reference tracks - "The Time of the Turning (reprise)" from OVO."
 
Cheers 

 

[DecentLevi]

Oh I see. So I wonder if the results would still favor the Mojo or not if the test was done with flagship full size 'cans...

 

[mscott58]

  Oh I see. So I wonder if the results would still favor the Mojo or not if the test was done with flagship full size 'cans...

Great point. However, it's hard to do that quick test when I don't want to wake up the spouse and my LCD-3's are not exactly quiet things...
 
Also my use-case for the Mojo is as part of a portable stack. My desktop unit still is my Pulse X Infinity/LPS4 with the Uptone Regen. Soon to have a Cavalli Liquid Carbon joined to it. 
 
Cheers 

 

[NZtechfreak]

Oh I see. So I wonder if the results would still favor the Mojo or not if the test was done with flagship full size 'cans...

The Mojo has the same output power as the Hugo, it'll fare pretty well with the full-sized cans leaving aside a few of the less sensitive ones. I think the balanced connection of the GOV2 will still carry the day for those needing more power. I'll be interested to compare, I pick up my Mojo Monday, but may have to return my loaner V2 before then.

 

[Dithyrambes]

Wondering now if the mojo he560 is a good pairing. I know its an excellent pairing for audeze cans. 

 

[sahmen]

Has anyone seen a comparison of the mojo with the Schiit Bifrost multibit yet?

 

[NZtechfreak]

Wondering now if the mojo he560 is a good pairing. I know its an excellent pairing for audeze cans. 

The HE560 is *a lot* less sensitive than the current Audeze headphones at 90dbSPL/mW, versus say 97 for the current LCD-2. I would think the Geek Out V2 probably starts to pull away at that point.

 

[flashmp3]

The HE560 is *a lot* less sensitive than the current Audeze headphones at 90dbSPL/mW, versus say 97 for the current LCD-2. I would think the Geek Out V2 probably starts to pull away at that point.

The V2 is 1000mw@16ohms so should be a lot @32ohms as well and still not enough to push HE560 ?

 

[Dithyrambes]

  The V2 is 1000mw@16ohms so should be a lot @32ohms as well and still not enough to push HE560 ?

You probably have to go balanced

 

[NZtechfreak]

The V2 is 1000mw@16ohms so should be a lot @32ohms as well and still not enough to push HE560 ?

The headphones impedance is far less important than its sensitivity, the figure I quoted was the sensitivity and that was in reference to the Mojo Vs GOV2 - I think the GOV2 may well sound better for the HE560 because of its more powerful output (and yes, I'd be using the balanced output).

 

[Dithyrambes]

The headphones impedance is far less important than its sensitivity, the figure I quoted was the sensitivity and that was in reference to the Mojo Vs GOV2 - I think the GOV2 may well sound better for the HE560 because of its more powerful output (and yes, I'd be using the balanced output).

I'm just a little confused with people saying on the mojo forums that it is has more than enough power to drive the he560. I look up the specs and it doesn't look like they would drive them well, but several long time members have said it drives them fine. I'm a bit confused.

 

[NZtechfreak]

I'm just a little confused with people saying on the mojo forums that it is has more than enough power to drive the he560. I look up the specs and it doesn't look like they would drive them well, but several long time members have said it drives them fine. I'm a bit confused.

The Mojo may drive them well, Rob Watts from Chord said it would output about 400mW into 50ohm (this still has to be taken within the context of the headphones sensitivity). With my experience with planars, I would tend to expect expect the more powerful GOV2 to sound better with the 560. From my point of view, I wouldn't recommend spending the extra on the Mojo without hearing your headphones on both. I'll have both the GOV2 and Mojo here from Monday, so will have more concrete things to say soon.

 

[Dithyrambes]

The Mojo may drive them well, Rob Watts from Chord said it would output about 400mW into 50ohm (this still has to be taken within the context of the headphones sensitivity). With my experience with planars, I would tend to expect expect the more powerful GOV2 to sound better with the 560. From my point of view, I wouldn't recommend spending the extra on the Mojo without hearing your headphones on both. I'll have both the GOV2 and Mojo here from Monday, so will have more concrete things to say soon.

Sounds great! Let me know!

 

[NZtechfreak]

Sounds great! Let me know!

Certainly! Unfortunately I don't have anything within the ballpark of the HE560, sensitivity wise (my HE6 being incredibly insensitive in comparison and most of my others being a fair bit or a lot more sensitive), but SQ wise should be interesting. Not sure if schedule will allow, but would love to do a volume matched blind test with a few others).