Mojo sound quality

[Cjear]

Hey guys,

I've recently bought the Chord Mojo and have come across two main questions that I'd like to ask you. I'm currently using Tidal on my S10 connected via USB with my Shure SE846 IEMs but to be honest at present I'm not too impressed with the sound. At times it just sounds louder and others the difference is only slight improvement in quality. In addition to this, I've noticed some hiss coming from the unit (I'm pretty sure it's the unit and not the USB cable, because I unplugged it from the phone without the cable at all and listened via earphones and still picked it up)


Am I doing something wrong here? I was really expecting a change in sound quality and was wondering whether there is newbie mistake that you can spot at all that might help.

Thanks guys.

 

[surfgeorge]

Hey guys,

I've recently bought the Chord Mojo and have come across two main questions that I'd like to ask you. I'm currently using Tidal on my S10 connected via USB with my Shure SE846 IEMs but to be honest at present I'm not too impressed with the sound. At times it just sounds louder and others the difference is only slight improvement in quality. In addition to this, I've noticed some hiss coming from the unit (I'm pretty sure it's the unit and not the USB cable, because I unplugged it from the phone without the cable at all and listened via earphones and still picked it up)


Am I doing something wrong here? I was really expecting a change in sound quality and was wondering whether there is newbie mistake that you can spot at all that might help.

Thanks guys.

Congrats to your Mojo!
I've had mine for I think 3 years and still consider it the best purchase I made in head-fi equipment.

A couple of things:
In general the quality of the digital signal has a surprisingly big influence on SQ.
Make sure that upsampling is turned off (I'm not familiar with Android but read that it upsamples by default)
Second - don't charge and listen at the same time (Mojo gets too hot and there's often a buzzing noise from the charging circuit)
Third - do you have alternative sources?
I recently tested different digital sources on my Mojo and Hugo 2. Macbook Pro with Toslink was best, closely followed by MBP-USB, iPhone/iPad via USB and HiBy R3 DAP via USB and Coax. USB from a regular laptop connected to the power supply was really bad in comparison, destroyed the sound.

I did have an issue with a hissing sound similar to what ou describe, but only with Coax, never with USB.
I'd connect the IEMs without any USB input - hear the hiss, then connect the Mojo to a source (without signal) and the hissing was gone.

And are you using Tidal HiFi or regular Tidal?
Regular Tidal is delivering compressed MP3 files and sounds inferior.

Last, make sure you pick really good recordings to hear what the Mojo can do. If you are into Rock, check out Pink Floyd the division bell.

It also takes a little time to learn to hear the differences. I used to play the Piano and listened to a lot of classical live concerts - and Mojo was the first source that gave me the feeling to sound right. I can harld listen to other DACs any more, they just don't feel right.

So make sure oyu get the best possible source signal, good recordings, and then listen with your heart and body rather than with your ears and brain.

And if you have specific questions search in the Mojo thread

 

[Cjear]

Congrats to your Mojo!
I've had mine for I think 3 years and still consider it the best purchase I made in head-fi equipment.

A couple of things:
In general the quality of the digital signal has a surprisingly big influence on SQ.
Make sure that upsampling is turned off (I'm not familiar with Android but read that it upsamples by default)
Second - don't charge and listen at the same time (Mojo gets too hot and there's often a buzzing noise from the charging circuit)
Third - do you have alternative sources?
I recently tested different digital sources on my Mojo and Hugo 2. Macbook Pro with Toslink was best, closely followed by MBP-USB, iPhone/iPad via USB and HiBy R3 DAP via USB and Coax. USB from a regular laptop connected to the power supply was really bad in comparison, destroyed the sound.

I did have an issue with a hissing sound similar to what ou describe, but only with Coax, never with USB.
I'd connect the IEMs without any USB input - hear the hiss, then connect the Mojo to a source (without signal) and the hissing was gone.

And are you using Tidal HiFi or regular Tidal?
Regular Tidal is delivering compressed MP3 files and sounds inferior.

Last, make sure you pick really good recordings to hear what the Mojo can do. If you are into Rock, check out Pink Floyd the division bell.

It also takes a little time to learn to hear the differences. I used to play the Piano and listened to a lot of classical live concerts - and Mojo was the first source that gave me the feeling to sound right. I can harld listen to other DACs any more, they just don't feel right.

So make sure oyu get the best possible source signal, good recordings, and then listen with your heart and body rather than with your ears and brain.

And if you have specific questions search in the Mojo thread

Thank you so much for this! I recently tried connecting this to a Macbook Air via USB c to micro USB and it seemed to work a treat. However, the colour on the button doesn't seem to change from red and I'm wondering whether it is reading the higher bit rate on Tidal HiFi. Is this normal? It sounds pretty great still, but wondering if I'm missing a trick. Would love to try out toslink but not sure where to find a usb c to toslink cable.
I also have FLAC files on my Micro USB that I play through PowerAmp. Still getting to grips with it as it seems even on default it does something to the audio...
Again, this is probably a very fresh "newbie" question, but does the coax read off my 3.5mm output on my phone/laptop? I've tried both and there appears to be no sound. Can't work out whether it's because it's outputting digital from the internal DAC or if my coax is broken. Would love advice on this and thank you so much.

 

[surfgeorge]

Thank you so much for this! I recently tried connecting this to a Macbook Air via USB c to micro USB and it seemed to work a treat. However, the colour on the button doesn't seem to change from red and I'm wondering whether it is reading the higher bit rate on Tidal HiFi. Is this normal? It sounds pretty great still, but wondering if I'm missing a trick. Would love to try out toslink but not sure where to find a usb c to toslink cable.
I also have FLAC files on my Micro USB that I play through PowerAmp. Still getting to grips with it as it seems even on default it does something to the audio...
Again, this is probably a very fresh "newbie" question, but does the coax read off my 3.5mm output on my phone/laptop? I've tried both and there appears to be no sound. Can't work out whether it's because it's outputting digital from the internal DAC or if my coax is broken. Would love advice on this and thank you so much.

I am also using Tidal Hifi and the the Mojo power globe changes color with "Master" files from Tidal, either to yellow (88kHz) or green (96kHz).
This only works in a Wifi network, since on mobile network Tidal by default limits transfer rate to CD quality if I am not mistaken

Regarding toslink check if your MacBook has Toslink - the older models (like my 2015 MBP) have Toslink integrated into the 3,5mm jack, but AFAIK Apple dropped this on the newer models. I am not sure about the signal quality you can expect from a USB-Toslink converter. You'd have to research that.

If you are using iPhones or iPads, I can recommend the Meenova Ligthning - micro USB cable: http://www.meenova.com/st/p/lgtnmuc.html
I have had very good results with the short ones, the long ones gave me problems with signal stability, but Meenova was helpful and replaced the one for which I claimed warranty.

Hope that helps!

 

[Cjear]

I am also using Tidal Hifi and the the Mojo power globe changes color with "Master" files from Tidal, either to yellow (88kHz) or green (96kHz).
This only works in a Wifi network, since on mobile network Tidal by default limits transfer rate to CD quality if I am not mistaken

Regarding toslink check if your MacBook has Toslink - the older models (like my 2015 MBP) have Toslink integrated into the 3,5mm jack, but AFAIK Apple dropped this on the newer models. I am not sure about the signal quality you can expect from a USB-Toslink converter. You'd have to research that.

If you are using iPhones or iPads, I can recommend the Meenova Ligthning - micro USB cable: http://www.meenova.com/st/p/lgtnmuc.html
I have had very good results with the short ones, the long ones gave me problems with signal stability, but Meenova was helpful and replaced the one for which I claimed warranty.

Hope that helps!

Ah I see. Thank you for all this. I'm using Tidal via WiFi and there still seems to be no change... If anyone has a solution to this would much appreciate it!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Hey guys,

I've recently bought the Chord Mojo and have come across two main questions that I'd like to ask you. I'm currently using Tidal on my S10 connected via USB with my Shure SE846 IEMs but to be honest at present I'm not too impressed with the sound. At times it just sounds louder and others the difference is only slight improvement in quality. In addition to this, I've noticed some hiss coming from the unit (I'm pretty sure it's the unit and not the USB cable, because I unplugged it from the phone without the cable at all and listened via earphones and still picked it up)


Am I doing something wrong here? I was really expecting a change in sound quality and was wondering whether there is newbie mistake that you can spot at all that might help.

Thanks guys.

I have both a Chord Mojo and SE846 IEMs. I rarely use the SE846 anymore, but I did recall hearing the hiss that you are referring to. I didn't pair my SE846 with my Mojo, so I never took action to fix it. I think the noise you are hearing is due to the sensitivity of these IEMs. I recall that there are a number of filtering options that you can purchase that will reduce the noise. I have not tested them myself, but I believe that one of them will solve your problem. The ones that come to mind are IEmatch

https://ifi-audio.com/products/iematch/

Another one is the Jitterbug. That's an audioquest product that works with their portable DACs. I believe that the Jitterbug is built into the Dragonfly cobalt.

 

[Cjear]

This is amazing. Thanks. (I slowly see my bank account draining)

 

[Deolum]

Basically SE846 is outdated and mojo kinda too. There are many IEMs out there that most probably beat the SE846 for a fraction of their price (didn't hear the 846 myself but the 535).

Mojo maybe still a good choice for portable but don't need it for IEMs. Android on smartphones together with USB out messes hard with the sound. Don't start to mess around with something like jitterbug it won't fix it.

A midrange DAP or your smartphone with some modern IEMs may be the better choice here.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Basically SE846 is outdated and mojo kinda too. There are many IEMs out there that most probably beat the SE846 for a fraction of their price (didn't hear the 846 myself but the 535).

Mojo maybe still a good choice for portable but don't need it for IEMs. Android on smartphones together with USB out messes hard with the sound. Don't start to mess around with something like jitterbug it won't fix it.

A midrange DAP or your smartphone with some modern IEMs may be the better choice here.

I didn't want to mention that so as to not discourage the OP. But since you went down that path, the Lotoo PAW S1 is a fantastic mobile solution and it doesn't require a CCK adapter and sounds great for about $100 used or $170 new.

The Mojo still is relevant vs. midrange DAP if you are driving full sized headphones. In fact, the Mojo paired via coax with a low end DAP like the Hiby R3 Pro is a great all around solution.

 

[go_vtec]

As others have mentioned, Mojo does not have an impedance matching feature to support sensitive IEMs to prevent from hissing. Some IEMs hissing may be more apparent and SE845s do exhibit a bit of hissing. A dedicate DAC/AMP or DAP with sensitive IEM support (aka low impedance support or impedance matching) will virtually eliminate such hissing issues. As far as the sound quality goes, SE845 is a nice IEM, but its value for performance isn't what it used to be at near $1K at its full price. I know because I own a pair myself. There are other hybrid IEMs will sound much better at the similar price range or you can buy a decent pair of headphones with much better performance to work with Mojo without any hissing issues. Well, two of your problems (mysteries) solved, and sorry for your wallet.

 

[Cjear]

Thank you all for this help. So great to learn so much and also be welcomed to such a generous community.

Just to let you guys know that I've also got the kse1500, but am mainly aiming for the most portable option and that mixed in with a Mojo is a hefty load to carry!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Thank you all for this help. So great to learn so much and also be welcomed to such a generous community.

Just to let you guys know that I've also got the kse1500, but am mainly aiming for the most portable option and that mixed in with a Mojo is a hefty load to carry!

Then you need either a Chord Hugo 2 or a Cayin C9 to properly drive them.

If you want a more portable solution, here is what I own.

AudioQuest DragonFly Red
Fiio BTR5
Fiio UTWS3
Lotoo Paw S1
Chord Mojo
Chord Hugo 2
Hiby R6 2020.

All of them sound good for their given use case.

I would rank them as follows:

Best for walking around: Fiio UTWS3, can turn any IEM into a truly wireless earphone. If you want the best sound with least weight, then the Lotoo Paw S1 rules.

Best for desktop listening. Chord Hugo 2. King of the hill. But, a friend told me that the Cayin C9 beats it and is more versatile.

 

[RESQFLYR]

Congrats to your Mojo!
I've had mine for I think 3 years and still consider it the best purchase I made in head-fi equipment.

A couple of things:
In general the quality of the digital signal has a surprisingly big influence on SQ.
Make sure that upsampling is turned off (I'm not familiar with Android but read that it upsamples by default)
Second - don't charge and listen at the same time (Mojo gets too hot and there's often a buzzing noise from the charging circuit)
Third - do you have alternative sources?
I recently tested different digital sources on my Mojo and Hugo 2. Macbook Pro with Toslink was best, closely followed by MBP-USB, iPhone/iPad via USB and HiBy R3 DAP via USB and Coax. USB from a regular laptop connected to the power supply was really bad in comparison, destroyed the sound.

I did have an issue with a hissing sound similar to what ou describe, but only with Coax, never with USB.
I'd connect the IEMs without any USB input - hear the hiss, then connect the Mojo to a source (without signal) and the hissing was gone.

And are you using Tidal HiFi or regular Tidal?
Regular Tidal is delivering compressed MP3 files and sounds inferior.

Last, make sure you pick really good recordings to hear what the Mojo can do. If you are into Rock, check out Pink Floyd the division bell.

It also takes a little time to learn to hear the differences. I used to play the Piano and listened to a lot of classical live concerts - and Mojo was the first source that gave me the feeling to sound right. I can harld listen to other DACs any more, they just don't feel right.

So make sure oyu get the best possible source signal, good recordings, and then listen with your heart and body rather than with your ears and brain.

And if you have specific questions search in the Mojo thread

Have you compared the MoJo to stand alone DAPs? I am perplexed with which way to go.

 

[dunring]

Check the measurements done at ASR on it to see how it compares:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-measurements-of-chord-mojo-dac-and-amp.5120/

I've had several of the Topping G5 and nothing beats it. Can compare the same tests Amir did
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../topping-g5-review-portable-dac-hp-amp.36542/

Even when they were new they didn't perform as well as a Soundblaster G6 which can hit 112 SINAD by comparison for $60 refurbished. I've gotten 6.5 hours of playback at 65% volume on planar magnetic headphones using medium gain with the Topping G5 and 120 SINAD means no chance of distortion. The good news is that's a well known brand and product, and an easy sell on eBay if you decide it.