My experiences of living with the Chord Mojo over the last year. The benefits of FPGA technology explained and a comparison of the Mojo’s sound quality in relation to the Chord Hugo and other DACS from, Hegel, Audiolab and Fiio.
That lens focal length really shows how close you are to the speakers. Again, the sample rate versus the brain’s ability to resolve time Intervals - and how CDs 44.1 sampling rate is too low - something new to me.
Hi Dunk, it is a contentious issue. According to the Nyquist theorem, you only need to sample a frequency twice to be able to perfectly recreate it. Hence, the CD sample rate of 44.1 KHz is more than sufficient to cover the entire audio range. However, some leading designers in the industry, including Rob what’s of Chord Electronics, believe that higher sample rates result in better capture of fine transient details. Hence, the reason he developed the Chord Hugo M Scaler. This is a state of the art upsampler that sits between your digital transport/streamer and your DAC in the signal path. It is a bit of a minefield, as once you get into the intricacies of digital processing and filtering it gets pretty complicated. Link to Chord Hugo M Scaler chordelectronics.co.uk/product/hugo-mscaler/ To be honest, I don’t totally understand their argument as my knowledge only extent so far and some of the more technical aspects of digital processing go over my head. I would love to interview Rob Watts and get him to explain in terms I can understand, exactly how his WTA (Watts Transient Alignment) filter works. If you are interested in learning more about digital to analogue conversion, here are two great lectures given at RMAF by Martin Mallison (ESS) and Rob Watts. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8Mn5PrnZV-k.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BXyjsSYjnL8.html
Thanks. Yeah I don’t understand how a 1Hz sine wave can be digitised with 2Hz samples by the ADC and this is enough to reproduce the wave, unless there is a sine wave interpolation applied in the DAC, otherwise it would be saw tooth. I think you mentioned that but the curve fitting would be too slow but that is how I imagine it can be done, but if it isn’t then you would need enough samples taken so that the sine curve between samples is approximately a straight line. That sounds like a lot of samples for the peaks and troughs but few in the slopes in between. Maybe I should do some reading !!
The science looks very maths heavy - not my thing that’s for sure. I expect there are parallels with DC to AC inverters and modified vs real sine waves for power. Here is a link to a Texas Instruments paper, maybe you can get something out of it. I haven’t read it yet but there are a lot of diagrams and not so much complex maths. www.ti.com/lit/an/slaa523a/slaa523a.pdf?ts=1590352864134
A British Audiophile Here are two links with good info on so called HD audio ethanwiner.com/hd-audio.htm www.realhd-audio.com/?p=6928 Both authors are highly qualified and experienced recording engineers who conclude HD audio is a myth.
This is an excellent overview - extremely fluent, well informed and relevant. I'm considering a MOJO as I believe it represents the best value for money in terms of audio upgrade for my laptop. This video has helped me. Thank you.
Tarun, thank you so much for that wonderful insight into the world of Chord Dacs. I was captivated listening to your easy to understand explanations and I shall be placing an order for a Chord Dac very soon.
Tarun I love your videos, all interesting, I’m always learning new things which is always a great thing and I love how you give an honest review. Keep up the good work mate
Thanks Tarun, very interesting talk about Dacs, and where they fit into Hi Fi systems. I understand a little more now how they work. Will be better informed on next purchase.
Thanks Mike. Filtering is just one of the significant aspects that determines how a DAC will sound. The Chord Mojo is amazing value for the money at currently £299 and I doubt it can be beaten unless you spend 3x or 4x that amount. It shifts the tonal balance of my system a little too far into the warm and soft region though. This was Rob Watts intention as he felt most equipment that it was likely to be partnered with would be on the bright side.
I bought myself a MOJO for my birthday two years ago, and have to say it's one of the three best pieces of equipment that I own - the other two being a Forte 4a power amp and a SOTA Star Sapphire turntable. The MOJO's impeccable timing and retrieval of harmonics really captures the feel of the music.
Very good review very few people have this knowledge that you inherit... Most people in the sound business won't know even 20 percent u know .... Subscribed 🙏
Hi Tarun please do a video on your impressions of this null tester. It looks like an amazing idea and execution ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZyWt3kANA3Q.html
I listen to my Mojo for many hours every day and I absolutely love it. So impressed I immediately replaced my main system DAC with a 2Qute at a bargain price. Beautifully musical and revealing without ever being bright or dry. I am a complete Chord fanboy...
Hi Bongo Fury, great to hear your experiences with the Mojo and 2Qute. Just out of interest how do the two DACs compare sonically? I agree with you, I think it is widely acknowledged in the industry that Chord DAC represent the benchmark in terms of sound quality at their respective price points. Other manufacturers are desperately trying to close the gap. The is an interesting talk by the Simon Freethy, Managing Director of Cyrus, on FPGA DACs given to the High End Society at Munich Hifi Show. Enjoy! The link is ... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SwNMOCvnlq4.html Thank you for watching and commenting on my video.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Hi Tarun, The 2Qute is fatter in every way and what a great looking thing. It squeezes separation and detail out that only comes with high-end kit. You know when The Beatles suddenly sound more Liverpudlian (every track), or where you notice a guitar effect that Jimmy had kept secret (eg Little Wing) or a subtle conga pattern appears out of the mist (eg A Day in the Life) - this is what has hooked me for the last 30 years. My systems are entirely British designed - Quad, Linn, Tannoy, Chord, QED, Target, Rega. I use my Mojo for about 20hrs every week and love it. Never tiring, harsh or brittle - always engaging, detailed, musical and sweet. Enjoying your content. Keep it coming and happy listening.
I'm actually looking to get one right now. I want to use with my phone when i walk or just have coffee outside. In your experience will the chord work with a good smart phone and improve the quality? Have you used bluetooth headphones with your Chord? If so did they sound good?.... Thanks and cheers.
Well on the strength of your video I took the plunge ( or rather dipped my toe ) and ordered the Fiio Tyshan to use for my TV sound to Amp ( I'd previously used the headphone Socket ). I have to say wow what a difference ! ... Truly a Night and day change, and when you consider the £ 30 cost including TOSlink cable an amazing upgrade .... Thanks
Reviews can be simple yet technically relevant only if the reviewer has good technical knowledge , I think Tarun comes out tops on this count. Have subscribed to your channel Tarun after watching this review. Please keep up the good work to help dummies like me
Thank you Venkataraghavan An. I really appreciate your support. More videos planned including a comparison between the Hegel H160 and a vintage Technics amp from the 1980s. Also, a follow up video on Chord DACs. Thanks for watching, commenting and subscribing.
Very interesting review. Have you ever listened to dragonfly red? That's what I'm using right now and that supports MQA on tidal. I compared it to a top of the line chord that my dad has and the chord was definitely better. I had something like your 25 pound DAC before and the dragonfly red was big improvement on that. Cost of dragonfly red is about 170 new. It's USB powered connected to a jitterbug so no faffing about with charging. Would it be worth upgrading to the mojo?
Hi Frank, for some reason I can’t seem to reply directly to your comment so I have posted my reply here. The Chord Cutest is essentially a desktop version of the Hugo 2. Same FPGA DAC and output stage but without the headphone amp and battery supply. As a result I would expect it’s sound to be a refinement on the Hugo 1 that made a comparison with in my Chord Mojo. Thank you for watching and commenting and sorry I couldn’t reply directly.
Thanks for another excellent review. If you are familiar with it, how would the 99 usd Shiit Modi dac that Steve Guttenberg speaks highly of rate amongst these dacs?
I’m planning to get a Chord2qute to pair with my cxa80 Cambridge Audi0. Using a gx100 monitor audio gold book shelf. Should I grab the Chord2qute? Will it make a difference compared to the internal dac in cxa80?
I've used an audiolab M-DAC for around 10 years and picked up a Mojo recently to have high SQ for when away from home. I was surprised to find that the Mojo sounds even better than the M-DAC and your video helps explain why. I now only wish like you mentioned in another video it was more desktop focused and could be left connected to power constantly, had a 1/4" headphone jack, even RCA outs for powered monitors. The Hugo seems to address all these extra bits which would make it dekstop friendly and still remains portable.
One of my daughter's teds is called Ted. A great name! Also really enjoying and appreciating the explanations of what makes a DAC tick, so to speak. Thank you! I guess either of these Chord products would knock the socks off my 10 year old CA DAC-Magic?
Thank you Maurice. Ted still has pride of place in my son’s playroom. I am familiar with the CA DAC Magic and can testify that the Chord Mojo is a lot better 😊👍
Excellent review. Any advice on the best 3.5mm - RCA cable? I use a Qed Performance jack to phono, but it might be holding me back..... I don't like the idea of the 3.5mm jack....
Thank you Antonio Thank you Antonio. Very kind. I use the Audioquest adapter but the do a good range of 3.5mm to RCA cables to use wit the Dragon Fly range of DACs 😊👍
Dear Tarun, Thank you for the informative review. I just bought a Bluesound Node 2i as streamer. As you get questions of comparisons a lot, the chances of you comparing that internal DAC to a chord are slim. So let me ask this question: would you either go with a good streamer first and then maybe use an external DAC for that streamer, or should I setup my laptop as streaming device and use a chord (mojo or qutest) as DAC? My hifi system level is up for some good quality (using Diapason Ademantes ii speakers, Synthesis tube amplifier). Thank you for your response in advance. Regards, Dennis
Great explanation Tarun. I have a 9 year old Sabre based Tube DAC that I love, and have wondered if things have truly moved on since then. I think your video just convinced me to do so.
Hi Ryan, if you like the sound and tonality, I personally would change it unless you feel you are missing some aspect of performance. In purely technical terms, I would expect a similarly price FPGA DAC designed by Rob Watts, Chord Electronics to out perform it. However, other manufacturers such as ESS (Sabre DACs) are working hard to narrow the gap in sound quality. There is an interesting lecture by Simon Freethy of Cyrus presented to the High End Society discussing the topic of FPGA DAC and how other DAC manufacturers are reponding. Link below... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SwNMOCvnlq4.html
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for the link Tarun. At the moment, I am not exactly sure what I want more in my system. Perhaps a touch of warmth and smoothness in the top end and midrange + a bit more depth. Perhaps an FPGA design might contribute to this. I certainly do not feel detail is lacking however.
Hi Ryan, you have just described some of the characteristics a Chord DAC has over most Sabre DACs. Essentially, less “digital” more “analogue” sounding. Oversimplification, please forgive me. Still I would try a Chord DAC in system 😉
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Hi Tarun, I just bought an AKM based DAC using the 4499EQ chipset. I was going to get a QUTEST, but needed a DAC-PREAMP. Quite a substantial improvement in naturalness/transparency - and not at all fatiguing. Very impressed so far. Maybe you can get Topping to send you a review copy (D90), would be curious to hear your impression vs Chord's FPGA products.
Lovely lovely lovely. I’ve never been able to understand the technicalities until now. Masterful explanation. I have a question. I have a Mcintosh MA352 and I wanted to listen to music from an external HDD connected to my Mac computer. Could I connect the Mojo/Poly and use it as a DAC and network streamer so I can run the whole system from the computer? Thanks in advance. Cheers from Tuscany
Thank you TDS. Very much appreciated. Form what I remember the Poly covers the inputs on the Mojo. I would just disconnect the Poly and then connect the Mojo to the Mac to use as an external DAC 😉👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I was hoping to use the WI/FI & Bluetooth of the Poly but I see the problem. I may have to use the Mcintosh Portable MA50 that I have. Thank you so much for your answer. Cheers
I got an excellent t deal on a mojo and plan to use it Dojo style. My question is when setting it to line level do you keep it at the 3v output. I’m going to be going directly into a preamp it’s a vintage Nikko preamp from 80’s and wondering how it’ll handle 3v. How did you set yours up. I’m also running Roon and will be using it as endpoint. Thanks in advance!
You may not need 3v into your preamp. A lot of analogue inputs are designed to receive 2v. I have my Mojo closer to 2v with my Exposure XXI pre. This meant I could turn to volume on the preamp up to where it was operating more in it’s sweet spot (linear range). It will be a process of trial and error with yours 😊👍
Really good video - i like the approach you take. Did you ever hear the Perpetual Technologies P-3A DAC from around 2000? It was the first DAC that made me enormously enjoy recorded music again. I still have it.
Great review Tarun! In your opinion, should I buy Mojo as a source for B&W 607 S2 and Marantz PM6007? Or these components don't have enough room for Mojo to reveal and I'd better look at something cheaper?
Hi, thank you so much for your effort doing these great videos and sharing your knowledge, insights and thoughts. I got into Hifi recently, and I watched many of your videos the last few weeks, and I now got myself my first more serious system recently: Canton Vento 826.2 bookshelf speakers on speaker stands. Denon DRA-800H integrated amp and a Denon DCD-1600NE sacd player. I want to play my flac music files from my Dell laptop. Do you recommend getting the chord mojo DAC in between hooked up via USB to the Laptop? The Mojo Dac will sound better than Denons integrated AK4458 DAC? Thx for your advice and keep posting the great content. Best regards from Vienna!
Thank you Mario. The Mojo is a lot better than the internal DAC in the DRA-800H but I think it may be worth putting the money into upgrading the amp first 😊👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 thanks for your input! but can i go with usb A from my laptop to my amp's digital optical in to use directly the amps integrated akm dac? since i just aquired the denon amp, I might first check out the audioquest dragonfly cobalt, to connect my laptop to the amp.
Thanks for the inclusion of the entry music details. Now I am jamming it. Good review, though! Can Hugo 2 be used with an AVR receiver? I have Denon AVR-X4700H. How do I go about the connection, if possible? Thanks.
Hi Gadgetdad, if you have the input gain control of the Crown set to max, then there isn’t much else you can do. I am surprised that it doesn’t go loud enough🤔
great review.. to clear !!!.... if I take the audio with good cables through the 3.5 output, the sound quality is the same as if it were through RCA? unfortunately mojo does not have RCA output, i want to use Mojo as desktop DAC.
I recently discovered your channel and I've already watched multiple of your videos. Great content with a little bit of technical depth! 👍 However, the means of quantization and interpolation you described applies to PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) and similar; there also are FPGAs that use PDM (Pulse Density Modulation). With PDM, the amount of pulses given per unit of time from the FPGA to the output filter determines the amplitude of the signal.
Still worth it as we go into 2021? I ask as, I have just taken up the headphone hobby and so, I have purchased Drop THX789, smsl SP200 and Drop LCDX amps, LCD2Classics, HD58X, K712Pros headphones along with a Drop Grace SDAC and KORG DAC100 (looks beautiful and is fully balanced, has DSD capabilities, up sampling etc) over the last 3 months. I am looking for a step up in the DAC category...I think?
It is a very fine DAC but there are probably other reviewers better placed to give you advice for headphone use. I am only a casual headphone listener. Thank you for watching 😊
Hi and thanks for the review. Although at the end of the day the only thing that matters is how it sounds, I have a few issues with the technical description. I'm not an expert on this subject, but I develop audio software and have some basic knowledge. Firstly: you say that the human ear can detect a timing difference of 5 microseconds. Do you have a source for this, because the papers that I have read say that this is 2 - 5 milliseconds which is a couple of orders of magnitude less. The second point is about sampling rates (which is where the 5 microseconds becomes important). Analogue signals are filtered with a low pass filter before digitising to ensure that the signal remains within the goal sampling rate and prevent aliasing. This filtering is not free and produces errors, so one of the goals of the filtering algorithm is to have these errors be as inaudible as possible. The higher the sampling rate, the easier this is, so there are advantages to higher sampling rates in mastering. Higher sampling rates in playback is more contentious and I've seen people suggesting that you should filter out the higher frequencies on playback to avoid distortion. Finally some notes about the FPGA technology of Chord. I've looked at their explanation and I have two issues: firstly they compare their technology with some mythical "DAC chip". This is just silly: the idea that all other DACs would use some mythical cheap chip in their design makes no sense so this is a bit of a "straw man" objection. The FPGA is basically a type of programmable computer that can perform well and cheaply for very specific tasks and has been a staple of digital audio for donkey's years. It should also be noted that the output of an FPGA is not analogue, but a single bit PDM bit stream that approaches analogue and can be easily converted to a true analogue signal, so the idea of having very few components in the output stream is hardly original to Mojo but more a consequence of the basic design. The idea of using multiple bitstreams to reduce errors is fairly common, but I can't say if other DACs use this and this may be where Mojo particularly shines. I suspect that a great deal of the quality in the device comes from the quality of the analogue components.
Hi Tarun, Great review! Could you share your impressions about Mojo vs Mimby or Modi3 please? Is Mojo still best in the price range? I am looking for a DAC for my stereo system.
Would there be a noticeable improvement in sound quality between the Mojo & Hugo 2 when using headphones, such as the Sennheiser HD800S? And if so what differences?
Hi Anthony, in my opinion there is a noticeable difference in quality between the two and your HD800S are more than capable of highlighting it. Don’t get me wrong it is not night and day but noticeable. The Hugo 2 will have a faster and tighter bass, more space between instruments and more extended high frequencies. It is a bit like trading a BMW 320 D for a BMW 530 D. A lot of similarities, just the big brother offers you more.
A British Audiophile great to know that headphones at that level have the ability/quality to distinguish the differences in the way you describe for a speaker system...yet at such lower cost and without the need for a decent room.
Can the Hugo be powered with an external PSU, rather than by battery? I was considering the Mojo for my main system, until i realized it's ONLY battery powered, and has potential battery issues, to boot. Can I circumvent that with a Hugo by using an external PSU?
Jai Ganesha. Good to see the idol. My set up is Pioneer Fs52 floor standing + Rotel A10 + Allo DigiOne with Raspberry Pi. I am looking for a good DAC which should fit in my set up grade. My preference is more on neutral, non colouration, transperent, sound stage. Any recommendations? Please.
Just purchased the mojo 2. It is magnificent. The new intelligent desktop mode, designed for battery preservation, resolves the issue you stipulated. The new Crossfeed and UHD DSP are unique and work tremendously well. The sound has more macro dynamic slam than the Qutest. The only drawback, the new USB-C digital input is not galvanically isolated. It transmits electrical inerference from a Desktop PC. The optimum sounding transport was an Andrioud phone connected via a USB-C to USB-C OTG cable and playing bit perfect FLAC files from an SD catd via the applicatioon - USB Audio Player Pro. Virtially silent noise floor and sonic nirvana.
@Covert Op- I Just ordered the mojo 2 with the poly, should get this weekend. Do you have the poly as well? Is your main listening via cell phone or PC? Did you notice a significant improvement in sound quality..clarity, sound stage, separation etc, when using the mojo2 vs just using a standard android dongle, etc?
@@mden2490 1. I have never owned or tested the the Poly. 2. I have testedpver 50 dongle DACs/headphine DAC amps from the US, China and Japan. The Mojo 2 is significantly better than all of them in all characteristivs of sound properties. 3. For the past few weeks, I have been AB testing ther MoJo 2 and the ESS9018 DAC in my Audiolab 6000A. The Mojo 2 is better. The speed is comparable but the Mojo 2 is more resolving and has better tone and soundstage depth. 4. The DAC's inside apple and android phones are decent but inferior to the Mojo 2. Apple and Samsung have never improved the outout srage and headphone sockets for the past 5 years. The Sony Xperia, is by far, the best sounding phone. 5. I have used the Mojio 2 predominantly in a 2 channel hifi set-up. The USB-C and 3.0/3.1 ports on the front of my Alienware PC, are poorly shielded from transferring electrical noise (fan, cpu, gpu). Fortunately, my PC had 8 USB 3.0/3.1 ports on the reart panel and they emit a lower noise floor but still not dead silent. The negative feedback is not audible at low volumes.
@@CovertOperative -thank you so much for your response. About a month ago I purchased the Caiyn RU6. I think the sound quality is pretty good with this dac/dongle but I did notice that at louder volumes it does have a tendency to start distorting a bit.The sound quality was definitely better than the Apple dongle though. So I suspect that with the mojo 2 it can only get better. I listen through the Meze 99 Classics. 80% of my listening is via vinyl, and 20% I would say is streaming... Vinyl is (getting) quite expensive, and I'm not looking to build a huge vinyl collection, maybe 60-70 albums in total, and the rest of my listening will be through lossless high definition listening if it's available. I have no issues with being able to utilize both forms of music retrieval, as it would cost an arm and a leg to buy all those records and streaming does certainly lower the out-of-pocket expense substantially.
Does it have the same level of transients as a qutest? I’m deciding between Hugo 2 and mojo 2 as I’ve also figured out how to avoid noise from my low powered m1 MacBook Air using Audirvana! I’ve also tried UAPP from my Android and have to admit it is very good - better than iPhone and camera dongle even - but Audirvana via MacBook Air is the same but significantly smoother sounding so I prefer it personally. I’d like to know if the transients of the mojo 2 is as good as the qutest/Hugo 2, and if so, I’d happily settle for mojo 2! Love the idea of having an eq and cross feed coming from my mojo 1.
Quick question: What's the cable plugged in to the Mojo in the preview pic of this video. I connect the Mojo to my preamp via a 3.5mm to RCA cable. Thanks for the info. Cheers from Montreal.
Hi Dennis, I had the same concern but according to Chord they don’t expect it too shorted the battery life my too much. Replacement batteries shouldn’t be too expensive anyway. Thanks for watching and commenting 😉
Maybe, as it will go above line level but you shouldn’t need to. If you Crown is not playing load enough then something in the signal chain is not as it should be.
I have just taken the plunge and bought a Mojo [cuz there is no Dojo ;-)) to primarily use in my hi-fi setup - i also have, like yourself an Aries Mini which is currently fed to an Audiolab 6000a amp via coaxial - could you confirm the best way to go when the Mojo finishes it's first charge [delivered earlier today] would be to lose the coaxial & connect the Mojo to the Mini via the USB and from the Mojo to the 6000a via a 3.5 > RCA lead? Many thanks
@@abritishaudiophile7314 The dac in the 6000a is good as you highlighted in your review but curiosity and the wanting to play with ‘those’ marbles was to great an urge 😜
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Hi Tarun, that’s for your reply. I haven’t thought about any equipment yet, still getting my head around what I need, how it all works and how to connect it.:
Hi Richard, the Bluesound Node 2i is a good streamer for £500. It has a very user friendly interface. You can always add an external DAC like the Chord Mojo to improve the sound later. If you want to spend more money on a streamer then take a look at products from Auralic, Lumin and Innuos.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Hi Tarun, thanks for the info on the Streamer. At the moment I can’t afford that kind of money as I have just purchased speakers, stands and cable. The unit the system is mounted on is very rickety and I have ordered a new rack. Can I record from the Internet to my old laptop, running windows 10, to a DAC ( I have read good review of iFi Audio ZEN DAC ) into my preamp. Regards Richard.
Do you leave your Mojo plugged in to charge while using it to play music? Or do you charge it up and use it till the battery goes dead? Just wondering if it is ok for it to be plugged into power all the time...
If you didn’t get an answer yet… The Answer is Yes,, it’s no problem to leave it pulled in at all times.. Actually helps keep the battery in top form (constant charge) while listening & personally I think it brings more clarity, detail retrieval , bass , etc. ✅ Best2You…
I use it as an external DAC for my streamer. You need a 3.5mm to 2x rca cable or adapter. Pain in the butt for desktop use but nothing at it’s price sound as good IMHO.
Hi Tarun, let me thank you for your immensely informative videos first. Secondly and to resume, I have a Mojo, an iFi NEO iDSD and an Audiolab M-DAC and I set myself to comparing them side by side. The big surprise for me was that I actually prefer the way the Mojo sounds. However, the differences I found are noticeable only when I switch; they are very slight. I don't think I would be able to identify any of them in a blind test and without switching. Of course, the Mojo is rather inconvenient as a desktop DAC. I have a decent setup, connecting the DAC to a Quadral M8 power amplifier that feeds ATC SCM19 speakers. So my question here is: are we exaggerating the importance of DACs? The difference between 500€ and 2000€ speakers is usually quite obvious. What about the sonic difference between DACs? Is it really that evident?
Hi Gareth, I regularly switch between components in my system. For examples, sometimes I use my Hegel H160 and other times my Exposure 21 & 18 Super monos.
Learned friend, are you sure about the sample rate for CD? I thought it was 22.05 per channel and these take turns? Yes, that adds up to 44.1 kHz. I think you see my point. As to sampling a frequency of frequency x needing to take 2x samples, would you agree this applies to pure sine waves?
Hi JP, the sample of rate of CD is 44.1 KHz. The maximum representable frequency is 22.05 as per the Nyquist theorem. You are right that this is for reproducing sine waves.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 - thank you - I should have browsed for it, not raised the point first. So, the sample frequency for the channels blended in one stream is 88.2 k which requires ~1.4 Mbps - peanut bandwidth, that is
@@abritishaudiophile7314- The highest base frequency on the piano keyboard is near 8 kHz. But that is far from a sine wave. In classical music the top octave is practically never used. So that make 4 kHz. And we may not clearly distinguish different sources above 2 kHz. But, imagine yourself blindfolded. A transversal flute (pure sine), a clarinet (block wave) and violin (chaos) play the same note (base frequency). You can easily identify them and point the out. What max sum frequency is presented to each of our two ears? IIRC, Fourier would approximate the blockwave with 5 sines or sine halves - each another frequency. This only will give amplifiers a hard time and is almost impossible for speakers. If we scale the orchestra up from 3 to many more, like over 100 in a symphony orchestra, then, nobody plays above 8 kHz, what bandwidth do we need to faithfully record that and play it back? Off the cuff. Here we have the problem of sine waves underlying all audio engineering rules of thumb. The way we recognize different voices (instruments, sounds, noise) is by wave shape analysis. Our ears dimensions cap that ability around 20 kHz, depending how physically big our ear anatomy is. But our ability to analyze wave shape may be much higher when expressed as sine wave frequency. Or, a theme to discuss in a video?
JP dJ this has interested me for a long time, but I have never had the time to properly investigate it. A sine wave and a triangle wave at mid audio frequencies, say 3 kHz, sound very different, but what about 20 kHz? At the upper limit of human hearing I would speculate that they would be indistinguishable. If we do a Fourier analysis of a piece of music, what is the highest frequency we will find? These will come from the fast transients. What happens to the sound if we remove everything above 20 kHz? Can we hear the effect of say 25 kHz in terms of its effect on the timbre of the sound even though we could never hear a 25 kHz tone? Very few people can hear as high as 20 kHz - my own hearing doesn’t go much above 10-12 kHz these days, so I wonder if the current hi resolution audio trend is really adding anything? Tarun’s point about timing is interesting though, I haven’t come across that before.
Great and informative review - showing just how far tech has come in order to improve sound quality. What would be interesting though is if you ever got to listen to an Audio Note 0.1x - simple tech - simple chip (TDA1543) - and pit this old but well implemented tech against the latest computational FPGA super DACs. You may find that experience enlightening then end up scratching your head.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Well the TDA1541 was the legend - nevertheless, if you ever get a chance listen to an AN. AN would have preferred to use the TDA1541 but there wasn't enough of them to sustain a production environment - so AN purchased 20,000 TDA1543 chips instead. And believe it or not - a single TDA1543 chip is also used in a very expensive Vertex AQ Aletheia DAC-1 costing close to £11,000.
Great review as always Tarun. I recently purchased the Chord Mojo for my HD800's and it sounds fantastic. But i'm also wanting to connect it to my hifi system. I have a Roksan M2 power amp and the AudioLab Mdac as the dac/pre-amp, the source being my Mac Mini & ATC SCM11 speakers. Can I somehow connect the mojo out of the AudioLab? I'm sure it's not a wise idea to connect Mojo straight to Power Amp (in Dac Mode) then into Mac Mini and use it's volume control on screen. Not much on Chord's manual explaining line level alternative's!!
Hi Teamdriver25, I use USB to connect my Aries Mini, optical to connect to my TV, coax to connect to my Blueray player. Not all at the same time, of course. Thank you for watching and commenting.
I have one more question. Are you using the preset 3v line out of mojo when connecting to preamp? My preamp is pv10bl w/2.47v input sensitivity isn't become overload? Sorry for the ignorance.I am new in streaming. And my first dac mojo is still coming from ebay.
Hi Teamdriver25, I have a traditional preamp with a potentiometer volume control. My preamp seems to sound best when it’s volume control is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the way around. As a result, I have reduced the volume on the mojo Dac from line level to about 0.4v max, about -25db, both volume buttons show green. I think it is going to be a case of experimenting and seeing what works for your set up but I would imagine 3v would be too much for most preamps. Hope this helps.
Hi tarum. Yes in your video i saw your mojo in both green light and i search the net what was that double green level. I have also a diy passive volume control and now exited for mojo to arrive and test what volume level and experimenting the passive and active preamp which is best for my system. Thank you again tarum..
Hi there. An insightful video indeed :) I have been looking for a portable amp+dac for powering my AKG K712 Pro Open Back Headphones. I have been reading a lot and watching many reviews over the past few months for the same. I did personally demo the Chord Mojo on my headphones using 16 Bit FLACs and Tidal. However, personally, I did not feel that the Mojo made my headphones sound considerably better as compared to my current source - Apple iPad mini (1st generation). Sure, the amplification was better, but then, I felt as the Mojo shrunk the width of the soundstage as compared to the same song when hearing on my iPad. Also, the instrument separation was not extremely distinct in the matter in which the instruments got locked in the audio image on my iPad. I know, it sure sounds funny, as the iPad is not at all an audiophile device. But just for the purpose of my understanding, wanted to check what could be the reason why I was not able to appreciate the sound quality of the mojo, as it is an otherwise groundbreaking legend in the audiophile world. Maybe I'm missing something out. I'm not sure. Would be really helpful if u could throw some light on this. Again, just a personal opinion, no hard feelings any mojo users out there :)
I have to say I am surprised Mehul. There should be no comparison when you listen with the Mojo compared to the internal DAC on your iPad. I have done the same with my old Sennheiser headphones and the difference is night and day. I am not much of a headphone listener though, so can’t offer you any great insight here. It certainly shouldn’t be a load issue. The only thing I can think of is for some reason the Mojo did not match well with your AKGs or was faulty.
Honestly i think the Mojo is one of the best bang for bucks items you can purchase , i haven't tried it in my main hifi system(did have a Hugo1 for a while ) , but use it in my headphone setup and it is by far the least expensive component that makes the most overall difference . I tried quite a few Dacs over the years ,hated the Mdac but love the presentation of the chord Dacs ( warmth , analogue , natural sounding )
Excellent review mate (watching here in Australia). I own a pair of KEF LS50W (and also the LS50wii) and have the opp to buy a Mojo or a used Hugo 1. I understand that the KEFLS50W has it’s own DAC - wondering if you have any experience using an analogue in or could comment? Also I would use the DAC with my headphones (SE846) - I’m a big jazz, blues, neo-soul listener who likes the typical warmer rich bass, smooth sound - would the Hugo be too detailed and lacking warmth or is it same or better? Appreciate there are a few questions in there. Thank you in advance Cheers Rob
I have a question about the sound quality of my mojo dac (1). Maybe someone already mentioned it in the previous replies but I don’t have the courage to read them all. So here it is. The treble is irritatingly harsh. Agreed, my system is not top notch and I use a MacBook Pro as a source with Audirvana as software but whether I use Qobuz straight out of my MBP or via Audirvana doesn’t make a lot of difference. The sound is actually less irritating when I use the headphones connection from my MBP straight to the amp. It is less spacious though and lacks transparency. All this is a lot better with the mojo but the squeal of the treble especially in human voices ruins it. I tried a number of tweaks in Audirvana but nothing€ seems to work. Any suggestion would be very much appreciated.
I'd like to ask your opinion on speaker cables. I've been a QED fan since 1996 and have there genesis silver spiral on my front 3 channels and I noticed the difference straight away compared to the door bell kind of cable my friend let me use while I was waiting for QED to custom make my cables. Staight away I could tell they had a tight grip on my speakers great for movies especially on dialogue on my centre so much depth and bass in the voice and for music the detail in the top end is pretty clean and razor sharp also keeps tight grip on the bass which my Dali zensor 7 can get unruly at times with music never with movies.
Hi Harpal, cables is a minefield and perhaps a topic for a future video. My experience is that cables do not all sound the same. Anyone who tells you that they do, probably hasn’t listened to enough cables on a revealing enough system. There are genuine electrical reasons why one cable will sound different to another, be it resistance, capacitance, inductance, or noise reducing properties due to the shielding, dielectric or termination. But here the rub! Results vary greatly system to system and buying expensive cables does not necessarily guarantee better sound, just different sound. I am not saying that more expensive cables aren’t better, they may be slightly, you would have to do a lot of testing on a lot of systems to find out for sure. What I am saying is that a good quality cable with, excellent electrical properties, well terminated and with good shielding need not cost a lot of money. Something from Belden, Van Damme with Switchcraft connectors is probably all that 99% of the people will ever need and it will probably cost you £50. This from a guy who runs Chord Signatures at £800 a pop.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I'll be honest I spent up to £1000 on my 7.1 set up on cables but that's including 4 reference hdmi cables from QED 2 signature subwoofer cables plan on getting 2nd sub one day lol and 1 reference fibre optic cable and 3 x genesis silver spiral speaker cable and 4 x qed anniversary XT speaker cable . But best thing everything has life time cover, 4 years later qed replaced the connection on my back 4 channels as one of the dealers used the wrong size connection when doing air lock and over time it should be able to hold 50lb pull on the connection it one day fell out as I unplugged to clean and bees wax polish each of my speakers. Qed paid for postage on there end and did not charge me for air lock connection on my speaker termination or for new banana plugs, 👏👏👏 that's customer service. Just company I have not been disappointed on the products with. Had any experience of the cables there a great British company. Picture is so sharp it would slit your throat and always ahead of the competition.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 it was when I put it all together, but if you look at it this way I spent £8000 in 2012 and in 2020 I still have a set up that's in mint condition and if you break down cost in years I've had it's about £1000 cost for me to have a 7.1 with denon x4000 amp Denon 3313ud player and samsung ue46f 3D tv all my cables £500 mahogany unit 2 x custom design stands isolation stuff for last 8 years. Most people spend up to £1500 on a tv .but I think I've had the value for money in that range lol
Are you talking about the dac or the amp ? I find my (3 and a half year) Mojo less good than the usb-c apple dongle. My most demanding headphones are HE400i and Aeon closed and I see no benefit to the more powerful Mojo. Anyway, my Mojo was far better than 2 for Fiio ones that I had.
I only got 4 different usb dacs. In the 60- 200euro range they sound very similar and very good. In order of release/bought 1. HRT music streamer III 200euro 2. Oehlbach usb bridge 150 euro 2. Dragonfly Black 100euro 3. e1da power dac v2, chinese, newest I noticed the Dragonfly and Ifi IEMatch combo would distort, but not with the Oehlbach. I think I need to go to a 1000euro dac to really notice a significant difference. The Chord Qutest is just to expensive.
Hi Lee, I went the Auralic Aries Mini rather than the Chord Poly. I preferred the functionality and Auralic’s reputation for producing a quiet streaming transport but I think the Poly is well received.
I bought my 1st CD player in 1982,it was a Sony something or other & cost me over a grand,i enjoy modern classical from John Cage to Frank Zappa,and fusion Jazz from the Mahavishnu Orchestra to George Duke & Jean Luc-Ponty so the Cd's i was interested in all cost around $50 or more,back in the 1980s and 1990s the DAC you ran made huge differences,nowdays nearly all quality gear runs the same Burr Brown 192/24 chips,the DAC in my Mcintosh C-2600 tube preamp sounds exactly the same as as my $199 Emotiva DAC and my,in fact from my room measurements issues like jitter & clocking have been eliminated so ive given up running separate transport/dac configurations in favor of the 1 box solution of the Mcintosh MCD-550 CD/SACD/Preamp i found without remote & cracked face for $200 at a Detroit pawn shop,when i ordered a replacement glass,remote,manual & double shipping boxes the MCD-550 was still in production at $6,200 ,the last bit about the insane deal has nothing to do with the topic,i only mentioned it because the MCD-550 will be the final CD player i buy at 75 yrs old.
Hi Levi, thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading about your experiences. Captain Tom turned 100 last week raising countless millions for charity doing 100 laps of his garden. You may have a few CD players in you yet 🙏
Cute Dac , easy to install anywhere, i have little experience to be honest with dac's and streamers, I use now a gramofon streamer (all in one) which is out of proportion with the rest of my system, ..i do that because i use it mainly to discover new artists and music , and if i like something , i buy it on cd or vinyl , having said that , i am thinking for a while on upgrading it, but would like a all in one again, I am thinking about the Atoll ms120 (i think is the good number model, don't know for shure), or the Cambridge for about the same price, …...but because the chord mojo is not really expensive , would consider it with a streamer, …..but which one, ..so many choice.
Hi Francisco, I have recently ditched my Toshiba Notebook and now use an Auralic Aries Mini. Auralic has built a good reputation in recent years in building streamers. It is used by many amplifier and speaker manufacturers at shows to showcase their products. I have to say I am pretty happy with the Aries Mini. It retails in the U.K. for £449. The Auralic Ares Mini has recently been discontinued so may be difficult to get hold of now. The word in the industry is that Auralic did not feel they were making enough money to justify continuing with it. It’s big brother is the Ares but retails for £1,800. Volumio, which I believe is an Italian brand, may be worth checking out as they make a reasonably priced steamer for circa 400 Euros. It was recently favourably reviewed by John Darko who, you may well be aware, has his own RU-vid channel. Good luck finding a decent streamer.
Perhaps a bit late to this one... Good and important points made here. There is much more to a DAC than the chip used, and while all audio has gotten better - better than ever, we're living in the platinum era of audio where there's so much access to excellent audio gear offering incredible value - digital is just making revolutionary leaps. Digital had been my most elusive quality chase, and for a long time. Not so much now. Now it's more like alternating among different, excellent flavors based on mood. I have had many, many DACs - from Levinson, the top, Channel Islands modified Audio Alchemy rig, large chassis Sonic Frontiers tubed DACs, Camelot pieces, and more - and now beautiful, fun and easy to use, small affordable pieces like the Mojo are available. And it gets even better from there. Not being easily able to set up a two channel system, I'm mostly using headphones these days. But I have on occasion fronted some nice amplifiers (Odyssey Audio Khartago, Schiit Audio Vidar, Conrad Johnson MV-55) connected to nice speakers (KEF LS50s, PSB Imagine Ts) with headphone amp/DACs deployed as DAC/preamps and the results are also excellent. ...and those system experiences remind me how much better two channel speaker audio systems are than headphones, as convenient and excellent an audio experience headphones can offer (which are also better than ever).
made the mistake of hearing a dCS Rossini DAC with the clock at my local dealer... now I can't get my mind off it... I've literally never heard anything so good.. Mola Mola, DAVE, all don't compare... it's just amazing how perfect the sound was, especially thru the Wilson Audio speakers and McIntosh 1.2KW mono block setup.
Had to hear the demo twice. I went to my sterio and cranked it wide open, had to turn the bass down. Played it 8 times. My girlfriend came in and I thought she was going to bitch, but she said who is that? It's very cool. And stood there for three more times . It sounded magnificent. I'm going to get the dvd. Wow a very well made recording. This is why I love digital. So clean, I wish you could hear it. You wouldn't believe it.
Hi Andreas, I haven’t got the Dragonfly Cobalt to compare it with. The original Dragonfly DAC were designed by Gordon Rankin who is a digital audio guru and extremely well respected designer. However, they are low power devices designed to draw power from your phone or computer usb line. As a result, as good as they are, I wouldn’t expect them to preform as well as the Mojo which has a dedicated usb power connection. Thank you for watching the video and commenting.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I thought the Mojo was battery powered, so I'm confused by your statement that it has a dedicated USB connection. If so, it then requires two USB connections - one for power and another for signal, correct? I imagine separating signal from power is beneficial, but thought this was done with the battery.
Great explanation and not too complex. I have a few Chord DACs and some others too but before getting into this I did buy and read most of a serious university standard standard text on digital audio processes. It was hard going what with formulas etc but the basics sank into my old brain rather well.
The revisions you suggest all make sense. But one of this device’s selling points is its dramatically low price. Changing it so it is software running on a computer means buying or reallocating a computer, which multiplies the device’s price to the point where it may not be appealing anymore. Improvements like choosing your input without yanking cords could be done using the same form factor they are using now. That way audiophiles on a budget could continue enjoying (even better) ROI of this device. Adding some kind of modern UI, of course, would require some kind of computing power and display. What about a phone app? £.02, Tubelugs
Tarun I have a Sugden A21SE, Audiolab 6000n streamer and KEF R3 speakers, Chord Chorus interconnect and QED XT400 speaker cables, always looking for the next step, would the MOJO be an improvement over the built in DAC in the Audiolab? Or what thoughts do you have?
@@abritishaudiophile7314 can the Denafrips Ares II go into an integrated amp, only one forum mentions it needs a pre-amp line in as no volume controls, the streamer itself has volume control via the PlayFi app it uses, not much info out there regarding the Denafrip. Regards Steve.
@@mrmeaner3917 it has no volume control but you would use the volume control on your Sugden. It is when you are connecting directly to a power amp that you can’t use it 😉
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I’m going to go for the Ares II, you’ve made me research it and it’s impressive, incidentally I’ve just changed my speaker cables from QED XT400 to Mogami 3104 and the difference is immense, it’s like the orchestra just added 20 more musicians.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Got the RME ADI-2 which I plan to pair with the Quad 99 power amp and Z-2 speakers. The 84dB sensitivity of the Z-2’s had me worried that 50W from the Audiolab 6000A may not be enough. The 91dB of the Quad 25Ls should make a better match for the 50W output. Hope I’m right.
@@jeremylynnchagaspereira3926 the sensitivity only relates to how load that amplifier will play those speakers. The impedance plot give you an indication of how hard they are to drive 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks! I think you’ve said that in your videos, but I struggle with the co-relation of watts, resistance and sensitivity. I think the minimum impedance on the Z-2s is 4.8 ohms but that doesn’t help with my lack of understanding 🤦🏻♂️
Higher sampling rates via oversampling don't allow you to represent "timing information" more accurately. We are stuck with FS/2. Oversampling is used for filtering of digital images. Better filters with more taps do the job more ideally
IMHO, that depends. For instance, Schiit DACs don’t resample, they keep the original samples and interpolate additional samples. Most oversampling DACs create new samples and throw out the original samples.
I’ve got my heart set on a Project 2RS T digital transport and a Denafrips Terminator DAC. This would be an ideal combination in my opinion. If you are inclined to CDs, some people are not. I master my own on gold blanks. These are reference grade disks. The transport in the Project transport is a marvel of engineering excellence. It may need a few minor mods from me, but a scarce few. I could live with it. What do you think Tarun? The R2R dacs are supposed to be superior to even the trick processor dacs. I’m not a big digiphile, but I like to make CDs with challenging music to test system performance. Some of the material is sometimes poorly recorded. Your ears may not like having to reconcile with this, but if you like the artist or the rendition, it is tolerated with greater ease. It’s a mindset.
Hi Mark, I believe John Westlake (formerly responsible for the Audiolab M DAC and the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic before that) is responsible for their DACs and maybe the transport too. The Dacmagic and M DAC were landmark products for their price points at the time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Westlake has done something special with the Project transport. Just out of interest Mark, what is it about the design that has drawn your interest? As for the Denafrips DACs, they certainly have drawn quite a bit of positive attention. Personally, I think there is something quite elegant and alluring about a NOS R2R DAC. Let face it, Delta-Sigma is not without its problems. I would love to get the Denafrips Aries in for a review to compare with my Mojo. Please let me know how you get on with both products and good to hear from you, buddy! 😊👍
A British Audiophile, Tarun, this is a dream set-up. I do not have it. I’ve wanted the Project transport ever since I saw it. The way it is made utilizing a proven performer in a transport that was great from the start, did the modifications to it to make it even better and packaged it simply and elegantly. It impressed me. That isn’t easy by the way. The Denafrips Terminator DAC has a really impressive power supply, ladder R2R circuitry which I think is much better at retrieving the detail. The entry level Denafrips DAC is making a name for itself as well. This DAC will decimate the Chord in my opinion with extreme prejudice. The difference will be like being hit with a 50 caliber bullet. Wake up call with a come to see Jesus education. It will not be subtle. I would put a great mains wire on it like you made on your video for the mains cables. If you want the most out of your gear. You need to put the effort to get it. Those mains cables that come with gear are just mediocre. Wire matters, wire construction matters! Nothing stupid mind you, just good common sense construction as you used in your video. I used this with my modified mains cables back in the day. I used hospital grade plugs both on the wire and at the socket. Hospital grade will give you the best possible performance in your audio applications in my experience. It is about the positive retention connection you get with the plug and receptacle. It is very good. This is imperative to any high performance application whether it be audio, video or in test equipment and computer applications. I recommend this for high end soldering stations as well. Great performance starts at the mains end and works the other way. You cannot expect that great performance using off the shelf mains cables. These are just trash. IEC ends need and deserve the same attention. You are only as good as your weakest link! No weak links, no worries. Power conditioning is only good if it is a pure sine wave output type. Some units chop the tops and bottoms of the wave. That is just wrong! You’ll pay for what I call these true wave units, but it is very worthwhile as the nasty reality of 2Kv spikes and what they do to your gear is not pretty. I digress, but it is hard for me not to when these things have proven themselves over decades of performance. Clearly opinions vary, but proven performance trounces the snake oil theorists objections. Clean power in your gear means true performance out. You don’t have to use exotic wire. Just use great parts and common sense. Works every time.
Hi Mark, I love reading your comments. I always learn something and you regularly point me towards something that I need to look into further. Let’s see if I can get Denafrips to send me the Aries II. Do you know any good literature discussing delta sigma vs R2R as background reading? I know the basics but need to dig a bit deeper if I am to review it. Thank you my friend for sharing as always 😉
A British Audiophile, I’ve been out of the loop on the book side for a while. I’ll give it a try. It may take a while. You stay safe. I just hope I spelled your name correctly. I write on the subreddit R/soldering under u/Soldermeister. This is something I am doing to try to help people that some on this forum. They have know it alls and venom spewers. You have them to I am sure. I am not deterred. I don’t expect you are either.
@@rajendrabiswas it can run hot and like all batteries have a limeted life. They can be replaced. I think you would better off with a conventional desktop DAC 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 do you like schiit DACs and if so .. are multibit worth taking over ess ? I still have my eye on mojo if only someone can give me demo .. but it seems to have won lot of award
I don’t like the idea of not being able to use wired internet connection with the Poly, doesn’t this make for an inferior streaming experience although I doubt I’d be able to hear the difference in a blind test, it’s just my ocd would nag at me 😂
