Chord Mojo DAC - FPGA technology for $600.

Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2011
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I just bought one of these and it is still burning in but it sounds very close to the well-regarded Chord Hugo. It's a small black box meant for portable audio use but you can use splitters and use it as a DAC. It plays all PCM and DSD formats and sounds excellent so far. I am working on a review and John Atkinson tells me that the new Stereophile for February has a review. Very solid machined black box about the size of a pack of cigarettes. It has a color coded power on button that indicates sampling rates and two buttons for +/- on volume. The buttons are cool little translucent spheres.

Being portable it tales an optical, coax, and Micro B input and then has two 1/8" headphone outputs...so not exactly a rack mount component but can be used as one.

The cheapest way to get Robert Watt's reference class FPGA technology!
 

Lee

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Feb 3, 2011
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Alpharetta, Georgia
i have a hugo and with the right headphones it can give a very good musically envolving sound even from humble 320 mp3.

whats the mojo missing sound wise vs the hugo then?

I had a Hugo on loan from Brooks Berdan for a week and half but no longer have it so I cannot do a direct A/B. But I am hearing the exact same sound signature. Very clear and detailed sound and wide open soundstage.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2011
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P.S. Measured distortion is lower on the mojo.
 

HedgeHog

Well-Known Member
Mar 12, 2012
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Richmond, BC
I just got the Hugo TT as an "upgrade" to the iFi micro iDSD. So far, I'm not wowed. It's nice but I got more of a wow from the iDSD. Same dealio when I had the Oppo BDP-105 sent to get the ModWright Truth Mods.

What am I not doing right to get the superlatives that everyone on CA is lavishing on this thing????

-H
*experiencing super buyer's remorse
 

wisnon

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2011
3,525
635
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I just got the Hugo TT as an "upgrade" to the iFi micro iDSD. So far, I'm not wowed. It's nice but I got more of a wow from the iDSD. Same dealio when I had the Oppo BDP-105 sent to get the ModWright Truth Mods.

What am I not doing right to get the superlatives that everyone on CA is lavishing on this thing????

-H
*experiencing super buyer's remorse
AL and I have been saying the same for over a year and got pounded for saying so.
LoL

Not a Hugo lover, but my brief listen to the DAVE was quite different. That Dac has real potential, as it should for $15K...
However, I am not sure about its DSD as they didn't say what was what in the demo, so it still make suck at DSD like the Hugo.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2011
3,210
1,738
1,260
Alpharetta, Georgia
I just got the Hugo TT as an "upgrade" to the iFi micro iDSD. So far, I'm not wowed. It's nice but I got more of a wow from the iDSD. Same dealio when I had the Oppo BDP-105 sent to get the ModWright Truth Mods.

What am I not doing right to get the superlatives that everyone on CA is lavishing on this thing????

-H
*experiencing super buyer's remorse

Maybe it's just not your sonic signature? I must have six friends with the Hugo TT and they all rave about how transparent and musical it is.

I have an iFi iDSD and love it but the Hugo TT is several levels above it in sound in my humble opinion.
 

HedgeHog

Well-Known Member
Mar 12, 2012
183
13
325
Richmond, BC
your prob not doing anything wrong. its ok to not like stuff. i dont mind the hugo bit its not worthy of all the fuss imo. send it back. look into the thread on the chinese dac in blizzards corner prob dump all over a hugo.


I've read great reviews of the Gustard but I've also read/seen QC problems with the same brand. I forgot whether it was posted on Head-Fi or CA but there were pix of bad cutouts for USB and panel gaps.



AL and I have been saying the same for over a year and got pounded for saying so.
LoL

Not a Hugo lover, but my brief listen to the DAVE was quite different. That Dac has real potential, as it should for $15K...
However, I am not sure about its DSD as they didn't say what was what in the demo, so it still make suck at DSD like the Hugo.


DAVE sure is getting rave reviews and it has a feature I most desire (auto-mute of line outs when it detects the connection of the headphone). Sadly, I'm already pushing it with the Hugo TT. So Lampi, DAVE, TotalDAC, etc. are all out of my pay-grade. :(


Maybe it's just not your sonic signature? I must have six friends with the Hugo TT and they all rave about how transparent and musical it is.

I have an iFi iDSD and love it but the Hugo TT is several levels above it in sound in my humble opinion.


I've read so many people enthused over this; hence the reason I got it. It makes the highs way too harsh (like a cymbal has that hard crash but none of the decay). Using it with the Audeze LCD-3f is hit and miss. Sometimes it's pretty good and other times, it sounds "hifi". Like I said, it's not horrible, it just didn't give me that cathartic O-M-G reaction. Granted it's being used as my desktop DAC and I don't have a very high-end rig. Neither are my home systems but, perhaps, I shall give it a go with both setup and see.


Back on topic, I've read varying opinions of the Mojo. Some say it's closer to the Hugo than it has a right to (or even surpasses it). Others say the Hugo/Hugo TT is leagues above it and it is expected given the price difference. So back to sonic signature preferences again... ;)

Cheers.

-H
 

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