Audio is subjective - if you like the sound , its good or else its bad.........there cannot be any laid down golden rule for "good audio" for all type of listeners....
Agreed. At the same time there is no harm in setting some ground rules and 'hoping' people will appreciate and understand that.
Sound - leaving out the subjective part - has to be pleasant, and non-tiring. When you hear a cacophony of sound amplified to ear splitting levels - that is not music. Even the sound of electronic instruments sounds good when heard properly. The sound has to have some reference to the rest of the music. If it drowns out everything else, it become noise.
I have constantly been put off by people who keep raising the volume for 'better' sound. With smartphones and 24/7 music through headphones, the WHO has said over a Billion people are going deaf!
Music when played and heard properly can actually help you maintain good health. It brings in peace and calmness and allows you to look at life differently. I spend about 1 hour every evening listening to music (never push beyond 9 'o' clock on my amplifier pot), and believe me, it does wonders. I attack the next working day with renewed vigour and the promise of listening to some good music at the end of the day. Many people (including some technically smart ones) keep arguing with me on MP3 and all that rot. I just smile, take them to my HT room, and play some familiar numbers on my system. I have managed to change the minds of nearly 90% of the my friends. Believe me, they did not know music could be heard this way - with three dimensionality, clear separation, and a way of getting into the soul of the song.
I just want people to understand that and appreciate that aspect of music.
That statement may not be entirely true for a lot of people. I have heard the Mojo alongside some cheaper DACs such as the Ifi Zen DAC, Topping e30, and the inbuilt DACs in my Marantz PM6006, SR6013 and Cambridge Audio CXA81 as well as the RME ADI-2 DAC. While the Chord Mojo is leaps and bounds ahead of the inbuilt Marantz DACs, it is also noticeably better than the ifi Zen Dac and the Topping E30 and the internal DAC in the CXA81. Coming to the RME, there's very little separating the two and while the RME has better sub bass performance and a wider soundstage, the Chord hits back with an "analogue" tonality which sounds better than the RME with instrumental music, something evident while playing Indian classical music.
The one thing i haven't done is compare it against price appropriate DACs such as the SMSL SU8, SMSL SU9, ifi zen one signature, Topping D30 pro, etc.
I am a mojo user for the past 4 years now. It has good power for full sized headphones despite being a portable unit. On DAC mode the 3V is louder than most DACs set at 2V. If you press the volume 4 times down. It’s about 1.9V, which is how we can do an AB atleast in a fair way. Otherwise louder is always better to the ears. For me it’s smooth because it has rolled off top end. If you eq a topping with few DbS down on the right most eq bands, it will sound narrow and smooth like the mojo.
I will keep it, as it’s a Swiss Army knife not because of its sound quality alone. It’s a decent headphone amp, preamp, and has optical in for tv or a CD player. Also two outputs makes it easy for biamping even though it’s a split.
That statement may not be entirely true for a lot of people. I have heard the Mojo alongside some cheaper DACs such as the Ifi Zen DAC, Topping e30, and the inbuilt DACs in my Marantz PM6006, SR6013 and Cambridge Audio CXA81 as well as the RME ADI-2 DAC. While the Chord Mojo is leaps and bounds ahead of the inbuilt Marantz DACs, it is also noticeably better than the ifi Zen Dac and the Topping E30 and the internal DAC in the CXA81. Coming to the RME, there's very little separating the two and while the RME has better sub bass performance and a wider soundstage, the Chord hits back with an "analogue" tonality which sounds better than the RME with instrumental music, something evident while playing Indian classical music.
The one thing i haven't done is compare it against price appropriate DACs such as the SMSL SU8, SMSL SU9, ifi zen one signature, Topping D30 pro, etc.
I think mojo should be compared with portable dac amps of its price. But if we look at the features mojo offers I think the discounted prices are very reasonable(never the orginal prices
Micro usb on a device worth 70k in 2022… why?? I would say that’s a missed opportunity.
