Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Chord Mojo 2

I'm hoping it's a good result for you. Even if there's no audio difference, there's something to be said about convenience and portability.

I stopped reading audio publications and websites (including ASR) when i realized it was affecting my satisfaction with my existing setup. Much of what's out there is either placebo effect, expectation bias, or beyond the threshold of audibility for most households.

I've immunized myself to all this by having low standards.

Putting aside the the higher voltage needed to drive my 300 ohm headphones the biggest difference switching from

MacBook headphone out -> O2 Amp -> headphones .... to ... MacBook usb out -> JDS Atom DAC+/AMP+ ->headphones

was the black noise floor. I have no doubt the DAC is 1000% better but it's not what jumps out for me.

One more thing ... the Atom DAC+ at $100 USD is probably one of the best values out there. It accepts USB or OPT inputs and I have yet to find fault with it.

Its hard to comment on any audio product without sounding like a cheerleader, or hater, or general camp based fanboy.

I have no other Chord products, have no emotional attachment, nor did I covet one for months before buying. I read a review on ASR, verified on youtube at Darko Audio, took a flyer and bought one.

I will keep the “review” short and give descriptors based on its performance in my system. I should note above all else my room is treated and set up for the purpose of 2ch reproduction. I am a math and measurements guy, and have either worked on or consulted for a bunch of rooms. Ballpark 30 or so “seriously”. Not to toot my own horn, but you can trust my feedback.

My System space:
Room measures 11x17x8 or so going off memory.
Decay time is around 400msec
Absorbers and diffusers deployed in room. Area rug on floor. Bare ceiling.

Hardware:
Google Chromecast
Chord Mojo 2
Leema Tucana Integrated Amp
Axiom M5 speakers

Over the course of a few nights and one quiet morning I enjoyed the Chord Mojo 2 and “squint listened”. How’d it do? Well…. It is a transformative piece of gadget. I was able to quickly bypass the chord and use just the chromecast audio into the system as one test. I also tested cables between the chord mojo 2 and the integrated, but thats another story…. I used the chord in “vanilla” mode and volume output was matched to the chromecast output by itself for testing.

I am now unequivicolly convinced a Dac is not a Dac. A cable is not a cable.

The differences were plainly audible. I did not test blind, I did not ABX, I did not take in room measurements.

The Chord Mojo 2 does these things better than just a chromecast as the source:

Deepens soundstage
Adds a sense of lightness or airiness around “delicate” sounds in the mix
Increases clarity of individual elements of soundstage
Gives a perceived greater dynamic/immediate presentation
Adds qualities above to low level listening

Sounds closer to a human singing than this system has ever produced for me. Above all else this gadget fooled me a few times that there was a human in front of me.

Would I buy again? Yes.

Sorry Trevor,
I was not trying to say anything good or bad about going with the Chord Mojo 2. I know nothing about it (except the price tag when I looked it up)
Bringing up the Atom was really a personal question ... how much better can the Mojo 2 be?
This is the question I'm always asking ... where does the incremental performance difference end.

The interesting thing about A/B testing, for me at least, is that I find I really want/need to switch out components instantaneously,
Any time delay and I'm kind of guessing at the memory of what I heard last.

I shoulda started that post off with “ok folks, final thoughts”

Didnt mean it as a reply to anyone. First line was a disclaimer and not intended for you or anyone.

No harm done Ol’ boy!

It would be interesting to see a heads up with a unit that measures well vs the chord that measures well too and also had a designer that agonized over how it sounded. Dunno. It sure as heck isnt leaving here that’s for sure.

I had pretty much decided it was great and then put my wife through a “blind” test, as she doesnt really care or know about the items I was messing with. She picked it out right away and also could pick out interconnects right away.

I put her through the process to make sure I wasnt crazy.

Chord won over chromecast easily. Phew!

She could pick out a mogami gold vs generic (hosa?) interconnect 10/10 times if I asked her. She said a person would have to have other issues to not hear it. I would agree on it. Blatant difference.

I don't think Mojo 2 is adding anything as much as it's removed the weakest link in your old set up. I'm curious what that bottleneck was.

Last year, I had just bought the M5HP and an Onkyo AVR, but hooking up my 3rd gen Apple TV was a terrible audio experience. It had audible distortion through AirPlay 1 using both Toslink and HDMI. Apple TV has the capability of accessing my iCloud music catalog without streaming from MacOS or iOS, and that was equally distorted. Casting through Bluetooth 4.0 definitely sounded best with this setup.

I didn't resolve the issue until I bought a Chromecast with Google TV to replace the Apple TV. It sounds great through HDMI, at the expense of losing AirPlay and iCloud capability.

My guess was that the audio output of both optical and HDMI saturated the Onkyo's onboard DAC, causing the distortion even at low volumes (40 to 45 on the volume dial). This wasn't an issue with the onboard DAC of my Kanto Yumi.

We compared it to direct to a chromecast as you mention. Wasnt close.

Who knows what goes on in these black boxes.