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CHORD Mojo 2 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

Rate this product:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 11 3.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 34 9.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 145 41.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 156 45.1%

  • Total voters
    346

Robbo99999

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Just bought the Mojo2 and have been using it the last few days with different Headphones as well as a stint as main DAC in my system/s.

Too early to say much about sound other than it seems superb but build quality is sublime and the 'Ball' implementation is both intuitive, very quickly and unusual ... which is a welcome change in a sea of chinese lookalikes which seem to eminate from Shenzen in sequences of a few weeks apart. Give me this over a convoluted, tiny display anytime, especially as the feature set of Chord is relatively simple.

Perhaps not for the colour blind.
Well, we're glad you're enjoying your purchase anyway.
 

Music1969

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Just bought the Mojo2 and have been using it the last few days with different Headphones as well as a stint as main DAC in my system/s.

Too early to say much about sound other than it seems superb but build quality is sublime and the 'Ball' implementation is both intuitive, very quickly and unusual ... which is a welcome change in a sea of chinese lookalikes which seem to eminate from Shenzen in sequences of a few weeks apart. Give me this over a convoluted, tiny display anytime, especially as the feature set of Chord is relatively simple.

Perhaps not for the colour blind.
Nice - it got Amir's technical recommendation and soccer ball panther
 

dtaylo1066

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It is a quality unit, and one can debate price point and/or aesthetics ad nauseum.

If you like it that is all that counts, and clearly it seems to push your buttons.
 

RoA

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Having had more time with the unit some more impressions;

I am absolutely bowled over how much enjoyment this little item gives me.

Its difficult to put a finger on what exactly it is that it does so well. Rob Watts has his own technical explanations but to be honest, they are going over my head.

It is so coherent and ... complete that I usually forget to analyse music and just drift away with it.

I would not call it super analytical but in its own way it is. It's just that this is not done in the usual dry, lean and super widely spaced way rather it is all packed in to a wonderful 'compact' whole that has pin point staging, filigree detail, no harshness, lovely dynamics and just flows.

I think it was Currawong on Youtube that said that the remarkable thing about it is not the 'darkness' between notes but the way the Chord fills this in.

It is not Headphone or system agnostic. Although I do not have really expensive Headphones it drives them all and it does it well. Same as Stand alone DAC in my systems.

I love the 'balls' (they are not balls anymore). I find them entirely intuitive and enjoy that they are different. I take that anytime over a cramped, tiny display.

Build quality is first class.

Not so good things; As discussed many times elsewhere, Micro USB belongs in another era. Chord carried it over for use with its Poly but it's a pain. It was done for cost reasons but the Poly has been out for years so a slight re-design to USB C would not have done it any harm.

The case, although real leather and nicely made, was nearly 50 quid. Nothing gets cheaper and there are no alternatives (there is one on Amazon but it is till around £40) so I bit the bullet. Nicely protects the unit.

There are no nice accessories included. A rudamentary plastic case, even a bag and a few nice cables (ala iFi) would have been nice.
 

RoA

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Just listening to

[IMG]



Roon 44khz/24 bit (Tidal)

Through MacBook USB out to Mojo and this time my lowly but lovely 58X Jubilee.

Oh my. The warmth, clarity, impact and dynamics are so nice, it takes me to a New York Studio, September 17, 1962.

High hats have an incredibly long reverb trail until they eventually disappear into thin air and there is no 'digital grain'. Drums hit hard and the double bass has that lovely wooden resonance. The music has body and dare I say ... soul.

This combination costs just over £600, source and subscriptions excluded.

There is no Hifi system in the world that probably would even approach 40% of this, probably less for this price.

It makes me wonder what the rest of Chords DAC's/HP amplifiers can do but with the Hugo TT2 costing close to £5000 I'll never find out.

I re-iterate, just how Chord can sell this for £500 (not made in the PRC) I really don't know.

To put the above in to perspective, my experience/knowledge of HeadFi is limited.

I have a Grado, Beyerdynamic, Meze, Hifiman and the above Sennheiser. I don't have any other 'specialised' Headphone amplifiers other than the Chord but both my Hegel and Cyrus amplifiers are said to have excellent Headphone stages as has my MacBook Pro M1 14 2021. None of them quite have the SQ of the Mojo though. Individually they do good things but all lack in areas.

Hope this helps anyone on the fence on whether to get this little Chord.

Of course, we all like different things but I can't imagine too many objecting to the balanced but fun signature of the Mojo 2.

Ergonomics may be another story but this user likes it, a lot.
 

Ken Tajalli

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I re-iterate, just how Chord can sell this for £500 (not made in the PRC) I really don't know.
The main chip is expensive, so is the battery, but the rest of the parts, not so much. The case has taken a knock compared to original Mojo (it had better tolerances), but still £500 is very very reasonable, in the absence of real competition.
They sell them in Large numbers, so manufacturing costs come down. It is rumoured the original Mojo sales were around 100K!
Micro-USB is a non-issue really, if they had included a couple of converters. But you can get them easy enough.
 

Ken Tajalli

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It drives my LCD4, LCD3, LCDXC and LCDi3 all great
All LCDs are efficient designs, needing not much power.
Mojo2 st half a watt, is powerful enough for majority of headphones anyway. Had no problems with a Hifiman EDXS, which is not a sensitive headphone.
As to "Desktop Headphone amps" (that's what @Jimster480 meant!), I never had any use for them. To me headphones listening is a personal thing. To lay back and switch off in corner. Only mobile amps do it for me.
 

Jimster480

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They are headphones
I meant compare driving the LCD headphones with the MOJO VS a Desktop Amp...
All LCDs are efficient designs, needing not much power.
Mojo2 st half a watt, is powerful enough for majority of headphones anyway. Had no problems with a Hifiman EDXS, which is not a sensitive headphone.
As to "Desktop Headphone amps" (that's what @Jimster480 meant!), I never had any use for them. To me headphones listening is a personal thing. To lay back and switch off in corner. Only mobile amps do it for me.
For me I use desktop amps because I frequently sit at my desk and work. I never will sit relaxing with headphones. That simply doesn't exist for me. There is no switching off time like that as a younger busy individual.
 

Sam Spade

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It drives my LCD4, LCD3, LCDXC and LCDi3 all great
Have you compared them to desktop amps?

I have a Burson Conductor 3x and a Musical Fidelity X-Cans fed by a Cambridge Audio 840c, also a Sparkos Aries fed by a Chord Qutest and a modified marantz cd80. I'm entirely happy listening to the Mojo 2. I also use the Mojo 2 to feed a $10k Hertz/Helix car system. I've never felt the need to sit down and analytically compare the mojo 2 with my desktop systems. It just sounds great and is very convenient. I believe AK SP1000M digitally feeding Mojo 2 sounds better than AK SP1000M alone. And the AK SP1000M sounds great
 

Jimster480

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I have a Burson Conductor 3x and a Musical Fidelity X-Cans fed by a Cambridge Audio 840c, also a Sparkos Aries fed by a Chord Qutest and a modified marantz cd80. I'm entirely happy listening to the Mojo 2. I also use the Mojo 2 to feed a $10k Hertz/Helix car system. I've never felt the need to sit down and analytically compare the mojo 2 with my desktop systems. It just sounds great and is very convenient. I believe AK SP1000M digitally feeding Mojo 2 sounds better than AK SP1000M alone. And the AK SP1000M sounds great
Seems so wildly overpriced. I guess its fine, but to spend 10k or so on all the stuff you have doesn't make much of a comparison.
Probably the Mojo2 is the best performing thing you own. Since all those DAPs always sound like they are under water for some reason.
 

Sam Spade

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Seems so wildly overpriced. I guess its fine, but to spend 10k or so on all the stuff you have doesn't make much of a comparison.
Probably the Mojo2 is the best performing thing you own. Since all those DAPs always sound like they are under water for some reason.
I have some great Marantz stuff driving speakers, but they do a shit job driving Audeze planar headphones. They drove top end Sennheizer dynamic headphones well, but I gave those to my mum when I upgraded to planars.
 

Jimster480

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I have some great Marantz stuff driving speakers, but they do a shit job driving Audeze planar headphones. They drove top end Sennheizer dynamic headphones well, but I gave those to my mum when I upgraded to planars.
Planar needs current over all. If not it doesn't sound right.
 

Sam Spade

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Seems so wildly overpriced. I guess its fine, but to spend 10k or so on all the stuff you have doesn't make much of a comparison.
Probably the Mojo2 is the best performing thing you own. Since all those DAPs always sound like they are under water for some reason.
Jim In my opinion, for a digital source, if you want value and convenience buy a Mojo 2. The Qutest is better but not worth the extra cash.............. well MAYBE except listening through a Sparko Aries or a Burson Conductor 3x driving Audeze LCD4 or something like my Musical fidelity preamp feeding a rotel RC1080
 
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