OG CHORD Mojo or Fiio BTR? Portable DAC & Amp

[InstantComet]

Greetings!
This is my first post on this forum, so sorry if I broke some rules…

I know the comparison here might be confusing, but the price of a second-hand OG Mojo and a new Fiio BTR15 is actually almost identical here in China (Nov.2024), both at 100$ USD, while Fiio BTR17 is more expensive, at 140$ USD.

My main use case for the portable DAC & Amp would be pairing it with a Sennheiser HD600 and having it move between my office and living place. Thus I want it to be portable. I also don't need it to be too portable as I have my old Bose QC45 and have myself covered in those scenarios.

I know the OG Mojo was a famous Portable DAC & Amp, but 6 years have passed since its original launch. I wonder if technological progress has surpassed its edge, or if it is still holding strong at this price point.

I went through every single comment in these threads:
CHORD Mojo 2 Review
Review and Measurements of Chord Mojo DAC and Amp
FiiO BTR7 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

As a newcomer to this field, I am still trying to grasp the meaning behind all the numbers…… that's why I am reaching out for help, any advice would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Instant Comet

 

[Somafunk]

Unless you’re a fawning fan of indecisive coloured balls and enjoy carrying around a brick with limited battery life but that also doubles as a pocket warmer then forget about the mojo, the Fiio btr17 has peq, balanced output, better battery life, excellent Bluetooth performance, lighter/easily pocketable and comes with a screen.

Get the Fiio , I say this as a previous owner of a mojo2 and poly - I sold them after a year and now use a Hiby dap

 

[InstantComet]

Unless you’re a fawning fan of indecisive coloured balls and enjoy carrying around a brick with limited battery life but that also doubles as a pocket warmer then forget about the mojo, the Fiio btr17 has peq, balanced output, better battery life, excellent Bluetooth performance, lighter/easily pocketable and comes with a screen.

Get the Fiio , I say this as a previous owner of a mojo2 and poly - I sold them after a year and now use a Hiby dap

Many thanks for your insights!

 

[womanofscience666]

I'd personally recommend the Chord Mojo for your use case. If you just need it to go back and forth between home and the office and you've already got something else to cover the journey I'd highly recommend the Mojo. Generally you're always going to get better performance out of a dedicated dac amp with a USB connection over a cheap dongle, having tried both I can easily say that the Mojo is far better

 

[Jimbob54]

I'd personally recommend the Chord Mojo for your use case. If you just need it to go back and forth between home and the office and you've already got something else to cover the journey I'd highly recommend the Mojo. Generally you're always going to get better performance out of a dedicated dac amp with a USB connection over a cheap dongle, having tried both I can easily say that the Mojo is far better

Got anything to back that up? The Mojo is for sure more powerful than some dongles and has its own battery- but what else gives it better "performance" than some of the better dongles (eg https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rtable-hp-amp-dac-review.58272/post-2131464)?

 

[womanofscience666]

Got anything to back that up? The Mojo is for sure more powerful than some dongles and has its own battery- but what else gives it better "performance" than some of the better dongles (eg https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rtable-hp-amp-dac-review.58272/post-2131464)?

it's extremely good filter on top of it's already great performance in other areas.

btw that link doesn't seem to work, opening it takes me to a 404 page