Very few products actually break a category. The original Chord Mojo did exactly that. Will the brand new Chord Mojo 2 do something similar or are there too many affordable options in 2022 that do the same thing?
It has also been 7 years. That’s a rather long lifespan for any product in a world where we change our phones (for no reason) every 2 years.
Chord has not taken its foot off the pedal at all during the pandemic releasing updated versions of its best-selling products and the outstanding Chord Huei Phono Stage that we recently reviewed.
The long-awaiting Chord Mojo 2 is finally here and the details would suggest that the new model has better processing power, greatly improved battery performance, more connectivity options, and a revolutionary new type of lossless DSP.
It is also compatible with the Chord Poly Streamer/Server which gives you wireless access for hi-res streaming and 2 TB of solid-state storage using the microSD card slot.
The microSD card thing is interesting but I don’t know how many people use it outside of hardcore Head-Fi folks.
I can see using the Chord Mojo 2 with a laptop on the desktop and some headphones or with active loudspeakers. The asking price has really not gone up that much considering the purported improvements in performance.
I would even consider running a CD player into the coaxial input as well.
Almost seven years after Chord Electronics created the high-end portable DAC genre, the company’s long-standing digital design consultant, Rob Watts, has revisited, reimagined and reengineered the award-winning original with ground-breaking, world-first technology.
The new Chord Mojo 2 benefits from several new features, chief of which is a revolutionary lossless DSP, the first of its kind in the world.
The innovative new ‘UHD DSP’ is fully transparent, enabling comprehensive tone adjustments across the frequency range, without any degradation in sound quality.
The new technology gives the Chord Mojo 2 unrivaled compatibility with today’s wide-ranging choice of headphones, regardless of type and sonic signature, plus flexibility with different source components and digital file types.
A further key feature is the introduction of a menu system. Navigated via a new (fourth) control sphere, the menu brings a mute function, four-setting crossfeed adjustment, a button-lock feature for traveling, plus the fully lossless tone controls.
USB-C Connectivity
Digital inputs have increased to four, thanks to a new USB-C data input for greater flexibility. USB-C is featured alongside optical, coaxial (incl. dual-data for the M Scaler) and Micro USB. Two 3.5mm mini-jack headphone outputs allow up to two people to listen simultaneously.
Better Battery Performance and Charging
The Mojo 2 benefits from greatly improved battery management, thanks to a new FPGA-based battery-charging system. The tech brings much faster charging rates, coupled with a 75% reduction in power loss for more efficient charging. Capacity is up by 9%, resulting in better efficiency and improved battery life, which is now better than eight hours.
Chord has also improved the Mojo 2’s ‘Intelligent Desktop Mode’ technology with an isolated battery and PSU redesign to support battery-free operation without any losses in sound quality, plus improved filtering and isolation.
Improved Transparency
Mojo 2 is now DC-coupled with a digital DC servo. It benefits from an improved WTA (Watts Transient Aligned) filter, now offering 40,960 taps (the technical indicator of how complex the interpolation filter is), using 40 DSP cores.
Additionally, an improved noise-shaper offers greater depth and detail perception, plus improvements to the 4e Pulse Array DAC introduce lower distortion and out-of-band noise. Greater neutrality has also been achieved, thanks to the elimination of coupling capacitors.
New fully transparent UHD DSP
Mojo 2 benefits from the world’s first fully transparent ‘UHD DSP’. The proprietary technology uses a 104-bit custom DSP core running at 705/768 kHz: no other audio DSP offers the same accuracy. By using 104 bits plus extensive internal noise-shaping, Mojo 2 can deliver complete transparency by preserving the filtering of ultra-small signals.
UHD DSP features
The unique UHD DSP enables fine-tuning across the full frequency range with 18 steps of adjustment per frequency banding: lower bass, mid-bass, lower treble and high treble.
The volume control range has also been improved from +18 dB to -108 dB, and now benefits from two distinct operational ranges: low and high volume.
A new four-setting crossfeed function, also DSP-controlled, brings speaker-like spatial effects for flexible headphone listening.
Price & Availability
The Chord Mojo 2 portable DAC/Headphone Amplifier is available now in black (only); UK SRP £449, which should be about $600 USD. However, U.S. pricing is $845 at Audio46.com due to increased freight costs.
The Chord Poly portable Music Streamer is available now for $795 at Audio Advice.
For more information: chordelectronics.co.uk
MadMex
January 31, 2022 at 9:10 pm
I knew it. I knew version 2 was around the corner and so like waiting for the next Apple version I held out, held out for over a year, maybe over two. But lacking a 4.4mm jack is a major faux pas and a dealbreaker in my expert opinion. Instead they keep the same 2-3.5mm jacks so two people can listen simultaneously. And how many people do that? Listen at the same time to the same thing? Nobody. That’s who.
Ian White
January 31, 2022 at 11:14 pm
MM,
That is a very valid criticism. The price is also $750 due to higher costs for shipping and parts.
I agree that 2 3.5mm jacks is kinda irrelevant because very few people do that.
Ian