Wayback Wednesday: The Chord Mojo

Disclaimer: This article about the Chord Mojo is part of the Wayback Wednesday series.  Check out the other Wayback Wednesday articles HERE

This week I was going through our database and I was surprised to see the first Chord Mojo article dates back to December 2015 already. 2015…Wow. It seems like only yesterday that the Mojo was launched in a fancy hotel in London. Immediately from the start everyone loved it but unfortunately it took a while for us to get one. As it was taking me too long, I bought a unit from AudioGarden.fr and I have to admit it didn’t blew me away at the start. But it sure impressed Nathan a hell of a lot:

For me it took a while for the Mojo to grow on me. Do I like it now? Yes I do, but do I love it as much as Hugo or Hugo 2? No, I do not. Mojo is an extremely handy device that you can take with you anywhere. On top of that it also works with phones and DAPs and what not and that’s simply awesome.

I love using the Mojo with my IEMs but not so with full sized headphones. I do think the DAC is really nice but if I have a choice I always go the for Hugo 2 or even the SP1000 (as DAC). But yes it is extremely handy, sounds more than good and it’s a whole lot more affordable than the more expensive (but even better sounding) Hugo units.

That’s actually something people have complained to me about: I keep saying/repeating that Hugo is better. I promise to do less so but you know…

A few weeks ago at Canjam London I finally got the opportunity to listen to the Mojo’s new friend, the Poly. Then last Friday I got to listen to it again at the one and only Belgian Personal Audio store, Belhifi. Poly turns your Chord Mojo in to a portable player so to say, but I don’t really see it that way. Why? Because you still need a phone or tablet to control the Mojo/Poly combo. So does it really replace a dedicated DAP like the SP1000? I’m not sure, yet. And size wise you are still carrying around 2 (connected) units and a control unit. So that doesn’t have me convinced either. Yet.

But maybe like Mojo, Poly will grow on me. What I do know already, is that Mojo is here to stay for a whole lot longer. Mojo has been on top since 2015 and I can see it stay there for a couple more years. Easily.

The Mojo? Yeah ok, it’s hot.

4.2/5 - (46 votes)
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedin

Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

2 Comments

  • Reply September 6, 2017

    Julien

    Hello Lieven,

    Thanks to your advise, I got my hand on a Hugo unit to drive my amps cavalli LC and bakoon 01-m (I need only transportable equipment).
    Did you get the chance trying one of these combos? I read your hugo 2 review, and as i would prefer a more ”analog” sound, I favored the hugo over hugo 2, also price is much more affordable on 2nd hand market…
    I got the herus+ linked to the bakoon only, but with hugo, should I just sell the little herus now, or is it still a worthy different flavor.. ? Thanks

    • Reply September 7, 2017

      Lieven

      We have to look at diffrent setups.

      1. Hugo as DAC/AMP vs Mojo -> I prefer the smoother Hugo 1 over the mojo
      2. Hugo 2 as DAC/AMP vs Mojo -> I prefer the H2 as it is technically better than Mojo
      3. hugo 1 vs Hugo 2 -> I lately use the H2 a lot more. the reason is because I often use the H2 as DAC only. In that case I prefer the DAC to be very fast, precise and detailed and I prefer my amplifier to impact the sound.

      I hope I’m making sense to you, in your case the H1 will pass a smoother sound to the Bakoon than the H+ does (ess sabre = detail / clarity). So I would say they’re complimentary, but if you clearly prefer one sound sig over the other, then you could indeed sell the H+ (in exampple)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.