Trusted Reviews: Mojo 2 Is a "Terrifically Engaging Listening Experience"
Posted by The Sound Organisation on Nov 17th 2022
In celebration of the Chord Electronics Mojo 2 DAC winning What Hi-Fi's Product of the Year Award for 2022, we're taking a closer look at some of the recent reviews that have come out since the Mojo 2's release! For all Mojo 2 Reviews, click here!
The Chord Electronics Mojo was one of the most popular mobile DACs available on the market for many years.Chord Electronics released the Mojo to help improve the state of mobile music, and achieved their goal with flying (control spheres of) colors. With more people listening on-the-go via their iPods, mp3 players, or especially mobile phones, there was certainly a shift in how people listen to their music. So, while standalone static sound systems are the gold standard for listening experiences, the Mojo could turn your tinny phone-based playback into a near approximation of what your listening room can offer. Then seven years after the release of the original Mojo, Chord Electronics unveiled the Mojo 2, and upgraded and advanced version of the popular DAC. Kob Monney of Trusted Reviews recently auditioned the Chord Mojo 2 and shared his findings in this recent review.
To begin his in-depth review, Kob does a quick review of the history of the original Mojo and the purported upgrades Chord Electronics has packed into the Mojo 2. One of the most noticeable of these changes is the addition of another Control Sphere, the multi-colored buttons on the Mojo 2. The new Control Sphere accesses the internal menu system, giving you new ways to customize your listening experience. Chief among those are the different DSP and crossfeed options that grant you the ability to shape the sound pattern to fit your personal preference, accentuate the genre, or even make up for poorly mixed tracks. Kob does find the menu system "convoluted", "complex", and requires the manual to remember the settings. However, we believe that after longer use of the control spheres, you'll have an easy time using the menu system.
Beyond the menu system, the Mojo 2 sports an array of inputs and two 3.5mm headphone outputs. With coaxial and dual-data coax, micro-USB and USB-C, as well as optical inputs, you should have no troubles connecting to just about any device. Attach the Chord Poly Streamer and you'll also have internal storage and playback options, too. The new Mojo 2 is made to be more versatile for the end user, and that means use as a desktop DAC in addition to a mobile DAC. To aid in this transition, the Mojo 2 features an advanced Intelligent Desktop Mode that bypasses the battery to preserve battery life. This bypass also prevents any distortion when hooked up to mains power, which is key when being used in your home or office sound system.
Probably most important is the effect the Mojo 2 can have on your listening session. Does it really transform your music? Kob found that the Mojo 2 doesn't get in the way of your music. In fact, it amplifies and unveils the music in the recording, rather than trying to shape it into something else:
The Mojo 2 doesn't appear to add its own colour or sound to signal or necessarily change the characteristics of the headphone much – it removes all the impurities in the signal, amplifying the sound to leave only sonic goodness. That sounds rather lofty but listening to a pair of headphones through the Chord and you can tick off a greater sense of width to the soundstage, greater levels of detail, definition and resolution, a superb sense of dynamism and attack. The Mojo 2 renders music with the utmost sense of clarity and depth – listening to tracks with just a pair of headphones and comparing them to how they sound filtered through the Mojo 2 and they sound flatter and less energetic.
Giving the Chord Electronics Mojo 2 a full five stars, Kob Monney admits it may not be perfect and takes some getting used to. But, when you plug your headphones into the Mojo 2 and suddenly "hear all the nuances in your music collection" you can't deny it is one of the Best DACs of 2022.
