Six DAC Comparison

Thank you again Mitch2 for the in-depth review. 

As I always say: "there's no need to reinvent the wheel, just to get it to spin more true." And that is pretty much all we've been doing at Mojo Audio.

Our Mystique v3, EVO, and X, were the same DAC circuit with differences in component parts, chassis, and layout. Each design was built on the shoulders of the previous with subtle refinements. 

Our Mystique Z uses nearly identical chassis, power supplies, and component parts to our Mystique X, so I can see why Mitch2 finds they sound so similar. 

Of course what people may not realize is that before we introduce a new component part (like the Bybee purifiers) we have to give it a fair audition. That means we have to build two identical DACs with only one part different, break them in for hundreds of hours, and then do the comparison. 

Quite time consuming. 

You all may not realize how many of these new component parts and modules we audition every year and how few of them that actually go into our next gen DAC.

@johnny2bad 

I totally agree with you. That's why Mojo Audio has never put an attenuator in our DACs before. It comes down to us having to literally put a world-class preamp and our best DAC into one chassis. And that is going to end up being quite large, quite heavy, and quite expensive. 

I don't know how many of you might have been at AXPONA or RMAF in 2017. We had a headphone setup in a private room with a 70 pound SET DHT single-stage 20B tube pre/headphone amp made by Exit Level Audio.

At AXPONA our room was awarded "Best Sound (cost no object)" and at RMAF we were awarded "Best in Show" by TAS. 

Here's a link to the TAS AXPONA show report: scroll down to the bottom to see this MONSTER pre/headphone amp and our Mystique v3 DAC.

"Best Sound (cost no object) AXPONA 2017"

We bought the license to reproduce that pre/headphone amp from Exit Level Audio and that is what we're considering using as the preamp section of our pre/DAC.

So no, we are not slapping a passive attenuator onto one of our DACs. We just plan on using the best sounding remote-controlled attenuator we can find. We're auditioning the Khozmo AMRG, Z-Foil, and silver AVC attenuators. 

It won't be hard to design a tube DAC that will rival or beat the who's who of tube DACs on the market. The hard part is going to be getting this pre/DAC to weigh under 50 pounds and getting it to cost under $20K. 

Sorry...we won't be able to do the same exotic woodwork as Exit Level Audio, though we are considering a wooden chassis with a metal top-plate.

Well, now you know what I'll be doing in 2026.

Don't expect to see anything more than a prototype until 2027.

@mitch2 So I am really interested in the sound of the Aries Cerat DAC's.    Do you notice a Tube sound or 2nd order harmonics with the Helene and does the tubes give it a different sound than the Mojo Audio DACs.  The way Aries Cerat  uses the R2R chips they say makes them extremely dynamic have you noticed this?  How detailed are they?  Sorry to bombard you with all these question.  

Hi, 

I just received a used Mojo Audio Mystique X SE from the The Music Room and the sound is shifted to the left ,also the bass is week in right side , does the dac adjust after using for few hours or there is a problem ?

@saeed79 - That is unfortunate. The X SE, as with any of the Mojo Audio DACs I have had here, should not display either weak bass or a channel imbalance. Of course, your perception of bass may be influenced by what DAC you had before.  TMR tests the stuff they sell and, I believe, offers a return policy.  So, if you are convinced there are problems you should contact TMR.

@brbrock - 

Do you notice a Tube sound or 2nd order harmonics with the Helene and does the tubes give it a different sound than the Mojo Audio DACs.  

No particular “tubey” sound, as in overly warm or soft.  However, it does have a tubed output stage and tubed rectification.  Maybe a bit more “3D” than some solid state DACs, but that could also be for other reasons.  Also, consider the user-adjustable tube bias allows some customization of the sonic characteristics you will hear.

The way Aries Cerat  uses the R2R chips they say makes them extremely dynamic have you noticed this?  How detailed are they?  

It uses multiple AD1865 chips which, as discussed here in an earlier post, display a little more vibrancy and dynamic inpact compared to their sibling AD1862 chips used in previous Mojo Audio DACs, which offer more of a rich tone and organic musicality.  At least some hear those varying characteristics.  The use of multiple chips is a design choice that goes way back (my Monarchy DAC from the 2000’s had an upgrade that included piggybacking the PCM63 chips) but not all designers (like Benjamin) believe the trade-offs are worthwhile.

I have previously tried to touch on the differences between the Helene and both the X NCZ and the Z NC and, while not huge in my system, the characteristics I heard generally boiled down to the illusion of slightly greater clarity, less warmth in the mid-bass frequencies, and the same organically natural sound I hear from the Mojo Audio DACs, but even more so.

Sorry to bombard you with all these question.  

No problem.