Six DAC Comparison

I’ve had my Mystique ZQ for around a month with 40-50hrs critical listening. I’m very happy with it. Starting with the very familiar Mystique sound I had with my X’24 NC I stepped up to a Z NC and immediately heard the difference in definition and space and articulation especially in the natural reverb and harmonics of acoustic instruments. I’d quantify that as a 5% step up for me toward nirvana in my system and room. Going from the Z NC to ZQ gave me another 5% of the magic wand. 
 

Of particular note is that I can clearly discern fine musical details and have full range enjoyment at lower volumes with the Z line. Briefly, I hooked my X NC back up and immediately heard the loss. I’m set for quite a while now. No doubt Benjamin will improve the flux capacitor again soon and we’ll all wonder about “more”. It’s a very tough cycle. 

@zachawry 

Funny how we all use different adjectives to mean the same thing.

What Zach is calling "sluggish" as opposed to "fast" is what gives the music more correct time and tune.

And that "correctness" as you put it is what my ear is calling "emotional expression."

So we're actually saying the same thing with different words. 

@mfisher702 

We upgraded the flux capacitors with unobtainium in our Z so I wouldn't be expecting there to be any real change until we incorporate dark matter. 

But seriously...

Our plan for 2026 is a new chassis for all of our products, both our Mystique Z DACs and our new Illuminati v5 power supplies. 

Sad to say the local machine shop we've been using has gotten progressively more unreliable and more expensive over the years so we're going back to a chassis company we used from the East Coast.

The only reason we stopped using this company back in 2012 was they had a fire in their factory and were unable to make chassis for about a year. By then we had local shops doing our chassis for us.

One big difference will be silver and black anodized face plates.

We won't be able to have the machined 3D "Mystique" on these anodized face plates but they will be a nice fine even grained anodized aluminum finish like many other manufacturers use. 

We're still debating on if we want to do a laser etched or printed "Mystique" on the face plate. We'll have to see what the prototypes look like.

Any opinions out there as to Mojo moving away from our current face plates and moving toward silver and black anodized face plates?

Our next DAC project, ETA 2027, will be a fully balanced, dual mono, class A, preamp DAC.

This will be a joint project between Mojo Audio and Staccato.

Staccato is going to adapt the stepped attenuator, input selection, and remote control logic circuit, from their BU-1 integrated amplifier to one of our DACs.

And we're hoping that they'll design and manufacture a 100% discrete output stage for us rather than us using a half a dozen of their class A op amp modules.

We're the US distributor for Staccato and we'll be exhibiting with Staccato at AXPONA in April (room #360).

So Jakub and I will have plenty of time to flesh out this project :^)

I've just finished reading through this thread and decided to make an Audiogon account to thank @mitch2 and @fuzzbutt17 for the really invaluable posts and to be notified when there are new posts here.

Also, since @fuzzbutt17 is looking for opinions on new face plates, I figured I'd throw in my thoughts. The thing I don't like about the look of the current Mojo DACs is the large "Mystique" in papyrus font on the face plate, so this seems like a great opportunity to move to a cleaner design. I quite like the more minimalist design of Merason and Schiit DACs, so I would vote for "Mystique" to either be smaller and in a cleaner font on the front, or just not have anything at all on the face plate and have Mystique only on the back. Silver and black anodized on its own looks very nice.

My current DAC is the Merason Frerot with the Pow1 LPS. When I upgrade, it'll either be to a Merason Reuss or Mojo Mystique Y (barring any new Mojo models). This is for a desktop headphone setup so I care a bit more about aesthetics since it's on my desk staring back at me haha. If Mojo were to create a stripped down version of the Mystique Z Q with just a USB input like the Y, and with a new chassis, it would make my upgrade choice a no brainer.

I apologize for not reading all 500+ responses, but I wanted to add that I went to Axpona this year and saw a lot of LTE Aero Dacs and Mojo Audio Mystiques. Apparently, many of the companies presenting their products preferred them for their systems. In each case, I have to say they both sounded fantastic.

Some Audiophiles have hearing so extraordinary they can pick the sound of DACs in a bunch of show systems they've never heard before playing in rooms they've never been in before.