It will need A LOT and I mean A LOT of break in. 300 to 400 hours and will continue to develop after that. I’m speaking about the chokes as I don’t know about the 1862 NZ chip. Congrats on snagging it though Ben told me that he now has Z for Zero left of them. lol
5 Likes
Yep, warmup and break-in helps the Mojos a lot.
As for the Z-chip, there is basically no info out there outside of this that I found…
https://audiof.zouri.jp/dcd-1650gl.html
It looks like they were special binned for some high end early 90s Denon CD players. TBH i am not sure what the Denon sound signature was for those CD players or that era, and i would be interested if anyone knew. I am also not sure if these Z-chips were supposed to be a bit sonically different or just better SnR on the same AD1862 run.
That is an extremely “Ben” phrase.
4 Likes
Looking at the logo… they should present YouTube with a law suit. I think they’ve got a good case.
1 Like
So some impressions after w weeks or so of having it back. Its been reburned in another 100+ hours, amd powered on the past few days.
This last upgraded did a few things and feels like another step in the same staircase of the X to X SE upgrade path. Blacks are blacker and the noise floor seems to continue to be lowered. Its hard to keep saying as each time youre like “yep, its even more quiet that is absolutely 100% silent” but then you get even more silent. There is increased seperation and you feel like you start seeing all the muscle fibers that make up the bigger chunk of meat. Even more nuance with placement and layering as well as a wider stage that wraps around the head more. Slightly tighter, but perhaps slightly less thumpy bass. Even more smootherer, i think this is the limit of how smooth I would ever want anything. There has been this new found harmonic richness, it really is only heard on strings, or acoustic music but it is lovely. It adds a rich romantic quality to female vocals, the more intimate the better.
11 Likes
Which upgrade did you get, the crystalline amorphous chokes and the Z chip? It will continue to evolve for the better over the coming months, not a process that can be rush, just got to keep playing it.
2 Likes
I realised I never answered this…
Yes, Z-chip and NanoCrystal chokes.
I am missing it as i do not have a cable right now as i sold one and am waiting for the next to come in.
I also have some other interconnects to replace the kimber heros.
4 Likes
I there a big difference in the 2020 vs 2021 Evo models? Has anyone upgraded their EVO to a 2022 case or front free case? … was wondering what Ben would charge for that.
1 Like
He won’t. A lot of labor and it really isn’t a sold product any longer. At least that’s what I’d gotten from him once. There are some pre Evo 2021 models (like the B4B I had) that had the 2021 rev. PCB board. That was thicker and incorporated additional layers with traces said to further reduce noise. If you’re going to buy one of those Papyrus font cases, then you want to make sure they have the 2021 boards. Easily identifiable with a silk screen as such on the corner of the board.
I can’t be sure but if it’s marked as Evo and B4B and Pro then they’re all 2021 revs as they didn’t exist previously as those brands, simply a collection of upgrades.
3 Likes
Thanks. To my understanding, the non-font chassis would have been made in 2022 (according to TMR). It is possible for a 2021 EVO not to have the upgraded board. Eesh… hard to keep up with. Is there a way to identify the 2021 board without looking at the guts? Where might I look for the silk screen? Maybe Ben’s sharpie serial numbers?
It looks like the EVO, B4B, and PRO lines have been around mid to late 2020.
2 Likes
It looks like the X SE is being closed out on the Mojo website to make way for the X NC. Has anyone heard anything about this new model?
All I could gather from the website is, "REPLACING OUR AWARD-WINNING X SE
Our New Mystique X NC takes our X to a whole new level of refinement!
New NANO CRYSTAL CORE CHOKES in the analog power supplies, additional shielding, and additional anti-resonance."
2 Likes
Fire sale pricing from Ben on his used stuff though. There’s a basic EVO for $2999 which would be good pricing even on USAM imo.
3 Likes
There needs to be a Mojo Roumors in the same vein as Mac Rumors just to avoid buying before a upgrade cycle.
1 Like
The problem is theyre all off the menu upgrades that kind of follow his release cycle but dont really. Like his big bad dac was supposed to be 2022, but i am not sure it will hit in 2024.
3 Likes
Damn you both @Souldriver and @SaberPunch and your infective enthusiasm. 
I called Ben this afternoon to find out how much a nano crystal choke upgrade would be for my X SE. I told him I was just window shopping because I was planning out my 2024 expenditure.
Then he mentioned he was down to his last pair of Z chips and I blacked out, waking up to hear my voice saying “Ben, just send me the invoice now, I’ll take the Z chip and the NC upgrade”.
10 Likes
Nice!!! You got the Z chip and NC upgrades, congrats!
2 Likes
Hey now, dont be blaming me for your impulse controls. Do you have a date youre sending yours in?
1 Like
I’ve been chatting with another fellow Mystique Evo owner (he owns the Pro version) from another forum and he gave me his mini impressions on the new Nano Crystal upgrades.
He did have a few other upgrades as well with the nano crystal upgrades. The improvements on his 1 week impression that he notices is that that there is a good improvement on soundstage, layering, and imaging. He said the soundstage isn’t just front to back, but “omnidirectional”. He is a headphone user for context.
I think maybe next year (or maybe late this year) I would like to do the nano crystal upgrades and maybe do a “Pro” upgrade to my Mystique Evo. It actually works out well since his mini 1 week impression improvements lines up on what I am trying to do in my audio setup. My new main theme for 2024 is that I am trying to improve in my setup soundstage and imaging for at least my speakers. My Polk speakers soundstage is pretty good for what it is, but I want my speakers setup to beat the my current Susvara setup on layering and imaging. I know upgrading the DAC is going to end up helping my Susvara setup as well and not just the speakers, but a win is a win if both setup gets improved.
I know it’s only 1 impression so far. I think there is probably 3 or 4 people here with the Mystique Evo, but don’t know how many people here will do the nano crystal upgrades. Looking forward to hearing other people impressions here on their nano crystal upgrades regardless if it’s Mystique X or Evo. I hope the impressions are similar where soundstage and imaging goes to the next level with the nano crystal upgrades.
6 Likes
Opinion here so feel free to disregard everything I’m about to say. Looking over your chain, the DAC isn’t your weak link.
You’re trying to make those poor Polk speakers which retail for $750 a pair compete with a Susvara, it’s just not realistic and certainly not fair to the Polk.
You’re better off putting the $2500 or so you’re going to spend upgrading the B4B towards a new pair of speakers and good cables. They’ll then allow you to get the most out of whatever upgrades yo do to your Evo B4B in the future.
USAM is littered with really good bookshelf speakers that retailed for $5K give or take when new for considerably less than what you’re thinking of spending to upgrade the DAC.
6 Likes
Yep and that’s why I’ve been looking into speakers recently in the used market. So far, the only speakers that caught my attention so far is the Platimon speakers. I don’t know why, I just been reading more and more about that speakers and I think this is the type of speakers i want. Neutral sounding, good amount of micro details, good soundstage and imaging, and an overall clean but not too analytical signature. There is a bonus of a good low extension as well in a small room format and that’s pretty good if I am not going to use a sub with it. Im hoping the synergy with the Mystique Evo with the Platimon speaker will give me the sound I am chasing for. I will probably replace the power amp later after that and then maybe DAC upgrade if that’s still on my mind.
2 Likes
Long time Mojo Audio customer here starting years ago with Benjamin performing substantial upgrades to my Mac mini server. Currently have their DejaVu server and Mystique EVO Pro. Interesting that I also owned the X SE most of '23 so directly compared that and my EVO Pro on and off throughout the entire year, but in the end I liked the sound of the EVO Pro better. Benjamin was amazed (and maybe questioned my hearing) but when I heard about his Z chip upgrades, I popped the top on my EVO Pro and sure enough…Z chips! We are currently talking about my listening to his newer offerings and maybe even moving the Z chips over to a X24 NC DAC, but I want to hear those first. I understand the nano crystal chokes and the Z chips both soften the sound a bit and I am interested in hearing more from any of you who have had those upgrades done to their X SE DACs. Benjamin believes the AD1865 chips in the Y NC energize things a bit, which he likes. I want to hear one. BTW, Benjamin will be at AXPONA, which is April 12-14.
I also recently owned a Tambaqui, and still own a Benchmark DAC3 HGC and Steve McCormack’s latest SMc DAC-2, which is a musical and enjoyable sounding DAC. The Tambaqui and DAC3 HGC are sort of cut from the same cloth IMO, although the Tambaqui sounds better, but I thought both the EVO Pro and SMc DAC-2 were more musical, IMO. My EVO Pro with Z chips remains the most musically enjoyable DAC I have owned, and feeding it via USB through a Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical networked with the DejaVu server further improved the SQ I hear.
Also, have any of you seen this list of dac chips with subjective ratings? They seem to like the AD1862 (a 20-bit chip) used in the EVO and X DACs a little better than the AD1865, which is only an 18-bit chip and which is used in the Y NC DAC. Sort of similar to how they portray the PCM63 (20-bit chip) vs. the PCM58 (18-bit chip), both quite good but the PCM63 seems to be regarded as better. I had the PCM63 in a Lector CDP years ago and it was one of my favorites.
13 Likes