Do you suggest I try the USB input into the DACs, directly out of my Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical? I thought the X SE could benefit from coax or AES/EBU since it has a switch to disengage all the power supply stuff going to the USB input when not in use. Also, since I am currently running the USB output from the Sig Rendu SE into a Singxer SU-6 DDC, then the output from that DDC is reclocked thus keeping noise away from the DAC.
The DDC gives me the option to choose which output (but not USB) goes to which DAC, since I am actually running three DACs currently with the other being an SMC Audio DAC2 from Steve McCormack. I have both coax and optical connected to that one and sort of like the optical, but not really much difference.
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Itās always a good reference point. When I went USB from the opticalRendu to the Mojo, I couldnāt switch it back fast enough. The Mojo sounded awful to me in USB as wonderful as it sounds in SPDIF or AES as I think it benefits A LOT from a good DDC and like I said Ben does have the transformers inline with those inputs.
@NickMimi has had good success with his Innuous USB output so in the end I think people should just use what sounds best to them in their chain.
I had and used a Singer SU6 DDC, in my own use case I eventually found it unnecessary and NOT required or even desired for use w/ my 2019 Innuos Zenith Mk3 
, i repeatedly found the soundstage to be overall deeper and wider using my streamer w/ an FTA Callisto and my Lampi DAC thus finally made the decision to remove the DDC from the equation and stick to direct feed via USB to my DAC.
When i tried the MOJOās i did not notice any appreciable degradation of quality or sound character in my particular use case using my Innuos feed directly to the MOJO via USB 
There was a character variance in the overall bass presentation of the 2 nd Mojo. I tried using it in a different system, with a different streamer, feeding it via AES but I had to experience that myself to make the evaluation and form my own opinion on it as noted in a previous post in this thread which had no negative implications on the music. Judge for yourself in your own system any variations using USB but do not be scared or worried about it.
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I know the X units needed a solid 2 days to warmup right, and about 1 week to break in. Since there were no tubes I just left it playing music 24/7 with the amp off and that did the trick.
Dont forget the ground and usb lift switches.
Oh ok you didnt forget it. TBH most of us prefer the non USB inputs. Nick has a very high end usb setup and was able to use that to tune the sound to his prefs. Try it out, why not.
Looking forward to more of your thoughts.
https://www.mojo-audio.com/music-servers/
Heads up for anyone looking for a server/streamer right now. Ben is now selling his new Illuminati Server/Streamer right now, you just got to shoot him an email. I communicated with him via email and itās a 100% custom built to order with the specific features and performance to your request. The options he discussed for his server is really nice. A lot of tier of JCAT USB and Ethernet card. You can even add a Pink Faun I2S if your DAC require it.
He said if you do not need the streamer options and you could get the server only option. His external streamer recommendation would be the Sonore Optical Rendu or SOtM sMS-200 Ultra which make sense because he suggest using them with his Illuminati power supply.
I probably might go down this road, but not for a long time. One of these days, I will probably sell the NS1 and get the Sonore Optical rendu and then purchase his Illuminati power supply. The server route is pretty much the least of my worries right now since the Intel NUC is performing without any issues for me so far.
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Lots of ways to skin the cat but IMO I think servers are an unnecessary expense as itās complicating something that does not need to be complex in the first place. A remote server that is not directly connected to an endpoint does not need gobs of expensive noise mitigation treatment.
I think theyāre supremely profitable for vendors hence why theyāre touted but a bridge with good power and re-clocking is all thatās really needed. However the ration of āserversā to bridge/reclockers in the market is 10 to 1 it seems from the marketing hoopla and the used market.
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My experience suggests otherwise. My K50 outperformed the Holo Red, Sonore UltraRendu and OpticalRendu. The rendus were powered by good linear power supplies too.
There are many options available, but when I think of the K50 with its used pricing and that it acts as a server, transport and provides all the different digital outputs one might need a DDC to get, itās a good deal for the performance it brought my system.
Just my two centsā¦ I enjoyed my NUC and endpoints, but I wouldnāt cross out the big boy digital products when you get to that point with your system
But your DAC is connected directly to the K50 right?
Whatās being said is the server part doesnāt need to be special if itās isolated from the streamer.
Now that doesnāt discount that an integrated server streamer might be a better solution (or not).
Itās just really hard to compare apples to apples, there are probably more $$ in just the streamer part of the K50 than the Holo Red, and Sonore options, so itās hard to draw conclusions.
We really have totally messed up terminology in this part of the hobby.
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Oh I agree and thatās why I look at it as multiple components in one box. I also preferred it going into a Meitner MA3 over the DACs internal streaming (while still using K50 as server) which supports that the streamer inside is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
I do really want to compare the different connections between the components (AES vs USB) but thatās off topic
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Even the term āstreamingā is miss used.
Therein is my point, that companies like Antipodes are not wasting their efforts on giving us a bridgeā¦ because itās A LOT more profitable for them to give us an entire server. The majority of the dollars of the K50 is going towards the reclocking and the power. The majority of the profit is coming from the server functionality. So there is no incentive to give us a bridge. Even dCS killed their bridge and their reasoning was that it was cannibalizing DAC sales and it was too costly to make.
My server is connected to my home network (in the room with my modem/router) and then I have various streamers/endpoints in the rooms with my music systems (that are also connected to the network).
Late last year, my server died and I went back to using an old Antipodes DX3 that I had retired but never gotten around to selling. The old DX worked fine to operate Roon, which I use to serve stored music files, and stream Tidal and Qobuz. I could not reliably discern any sonic difference between the DX and the server I was using before.
I finally settled on a new SGC sonicTransporter i9 G4 server, which works great but didnāt really change how things sound.
In my main system, I run fiber from the server/network room to a Sonore Signature Rendu SE optical and then the USB -only output of the Sig Rendu SE into a Singxer SU-6 DDC, which then feeds my two DACs via S/PDIF or AES/EBU. To your point about servers, switching streamers from a fairly high quality Raspberry pi w/LPS and femto clocking solution (Metrum Ambre) to the Sig Rendu SE made a much bigger sonic change (improvement) compared to changes in servers, which do not seem to have made any sonic impact.
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BTW, and back to Mojo Audio, I finally got around to posting a comparison/mini-review of the Mojo Audio Mystique EVO Pro Z vs. Mystique X SE NC Z over on Aāgon.
Mojo Audio Mystique EVO Pro Z and Mystique X SE NC Z
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Not surprising.
A device used as a server that isnāt directly connected to a DAC and especially in your case where youāve got the OR isolated by fiber from the upstream is not going to offer ANY sonic benefits as youāve just discovered. Itās purely a money making thing for the vendors.
Itās a shame and Iāve said it before, the real benefit comes in with good bridges and good re-cloking but the market on those components compared to full fledged servers with streaming and digital out is 1/5 if that of available server hardware.
What youāre paying for when you buy those $15k plus servers is their clean digital out.
@mitch out of curiosity did you do your X and Evo comparison with headphones or speakers?
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I read through Mitchās comparison between the EVO PRO and the Mystique X and my own comparison between the Standard Mystique X and the the X w/ the upgraded parts sounds extremely similar to what Mitch experienced in sound character. Thatās 2 sets of ears now capturing the Upgraded Mystique X pretty spot on in her character
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I upgraded my Mystique X SE to the NC Z and my findings of the upgraded model are similar to @mitch.
I didnāt write a comparison because I was relying on memory and since there was nothing I could criticize about the SE (which made me wonder why I was paying for the upgrade LOL), I couldnāt pick out anything about the NC Z that was dramatically better.
I did have buyers remorse for the first few days because the Mojo bass that I loved about the X SE just wasnāt there. However, after several days and nights of breaking it in, the bass returned.
From what Benjamin and @Souldriver told me, and now repeated by @mitch, the quantity and āthicknessā of the X SEās bass has been replaced by a slightly leaner (but still emphasized) and higher quality bass in the NC Z, so Iāll have to take their word for it. Either way, Iām very happy with the way it sounds now.
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4 if you include me and Paisley.
@mitch you capture well what i like about the mojoās ive heard. I never heard an evo but knowing what I like it seems the Xs are still better for my ears. Just the bit more directness plays to my preferences.
Mitch, feel free to also copy and paste your impressions here if you wish.
And moving to other dacs, even high quality ones like the Lampi, you hear how much bass drive the Mojos have and tbh i really miss it as mine it out and about. Its like the heart beat of the music is diminished.
The upgrade is a lot of nuance, it feels like very little as an upgrade but i wouldnt go back (at least not to a base X) at this point. It really is a few hairs here, for a few hairs there. A hair less bass quantity for a hair more quality. Even the mids and highs didnt change much, just hairs more space, layering, harmonics, and width.
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It took at least 300 hours to get the amorphous chokes to break in when I got them, Iād have to imagine that going to the NC chokes would demand as much.
When the last X tour was about, I felt that it was a better DAC for HP use than for speaker use. Iād wonder if the upgrade changes that at all. The Evo and the X as much as Ben says are the same, simply a different form factor, is not true to my ears.
Definitely want in on the X as it swings itās way back up to NYC.
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@mitch out of curiosity did you do your X and Evo comparison with headphones or speakers?
I compared them through my systemās amplifier/speaker system. I am not really a headphone listener. I was many years ago in high school and college, when everyone seemed to have Koss PRO/4AA headphones (I had SUPEREX ST-PRO-B V - the green ones) and most gear had a headphone jack. Now I have a Channel Islands headphone amplifier and a pair of Sennheiser HD 650 headphones but other than using them to watch television late at night occasionally, I pretty much never use them for music. BTW, my virtual system is visible on Aāgon:
Sounds Good - virtual system by mitch2
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Iām curious about why you felt that, because that might help me answer why, coming from an Yggy, I felt the opposite/
I noticed that after I got the X SE, I was using my desktop speakers a lot more, but I canāt explain why I was doing that (and continue to do that). Iām guessing that the Mojo has a bigger and more three dimensional stage than the Yggy, and that was drawing me into the music when played through speakers, but who knows. Without psychoanalysis, I have no idea why my subconscious acts the way it does.
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