@dB_Cooper , can you explain to me how the Mojo Illuminati works?
I need 2 x 12Volt outputs and x 9Volt, can i do that? I think i have it set to provide 2x 12 volt currently as you see in the picture.
1 Like
The left side will do 12, 7, 5 volts based on the slider position, so youâve got it set at 12. The right side will do 12, 9, and 5 based on the slider position and as far as I can tell from the pic, youâve got them both set for 12 v.
The middle one will give you two voltages out based on the switches but you need a different cable to that one and Ben never told me which pins were what, so if you even need to use that one, call him!
2 Likes
Did some quick testing on a mojo evo pro 21, and I feel like in the past when I had mine, I ended up only really using it with spdif sources, this weekend I took the chance to compare usb to spdif, although not the most perfect comparison (using a potentially flawed spdif source and cheap cables), some quick notes on that.
Either over USB into an Altor HISO + ifi psu, or spdif from a cs interstellar, using basically stock cabling (sorry)
USB:
- Denser and richer, more well weighted without adding bloat or masking detail
- Spatially closer and a bit more intimate but more enveloping and dimensional in placement, more pinpoint accuracy and naturalness with a blacker background
- Dynamically a bit more lively and energetic
- Unnatrually (but enjoyably) pulls some details forward and pushes some back in space
- More enveloping and immersive
SPDIF:
- More neutral and balanced in both signature and presentation, doesnât pull details out unnaturally
- A bit more spatially wide but less depth and less immersion, more flat and in front of you vs closer to surrounding you
- Bit leaner and cleaner tonally and weight wise.
- Dynamically bit more restrained
- More artificial sheen and distance to the sound while also a bit smoothed over
Gonna be honest I just flat out prefer USB here, which could mean a few things:
- The work Iâve put into PC optimization has really paid off
- The Crane Song has a shitty spdif out lol (or at least not to the level of what it needs to be, but at the same time going from spdif + clock to the prism instead of the internal prismâs usb was a significant improvement, so itâs not truly awful or anything)
- Iâm held back by cabling, using pretty much stock USB cables and either DIY or entry level spdif cables.
I will be getting a DDC in to give it a good test vs the crane song and also USB again, and also hopefully getting a better USB cable (and allowing me to use a better BNC SPDIF cable for the next comparison too). Will be curious to see how things change then.
Unrelated to digital, my power still sorta sucks, and getting an audible buzz and slight hum from the unit, which was confirmed to not have been an issue in another household with it, so I need to address that. Grabbed an AVA Humdinger to see if itâs truly a DC issue or not, if itâs not I think Iâm actually going to go insane lol. Just now I even tested things like turning off the breaker to my radon system to see if the buzz went away, nope. I have a feeling it could be the water heater, possibly AC, or genuinely some random thing in my house like a motion switch or random device that I donât know exists or wouldnât expect. Actually driving me up a wall lol
5 Likes
This hurts to read, I think we all know the feeling. Youâve got to get this DC issue resolved!
Iâm going to go with number 2 on your preference of USB. Not going to say that the USB is bad, just that I didnât experience it being better than when I fed it from the Berkeley Alpha USB via AES or SPDIF. Not the that source I used were bad, it was a Sonore Optical Rendu.
At least you know the USB isnât being a bottleneck. Ben always claims that his customer prefer it as nan input.
3 Likes
It doesnât directly make it into the audio stream, but I would assume it does degrade things still by saturating all the chokes in there perhaps and generating some unwanted distortion/harmonics? Or at least unwanted vibrations. Then itâs a matter of if a DC blocker does solve the issue, if it degrades the sound or not lol. Itâs basically a cap in the signal path which doesnât sound great lol. Either option is less than ideal lol.
I wouldnât care if it was only physical and wasnât really causing issues in the quality of sound coming out, but because Iâm recording here with very sensitive mics, it does matter even if itâs only physical and will get slightly picked up if nearby. Iâve already moved it off to the side but it kinda has to be a bit close
I do think itâs not a fair comparison right now, and hopefully will have better data when I get some upgrades in. The interstellar actually has a really good clock in it, I just actually think itâs not really being properly utilized on the spdif out lol. The USB in it is finicky anyways, it almost has to calibrate to the digital audio level when turned on, if I donât have anything playing and power it on, the spdif out will be distorted to hell and unusable, I need to make sure to power it on when audio is playing to a dummy output so it can measure the level the moment it turns on and shows up in the OS lol
2 Likes
Unfortunately the humdinger didnât do anything, I guess itâs not dc? Back to the drawing board I guess
2 Likes
I had a couple of days with the Mystique X NC Z DAC after âupgradingâ from the Mystique Evo B4B21. It started with me wanting to finally upgrade to the Pro version with NC, but Ben offer me the X NC Z DAC if I truly wanted something different. I thought to myself why not since I probably wanted something different anyway since I already reach out for an upgrade.
Fast forward I got it, but life been busy, so I donât know if I even got past 50 hours yet since I mainly been listening an hour or 2 here and there the past week. Everytime I listen to my setup now, I always felt this âweirdâ missing sensation now. Feels like âsynergyâ with my gear feels off nowâŚ
Even though the 2 DAC do feel more similar than different, itâs still pretty different to me. Even if itâs some minor differences, those minor differences bothers me.
The Pros of the X NC Z DAC in my setup on both my solid state and tube gears:
- Bass hits harder and sounds more cleaner. Itâs most impressive on my speaker system because when I first heard it, it was pretty jaw dropping from my previous DAC. Probably the biggest difference I notice so far.
- 2nd biggest difference is stage width. I notice this more easily on my speaker setup rather than my headphone setup though.
- Overall cleaner and more resolution sound and more black background. Feels like there is a trade off on its lushness and that plays one of the reason synergy feels off to me with some gear since it feels more reference sounding to me rather than âfunâ coloring sound. But on the positive sound, I enjoyed the Allnic HPA-5000XL Tube amp much more with this DAC than the Evo B4B21.
The cons:
- Sounding more reference to me and losing its lushness is a pro and con depending on my amp. Great for my Allnic tube amp, not so great on my solid state amp. I like to use my Topping A70 Pro preamp to the Valencia power amp when listening to short 30 - 40 minutes throughout the day. I only use Supratek if I know if I can get 1-2 undisturbed hours. Listening to an all solid-state gear sounds more lean and overall less warmth on vocals. It makes me want to stick with some type of tube in my system for my asian headphones like the Yamaha headphone or my Audio Technica headphone. DCA Stealth and Modhouse Tungsten V2 sounds really freaking good though on all solidstate amp.
- Less micro-details which I find weird since I thought the DAC will sound more detail since itâs cleaner sounding. Like the really small details like hearing pages being flip, coughing in a recording, hearing those little random noise that probably wasnât intended to be in the music. Might be a pro to some people, but itâs a con to me. I like hearing all those little noise, especially on my speaker system. It feels more immersive to me to be able to hear those little details and I found it cool to hear those little quirks and fault in the music.
- On speaker system, the X NC Z DAC does feel a little flat on certain volumes in my system. When I play higher volume, sound does sound more around me, but more of a same way of playing loud music at a concert at a good outdoor venue.
My impressions might be too early since I donât think itâs been 50 hours. Itâs used, so I am assuming the previous owner burned it in already. So far, my favorite amp synergy with the X NC Z DAC has to be with my Allnic HPA-5000XL. It helped the weaknesses I found on the Allnic with my headphones which is harder hitting bass and a more clear and cleaner midrange. The plus side is that the Allnic tube amp still retains what itâs good at which is a fuller, natural sounding midrange, 3D sound you get from a tube amp, and a refined treble that I really only get from my Allnic amp. So the Allnic amp kept its goods with added benefits that the X NC Z DAC fixed the complaints for me. A lot of my headphones, even my Mod House Tungsten V2, I am starting to prefer with the Allnic HPA-5000XL instead of Valencia. Havenât tried my DCA Stealth yet, but I am pretty curious on trying it on the Allnic again as my favorite combo previously was the Valencia + Supratek preamp to Mystique Evo B4B21 DAC on the headphone side.
So, that made me came to a conclusion. It made me more of a believer in DAC and amp synergy, even on a âsmallâ differences on the two DAC. I like the Mystique X NC Z DAC the most with a tube amp at least on the headphone side. Now it makes me curious what would happen if I get a tube power amp and just go almost all tubes for my speakers?
Anyway, the Mystique X NC Z is a good DAC and Iâm glad I went for it. Got to listen to it more and maybe play with tubes on the Supratek to see what happens.
8 Likes
If itâs new it will need a couple hundred hours to break in.
2 Likes
I think everything in it is used. The previous owner traded it for the newest Mystique Z DAC. I feel like it might be someone in this forum lol. Itâs because finding someone that own this DAC is pretty rare and combine the fact the DAC had the Z chip in it is even more rarer.
I myself might end up trading it for the Mystique Z DAC only when the next TOTL comes in and the Z DAC becomes yesterday news and cheap enough for me to reasonably buy it.
3 Likes