Hold me accountable for the diarrhea that comes out of my mouth why don’t you? LOL
Taste is knowing what a shiitake mushroom tastes like, what a perfectly ripe banana tastes like, while also being able to taste the differences between those flavors e.g. grass fed organic milk and generic supermarket ultra pasteurized milk.
Preferences are the medley of those flavors. For example Cubans love to eat picadillo, which is a ground beef dish that incorporates both olives & raisins… I mean that’s a preference that happens to work when you combine two flavors that wouldn’t normally be put together. Maple bacon is another example or chocolate picante. So it requires an understanding of those flavors to then be able to head in a direction (preference) that you want to go.
BTW, this thread has gone off the rails. LOL it’s probably best put into the what have you learned thread or something like that. Good BSing though on a holiday where there’s nothing to do.
Well yes obviously but there’s also a personal choice or reaction to certain price categories in my mind that we each have.
I’ve reached mine in almost every component category I guess and also derived from the entire system cost I’m willing to own at a single point in time. So for instance the new over $20K Mojo DAC might be interesting and make me curious to hear, but no way I’m willing to spend that money on a component in my system. So yeah I’m content I guess and close to my endgame until my preferences change and as my taste evolves…
My unit is a usb only device plugged into the lumin u1 via a cardas clear. Its been on and heating up for about 3 hours.
So far it seems like the cross between the bf2 and walnut x.3 that I wanted. But surprisingly it so far is leaning more towards the Walnut.
From the BF2 there is a very noticeable shift to the micro side of it all. Much more microdetail. Better layering and the edges of those layers stay separated instead of blending into each other. Surprisingly macro dynamics are more conservative so far as i thought they would be closer to the bifrost. But this makes the bf2 seem like the loud drunk frat guy.
With that it seems the bass has a softer rounder (maybe wooly) kick compared to the bf2 and a tad less quantity, leaning towards the walnut in that regard.
Overall i wouldnt say its more laid back, but it feels possibly to have a splash less presence and intimacy. There seems to be less of a straight forward center stage as things are spread to the left and right more, but not to the extremes of the stage’s width.
Thats it for now as i need to rush to a movie. When i get back ill test again. Ill also note the volume knob is lower than usual, which may or may not be good
Interesting so far, give it time to warm up as it did take about a dayish or so to come into its own for me. Don’t know how long you’ve had it on. I’m with you on the micro details thing but I did not notice the woolly compared to the BF. Does it slam for you as the BF? My only critique so far is that it doesn’t have the control over the bass as my Weiss, but It’s unfair to compare the two. Mine is COAX and I’m feeding it from a DDC, so there’s bound to be differences there but given where it all lands up for you it would at least allow you leeway to try other cables based on what you were looking for.
I’m also giving it power from a pretty nice Morrow Audio MAP 3 power cable that I’ve used with good results previously.
So right now I do think you are right about leaving it on a bit more. It was only 3 hours in an A/C room. It had some of the same feels that i get from my bf2 when i just turn it on.
It felt a little compressed, or sandwiched. A little constrained like it wanted to give more but was being held back.The bass did not slam as much as the bf2, yet.
Once again this is with 30 minutes of listening on a luke warm dac. I also do not know the amount of overall break in it had as a demo unit. It looks real new tbh. And right now its on a generic power cable to that power strip so,… Yeah, a lot to do.
I only hope, and i dont think it will be this way, but the USB isnt hamstringing it. I get the feeling they rather of kept usb off the dac than to give a bad implementation.
Good to hear. If I recall with mine it got better for the first day but didn’t improve much beyond that so the next time you power cycle it for whatever reason a day is about all you’ll need.
Bass still feels like it is underperforming. It perhaps is trading some punch and slam for low end rumble. The kicks that are there do seem more accurate and less bloaty but the kick and slam are less deep.
This is just with another day of warmup, nothing swapped yet. Maybe i also got too used to the bf2 over the topness with some things.
So the unit had been on almost a solid week so I decided to do a little more listening and testing.
In general things sounded more “normal” at this point and less squished. The normal not warmed up quips are mostly gone.
Next, I took everything as is and unplugged them from any power strips or surge protectors and plugged everything straight into the wall. This seemed to give everything a little more space. The little bits of compression i feel like i heard were lessened. So far everything up until this point was pretty minor and had to be listened to in order to hear it. I would also put these in the realm of psychoacoustics as it could easily be from paying more attention or wanting to hear something change.
Next I wanted to try the Lampi power cord on the BHC as it is known to improve with a nice cable. But the plug head was too big and would get sawed by the transformer ridges.
Plugging the lampi cord into the mojo gave me results that i would say were substantial enough to not write off as time of day or brain adjustments. It was still slight but there. Another step was taken towards spacing things out and using the stage. Right now the mojo seems to put things in a ring around you, nothing too close or too far. It is overall a more in your head sound with my current setup. A little more is given to macro dynamics but i still find the microdynamics and detail to be the focus. There is an even further thickening of notes and the bass gets a drop more pop. I still think the BF2 had more quantity and kick but it is closer now. The Mojo hangs it out lower. There is a background bass rumble in Bowie’s Black Star at the end of the song, that rumble is better done by the Mojo.
Unfortunately i had to return everything back to the start for practically reasons. The lampi is flexible but it still needs 6 inches to get past the plug and shrink wrap.
I think overall there is a more micro feel than i expected. And a darker feel l but i dont know if i would say it is dark, more of certain things have the spotlight more.
To better show what I mean, here are some pictures of a guitar i helped build (pictures are from 10 years ago and a cell phone so overall quality isnt great)… These pictures were taken in broad daylight on a sunny day. But it doesnt look like that. Instead it looks like a night time scene lit up with a bunch of flood lights. If you look at the grass its all highlighted on one side and the backs are dark. On the fence and guitar anything outside the main focus seems to be dimmer and more heavily contrasting shadows.
I should also mention. In general notes have a roundness to them. Where sometimes that is due to fuzziness here it isnt.
There is good texture but it is on the smoother, tactically light side. And there isnt much sparkle in the highs. This could be due to the Atrium, the tubes i am using or that my ears have been up to their nonsense, a/c, no a/c, allergies, never 100% able to pop them. I think that is just my spring and summer life.
I can agree with this. It feels like it’s more the doing of the R2R as opposed to the analogue output though. It certainly doesn’t have that airy sparkle but either but it’s not detail that it’s lacking. IMO sometimes that “sparkle” can feel inorganic or forced. Bells and cymbals sound right, not exagerated. I’ve also realized that the only can I’ve listened to the DAC with has been the VC.
I get my Cerious Technologies Graphene Extreme RCA Coaxial Cable; 1m Digital Interconnect today so I’m going to spend a lot of time over the weekend seeing how it feels compared to the other two cables I’ve had in there so far.
I think at some point though I’ll plug the V2 into the BHC with the 600s and spend some time with that and compare notes with what you’ve shared so far.
It also contractually obligates you to type it out in bold.
Yes, i should note that everything feels more correct and appropriate. I think a little more, like the tiniest bit more, macrodynamics would have been welcome for my preferences. Maybe a little more 3d use of space, but admittedly my ear condition may be flattening that at the moment.
It seems at this tier a lot of treble handling is smoothed out. Like you said details are there, but sparkle, shimmer, and some spikes are traded for a smoother eased listen.
But I think at this point I am liking it more and more with each session. Next ill try my hd6xx and see whats up.
@dB_Cooper I put on (and still have on) my hd6XX. Why do these always have to be so good each time i put them on, just a good reference. I think it is gelling real well with the mojo and BHC. It is even more solid, straight and crisp lined than the Atrium and Radiance. The focal still has a slightly bigger and the most holographic and 3D touch and texture but you hear the closed in nature compressing the edges of things just a bit there. The Senn just keeps sounding more correct and organic. The Atrium is the biggest sounding and still pulls in more detail but its been getting flatter and smoother. It missed those fun string plucks and percussions that hit against your ear like the other two.
The senn is the senn. The other two cans out resolve and our detail it. You hear deeper into the recording, and it isnt subtle. The stages are less intimate and use space a bit more and layer better, and give more of the room information. But if you want to focus on the main course of the music this is it.
I know its been said endlessly but it keeps surprising me over and over. This chain of the Lumin u1 → Mojo → BHC+SB → Plussound x8 → HD6xx just. friggin. slaps.
Finally got around to joining today - thanks for the invite. I’m pleased to see the enthusiasm for Mojo Audio DACs. I met Benjamin Zwickel when I purchased the v2 SE demo. He is genuinely one of a kind - crazy smart and opinionated, but able to back his opinions up with facts. I was going to post a link to a review of the v3 in “Enjoy the Music” that provides a good insight into his design philosophy and the evolution his Mystique DAC models. I decided not to after reading the item 8 of the site’s “Acceptable Use” rules. I’m looking forward to benefitting from the collective experience of others as I pursue this hobby and build up my system.
Might do so more often, actually.
