Chord Electronics has debuted the Chord Mojo 2, the highly anticipated 2nd generation of hugely successful Chord Mojo that created the high-end portable DAC genre in October 1995.
Chord’s long-standing digital design consultant, Rob Watts, continues his participation and has revisited, reimagined and reengineered the award-winning original with several new features, most notably the innovative lossless DSP, a world-first.
The proprietary ‘UHD DSP’ found on Mojo 2 is fully transparent, enabling comprehensive tone adjustments across the frequency range without any degradation in sound quality. The above is made possible via a 104-bit custom DSP core running at 705/768 kHz, allowing fine-tuning across the whole frequency range with 18 steps of adjustment per frequency banding: lower bass, mid bass, lower treble and high treble.
The company has claimed that no other audio DSP offers the same accuracy and allows Mojo 2 unrivalled compatibility with today’s wide-ranging choice of headphones, regardless of the type and sonic signature, and caters for different source components and digital file types.
Porta-Fi understands that by using 104 bits plus extensive internal noise-shaping, the Mojo 2 can deliver complete transparency by preserving the filtering of ultra-small signals. At the same time, the volume control range has also improved and now benefits from two distinct operational ranges: low and high volume. Mojo 2 also features a new four-setting DSP-controlled cross-feed function that brings speaker-like spatial effects for flexible headphone listening.
Measuring 83 x 62 x 22.9 mm, the Mojo 2 is slightly larger than its predecessor and weighs 5 grams more at 185 grams. The device continues to be designed, engineered and handmade in the UK, featuring high-grade, bead-blasted aluminium casework, finished with a high-quality black anodise. Control is via four polychromatic polycarbonate control spheres.
Suppose you are wondering about the new (fourth) control sphere on the Mojo 2. The control sphere provides navigation to a new menu system that includes a mute function, the four-setting cross-feed adjustment, fully lossless tone controls and a button-lock feature for travelling.
Digital input wise, Chord has added a USB-C port to increase compatibility with digital devices. At the same time, it has retained the optical, coaxial, and Micro USB ports previously found on the Mojo and maintains its compatibility with the Poly streamer/server. In addition, the Mojo 2 continues to sport two 3.5 mm Single-Ended outputs, which allow up to two people to listen simultaneously.
Mojo 2 is now DC-coupled with a digital DC servo. As a result, it benefits from an improved WTA (Watts Transient Aligned) filter, offering 40,960 taps using 40 DSP cores, up from 26,368 on the original Mojo.
Mojo 2 also benefits from greatly improved battery management. The new FPGA-based battery-charging system brings faster-charging rates, coupled with a massive 75 % reduction in power loss for cooler, more efficient charging. In addition, capacity is up by 9 %, resulting in better efficiency and improved battery life, clocking in at more than eight hours.
Mojo 2’s established ‘Intelligent Desktop Mode’ technology has also been improved, with an isolated battery and PSU redesign to support battery-free operation without any losses in sound quality, plus improved filtering and isolation.
The Mojo 2 is available from today in the UK, priced at GBP 449 and in Singapore from mid-February 2022, priced at SGD 899.
