I contacted Ben at Mojo Audio. Apparently there is a lot of interest in the Mojo Audio Mystique DACs, including refurbished V3s (if you can find one to refurbish) and especially the newer EVO range which Ben says is noticeably better sounding. Kudos to Mojo Audio for supporting their older products. The level of interest has resulted in some necessary lead time between ordering and receiving a DAC, which is expected. This success also indicates the design parameters must be effective and
is a good thing for Mojo Audio. I continue to be impressed with what he is doing with the power supply and would not be surprised if I were to like the sound.
While, for me, cost is not necessarily the overriding factor, I do like to keep things in perspective relative to not only the rest of my system but also to what I really want to spend for this purchase (vs. perhaps a really high quality gravel bicycle), and especially given the temporary nature of digital electronics where everything is the flavor of the day but it seems like the shelf life is only 2 or 3 years (in many cases) before something better comes along.
In the case of the Mystique EVO, it starts at $6K for the base model (which is in my range) but there are multiple options that are a "notable improvement" and can quickly push the price up by up to a couple of $K. The middle of the range "bang for the buck" (B4B) model is $8K and subject to options as well. This is well into Totaldac territory so I need to consider whether their products fit my purchase parameters. I will not rule out the Mojo Audio DACs since the design philosophy seems to be aligned with what I have found to sound good, and also because they are a USA company that supports their former products, but I may take a step back and ask myself, since things sound pretty good now, what do I want to pay to move forward, especially with digital gear, where the cost to performance curve continues to flatten out as technology improves.
