Mojo Audio Mystique EVO

@mitch2 Have you read the thread regarding the Schroeder method (SM)? SM involves using XLR or RCA splitters to utilize a pair of interconnects per channel instead of a single cable per channel for those who aren't familiar. Read what steakster and douglas_schroeder have to say about SM and digital cables. Steakster nails the description. The key take-aways from the link above are that SM works with uneven lengths of cables and can mix different cable brands.

I recently implemented SM in my system with four single-ended ICs and four AudioQuest hard RCA splitters. The female RCA inlets are too close to comfortably use these spitters with large RCA plugs like the Xhadow connectors that the Cerious Graphene Matrix uses. You might be able to get away using these splitters with one large Xhadow connector and a regular RCA connector. Otherwise, using two large connectors would put stress on the center pins. Other splitters will allow you to use two pairs of Cerious GM cables without a problem.

The downside to SM is that it adds weight that the input/output jacks have to support. Other than that, the Schroeder method is absolutely worth an audition.

@mitch2  - yes, I did own the V3 for about 2 years before getting the EVO.  I was extremely happy with it, and wasn't considering a new dac at all.  I couldn't imagine better.   

To my ears, the EVO brings more of what the V3 does so well, from top to bottom.  Micro-details in the lows and mids were improved in my system.  Low notes aren't just tones, but real instruments with their vibrations, decay and resonance more present.   There are other small SQ improvements in the EVO - but as a whole, the EVO in my system, is probably 20-30% improvement over v3.

To feed the EVO, I use AES/EBU.  With the V3, I was using SPDIF-RCA.  Before receiving the EVO, I asked Ben for his advice on RCA vs AES, and I'll just show you his reply:

AES XLR is a significant upgrade over coaxial S/PDIF.
The reason is that with coaxial their are only two conductors and the ground is the shield, but with AES XLR there are three conductors the plus, the ground, and the minus, plus the shield is a fourth conductor that connects the chassis of the two components and is totally out of the signal path.
Really no comparison, and that’s not even counting how much better an XLR connector is compared to an RCA or BNC.

So, I've been using AES the entire time with the EVO.  I haven't tried RCA yet.  While waiting for the EVO, I sold my SPDIF cable (Sablon) to help fund a new AES cable (BlackCat).  My streamer is the DCS Network Bridge.

I did hear my EVO using USB when I brought it to a friend's house.  He has a Antipodes DX Gen 3.  It sounded excellent.  He was using a Accoustic BBQ usb cable (sold by @grannyring ).  In his system, there was not a big difference between his DX with USB, and the DCS with AES.  Not a great comparison with 2 different streamers feeding the EVO, but to our ears, the USB was certainly not a step down in any way in our limited test,

Thanks for the updates on the new boards.  I told Ben I would be a beta tester for the PCM63 boards.  I hope I'm chosen.  I have an old Rotel CD player that has 2 of them.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have more questions.

VeroGuy

New EVO review up at Enjoy the Music.

I received the Mystique Evo on the 22nd of January, and I've been too busy listening to my system than to bother logging onto Audiogon. My system puts me "in the zone" every time I listen now. 

Grannyring mentioned that the music swells when raising the volume. My interpretation of his statement to what I hear with the EVO is that we were used to hearing the amplification of distortion when the volume was raised. Now we hear the amplification of a clear signal, and it's a new experience. When turning the volume down, there is still audible information that I was not used to hearing before having the Evo. 

@c_avila1  Congrats!  Exactly the outcome we all hope for, but so few actually achieve.