Mojo Audio Mystique EVO

My EVO replaced an Aqua Acoustic LaVoce S3. I'd day that sound stage width of both DACs are relatively equal. Beyond that , music through the EVO has more body and weight, its is presented with more micro detail, it is more liquid, and it is overall more engaging. The LaVoce left me wanting during extended listening sessions. @facten 

To be fair the EVO Dac is $3400 more expensive (EVO $7700/ La Voce $4300), a closer comparison would be the Aqua La Scala (same price). 

"To be fair" the EVO wasn’t $7K when I bought it, and isn’t the 2021 model. That said, the question was asked what it replaced and I offered the information. As you are likely aware, there’s any number of folks that tout lower cost models of amps, sources, speakers, etc. that are/claimed to be superior to higher cost components; the person asking can use the info I provided as he/she wants.

I had the Aqua La Scala (not Optologic) here for a couple of weeks and IMO once you reach a certain performance level, the equipment is mostly good, but there are sonic differences and trade-offs.  There is no universally "best" DAC because like art, bourbon, and your choice of spouse, taste is personal.  In my system, I enjoyed the La Scala, the Metrum Pavane and Adagio, and also my current Mojo Mystique v3.  However, to my ears and preferences, the Mystique provides a sense of musicality and muscular dense tone that the other two just didn't have. 

Thanks all for your input, especially interesting hearing impressions against the Aqua dacs which is also highly regarded. Looking forward to your impressions as you receive your Evos.

I got my Evo B4B21 last week. I have over 100 hours on it. It must still be breaking in. I am using a Laufer Teknik Memory Player with Roon streaming ripped cd files, Quoboz, and Tidal. At first, there were a lot of ticks and pops. It was kind of like listening to a record. Not sure what was going on, but the last couple of days have been better, with only a couple of very light tick sounds over several hours of listening. I’m thinking maybe it’s my usb cable. I have a few others I could try, but the sound has been so good that I haven’t been motivated to swap cables yet. Maybe my Roon settings are not optimized. I will need to investigate more.

Despite this relatively minor issue, I am finding that there is much less distortion when playing back my favorite music. One strategy that I use is that I listen to poor sounding recordings when auditioning new gear. I am finding that the Evo is making some of my "modern" recordings that are compressed sound more tolerable. Bad recordings sound better. One example is Nathan Rateliff’s self titled album. This is a recording that was intolerable when I had my Benchmark Dac 3L. The Dac 3L is supposed to have near perfect measurements but it made certain recordings unlistenable. I don’t know how the Evo measures, but Rateliff’s album now sounds quite good in my room, especially the song "SOB." I even made it all the way through the dreadfully recorded Oasis album "(What’s the Story) Morning Glory" which is a first for me. I can now make more sense of the fuzzed out, distorted guitar playing and cymbal crashes that are on Champagne Supernova. I have always felt very uncomfortable listening to this album, but now it is border line acceptable, if not great. Jazz recordings are wonderful. The cohesiveness and naturalness of my Mystique V.3 has been retained but now there is more incite into the recording. Also, there is more bass heft. For example, McCartney’s bass guitar playing in "Silly Love Songs" is more prominent. My speakers have an adjustable bass output knob so I can dial it down if I feel it’s going to be an issue, but I’m actually enjoying the extra weight. I think I am hearing more like what a live bass guitar is supposed to sound - and feel - like.