New Mojo Mystique X

I have previously owned several Lector CDP 7TL CD players, including a MkII that had the BB-PCM63 20-bit DAC chipset, and the otherwise identical MkIII that used the newer BB-PCM1704 24-bit chipset.  The PCM1704 chip was said to be just a little more accurate with better resolution but some (including me) found the PCM63 chip to be more musical with a more engaging tone.  As I recall, there were (at least) three types of PCM63 chips, with the PCM63P-K providing the highest dynamic range and lowest harmonic distortion.  Below is a description of the chip:

DESCRIPTION
The PCM63P is a precision 20-bit digital-to-analog converter with ultra-low distortion (–96dB max with a full scale output; PCM63P-K). Incorporated into thePCM63P is a unique Colinear dual-DAC per channel architecture that eliminates unwanted glitches and other nonlinearities around bipolar zero. The PCM63P also features a very low noise (116dB max SNR;A-weighted method) and fast settling current output(200ns typ, 2mA step) which is capable of 16-times oversampling rates.  Applications include very low distortion frequency synthesis and high-end consumer and professional digital audio applications.

@fuzzbutt17 Wow! new models and new upgrades to the EVO already? I just received my Mojo EVO 2021 B4B 2 weeks ago! In any case, I will be coming back for more of that music Mojo. That PCM63 DAC chip and SPDIF upgrade (I spin CD's) sound very promising and interesting - I hope you have a nice returning customer discount too :)

The EVO 2021 has been a wonderful DAC and the first component change that has totally transformed my system. And it continues to amaze me as I continue to "burn it in". When I added the First Watt Sit-3 into my audio set up, I was happy you could get some of that SET magic/tone from a solid state amp, and then when I introduced the Shindo Masseto preamp into the setup, I got more of that 3D dimensional body and meat on the bones in the music. When I added the EVO into the setup, I (finally) started to enjoy and listen and move to the music, and stopped thinking about and analyzing the sound. With prior DACs in my system (Borderpatrol SE-i, TotalDAC D1-core), I was always analyzing soundstage width/depth, instrument separation, tonality etc. Although these previous DAC's had moments of "pop" and "excitement", but in the back of mind, those moments always felt exaggerated. To be clear, I am not trying to disparage these other DACs, they are very good DACs at their price points. And given the subjectiveness of audio perception, these "exaggerations" could be another person's musical bliss. Pick your own poison as they say.... 

One of the pieces of music that I use as a litmus test is a Chesky recording of Earl Wild (pianist) playing with a full orchestra. Supposedly a very good recording, but it was probably the piece that I skipped past the most when i played that album. The piano tonality was off and just sounded flat, and overall it was like hearing the piano "versus" the orchestra. With the EVO, the piano came alive, and I could finally hear and enjoy Earl Wild's masterful and nuanced articulation, and, Earl Wild and the orchestra "playing together" and "having a high energy conversation". Quite frankly, I continued to play that piece (even though i didn't enjoy it that much) each time I introduce a new component into my system because, subconsciously, I guess I was hoping to see which component change would stop me in my tracks to have a second listen.  Every CD I have put on since the EVO arrived, the immediate reaction has not been "wow, I am hearing this new detail or that new detail" (though this is true), but I am just smiling and enjoying the music immensely. The recorded trumpet has always been a tough instrument for me to appreciate because it sounded harsh and lacked richness, but all that changed with the EVO. I actually started to like listening to the trumpet, and I am developing a new found appreciation for Miles Davis.

Apologies for the long post, but all of that is to say that if Benjamin can bring some of that high end Mojo to lower (relatively speaking) price points, and also offer existing EVO owners a high value upgrade that gets us within reasonable striking distance of the new EVO63 (without shelling out $15-$20K), that sounds like a good thing to me. 

Advice I'd like to humbly offer to the Mojo guy is not assume everyone is an engineering geek and knows what a freaking Lundahl Amorphous Core or some ERS paper barriers shielding is...these are some of the options listen that you have to pick and choose from and a lot of people will have no idea what the heck that is...or more importantly, how it's going to affect the sound and performance...why not put a dedicated page or maybe hyperlink these fancy words so once you click on it, it explains what customers have to gain from all that. There are a lot of customers/people, including me, that when faced with choices, I need to fully understand what's behind them, if it's too many of them and not clear, I may just move on. 

I had the Mojo Mystique Evo B2B with the A Core upgrade for awhile. This DAC does sound very organic and natural, which is seductive at first. That said it does so at the cost of smoothing over details, higher noise floor and coloration in tone. It depends on your musical preference, if all you care about is small ensemble jazz or vocals, this is a good DAC. If you listen to dynamic music that's either electronic or even orchestra that benefits from low noise floor and clear instrument separation and texture, this isn't the DAC for you.

-I'm glad to see impressions like this because I experienced that several times when highly regarded, natural sounding dacs were simply not cutting it when it comes to electronica, where detail, low noise floor, bass definition, and punchiness are important. A lot of audiophiles don't listen to electronica, it's the usual piano, violins and whatnot...which Im not knocking, just pointing out that someone's natural sound is another one's slow and syrupy.

@branislav

and so what dac(s) have you found that for your use listening to electronica, that outperforms the mojo unit you exited from on those criteria you specified (clarity/detail, noise floor, lack of coloration, speed/impact)?

we would love to be educated...