Hi Naz, I have copied your post to make answering your questions a little easier. Mike.
As for the BTR5 this device purports to be a USB DAC as well, and supports a wealth of Bluetooth Codecs. However, it seems to me that the S20 does not work via USB with the MOJO, so what chance does this device have? Probably ZERO. I have today cancelled my Order for a S20 Ultra as I ma not prepared to spend considerable money on something that is by all accounts RUBBISH.
I don't really know the answer to this as I have not listened to the BTR5, if there is a noise issue from the S20 then it would only be rectified by third party software (in my case USB Audio Pro).
Where are you based? If you are in the US then you get a decent (snapdragon) processor. I am in the UK and get the Exynox processor which is slow, hot and battery inefficient.
I can cope with the audio workarounds as people are more obsessed with camera quality than audio quality (I wish it was the other way around), but to have a genuinely terrible processor in a £1500 phone is unforgivable. That would be my main gripe.
That said, for the price £105.00 (approx.) would this not be a great option moving forwards, as its USB DAC supports up-to 384kHz/DSD256 native, as opposed to the say the DragonFly Cobalt, which whilst having a better DAC and separate Amp, only supports 24-bit/96kHz audio? Having said that, it certainly does not say (BTR5) whether the USB DAC can only be used with a Computer/Laptop and/or a Mobile Smart Phone; leaving me again confused; I've tried looking this up but to no avail??
If it has usb input then it would definitely work with a laptop/pc/tablet and phone.
However, it is no guarantee of sound quality.
As for the Mojo, it also seems to me that the Mojo needs updating as well, given its Bluetooth capabilities are awful at best, and certain improvements on the device are needed, as I foresee problems with other high-end devices, especially those that now support USB C; the difficulty it appears is turning the device in to "host mode" to bypass the internal DAC; maybe Mojo need to UPDATE/UPGRADE their device to keep up with 2020 devices?!
I think you are getting your mojo mixed up with the poly. The mojo is a dac only with optical, coaxial and usb wired inputs. It does not have bluetooth. To get bluetooth and DLNA / Airplay / Roon streaming you need a poly.
Have a look at David Price's article in Stereonet here. https://www.stereonet.co.uk/news/chord-electronics-poly-2-update-arrives
Truth be known, I am happy to spend under £1,000.00 on a DAC and up to £750.00 on a set of 300ohm or even 600ohm audiophile headphones; but I am running around like a headless chicken trying to work out what is my best option. Your advice is this arena would be most welcomed.
Very very easy, spend as much on the DAC as your budget allows and your headphones will shine. If you don't get the signal to the headphones in the first place they cannot play it!
With this budget buy a Hugo 2 and 2GO. It destroys the mojo/poly sonically, but it is not what you would call portable.
If you used a mojo with a £1000 pair of headphones it would not sound as good as a Hugo 2 with a £100 pair of headphones I promise you.
I do not (in fact detest) like buying rubbish, and always seek to make a (if necessary expensive purchase) once and for all; so I wonder if I should get headphones that support the 2.5mm Balanced Output, or would 3.5mm SE's be just as good with a adaptor, so they can be used in a 2.5mm balanced output??? Again your expertise in this area will help solve this mystery?
The mojo does not have a balanced output, so it would not take advantage here
However, a part of me still wants to purchase the Mojo, so here goes/comes a few more questions for you and of course any others members here, that may be able to assist; all help/advice is warmly welcomed.
1) Am I right in assuming from what you are saying, that if (and I have a 4G++ wifi device from EE) I use a 4G dongle then I can use the Mojo/Poly combination, but because it is not as strong/reliable as a home router (wifi connection) that I will experience audio quality degradation; is that what you are saying? - Apologies for being slow on the uptake; I'm learning!
No, the audio quality will be the same, but the streaming may not be as stable as your home router (which I assume is faster that your mobile network).
I have just tried connecting the poly via the S20 hotspot and it works fine!! This is great news as I don't need to carry my dongle, I can use the phones 4g connection to stream Tidal and Qobuz. Brilliant.
Now I think about it, the reason why it didn't connect before was because I was abroad and mobile hotspot is not allowed whilst roaming! My bad, sorry.
2) That can I use/stream from Amazon HD (I appreciate Tidal etc through UAPP, but I've paid for one year Amazon HD for the entire family and want to make use of it to the best of its abilities) through the above set-up and use their own app, or do I still have to use Bubble UPnP? I'm a bit confused!
The only way you could stream Amazon HD to the poly is via bluetooth, which sounds *****. Bubble does not support Amazon HD.
3) Would I need Bubble to play files stored on my device/SD card on phone and/or Mojo/Poly, if I used the set-up as in question, 1) above? Or is the use of Bubble UPnP purely for Dlna as opposed to WIFI.
There is an SD slot in the poly you could use which works quite well.
You will always need a Dlna app to get any sound from the phone to the poly (unless you use bluetooth) as you will need the poly as a UPnP renderer. I use bubble but have also played around with MALP.
4) Android supports 'download booster' and so if I connected my source device/mobile phone to the Mojo/Poly to its 'own hotspot mode', would I not be able to then still stream from online sources like Amazon HD (using their app) using my 4G from the source phone and still be able to use the Poly's wireless feature?
Not Amazon HD. You still need a renderer. Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz etc do not have one built into their apps I'm afraid, but you can stream from those three accounts from within Bubble.
Even Roon does not support Amazon HD at the moment.
5) Why do CHORD themselves say, "Hotspot mode allows the device to act as a router, this should only be used for portable devices that cannot access 'personal hotspot mode' where the network provider has place restriction. YOUR SMARTPHONE MAY NO LONGER ne able to access the internet when connected to POLY" ?
The Poly's Hotspot mode does not connect to the internet and allows files stored locally on the phone to be streamed to the poly.
It is useful if you are abroad and cannot use your phone as a personal mobile hotspot.
6) Surely, this implies that there are or could be instances when you CAN access the internet and further that 'personal hotspot mode' must serve a purpose being what exactly???
Yes, I stand corrected see my answer to q 1 🙂
I hope to finalise what I will be purchasing today, as during this lock-down I have now spent 3 days religiously reading, for 12 hours plus and have read almost 5000 pages across 130 open-tabs on my computer, 100+ on my phone and 100+ on the tablet.
I use a iPhone X and a Samsung S10+; what is the best DAC for me and the best audiophile headset (wired) that I can use, in the budget I have stated; someone please put me out of my misery.
Portable or not so portable?
If portable then buy a Mojo to start with, use USB audio pro on the Samsung and stream directly from the iPhone to the Mojo from Amazon music (I assume that the iPhone has a decent USB codec, not like the Samsungs rubbish one?).
If not portable then the Hugo2 is awesome!!
All advice/help/guidance is truly appreciated.
I really hope this helps a bit, let me know how you have got on!
Mike
thing to work. Thanx again for your tips and guidance. Much appreciated.
