Nice review! I had the original Mojo, and I also felt it had some great characteristics. Unfortunately, my beef with them is how they abandoned me when their unit died just out of warranty. If you search, there are many who have been burned by this unreliability. The emails were not terribly nice with them, and so I walked away. I wonder if it was overheating as the original ran VERY hot. Meanwhile, I have the older iFi xDSD. That was my next purchase. It had Bluetooth so I didn’t need a jury-rigged mess of wires to my iPhone. But the point is…all these years later it still works! Good on them! Also, per your review, I like that the Gryphon has a screen. And that it has more features, and has balanced output. Finally, when I was using the Mojo, I never really got the hang of the balls and colors. Cute, but a terrible UI. Good UI design means i don’t need to memorize much if anything. That plus the sham of having a big box to connect to add BT (at quite a cost!) is just crazy. I would stick with the Gryphon. For all the rest of you, I hope I am wrong regarding the reliability and overheating. I hope they have fixed those issues.

After reading numerous reviews about mojo 2, I was still hesitant about making a decision. However, the way you elaborated on the sound quality and features of mojo 2 convinced me to finally hit that buy button. Your review was incredibly helpful, and I can't thank you enough for providing such valuable insights!

Thanks for such a great review Gavin. I am just waiting on my Mojo being delivered. I hope to experience this magic you are talking about.

Thank you for comparing both Chord Mojo 2 and Ifi gryphon. I couldn’t decide which to get as both are amazing kits. The review is very helpful. I’m leaning more towards the mojo 2 but I may need to learn how to use different colour orb combinations. In Hong Kong, Mojo 2 cost around 534 pounds after converting the currency from HK dollars and the gryphon is roughly 486 pounds. So in HK, gryphon is just slightly cheaper.

On your recommendation Gavin, I picked up the IFI gryphon. This sounds crazy good, thanks bro. Your recommendation was spot on.

Have been using the Mojo 2 as the desktop amp on my computer for the past 7 months. Sound quality wise, Its best investment on any dac I have made within that price range. Rob Watts was not selling snake oil. That said like every device it has pro and cons. The "Balls" UI takes time to get used to. But once you get accustomed, muscle memory helps. Still a better UI is warranted even if we have a menu ball now 🙂. The desktop charging shenanigans have been solved. It has a desktop charging mode where it wont overcharge i.e. cycle charge the battery when it is always connected to an external power source. It still runs hot given it is a very small form factor and the DSP has to sink all its thermal output to the outer case. I have seen that it runs less hot when being used as a portable on battery. I do use the onboard GQ to match with my different headphones. There is 9db range across the four channels, 2 shelves and cutoff. Though I dont get the excitement about crossfeeds. Perhaps it may be apparent with LCR trickery with some recordings.

Nice video. I love the painting in the background!

Can’t wait , i always consider you a a fair reviewer

Thanks for the review, comparisons are very useful.

Brilliant review. I own the mojo v1 and will be buying the new mojo 2!

If you want to use your 4.4 cables with Mojo 2, there is a DD hifi 3.5 male to 4.4 female adapter and they are now preparing whole unit for the market which you click on Mojo and you have 4.4✌️ 😊

Hi.........Can you suggest.........Which one has better sound quality.........FiiO-Q7 or iFi xDSD Gryphon or Chord Mojo 2 ? (I am a BASS lover)..............

Hi Gavin. Thank you very much for this video. I’m coming at this video from the Mojo 2 Headfi discussion. Needless to say I’m not surprised to hear that Mojo 2 is best in terms of sound - I’ve been blown away by it. I liked M1 but didn’t love it and knew an upgrade (from my wallet) was pending at some point. Like yourself I really was not expecting this to be as good as it is. Think about it though - the product which has been (roughly) at the top of the sonics tree has now been blown away at almost no increase in cost? This to me sounds like a £1000+ device. Thanks again

Very good review, very easy to understand comparison. Helpful and comprehensive. Thank you for your hard work

Love the car analogy...Thank you off the topic I would love to see your comparison of 7hz Timeless and Let shuoer S12...✌️ ❤️ 😁

Thanks for the review. One point to make regarding the micro USB charging, the decision was to alienate existing Poly owners and provide USB-C charging or keep compatibility with the Poly. I prefer USB-C too but I have the cables required to charge so personally see no issue.

Good one Gavin. I really like my Mojo 2 - I suppose it comes down to whether you use harder to drive headphones on the move to which these DACs relate, which with the predominance of easy to drive headphones and especially IEMs on the move, makes the mojo2 the killer product. BW Simon

Got a mojo 2 arriving today, looks great, will be using 64 audio u12t in ears mostly.

Loved the review! I recently picked up the Gryphon and I love it! But about 5 days later, the Mojo 2 came out…lol. I saw in another comment you made that the Gryphon sounded about 85% close to the Mojo 2. Do you think that the lossless DSP features of the Mojo 2 have that extra 15% edge over the Gryphon? Or just that the Mojo 2 is sonically superior to the Gryphon on all fronts?

Wow the price in UK is interesting because here in Vietnam the Mojo 2 costs more than the gryphon. Luckily I don't have to worry about that because I can't afford either lol. Thanks for the informative review, mate :)

Great review thanks. How would you compare Mojo 2 with some of Chords other offerings like the Hugo 2, TT, Cutest. Thanks.

Hi Gavin, great insight as always. I’ve got a Zen DAC V2 with some Grado 325x. Would the Mojo 2 be a significant upgrade or do you really need more premium headphones to get the best from it? I’d also be interested in using it with my desktop amp instead of the Zen. Is that really viable using 3.5 to RCA? I’ve read the battery shouldn’t suffer being plugged in to the mains. Thanks.

I have a chord dave, ifi go bar from home, and I plug my HD800 into both. Guess what? The sound with Go bar is amazing. So I am quite confused if I should go for a mojo2 or a gryphon if I like the go bar so much. OMG the staging speration and imaging of go bar is so great!

Fantastic review Gavin. My biggest issue is I don't have a lot of time to sit at a desk or wherever with a nice stack all plumbed in, I do have a stack and every day I sit down to work and go right let's listen to some music, 12 hours of Zoom, WhatsApp, Signal etc later I have hardly listened to a thing properly and I really don't want to sit there any longer. So I have the Deva Pro for round the house true nomadic, I have the xduoo for sitting in say my living room or out the back garden (not so much at moment of course) and I can have good quality audio via LDAC or wired but it's not as good as my stack plus I do have and intend to have some inconvenient to drive planars (not Susvara level of why did u do that hifiman). So I love xbass, space, presence but I also can use parametric eq's, on device tuning at sub, mid to upper bass and trebble below airzone so configurable is amazing, want to go further I can switch to Roon if I decide to and go even further. No brainer for me Mojo 2 and xduoo bal which I already have will cover all I need 95% of the time. That’s me though, isn’t it amazing we have so much choice these days and reviewers who don’t try to shilling it every second of their time (Gavin), for someone else they may want to go a completely alternate route, and they can.

Well,sat down with this tonight, plugged it into a pair of HD560s.Honestly,I’m staggered at what this can do, absolutely stunning the way it portrays a musical performance.

Hi Gavin, thanks for your review. I always love to see many more coming. BTW I am a bit curious to know about BAL in team of sound between default opamps 1612 and the new upgraded V5I-D. Thanks in advance

Thanks for this wonderful comparison mate! I appreciate the time and effort gone into this. I reckon that ifi can used as a dac only through line out. If used just as a DAC, how would you rate it? Does it come close to desktop dacs around that price? Thank you

Thank you for sharing 🙏

Thanks for the review. What are your thoughts on the audio quality of the Mojo2 v RME ADI2 DAC FS unit? Thanks again.

Hi Gavin, your reviews just so unbiasly great and I thank you for that. Btw, seeking for your opinion, I've a Samsung S22 Ultra, Sony MDR-Z7M2 headphonesb with Kimble Kable SE cable. Currently am run with Chord Mojo 1 which soundstage not wide enough and bass is clear but a bit on the light side. If I am going to upgrade among, Chord Mojo 2, iFi Gryphon, Xduoo XD05 Bal, Questyle M15, Xduoo Link2 Bal. Which one will be my best upgrade from Mojo 1? I mostly listening to lossless Jazz Folk Blues which emphasis on female vocal like Ella Fitzgerald, Sara K, Rebecca Pidgeon, Lori Lieberman, Mary Black, then Slow & Hard Rock and Power Ballads from Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Gun N Roses, Bad Company, Deep Purple, Rainbow and many more. Also occasionally Jazz, Fusion Jazz music and Pop & Hip Hop songs. Sorry if my writing a bit lengthy but just wanted to let you have a better idea of my music preferences. Would be much appreciate for your advice.

Thanks Gavin, interesting update! After demoing this do you think Chord may have fixed the issue the V1 model (apparently) had with it running rather too hot to be carried in a pocket?

Hello Gavin, love your channel! I subscribed. You just gave me the best explanation and examples of the functions of the mojo and I saw a lot of you tubes video's on that subject! I want the mojo for the sound and have to put up with the balls...Mojo 2 has eliminated the line level because some people forgot the setting and blew their ears off with an headphone. Can you advise me about what to do with the volume when I use the mojo 2 in desktop mode? As high as possible or as low as possible? I use a decent 120 watt rotel pre and power amp.

Thanks for the great review/comparison, Gavin! Does the Mojo 2's DSP allow you to tweak the bass to a degree that closely resembles the bass boost on the Gryphon? Would you say that one is better than the other (Mojo 2 vs Gryphon) as far as bass boost goes?

Hi, can you give me a rating! I have fiio fh9 +Qudelix-5k, ifi gryphon costs €600 it is a significant improvement in sound compared to the qudelix 5k, btr7, ifi go blu... Or is it just a minimal improvement? From a €600 DAC my expectations of improvement are at least 70%!

A few friends and reviewers have complained about at least 30 minutes warm up time till Mojo 2 sounds it’s best. Can you tell us your experience, did you notice this?

Wotcha Gavin. I’ve just bought a Mojo 2 and rather than pay a lot for a Poly, I’m thinking about an ifi Go Blu when I’m out and about. Is that a false economy?

Hi :). are you shure about that voltage numbers? (8-14 Volts), I am pretty shure that 05 Bal can output only 2V of power to the headphones...

Can you compare the sound quality of the XD-05 bal with XD 05 plus?

Hi Gavin, I am considering iFi Diablo, iFi Signature, Chord Mojo 2. Which is the best fit for Hifiman Arya in your opinion? Thanks

Hey Gavin, thanks for the very detailed review! I'm in the process of looking for a DAC for my Oppo PM-2 and PM-3. Given that they lean a little more on the warmer side with a drop off in the treble region, how do you think the Mojo 2 would sound with them? I would appreciate your insight on the matter very much. Thanks!

Hi. Great review. Any idea on how the Mojo 2 will play with the Focal Elegia?

when I tape the Mojo 2 to the back of my iPhone, I can hear noise when the iPhone's processor is doing work, like opening an app, downloading a song, etc. It seems like Mojo's shielding is quite weak.

In your BAL vs Gryphon video you said that they are very close in sound with Gryphon having a slight edge, is that the same with Mojo 2 & Gryphon? or is there a bigger gap here? For IEM use which do you recommend between Gryphon & BAL?

Apparently Chord decided to keep the micro USB connection so that their older streamer add on, the 'Poly', can be used with the Mojo 2 .

Hello! And between the iFi Micro iDSD Signature and the Mojo two, which one do you prefer in terms of sound quality?

OK do you have my house bugged, how the heck did you know after getting my xduoo 05 bal I was trying to decide between mojo 2 and Gryphon as an additional purchase, respect.

Hi gavin , thanks for this but what would you pick for hifiman arya stealth ? Gryphon or mojo 2?

Hi Gavin. I’ve been sceptical about chord mojo many years, but after trying some portable amps and give up on them. I bought mojo 2 and poly. What can I say, I was a fool… yes it’s expensive, but it’s really worth it. EQ implementations doesn’t degrade sound quality, for example all these bass boosters destroy sound quality. And AirPlay is fantastic, I hate BT it sounds really bad. It’s best portable device and no fatigue of listening for hours. Amazing device! I have different headphones and I like to tweak with mojo EQ to fix them if something is not right and also if I want to listen at lower volume. Highly recommended!

Hi i have the Creative Sound Blaster X4 im wondering if yo can help im for PC only what one would say is best ? Can you do smack down with the Creative Sound Blaster X4 as well? Out of these three which one works best for PC?

Nicely Done. 2 Take aways. 6/7 year old gear is ancient :) Not such a good price if in the US vs UK.

Thanks for the comparison Gavin. Received my Mojo 2 today but I had been thinking i should’ve bought the gryphon because I use a balanced 4.4mm cable with my hd660s and Sundara headphones. But if you think the mojo sounds better then I’ll just stick with that …. although the extra features on the gryphon are very temping!

Mojo 2 are going for $775 now I guess I’m going with the gryphon

Mojo 2 looks very colourful cute small . Whole reason of portable . You should review schit hel also

You know what I want - a chord mojo 2 with 1 usbc port, 4.4 port and no battery, a chord mojo dongle if you like.

Hi Gavin, at 19:00 you mentioned Gryphon is more expensive than Mojo2, how much each price of Gryphon and Mojo2

For sundara is better mojo 2 o gryphone ? I love vocal and midlle high I dont like invasive bass .. thx

Hi Gavin. What is the best combo for mojo 2? if you refer to what the ifi zen signature combo has done. and which is better between the mojo 2 combo vs the ifi zen signature combo? thanks

Just wait till your Chord Mojo breaks. They have some of the worse quality control and customer care and for the price you pay you shouldn't have to deal with it.

I have. compare Ifi Xdsd and mojo 2. I favourite to ifi in sound and better feature balance output can drive more power headset , it using type C connect my phone

Hi Gavin how does the chord compare to LG 60 quad dac? Thanks Tudor

Nice video, maybe you would consider rearranging the lighting to behind the cam. Dynamic range of your cam does not abode well with those lights behind. Super vids nonetheless.Congrats.

everything Chord seems extermely overpriced.. e.g. the "poly" streaming attachment for this is $1000 CDN.. lmao

Thank you for the review, I was really curious in seeing those two side-by-side (Mojo 2 vs Gryphon) and your comments confirmed my suspicions. The Gryphon is a beautiful peace of Hardware but it seems somehow surrounded by a lot of Snake Oil: MQA is (in my opinion) a fraud, and what’s the point of having a DAC/AMP with BT, given that the BT itself will degrade the audio quality to varying degrees.

Hey, does the gryphon sound 3x better than BTR5 2021?

People say the Bluetooth to the Gryphon will degrade quality, but will the Poly also degrade quality?

Gavin did you have chance to try the DAC output on the mojo 2 compared to Gryphon, I have read a couple of reviews saying apart from limited connectivity the mojo 2 is a excellent desktop class DAC, SE of course

I have the centrance hifi-m8 v2 worth an upgrade?

What equipment do you use for precise volume matching?

Given the Gryphon and Mojo2 are nearly double the price of the XDuoo (at least here in Japan), is this even a fair comparison? Will be interested to see.

Does the Gryphon adequately power the Dan Clark Audio Stealth?

Micro USB is there so it’s still compatible with the POLY they didn’t want to make a new one and force current users to buy another version. Bit of give and take.

Just saw a bunch of reviews on Amazon saying they were horrified at the Gryphon sound quality, flat, low volume, no soundstage etc fyi

Chord is amazing, premium price, such small package, cheap plastic housing, micro USB, small battery, no bluetooth, no screen, but yet deliver the best sounding and able to drive. The engineer really work on it over time

I’m not sure if I would ever want the Mojo as it’s not Bluetooth and adding the poly makes way more expensive than the others

18:20 "if you use lots of iems it isn't device for you" Why xd05 isn't good for lots of iems?

can i use it with my hd800s？ what is the voice like？

Dethonray honey h1 review please 🙏

Minor suggestion - use (brand) names instead of pronouns? Sometimes I like to listen without watching. To be clear, I like this video a lot :)

I'd be pissed if they dropped the micro usb and my Poly wasn't compatible!

gryphon is $600 and mojo 2 is $725 here in the states.

how do you compare mojo 2 with hip dac 2 in every sound aspects ?

I was wondering what this thing was. I see this all the time on amazon. I thought it was something for a guitar.

The mojo 2 is now more expensive then both of them.

What headphone has you tested that can be driven by Mojo 2?

Gavin I really hope u don’t mind, this isn’t to promote the reviewer it’s the fact this is the guy who designed the guts of the mojo 2, Hugo etc, it’s fascinating “ kzfaq.info/get/bejne/muCdgLac2J-5kas.html”

Gryphon is pronounced like Griffin...

Bought one. Waste of money for me. No better than my Zen DAC V2.

👁️👁️

Balanced is bigger BS than some cables, balanced is snake oil, headphones can't be balanced, developers instead of wasting resources should implement 6.3 or 3.5 in stellar spec. Sennheiser HD 800 didn't come with balanced... no headphones came, now to get full power of some dac/amps you have to get separate cables for your headphones, just because some kids think balanced is cool...

I hate the cheap look of the Mojo

you know what's bullsh!t? mojo 2 is $200 more for USA customers.

Cayin ru6 review please 🙏