Chord unveils Mojo DAC

Following on from the success of its excellent Hugo DAC (on test HFC 386), Chord Electronics has unveiled a new portable digital-to-analogue converter aimed specifically at the large number of people that listen to their music on their smartphone. Mojo connects digitally to smartphones and portable devices via either Micro USB (a cable is supplied), optical or a 3.5mm coaxial input and is capable of playing back all format types, including the hi-res Dop and DSD 64, 128 and 256 options.

Mojo utilises a new Atrix-7 FPGA chipset from Silicon Valley's Xilinx, which is a programmable circuit that Chord claims makes Mojo the most advanced DAC on the planet. Like the company's previous DACs, Mojo adopts a series of coloured lights to provide information on its status. In this case coloured spheres give the listener instant information on the power status, volume and file type (CD-quality, 44.1kHz is red, 48kHz is orange, while DSD is white).

Mojo claims 35mW power output at 600ohm (and 720mW at 8ohm) and can be used with any headphones from 4 to 800ohm impedance. It has a pair of 3.5mm headphone outputs so that two people can listen to it at any time and it is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows smartphones (as well as Mac, PC and Linux computers). 

Machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium, Mojo has a hard, fine matt-black finish, which is claimed to be finger print-proof. It boasts a faster charging time than its rivals (claiming to be fully charged in just four hours) and playback time is quoted at 10 hour's of continual use.

On sale now for £399, it will be tested in the January issue of HFC, which hits the shops on 26 November. In the meantime you can find out more about Chord Mojo here.

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