New Mojo Mystique X

All the magic...half the price. In order to keep up with the overwhelming demand for our DACs, the Mystique X has been engineered for robotic assembly and will be sold through an international network of retail distributors.

The specific changes from the Mystique EVO to the Mystique X were not clear to me from reading the website, but "All the magic...half the price," sort of implies buyers of the X get "all the magic" of the EVO at half the price.

One selling point explained to me when I purchased an EVO B4B last year was modularity and the ability to easily upgrade to avoid obsolescence.  Now I see, "The EVO Basic and B4B are being replaced by the Mystique X" and "There will never be another EVO," which sort of makes it sound as if the EVO is now obsolete - I hope not.

As said by @metaldetektor, I agree with the philosophy:

not a huge fan of the yearly update business model -- just make something great, keep making it, and when you've accumulated enough improvements to make a BIG difference...release your "mk. 2 model" or whatever.

However, Benjamin is sort of a tinkerer in that he is constantly improving on his designs which has resulted in a continuous pattern of changing/upgrading models. This is not totally unusual in the digital realm. The build quality of his products I have owned is very good but I get the feeling they could use a more consistent manufacturing process to keep up with demand. It may be that that the EVO DACs were built to a high standard that didn't allow for much profit, particularly considering they were hand built. This "X" model, "robotic assembly," and "international network of retail distributors" sound like an effort to improve on the manufacturing/delivery process, while offering a good sounding product at a lower price. Hopefully, improvements can still be implemented for EVO owners, if desired.

I hope this sorts out in a positive manner because one thing for sure, the Mystique v3 that I previously owned, and the EVO B4B that I currently own, both sound very good in my system. My current set-up, including the Deja Vu EVO Media Server and EVO B4B, sounds tonally rich, natural, dynamic and sufficiently detailed, and the server/DAC combo works very well together. I do not perceive any loss of detail compared to the Metrum Adagio, Metrum Pavane, or Ayre QB-9 DSD DACs I have previously owned and IMO the EVO B4B provides improved tone and sounds better (to my tastes) than all of those. Dynamics are no problem either as the system absolutely rocks out when called for, of course that front end is running through two powerful amplifiers, very dynamic speakers, and dual subs - so that may have something to do with it.

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.

@branislav - While I do not discount the observations posted by @divertiti who also owns the B4B, I would caution lumping the B4B into a category characterized by your impressions of other DACs, particularly without spending time with the B4B.  While there may well be other DACs that listeners of electronica would like better, the B4B is far from "slow and syrupy" and it sounds very good in my system on all types of rock music, blues, and popular/vocals.   

Just a month or so ago, I moved the X SE into the rack in my main system but I am not ready to sell the EVO Pro just yet.  IMO, they have similarities but also two different presentations, sort of like two siblings that obviously share the same lineage, are both attractive, but have different attributes.  Both DACs have the natural/organic sound that Mojo Audio is known for, but the X SE offers more of the audiophile type qualities such as detail, incisiveness, controlled bass, drive, and spaciousness, while the EVO Pro counters with tonal density, infill, and bloom that some might find to be more like what you would hear in a small club.  A meal at a high end restaurant vs. southern comfort food, either can be very satisfying.

Regarding the PCM 63, I wouldn’t lose sleep over not having those in my DAC.  I fondly remember the sound of a Lector CDP I owned with that chip but so much of the sound depends on the power supply, shielding, and other aspects of the implementation that Mojo already does extremely well, plus the AD1862 DAC chip they currently use is among the best.

Whichever EVO or X DAC you are listening to is certainly among the best for the money, IMO of course.