I stream from a iPhone 7 to Chord Mojo to headphones. I have also read many reviews of the Mojo, some purely subjective and some with measurements. I also have a TempoTec Sonata BHD Pro Type C. Mojo delivers a less technically correct sound that is relatively easy on the ears, robust and smooth. I bought the tempotec based on it being a good value based on a stellar review and measurements. It is more detailed, crisp and dynamic sounding than the Mojo. You hear all the details with the Tempotec with no sugar coating. Which sounds better? As usual, that is a subjective determination and YMMV based on personal preference. I would probably go with the Mojo for an easier listening experience but the tempotec in order to hear everything on a recording the way it was intended to be heard ie more of a “monitor” kind of sound. I mean that as a compliment. Neither is offensive in any way nor could the sound be deemed bad. As the old analogy goes they are like two very different yet very lovely ladies. Again this is with headphone listening and Each might choose differently. I’ve tried the Mojo as a source in my good hi system and it did well there but it has been awhile and I have not revisited that. Someday I may try the tempotec there and see though it is really intended mainly for use with headphone. Never the less, I have yet to be able to confirm that “higher end” necessarily means better as opposed to perhaps a different flavor of sound case by case and that such judgements are anything more than subjective as a whole, though no doubt there are some very good sounding DACs at all price points these days compared to years past. As always YMMV.
Old phones as streaming sources
I'm curious how many of you have converted old phones to streamers. I have found that when I remove the sim card and shut off blue tooth and wire the phone to a dac with an appropriate USB adapter cable, my old iphone 6s makes a pretty good streamer. Just wondering what others experiance has been. It is a really economical way to source digital to a 2nd or 3rd system. You can even cut electronic noise further by running on battery power when listening and shutting off the screen once the music is rolling. Going one step further would be to transfer local files to the phones memory and turn off wireless altogether. I have not done this but theoretically it should help. I usually just run the Qobuz app and stream from that to my Chord Mojo. What's your experiance?