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Review of Mojo Audio Mystique V3 DAC

Purchased the Mystique V3 DAC months ago to replace a Naim DAC V-1.  Okay, the Naim certainly is not in the same league, but is no slouch for the money either.  The Mystique however is multiples better....and much more expensive.  Go figure.

The Mystique is set on a Quadraspire Reference X stand and has a scratched VPI DB5 Magic Brick on its head.  The DAC sounds wonderous of course.  It is fed by a Naim UnitiServe (powered by a custom external PS) through a Nordost Valhalla 1 digital cable.

In my system, I’ve never heard such resolution, dynamics, soundstage and micro-detail.  Mojo has really pulled out the stops regarding power regulation and it shows.  The soundstage is so stable and full.

All of this is fed through a Manley Neo-Classic 300B (Takatsuki tubes) preamp onto ATC 40 active floorstanders with Gaia II footers.  Decware ICs, Patrick Cullen Crossover II PCs, WireWorld Silver Eclipse 8 ICs pre>ATCs.

I just installed a Perfect Path Tecnologies The Gate, so we’ll see how that goes in addition to the other upgrades.

My therapist gave me written permission to explore my inner audiophile child.  She said it was healthy....at least that is what I heard.
celtic66

Showing 3 responses by georgehifi

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Mojo Audio Mystique V3 DAC In my system, I’ve never heard such resolution, dynamics, soundstage and micro-detail. Mojo has really pulled out the stops regarding power regulation and it shows. The soundstage is so stable and full.
Mostly due to them using R2R Multibit dacs, it’s what they do, "make music sound real", warts and all if a bad recording.
And how it should be, not to neuter the best recordings by making the bad recordings sound more listenable.

Cheers George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Didn’t really consider the technology differences, but appreciate the observation.
Basically Delta Sigma (single bit dsd) is good for DSD or SACD, but can only give a "facsimile" of PCM (redbook, CD, dxd, 16/44 24/96)

R2R Multibit gives "bit prefect" conversion of PCM (redbook, CD, dxd, 16/44 24/96).

From Mojo Music:
When a PCM file is played on a native DSD single-bit converter, the single-bit DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real-time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM.

Cheers George


georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Review of Mojo Audio Mystique V3 DAC

Purchased the Mystique V3 DAC months ago to replace a Naim DAC V-1. Okay, the Naim certainly is not in the same league

Your comparing two different conversion techniques, the Mojo Mystic V3 is an R2R ladder Multibit dac. While the Naim V1 is a Delta Sigma dac.

For converting 16/44, 24/96, Redbook, PCM, DXD I’d back a well implemented R2R dac over a well implemented Delta Sigma any day.

Cheers George
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