New Mojo Mystique X

It appears that the new model will not be upgradable and that the EVO will no longer be produced. Two versions will be available and will sonically be close to the EVO Pro level. Pricing is better than the existing Pro.

Not being able to audition is a severe handicap. I was not aware of the Merason which I will look into

@lemonhaze I am expecting my new Mystique EVO DACc next week so looking forward to hearing how it sounds. Seems like several have gone out to new owner in the last few weeks. Perhaps some will post their experience soon. And of course Benjamin offers a 45-day refund policy in case you're not happy with the sound or if you decide you want to change models. Talk to Ben about he would handle "upgradeability" in an EVO model when new upgraded models are released and these upgrades can't be accommodated due to a change in chassis. 

I had the Mojo Mystique Evo B2B with the A Core upgrade for awhile. This DAC does sound very organic and natural, which is seductive at first. That said it does so at the cost of smoothing over details, higher noise floor and coloration in tone. It depends on your musical preference, if all you care about is small ensemble jazz or vocals, this is a good DAC. If you listen to dynamic music that's either electronic or even orchestra that benefits from low noise floor and clear instrument separation and texture, this isn't the DAC for you.

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.