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Why don't you borrow one and find out for yourself?

I do not know anybody with one, and the hifi shops here (Switzerland) do not seem so keen on home demos. Good idea though...

NJB posted:

I have not really upgraded in the right order, but I am happy with my current setup and so the crime feels less heinous. Let’s ignore the source for now, I have Naim 282 with NAPSC into a 250.2 supported by a well regarded PSU. The resulting ‘noise’ goes through NACA5 into Dynaudio Focus 160s. It sounds rather good. 

My source is a Bluesound Node 2 via optical to a Chord Mojo. I like the Bluesound for its convenience and the Mojo is a step up from my previous DAC. The Mojo gets some fans, but is probably my first upgrade target. It sounds a bit more ‘real’ than my previous DACs, less clinical, more foot tapping in many respects. 

If I was to change the Mojo, what can I hope to see as a difference? Apart from a hole in my pocket, of course. There are many comments that the Mojo is 80% Hugo performance for 30% price etc, so is it really close enough to top end performance to make an upgrade just an indulgence?

take a dave, you will have a big elephant step vs the mojo,  if 20% step with the hugo is not enough for you....( don’t take me too seriously ).   More you go in high end audio, more costly are every little step.   

I have been running a bluesound node 2 as a streaming source for a while now, and paired with a decent quality DAC it's tough to beat at any similar outlay.

I had it paired with a NAD M51 which was a good match and very close to the level of a Hugo to my ears, although I still felt the M51 sounds like a digital hi-fi source (albeit very good for the price). 

I tested the M51 against a Hugo2, which showed more authority and weight in the bass and would have been an incremental step up, however it still sounded to me like better digital hi-fi. I ended up going for a Schiit Gungnir Multibit which to my ears sounds more natural, more like just having the music presented with less hi-fi in the way. I love it as the Schiit DAC really does get out of the way of the music more than any other digital source I have heard - the overall balance is more like the Mojo than Hugo/2, but of a significantly higher quality level.

well Hugo 2 is considerably better than Mojo 

analogmusic posted:

well Hugo 2 is considerably better than Mojo 

Totally agree on this. Choosing between H2 and Gumby comes down to personal preference and system synergy, they are both great DACs - although where I live the Schiit costs around a third less.

NJB posted:

I do not know anybody with one, and the hifi shops here (Switzerland) do not seem so keen on home demos. Good idea though...

You may be able to persuade a dealer in UK to send for auditioning, though presumably they would want you to pay any additional postage cost. As I live in a remote location I did that with Dave and Hugo TT, to compare with Hugo(1) that I had, paying the full cost by credit card upfront, to be repaid when I returned them. Im not sure the forum rules allow me to name the  supplier I used - so all I'll say is that it is like a fusion of the first part of nintendo and second part of electronics.

I can't answer the question as to how other models compare to Mojo as I haven't heard Mojo. While some people rate M as virtually as good as H, others seem less sure. It will of course depend on the rest of the system, your ears, and, oft overlooked, the effect of the room. 

NJB you're free to ask for advice, but it doesn't surprise me you are back here in a very short time.

the thing is, once the system is set up properly and doing what it is supposed to do, one doesn't really feel the need for upgrades.

A Chord Mojo is quite very good DAC, and really with a interconnect from Naim, Chord or Vertere sounds very musical. But hey it's your system.

Also you run a non-Naim PSU, well, you don't really have a Naim amplifier, you got a hybrid, or a mongrel, so until you have a full Naim amplifier, the results you experience may not be so good as what many forum members are used to.

What you got, It's not the full real Naim sound.

For the record Chord Mojo with a Chord cable interconnect into 202/200 is a very good system, and really works because it is well balanced and really is very enjoyable.If it were my main system, I could easily live with it permanently.

Anyway it pretty much the last thing I have to say on this topic, people will do as they please.

At some point though, it's nice to sit back and really enjoy the music without any thoughts of upgrade. That happens in my view when the system is set up properly.

Which is why the new Uniti range is very nice, since there is no mix and match involved.