For some time I have been on a mission to put together the best possible mobile mixing setup with the least number of moving parts. I’d never thought I’d be one of those people working on a MacBook, but once Apple moved to their own silicon architecture, new levels of possibility were made available, and the new machines were insanely powerful - I still have half a Pro Tools HD rig in the closet, and shudder to remember what it cost to buy, now completely out of date. High track count 96k sessions have become a breeze, and things are as smooth as silk.
First Impressions
The Mojo was a lot smaller and cuter than I thought would be, and definitely meets the "portable" requirement. It’s machined out of solid metal and feels reassuringly solid in the hand. There are two mini headphone jacks on the front, so you can share with a friend, or client if need be.
The Controls
At first glance the controls are pretty inscrutable, a series of small glowing orbs, but it doesn’t take long to figure out - as well as the obvious volume controls, and power on/off the menu button gives access to four bands of EQ, and a crossfeed option which is of particular interest to me as lack of crossfeed is one of the downfalls of trying to mix on headphones. The crossfeed is very subtle and I wasn’t sure it was working at first, but sure enough I could hear it reducing the extreme width of the music but in a very natural and not at all weird way - many software solutions have an indescribably artificial feel that can be uncomfortable when they try to address this, but this if anything errs on the side of subtle. In other strangeness, the dim control which doesn’t dim, or not in the sense a studio rat would expect ( dropping level of the source ) which confused me, but just changes the brightness of the buttons. Everything else is reasonably straightforward, but you do need to look at the online guide to get detailed explanations of the full control set.
Connectivity
It connects to your computer using usb-c but frustratingly doesn’t charge through it - you have to also connect to another port via a micro-usb connector with a ridiculously short cable provided. Why not just connect AND charge via the usb-c? There may be some audio related electronics reason perhaps, but it’s inconvenient, especially as most laptops are challenged on the port front.
The Sound
Having been around a while, I thought I had realistic expectations about how different a headphone DAC could be, and I knew for whatever reason I was unhappy with the way the UAD Apollo headphone output sounded. It’s hard to describe, but the Mojo just sounds more “right” and closer to the sound from my monitors - I use Focal monitors and headphones which share a “house sound” and using the Mojo made everything more pleasant, full, and smooth without sacrificing any detail. In use, I found myself starting to prefer using the Mojo flat which has to be a good sign. I started using it to make revisions on the run, and for recreational listening ( it sounds phenomenal with Tidal masters, by the way ) and eventually, at first by necessity to rely on it for setting up mixes, and went from there. Currently I l know I can set up a full mix with confidence, and can anticipate the kind of small changes I need to make when in a room with excellent monitoring, more due to the weakness of headphone monitoring than the DAC. I know some people swear by mixing on headphones, especially if they don’t have access to, or more likely - have never experienced decent monitoring, and I am extremely picky. The Mojo has convinced me it's possible!
After half a year of professional use I can affirm Mojo certainly brings the “Mobile Joy” the name derives from, and I look forward to trying other products as work, and my bank balance allows - there’s a DAC headphone/monitor amp that has recently been released that would be incredible with a pair of small ATC’s or Amphions I am sure!
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