Once I get my other gear, I might have to take another look at chord. 
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I think a lot of it comes down to the filter designs. Iām spending some time listening to the Bifrost in NOS mode, but using HQ player to setup the Oversampling filters and noise shapers instead, playing music through Roon > HQPlayer >Bifrost (NOS mode) > WA7ā¦ it makes a big difference. Iām using filters designed to be similar to Chordās M-Scaler with 1 or 2 million taps, upscaling to 192khz and Iām actually getting better performance out of the Bifrost in this setup even compared to the Mojo 2.
The bifrost goes from sounding congested (comparatively) to sounding extremely open and the top end gets that ānon-fatiguingā characteristic that the Mojo has, but further improved. There are other filters and noise shapers to try too, they all make differences. What Iām learning is that the filters on DACs are generally limited by the processing power of the DAC chip, but HQ player filters are only limited by the processing power of your beefy CPU, so it can go well beyond any standard (or even high-end) DAC.
The overall DAC performance is still a limiting factor, but itās interesting. This is also what the M-Scaler does apparently, itās basically a dedicated āfilterā oversampling unit for other Chord DACsā¦ playing around with HQplayer, I can totally see how the M-Scaler would be worth it for some setups.
HQplayer is $300 on its own, but Iām using it in the free āevaluationā mode, which just closes the app every 30 mins, which forces you to re-open it to keep using it. There are limitations to how you can use it too, the easiest way seems to be through Roon, setting it up as an āoutput deviceā and all your music plays through HQplayer, which outputs through your DAC.
Iāve tried it through the MOJO 2 and I get similar improvements there as well, but I would need an extra piece of hardware called an āSRC-DXā that lets you output duel BNC 768khz to the MOJO like the M-Scaler, which itself is another $300ā¦ lol. But people say it outperforms the M-scaler when combined with HQplayer, with the obvious caveats that itās relying on your PCs processing power and the limitations of how the playback works, so you arenāt going to use it for gaming or anything else. Lots of fun, though. Learning a lot. The music sounds amazing and Iām getting a ton out of the Atrium. Best they have sounded yet.
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I got the xduoo Bluetooth adapter that works and fits nicely after modification. I saw someone else recommend this on Headfi. Just have to rewire the coax digital output to the null plug and remove the default on so it doesnāt get in the way. I have not turned on my 3D printer in a while, but I might do it so I can print the custom case for it. Works well like this, though. Accepts LDAC and APTX LL, which are the two I care about and send it to the mojo via Coax Digital.
$65 directly from Xduoo. Just have to wait a couple weeks for it to arrive from China.
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With the Mojo 2, is it possible to quickly toggle EQ config on and off?
After reading the manual, it seems like you can only reset to neutral quickly.
You can only toggle off quickly. Overall EQ controls are pretty intuitive tho. After owning it for a bit, I can fly through it and make adjustments quickly.
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Got the SRC DX today. Itās a small DDC that receives 768kbps USB and outputs dual BNC 768kbps. Allows upscaling up to 768kpbs in Roon through HQPlayer, similar to an Mscaler. Just started listening to it, but first impressions are definitely positive.
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