Chord Electronics Owners & Discussion Thread

[InnocentBlood]

@Andrew - when you are outdoors without any wifi, what's the best mode of connection when you want to listen to Tidal offline & hi res files stored on your iPhone X and the sd card? i'm pretty sure it's not bluetooth right? is it the hot spot mode that gives you the best sound in this scenario?

[Doggie Howser]

You can put your phone into hotspot mode. And get the Poly to connect to it and it will appear as an AirPlay compatible device.

[InnocentBlood]

You can put your phone into hotspot mode. And get the Poly to connect to it and it will appear as an AirPlay compatible device.

 

thanks for that :) until they release the GoFigure app, I see myself doing alot of offline Tidal playback to the MojoPoly and playing stuff directly on the sd card using an app like MPDluxe.

[Doggie Howser]

https://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-Ultra-200GB-Micro-Adapter/dp/B073JY5T7T/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511500431&sr=8-2&keywords=micro+SD+400GB

 

HOOT AH!!

 

2 hours only $50 for 200GB.

 

But I read the SanDisk Ultra got a lot of issues (the old Ultra.. not sure if this is new or old).. so that's why I got the Samsung 256GB. And was surprised MacOS reported 256GB free!! Usually it is like 240MB only.

 

Paid $175 at JB HiFi yesterday. Normally $229 but I got them to price match another shop.

 

 

[InnocentBlood]

this is a good deal :) I've used 2 x 200GB of this particular model before with my onkyo dp-x1. i had no issues with it.

[Guest AndrewC]

@Andrew - when you are outdoors without any wifi, what's the best mode of connection when you want to listen to Tidal offline & hi res files stored on your iPhone X and the sd card? i'm pretty sure it's not bluetooth right? is it the hot spot mode that gives you the best sound in this scenario?

 

When out and about, like DH suggests, use your iPhone X as the Access Point, instead of flipping Poly between modes. I’ve configured my Poly with both SSIDs of my home Wireless Access Point and my iPhone. So, when I’m outdoors, Poly automatically connects to my iPhone as soon as I turn the iPhone’s HotSpot mode on (bit of a battery drain of course). 

 

As for portable sound quality, in order of best to worst;

 

1. SD card media playback; Controlled via MPD over BlueTooth

2. Tidal via MConnect player (mobile DLNA) over WiFi; ideally this shouldn’t be necessary if/when Chord implements Tidal Connect

3. Tidal via AirPlay over WiFi

4. Tidal over BlueTooth to Poly - strangely via BT, the background is quite noisy, needs firmware fixing

 

I’m curious to know how they’re going to trigger a firmware update without GoFigure, there’s nothing in the Captive Portal in access point mode, nor in network mode that I could see to trigger an update maybe some magic combination of button press ;D...

[InnocentBlood]

thanks Andrew for the detailed answers. according to Matt from Chord, all you need to do is to keep your Poly turned on and the update just happens over the air... you will then be able to verify the update via the splash screen on your mobile device.

[Guest AndrewC]

thanks Andrew for the detailed answers. according to Matt from Chord, all you need to do is to keep your Poly turned on and the update just happens over the air... you will then be able to verify the update via the splash screen on your mobile device.

 

I’m interested in the actual mechanics of it… It's going to be slightly more complicated than Matt made it to be ;D...

 

Since Poly sits behind our home Access Point (usually behind NAT and possibly built-in Firewalls), there’s no way to update the firmware unless first “Poly phones home” so to speak and initiates the download. Chord servers can’t spontaneously reach out to your Poly in your home, even if it’s turned on, unless Poly reaches out first in some way. (If it could, that'd be a major privacy/security issue! ;) )

 

I briefly scanned my network to see if Poly reaches out externally anywhere, doesn’t seem like it does, so, I presume there has to be some trigger before it does. Other than advertising itself via SSDP, Poly doesn’t seem to do very much else while on the network during my brief look ;D

 

ps: Poly runs on a modified Linux 4.1.32 kernel (released Sept'16) if anyone's interested to know.

[InnocentBlood]

i was watching an unboxing video for the Poly last night and realized that Chord cheaped out by not providing a proper charger and just included a USB cable instead. is this the same case for the Mojo as well?

 

what charger are you guys using for both your Mojo and Poly? would plugging them to the charger that comes with the iOS devices work? i was also planning on plugging them to my macbook pro touch ID when i need to charge them. i'm planning to charge them together, as a single unit.

 

some folks on head-fi have been having trouble with their various 3rd party chargers such as Anker and it's quite perplexing... why the fork would you not even include a charger in your original package?! i remember the original Chord Hugo came with one.

 

[Guest AndrewC]

...what charger are you guys using for both your Mojo and Poly? would plugging them to the charger that comes with the iOS devices work? i was also planning on plugging them to my macbook pro touch ID when i need to charge them. i'm planning to charge them together, as a single unit.

 

...

 

Yup, the Macbook USB-C charger works great with MojoPoly combined, it’s what I use (with a USB-C to USB-A pigtail). In fact, any of the Apple power adapters work well, including the 12W USB-A iPad power adapter (I believe anything above 2W works for MojoPoly combination).

 

I’m not fussed Chord didn’t include a power adapter, most people have too many of them laying around anyway, no? ;D

[Doggie Howser]

My iPhone X was limited to 64GB when I was picking one up - that means I am kinda limited in my travel music choices unless I use the microSD option on the Poly and I got the 256GB Samsung card the other day.

 

But without the GoFigure app, playing from the uSD card required some DLNA app. The Glider app (now in beta) is supposed to do exactly that so I signed up for a beta.

 

First impressions are pretty easy to use - but with one caveat. Everytime I turn on the Poly as a DLNA server (to play songs from the uSD card), the app crashes. Playing from our NAS DLNA - no issue.

 

Dare I say, it sounds pretty good too. I'd say it sounded as good as Roon.

 

Then since I had the Poly in the non-Roon mode, I decided to test out Airplay. Again no issues but it was the worst sounding version.

 

Ended up switching back to Roon mode since that is how I tend to listen to my music.

 

[Guest AndrewC]

...

But without the GoFigure app, playing from the uSD card required some DLNA app. The Glider app (now in beta) is supposed to do exactly that so I signed up for a beta.

...

 

I think you meant MPD (rather than DLNA)  :P... I still haven't had a chance to test out playback via the micro SD card.

[Doggie Howser]

I think you meant MPD (rather than DLNA)  :P... I still haven't had a chance to test out playback via the micro SD card.

 

Nope I meant DLNA.

 

JRiver sees the Mojo as both a renderer and a server. And I’ve been testing out Glider to do the same thing.

 

[Doggie Howser]

Anyway new firmware is out.

 

Supposedly now Roon gets DSD native!

[Doggie Howser]

Updating firmware is a bit of a bugger tho.

 

Turn on. Leave on for 30 min.

 

Power off.

 

Wait for Poly light to go off

 

Turn on.

 

Leave for 20 min.

 

Freaking me out.

 

8 min more to go on step 1

[Doggie Howser]

How to update Poly:

 

 

Important: Poly must be connected to a Wi-Fi network ( P Status light on and solid colour ) with internet access and be switched ‘on’ or be on charge

 

1. Poly must be off initially to begin the update process.

 

2. Switch Poly ‘on’ for at least 30 minutes to connect to the update server and download the update

 

3. After 30 minutes, switch Poly ‘off’ (or unplug from the charger) and wait until the ‘P-status’ light goes out

 

4. Switch Poly ‘on’ and wait until the ‘P-status’ light comes back on. Poly has now installed the new firmware. Wait 20 minutes.

 

5. Switch Poly back ‘off’ and wait again until the ‘P-status’ light goes out

 

6. Switch Poly back ‘on’. Poly is now ready to use.

 

 

 

The update includes:

 

 

Wi-Fi MAC and Bluetooth MAC address visibility on the Access Point page

Access Point Wi-Fi Manage Connections page, delete networks resolved plus Access Point special character handling for Wi-Fi SSID and password added

DLNA FLAC file gapless playback

Restart of services when joining a new network

SSID 32 characters and password 63 characters max

Router DLNA services visibility

AirPlay updates

SD card database management improvements: If the SD card has space for database then the database will be stored on the SD. Therefore, Poly will only index the SD once, if the content has not changed. If there is insufficient space on the SD card, then the database will be created each time Poly is switched on.

 

Please be patient. We have a large number of Polys to update. If it doesn't work for you at first then wait and try again another time.

You will know it has been successful as the config page will show the firmware version 1.0.6.

 

[Doggie Howser]

 

Success!!

[Guest AndrewC]

Anyway new firmware is out.

...

 

Updating firmware is a bit of a bugger tho.

 

Turn on. Leave on for 30 min.

 

Power off.

 

...

 

No wonder I didn’t see Poly phone home, too brief a look it would seem… Will have to update when I get home and can see how the update actually happens  ;D

 

[Guest AndrewC]

These Chord guys are tricky!!

 

Somehow, despite Mojo/Poly being left OFF, the thing upgraded itself! :o Seems like Poly’s not really off when it’s supposed to be (Edit: albeit plugged into the power socket)... I didn't do any of the "required" firmware upgrade steps or anything. Quite disconcerting that it's connecting across the ‘net and upgrading itself without any notification. I’ve just instituted a filter on my home router to prevent Poly from ‘net access again without me explicitly allowing it. And when traveling only Poly HotSpot mode for me ::)

 

 

[Guest AndrewC]

Confirmed it yesterday; Within minutes of plugging power into Mojo/Poly, even with Mojo still Off… Poly connects to the configured home network!  ::)  Matt Bartlett (Chord) also just confirmed it on Headfi.  But Poly’s still quite elusive about who it talks to on the ‘net… thought I saw a glimpse of chatter to disignupdate.com (resolves to an AWS host), but I could be wrong (the wireless connection makes it tricky to see exactly).

[InnocentBlood]

 

It’s gonna be an awesome Christmas and a fantastic New Year [emoji442][emoji7][emoji869]

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest AndrewC]

 

It’s gonna be an awesome Christmas and a fantastic New Year [emoji442][emoji7][emoji869]

 

Congrats!! :)

 

Well?!! Come on!! How’d you describe the sonic difference with and without M Scaler?

[Guest Kiek]

Congrats!! :)

 

Well?!! Come on!! How’d you describe the sonic difference with and without M Scaler?

 

double dark!  ;D

[InnocentBlood]

Congrats!! :)

 

Well?!! Come on!! How’d you describe the sonic difference with and without M Scaler?

 

my experience is consistent with what I first experienced and posted here back in May 2017: with the M-scaler, I found my music to be vibrant, immediate and "in your face". I apologize for not using audiophile-friendly vocabulary but if I can draw a comparison to home theater, then I would say that with DAVE alone, it's like watching a very well authored Blu Ray which has top notch sound and pic quality. with the M-scaler, it's like watching a UHD of that same movie - everything on screen is just amplified 16 times in terms of image detail, resolution and "depth". my music just sounds that much more realistic to me, if that makes sense.

 

i don't have any measurements to backup my claims - i only depend on my ears. and i trust my ears :)

[Guest AndrewC]

my experience is consistent with what I first experienced and posted here back in May 2017...

 

Nice! (though I can’t quite appreciate the Home Theatre/BRray-UHD analogy, but sounds like you’re noticing a stark difference for the better! :))