Mutec MC-3+

[sligolad]

Got the MC3 + USB today and just hooked it up to the Lampizator Big7 on AES/EBU and it beats the crap out of the USB Amanero in.

Sounds really organic and musical out of the box so will give it a few days to settle before commenting much more.

 

I am feeding it off a dedicated Audio PC with all Linear supplies, with A JCat USB card going through a Regen then into the MC3.

 

The all German instructions with it were no good to me so I went at it blind and got music, need to find an English Manual now and see if I have it setup right but it sounds great on all 16 44, 24 88 & 24 96 tracks I listened to this evening.

 

I expect this will cause a stir in the field of USB to SPdif convertors, my first foray into this field and I am glad I made the jump and the Big7 is loving the change from USB for over a year now, never knew what I was missing.

Cheers,

Pearse.

[sligolad]

Pearse, I am considering testing the MC3 + USB as a replacement for my (Teddy Pardo PSU + M2tech hiFace Evo) and between a dedicated fit-PC3 (also powered by a TP PSU) and a Naim DAC. How are you coming along with the MC3 + USB? Any new findings, impressions? Thanks, nbpf

The more I listened I found the gap between the Linear powered Amanero USB on the Big7 was not as far away from the Mutec as I originally thought.

I then decided to try Linear supply to the Mutec and this was a great improvement for me so I have not listened to USB input since.

 

I really feel Mutec should look at offering a good linear supply instead of the Meanwell supply as I can hear a real good improvement with 6.3v linear feed to the Main Board.

I have obviously scrapped my warranty doing it myself but it was well worth the cost and effort.

 

Details here if you are interested in dialling the Teddy Pardo down to 6.3v and wiring it into the Mutec. Be warned no comeback if it goes wrong!!!

Tír Na HiFi • View topic - Mutec MC-3+ Smart Clock

[sligolad]

Acording to my experience, this should be done using some good wires as well, e.g. like this (Paul Hynes psu connected via silver/PTFE):

[ATTACH=CONFIG]22678[/ATTACH]

 

To my surprise the difference sonicwise was unexpected small.

Using a good isolation transformer in front of the MC-3+ did give a much bigger effect.

 

ymmv

Ulli

As Ulli stated adding an Intona before the Mutec made a much bigger difference.

In fact the Intona between audio PC and several USB DAC's tested at a group meeting at the weekend made a very significant improvement to all DAC's which everyone in the room was surprised by.

[sligolad]

Hi Pearse

I followed through on your comments from last year. My Big7 is sounding way better off a Mutec and SPDIF. 50 hours on the Mutec and spdif cable has really set things alight

 

The cable is BNC to BNC so changing the RCA connector on the Lampi to BNC may add some more (and the wire off the spdif within the Lampi looks to be common or garden rather than 75 ohm). I've got a spare linear supply so there will be gains at the Mutec end too.

 

I headed down this route before I saw your posts on the JLSounds USB boards. Have you finished up using Mutec+AES or USB (or both) to talk to the Lampi?

 

Thanks

Hi Kaka, the Mutec woke me up to the fact on how the Lampi was being held back by the stock Amanero USB I2s card.

 

Since then I have made big strides on USB but it does require a lot of work, Robs thread on the F1 started most of it.

Intona and battery powered Regen was the first step and then better USB I2s cards.

The JL Sounds pack have been replaced with the latest DIYINHK card with on board isolation and 3.3v supplies and more recently reclocking the I2s out.

It seems Lukasz has woken up to the potential improvements as well as I hear there is now a super clocked USB option from Lampizator.

 

A lot of separate PS supplies and different hardware for a good USB solution here now but its all about getting the best sound for me so the Mutec is gathering dust at the moment.

Tested a new prototype unit with battery powered isolation and regen in one box last weekend and it improved on the Intona and Regen so hopefully once this hits the market it will partially reduce the USB box count!!!