Mola Mola Pre/dac review compared to DAVE dac

[Hyperion]

Following with interest!

[Hyperion]

The last information we've got directly from the source is that the free standing DAC (Tambaqui) will be officially released during the upcoming high end show in Munich (in May 2018). It will most certainly be well worth waiting for.

 

https://www.mola-mola.nl/tambaqui.php

www.perfect-sense.se/varumarken/mola-mola

 

[Hyperion]

@Marcel073.

 

Could you please tell us your actual price bracket/budget for a new DAC?

 

The new Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC will retail at around €10.000. We've had the Mola Mola preamp here with the DAC-module which the free standing DAC is based on since last year. Presuming that the Tambaqui will be as good (or better) - which is certainly the goal - it belongs in a category above the PS Audio DS DAC (which we also carry) as well as the Benchmark and Auralic DACs. A direct competitor among the brands mentioned would be the MSB Discrete DAC (which we received last week btw). I would also look closer at the CAD R2R DAC which is among the most musical and natural sounding on the market imo.

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Hyperion]

2 minutes ago, Marcel073 said:

@Hyperion

I'm in the lucky position that budget is not really a constraint, but it does not mean that I like wasting money.

Overpriced gear where a high percentage is for supporting the brand's name and their marketing campaigns is not interesting to me.

As responded to @barrows, I'm not interested in the Makua pre-amp as I need a multi channel pre-amp / SSP for my HT use.

Little chance that I will go for a R-2R DAC as the design is rather out of date, though I know that many people swear by it. Oherwise MSB would have no market for their (imo heavily overpriced) DACs.

I'm still interested in the Vega G2 DAC as this can be upgraded with their Leo GX word clock and hooked up to their very nice and powerful Aries G2 streamer.

Hmmm, so many choices to make ...

 

 

If you're looking for and value the highest grade of neutrality, transparency and resolution above everything else of potential qualities in a system, the Mola Mola Tambaqui will be very, very hard to beat regardless of price based on my experience. R2R options from CAD, MSB etc. do offer other qualities that some prefer and might rate higher though. Some would call them more natural and organic sounding. 

 

In the end, proper system matching and personal opinion/taste is the only thing that matters.

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

[Hyperion]

We did actually demonstrate Mola Mola and Boenicke earlier this year at the High End Audio Show in Stockholm. A match made in audiophile heaven :).

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Hyperion]

6 minutes ago, Marcel073 said:

Nice picture.

Quickly checked your website but it is only in Swedish.

 

Well, there's a reason for that ;). Try Google Translate if you're curious, or ask me anything that might interest you and I'll do my best to help.

[Hyperion]

I've had the Chord DAVE here (briefly) as well as the Jeff Rowland Aeries earlier. The DAVE is great if you want "excitement" with a high level of drive, energy and resolution. The Aeries is a very nicely built unit as well, but rather dated within this relatively fast moving segment being >6 years old. It's also PCM only if that matters.

 

The Ayre QX-5 is a permanent part of our collection, and one of my personal all-in-one digital units on the market right now. It's much more than a DAC though, and should be judged as such.

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

[Hyperion]

3 hours ago, rickca said:

@Hyperion your comments about the Aeris and QX-5 are accurate, but I'd appreciate your assessment of the sound quality of the Tambaqui vs these units.  I understand the differences in functionality.

 

Jeff Rowland has an excellent supercapacitor PSU for the Aeris.  It's an obvious potential upgrade path for me.  I'm just not sure I want to invest that much more money in the Aeris given its somewhat dated design.   That PSU alone costs almost as much as the other DACs.

 

I'm still awaiting the Mola Mola Tambaqui, which hasn't yet been officially released (at least it's not shipping).

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Hyperion]

1 minute ago, Marcel073 said:

Oh, one more thing (Apple ...?)

 

As stated before I'm also into multi channel audio / HT / Surround.

 

And the Merging+NADAC as well as Player are available in 2 and in 8 channel versions.

 

 

If you're looking for a multichannel processor, you can exclude all other options discussed - yes :). I've heard good things about the Merging units, but never experienced them first hand myself.

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

 

[Hyperion]

On 12/2/2018 at 8:41 AM, Marcel073 said:

The Tambaqui is being sold, at least in the Netherlands.

 

We're receiving the Tambaqui this week here in Stockholm/Sweden. The Roon certification is still ongoing though.

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Hyperion]

3 minutes ago, rickca said:

Are @Hyperion and @Perfect sense different users who just have the same icon?

 

Same same

 

/ Marcus