Briscati M12 | PS Audio Direct Stream | Mola Mola Makua

[barrows]

The Mola Mola DAC (either in the Makua, or the new stand alone Tambaqui) is at least the equal of, if not better than, any other DAC I have ever heard.  This includes the dCS Vivaldi stack, Chord DAVE, etc, and on another level form the PS Audio.  I have not heard Bricasti in the M12 guise.

If I was facing this choice I would go Mola Mola without question, at this price though, any reasonable dealer is going to have to allow for an in home demo.  I would never advise spending that kind of money without an i home trial.  I would not be afraid of going DAC direct, just try it at home.

[barrows]

9 hours ago, Em2016 said:

 

By going direct, you mean direct to power amp/s? Skipping a pre?

 

Yes.  Only a demo in your own system will tell you the truth.  If you do not need a separate pre, you should always attempt to go DAC direct first, as this will be the highest resolution option.  It does not work "best" for every DAC/amp combination, but it will work "best" for a lot of them.

A preamp is just an additional source of noise and distortion, which are cumulative.

[barrows]

If I had this kind of budget, and I did not need a preamp for use with additional sources, I would get the Mola Mola Tambaqui and go direct to amp(s).  The idea that one "needs" a preamp is in error in most cases.  There is one theory, which makes some sense, that a preamp may act as a filter to remove RFI from the signal coming from the DAC, before it gets to the amp(s): in some cases this could be true, but most should have adequate RFI filtering at their outputs, (and many amps will have similar filtering on their inputs), so in most cases this should not be a problem.

One needs to test DAC direct in their system, to know if it will work best, or not.  I would never add a preamp, to change color or tonality, as this is just adding a coloration which is not in the music itself: if one finds the "need" to do that, there is a problem elsewhere in their system they should fix.

[barrows]

7 minutes ago, toetapaudio said:

Makua uses a high quality analog volume control which should give it an edge over Tambaqui, costs about £2k more but has line and phono inputs if you need. Phono stage is an optional extra.

 

As with all digital, power cables are critical.

No, there is no advantage to an analog volume control over a properly designed digital one, this is a MYTH!  Do not believe it.  In fact, most digital volume controls will be more transparent than an analog one.

If one needs a preamp for analog sources, vinyl, etc, that is one thing, but to add a preamp because it has an analog volume control is just adding more distortion and noise to the signal chain.

[barrows]

2 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Hi barrows,

 

what do you think is the outcome of a comparison Mola Mola DAC vs. Linn Klimax Katalyst.?

Thanks

 

Matt

I do not know...  Have not had any opportunity to make such a comparison.  But Mola Mola uses proprietary DAC tech, not a normal chip like Linn, and Mola Mola is the best I have heard. I doubt (but do not know) that any DAC using a standard chip, could perform as well as Mola Mola.

[barrows]

2 minutes ago, toetapaudio said:

Not our finding so far. 

www.toetapaudio.com

Engineering fact.

[barrows]

7 minutes ago, matthias said:

One point that I do not understand is why the MM DAC converts even DSD256 to a 3,125MHz/32bit format which itself is then converted to 100MHz/1bit.

Maybe someone can explain it.

Thanks.

 

Matt

You need to direct this question to Mr. Bruno Putzeys.  Direct to Mola Mola.

[barrows]

@toetapaudio, Do you understand the technical facts of digital volume control vs. analog?  If not I would be happy to spell them out here, it is not very complicated.

[barrows]

5 hours ago, Miska said:

 

You can, but you need to run the chips at Direct DSD, instead of using the on-chip DSP functionality... I'm also quite happy with DACs like Holo Audio Cyan DSD combined with suitable software to do the needed DSP. Strength of the Mola Mola is largely on the DSP side. Three separate DSP chips instead of something tiny inside a DAC chip. Still a bit limited because lot of the DSP chips have fallen behind CPU's and GPU's in processing speeds and clock frequencies (just compare the pace at which Intel/AMD/Nvidia crank out new products and higher performance). But the advantage of those DSP chips is that they don't need much cooling either... With the bigger Intel/AMD CPU's that produce 160W worth of heat you need to pay serious attention to cooling side too.

 

Jussi, I have not seen any measurements of the Holo Cyan DSD but I am intrigued.  I get a bit skeptical with Chinese products, and the fact the XO in the Holo is not so great does not impress me much (of course at the price I understand why).  I am even more intrigued that Holo audio has suggested that they will release boards for DIYers at some point...

Have you made any precise measurements of the Holo Cyan DSD?  Is it essentially a balanced version of the DSC-1?  How does it handle start and stop of tracks and "pop" issues (via USB)?  Maybe we should move any discussion on this to the Holo Cyan listening thread...

[barrows]

Thanks Jussi.  I hope the Holo guys come through with their idea of offering DIY modules.  I might like to build one of these DSD modules up with some really clean supplies and a very good XO...

[barrows]

8 hours ago, matthias said:

 

Yes, maybe in a few years MM brings the next gen which can do highest DSD rates without decimation and is ten years ahead as well.......

 

Matt

I would suggest listening to the Mola Mola before making assumptions about what it might sound like!  One listen and you will forget all about whether or not it decimates higher rates of DSD or not...

Again, best DAC I have ever heard, that includes a couple of "discrete DSD" types running at high DSD rates, dCS Vivaldi stack, and PS Audio DS.

[barrows]

I have not been to the Munich Show, but is not the one where there are not isolated listening rooms?  Just Booths divided by whatever the demoing company brings along?  My understanding was that this show is not really a good environment for listening.  Of course no show is all that great for listening, but Munich seems to be the worst.  Or am I missing something?

[barrows]

20 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Did you listen to the MM DAC with your Audirvana setup upsampling to DSD128?

Via ethernet or USB input?

I expect that there is no difference between DSD and PCM.

 

Matt

No, I heard the Makua with DAC board into Kaluga mono blocks, and then into Vivid Audio Giya (pretty sure G2s).  I do not remember the digital source.  This was a system I could be happy with forever with no regrets.  Incredible resolution, realistic timbres, incredible dynamics and soundstaging, and completely natural sounding and free of any trace of artifact.  There are some systems which stick in your memory, this was one.

My own speakers do  not have nearly the resolution of the Giyas, they are fantastic, and very revealing.  If anything was "wrong" with the system they would show it.

I doubt the Mola Mola DAC would sound the same with all incoming resolutions though, it has to apply different digital filers for each different incoming rate, and that ought to make for some differences.  When you oversample PCM-DSD that is a very different filtering operation than starting with DSD, so it will sound different.