The Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

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I did buy the Mola Mola Tambaqui. It took some time to decide where to spend.

My final choice was Roon+Ether Regen +MolaMola Tambaqui.

Thanks to @barrows and @Superdad, even though they have no idea. But they have some part in that purchase.

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I will try to tweak the system during the year. Right now it is hard to imagine that further improvements are possible at all.

The MolaMola is a truly fantastic DAC.

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@PYP

I see you are using Sonore Optical Rendu. Do you see advantages compared to the network setup with Roon?

I am looking into external master clocks. Could you recommend any? Would be highly apreciated.

Thank you!

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I received the Ether Regen some days ago. It does even improve the MolaMola. It helps to open up the soundstage. This, honestly, took me by surprise. I thought the Ether Regen is an overhyped product. It is not. ASR is wrong here, even though I read their reviews usually with great interest.

I complety and whole heartedly agree with @austinpop and his excellent review.

He says: "The UpTone EtherREGEN is one of those rare products that delivers high-end audio performance at an affordable price. Not only does it deliver “surprisingly audible sonic improvements” as claimed, it holds its own against the best-sounding competing products out there, that cost 3x its price or more."

I have experience with the Linn Klimax (version 2018) and with the DCS Rossini. I did choose the MolaMola.

 

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An external clock is ordered. I will write about my experience.

I am also looking for linear power supplies.

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Both, The DCS and the Linn are owned by friends of mine.

I was very close buying the DCS before I discovered the MolaMola. The MolaMola just fits my needs connectivity wise. I use Roon for streaming and local files.

I tried also the Etherregen plus OpticalRendu and Audirvana on the MolaMola with USB. I hear no important sound difference between MolaMola network and USB. That option might be interesting with Spotify lossless later in 2021.

The Klimax didnt make the cut due to the limitation to DSD64 and my needs. This is changing now with the newest incarnation of the Klimax. My friend will go for an upgrade and I will have the pleasure to examine it closer.

I dint hear advantades Rossini ove Tambaqui. I did like the soundstage better with the Tambaqui. It is wider for me. But the differences are so small, barely noticable. It is difficult to judge which one is better, simply because the "room" plays a huge part. The Tambaqui didnt loose aginst the Rossini. The same is true the other way round. It might be just personal preference.

And I didnt listen to the Rossini with a seperate clock.

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I own lots of DSD 256.

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I think the new Klimax will be a fantastic product. All Klimax products I auditioned up to now are worthy a close look.

Linn does and always did a convincing job. Great products.

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For me, the MolaMola Tambaqui is an endgame. It represents exactly what I was looking for.

 

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"I had the same reaction to adding the eR to my Tambaqui and suggest that any Tambaqui owner who uses the ethernet input give it a try (30 day money-back guarantee, so nothing lost). "

 

I completely agree with that. Give it a try. There is no risk.

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On 3/31/2021 at 5:33 PM, ted_b said:

Has any Tambaqui owner or dealer found a particular "sweet spot" with this dac; meaning, if one uses an upsampling engine like HQPlayer or an offline upsampler (or even serendipitously found a 24/xxx recording) does the Tambaqui seem to like certain sampling rates over others?  If so, maybe Miska's comments (albeit a bit biased as the developer of HQP) about sending this dac the highest PCM you can has some merit?   Same goes for DSD files....thx

I retired HQPlayer after I received the Tambaqui. I could not find benefits sending higher res PCM or DSD via HQP to the Tambaqui.

 

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I re-verified HQPlayer into MolaMola tambaqui this morning. I sent PCM 384 into the Tamabaqui.

There are simply no improvements I could detect with my ears.

I use HQP since 2015. I still use it with my headphone station DAC. A Teac UD505. Here HQP, together with an external masterclock, is responsible to keep the 505 on the height of other, more modern DACs.

The MolaMola Tambaqui is in my opinion best left alone from upsamplers.

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And this is the MolaMola Tambaqui thread.

There are so many HQP threads, that I dont think it is necessary to invade this one here.

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I have 2 connections activated into my Tamabaqui.

First: Roon, Nucleus+ via Etherregen into Tambaqui.

Second: Etherregen (B-A) into Optical Rendu to USB Tamabaqui.

My preferred streaming Service (HRA) is not available via Roon, therefor I use Audirvana Studio.

 

I did my setup a year ago, where I experimented a lot with different stuff, like cables, clocks etc. Etherregen was a keeper for me. One needs to test it for oneself. Don't know if it is available anymore, due to the supply chain problem.

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1 hour ago, Salmonad said:

Hi Guys, I hope I not causing any problems by asking this on the forum but I having problems finding out who the dealer is for Austria

 

I got mine from Heimkinowelt in Vienna. Ask for Thomas.

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I got my Tambaqui in Feb 2021. Never looked back. From what I remember, it took quite a while until the DAC reached his true potential. Definitely more than a month. I too, retired a HQPlayer setup.