The Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

[Gavin1977]

Reporting back:

 

 

[Gavin1977]

2 minutes ago, fheller said:

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.

 

You should try it with a linear power supply or external clock as well.  Or just go straight for the Melco S100.

[Gavin1977]

Sharing some further experience.
 

I have recently sold my Taiko modified T+A DAC8 DSD which I pitted favourably (when the T+A was fed DSD from HQPlayer) against the Tambaqui.  
 

Reason for the sale?  I have managed to work some magic on a Chord qutest through multiple stages of filtering so that IMO the qutest now sounds better than the T+A and the Tambaqui (please note that I am still awaiting a good passive volume control to go with this, and your source needs to be as good as one of @Nenon server builds to achieve this).

 

I think the comment @ray-dude made - don't let anything get in the way of Chord DAC's otherwise the magic is gone.  This is 100% true.

First config:

JCAT USB XE (Powered by Teddy Pardo) -> Sablon USB -> qutest.  Nothing really amazing to write home about, sounds very good, but I wouldn't part with the T+A based on this as it is a few steps behind and it sounds like a £1000 DAC.

 

My present configuration that resulted in the sale of the T+A is:

 

JCAT USB XE (Powered by Teddy Pardo, 5v @ 3A  - qutest set to 2v output so as not to overload)

1st USB port: Sablon USB -> Matrix Audio x-spdif 2 -> Altas Mavros Optical -> qutest

2nd USB port: 5v power to the qutest via micro-usb cable

Thanks to Ray-Dude for the recommendation of the x-spdif 2.

 

This configuration is really stunning - but it all has to be top class gear otherwise the magic is lost (the only compromise that can be made is the toslink cable - a cheaper glass one would probably be fine).

 

But think about it, you've got a very good linear power supply, then feeding the JCAT which has a further set of LT3045 linear regulators - so effectively the x-spdif 2 and the qutest are now receiving double regulated power which everyone talks about in such high regard.

 

The x-spdif 2 then has further filtering inside it and it also has good clocks.

 

The optical cable also removes any emi/rf from getting into the DAC.

 

These are the same tricks that people are doing with multiple network switches.  In the above case we're getting double regulation and double clocking.

 

How does it sound - noticeably more lifelike and dynamic than the T+A and with more detail retrieval.  Tonal quality is superb.  I also prefer it over the Mola Mola and definately over the DAVE in stock form.  I never thought I would say that. 

 

Would be interesting to try a TT2 or DAVE with this config.  Next step is a pink faun spdif card so if if this can replace/match/beat the aforementioned chain.

[Gavin1977]

9 hours ago, galanakop said:

The mola mola Tambaqui together with the ATC SCA2 –Pre-Amplifier Will be my main sources for my new atc SCM100ASLT.
What is your opinion ???

I don’t have a huge amount of experience with preamplifiers, however now that I have moved over to a Hugo TT2 I find that any form of preamp between it and the amplifier smears over detail.  This is not something I’ve noticed before with lesser DACs as they just weren’t that resolving.  I no longer have the Mola Mola to check this out, but I believe that using the DAC to directly drive your amplifier would be best… also cheaper.  Try before you buy.

[Gavin1977]

On 6/17/2021 at 7:56 AM, fds said:

Not possibility to connect any external power supply to my understanding. Indeed, I think such a possiblity would be very welcome. Note sure whether some after-market solution will become available for the Tambaqui, i.e., something equivalent to the Sean Jacobs DC4 PSU upgrade for the Chord DAVE.

Sean Jacobs DC4 LPS to the DAVE is amazing, best DAC I've heard so far.  It is significantly beyond the TT2 and I also believe the Tambaqui.  As I have written before I didn't much care for the DAVE in stock form.  As others will have experienced when adding LPS on other equipment, the DC4 effects the DACs entire performance for the better.  I experienced a similar uplift adding linear to a qutest, but the DAVE and DC4 combination is dramatic. 

 

Holo Audio May (Wildism Edition) should be with me in 2-4 weeks.

[Gavin1977]

4 minutes ago, happybob said:

I'm very much looking forward to your comparison of the Chord Dave (with DC4) and the Holo May!

It’s unlikely I’ll be able to get the two side by side… but I will see if I can pull in a favour!

[Gavin1977]

30 minutes ago, kimgg said:

May Wildism is out? Cool. Interested to see the difference

I don't think there is any difference between it and the May Lv 2 from elsewhere, just that it's supplied by Wildism in Hong Kong.

[Gavin1977]

2 hours ago, PYP said:

I would assume the presentations are different.  How would you characterize the differences you heard?

It's very difficult to characterise in writing because at this level we're beyond talking about bass and midrange etc..  we're actually talking about trying to dissect different interpretations of very realistic musical reproduction.  

 

To me the Tambaqui sounds very 'hifi' and I mean that in a traditional sense, it sounds more like a good quality CD player.  I felt the same about the T+A DAC 8DSD, similar style of sound.  Both DACs have presence.

 

Running the DAVE stock doesn't have the same presence or realism IMO, the soundstage is large but uninvolving and it's tonally very neutral.  I prefer the Tambaqui over the stock DAVE, and I prefer the Tambaqui over the T+A DAC 8 DSD because of it's better imaging (and a great roon end point if you ever use it).

 

Add the DC4 and also the SRC-DX to the DAVE and it transforms.  Emotively it feels like a prisoner (stock DAVE) being released from it's SMPS and USB interference shackles - fundamental improvements across the board, music washes over you, tone is beautiful and rich, hugely detailed, no longer analytical. 

 

Lots of people on here say that that the TT2 is 90% of the stock DAVE.  I believe that.  But when the DC4 and SRC-4 DAVE was removed from my system and I went back to the TT2 it was a major comedown and took me some time to re-adjust - I didn't really experience that when originally comparing the TT2 to the stock DAVE (this change was easier to quantify to... slight reduction in soundstage, detail and imaging, somewhat warmer tone with the TT2). 

 

Other than the marvellous imaging the Tambaqui has I also found it easy to switch between it and the T+A (fed HQPlayer DSD of course, otherwise it's not a fair fight).

 

Hope that helps - if you have the money try and experience the SR4 and SRC-DX DAVE.

 

p.s. I try to write up my experiences/subjective opinions as new topics here, have a look from my profile.

[Gavin1977]

Random question… has anyone ever heard another DAC which has the same precision with imaging that the Tambaqui has?

 

Or has anyone managed to achieve something similar using external clocks?

 

Thanks

[Gavin1977]

13 hours ago, HH_miller said:

 

I am feeding the Tambaqui with AES reclocked by 2 Mutec MC-3+ and a Ref10 120 as master clock. I have had great results with reclocking over the years, nevertheless a capable DAC is what made the big difference for me. I did not try many but went from chip based via R2R now to pulse width modulation. Even though I agree that implementation does make a big difference the core technology made a bigger, ymmv.

 

Interesting - why two Mutec MC-3+?  Are you daisy chaining them?

 

I didn’t get on with Holo Audio May - whilst the soundstage was nice and large… imaging was nebulous 👎

[Gavin1977]

21 hours ago, ted_b said:

Well, the Mola Mola Tambaqui arrived yesterday for a 4 day demo.  I plugged it in, downloaded the iphone app, got it set up to see the network, configured Roon to see it directly (it is a certified Roon endpoint) and voila.

 

I let it play music for a few hours before going down there last night and listening on night one (1).  The results?  Well, I'm trying to figure out how, eventually, I can afford this thing!!  I've never heard such impeccable timing, ease and tonality.  And in my LAN setup it doesn't require a fancy USB cable, doesn't require a hefty HQPlayer server (I have not tested it with HQP via USB yet, see below), nothing.  It makes Roon sound like the best source money can buy.  The lack of fatigue is palpable.  I wish all this weren't the case.  :)

 

So...just now I hooked it up in the same setup as my May, that is, via HQplayer (USB from Fitlet2 NAA with Mola Mola linux driver showing up in HQP settings, and max sample rate lowered, compared to May, to Tambaqui's max input spec of 384k, DSD256).  The source of the music is same, Roon core NUC.  I will also test with local HQP server files, too (NVME SSD drive), instead of from Roon core NUC.  It is easy to switch Tambaqui inputs from my iphone app.  I'll spend the late evening doing this comparison.

 

I will get over my giddiness and listen again tonight.  It's really quite something, in that it is not head and shoulders above the Holo May, it's just better at everything....and sounds like the last of any digital artifacts are just vanished.  As we've discussed before, I will probably be able to tell its impact best when I swap back out and listen to the Holo May.  I'm praying it hasn't ruined me.  :)

 

Stay tuned.

Your impression exactly matches mine when I had one on demo - it’s a great but expensive piece of equipment.  Holo audio May didn’t stay in my system for very long before it got sold on.