The Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

[edwardsean]

4 hours ago, PYP said:

Why not get an in-home demo and decide for yourself? contact Bill Parish:   https://gttaudio.com/    

 

Right. I just called today, though he was on the road. 
 

However, I saw earlier on the thread that demos have been suspended for a while. 

[HH_miller]

I have just received a Demo Tambaqui for my Susvara/Niimbus, it is setup and currently running warm. I do come from a Sonnet Audio Morpheus R2R and am curious to listen to it over the long weekend.

 

Initial findings, very different presentation. Especially from the dynamics the Mola Mola seems extremely transparent and resolving. The second one was a nice one, I am running them AES on the end of a series of Genelecs (including a big sub). I usually mute the Genelecs but sometimes I forget, it becomes obvious when the sub kicks in. This time again I thought that I forgot … but I did not! I was under the impression to even feel the base.

 

Richter: Dream 1 on Max Richter Sleep

 

 

[Stereophilus]

17 hours ago, HH_miller said:

I have just received a Demo Tambaqui for my Susvara/Niimbus, it is setup and currently running warm. I do come from a Sonnet Audio Morpheus R2R and am curious to listen to it over the long weekend.

 

Initial findings, very different presentation. Especially from the dynamics the Mola Mola seems extremely transparent and resolving. The second one was a nice one, I am running them AES on the end of a series of Genelecs (including a big sub). I usually mute the Genelecs but sometimes I forget, it becomes obvious when the sub kicks in. This time again I thought that I forgot … but I did not! I was under the impression to even feel the base.

 

Richter: Dream 1 on Max Richter Sleep

 

 

I too have compared the Mola Mola DAC (Makua) to the Sonnet Morpheus.  They are very different.  I noticed the Mola Mola conveyed much more air and sense of space.  The Morpheus has that R2R timbre, but is, IMO, claustrophobic in comparison.

[HH_miller]

First day powered up and all warm and settled.

 

The sound signature is indeed completely different to the Morpheus, obviously they are in a different price range 3k vs. 10k. So one should not focus on the individual strength but more on the presentation.

 

From an abstract perspective I would describe the two as follows.

 

The Morpheus is more traditional analog sounding, it is a bit like my Naim setup wit a LP12 front-end. The Mola Mola is very different, open, transparent and very neutral. The treble as well the base is clearly way better than the Morpheus.

 

The Morpheus is more the cozy cottage where you feel immediately at home. The Mola Mola is your modern city flat with wide windows presenting a clear wide view impressing on the spot.

 

I find the Mola Mola a great match for the Susvaras, I think they share the same merits.

[HH_miller]

I have never heard so much space/room in digital recordings, it is especially noticeable with drums/cymbals. It is like removing a bandpass from a recording, I am sure the way back to my other DAC would be tough.

 

The Mola Mola leaves me questioning my take on digital music completely. I stuck to vinyl for very long and accepted that enjoyable digital is simply a bit more recessed.

 

I have recently taken great care of my network, clocking, streaming and now the DAC. Even though it is still different to an analog presentation, clean, it is extremely enjoyable. No digital harshness, no glare, wonderful resolution, space/depth, extremely transparent. And the music just flows with ease making my foot constantly tap :-)

 

So far I could not find anything not working well on the Tambaqui, it looks like I am leaving the R2R camp…

[HH_miller]

 

Those 60’s recordings sound so fresh and recent.

 

Listening to Grant Green - Green Street

 

[HH_miller]

On modern recordings I can hear the compression kicking in, at first I thought my amp was running out of steam… so realistic. I found a tape transfer where I could hear the imperfection of the left channel.

 

Probably the downside of a super revealing conversion.  

[HH_miller]

 

Instruments just sound so real - Trumpet with full force and beauty 

 

I’d say the Tambaqui is not analytical but very revealing presenting all details

 

 

 

[barrows]

2 minutes ago, HH_miller said:

I’d say the Tambaqui is not analytical but very revealing presenting all details

that is exactly my feeling of the Tambaqui every time I hear it: very detailed, but still entirely musical.  It is a rare combination, and to me, suggests that the Tambaqui just gets things "right".

[PYP]

try this one in FLAC 96/24.   Too many piano recordings are ethereal or have a distant perspective:

[HH_miller]

8 minutes ago, PYP said:

try this one in FLAC 96/24.   Too many piano recordings are ethereal or have a distant perspective:

 

 Wow :-D Just listened to the first track first few minutes. Nice pick thx! Will spend some time with it tomorrow morning

[HH_miller]

Even after getting used to the presentation I am getting amazed. The Tambaqui is something special, some gear just blends into the setup and some stands out on its own…

 

I will now put focus on feeding the signal as best as possible, will try some Jorma cables around it.

[HH_miller]

If you do own a Mola Mola DAC go and check your app, you’ll find an update worth installing. 

[Davidny]

Any idea of what software improvements have been made?  Are you hearing anything different post the update?  I haven’t had time to perform the update yet.

[HH_miller]

If i remember correctly its was the max package size and an improvement on the DAC. It sounded sublime before and I was under the impression it got a bit quieter/more relaxed afterwards, not night and day but my first impression was positive.

[Matias]

To be honest I never noticed differences when upgrading the DAC's DSP or XMOS or whatever. I think they did improve stability and such, but audio quality, not that I have noticed. Or maybe I did not pay attention enough.

[HH_miller]

Maybe it was wishful thinking.

[ehoz]

@Matias - was curious and wanted to learn more. Whad does the xmos upgrade bring ? Is it related to the usb driver ? I see they have released a version 3 upgrade for the same. 
what upgrades may Affect sound quality?

[Matias]

38 minutes ago, ehoz said:

@Matias - was curious and wanted to learn more. Whad does the xmos upgrade bring ? Is it related to the usb driver ? I see they have released a version 3 upgrade for the same. 
what upgrades may Affect sound quality?

I have no idea. They don't detail much with a "What's New" report. Better if you ask their customer service directly.

[PYP]

On 6/8/2021 at 5:40 AM, HH_miller said:

Maybe it was wishful thinking.

maybe not.  I think the sound improved a bit, but my theory is that unplugging everything is usually beneficial anyway, so cannot be sure the update was the cause.  Sounds incredible, as owners know...

 

Reminders for those who have not updated:

-- check for update on your mobile app first and update there first.  Then the instructions pop up at the end.

-- from your computer, download latest digin programmer for either Windows or Mac from the Mola Mola website

-- if you are a Mac user, you may get the "not trusted app" message when you try to open digin.  If so, go to System Preferences, Security and Privacy, allow app download from...Mola Mola - open anyway (click on this button).

-- when you connect to the Tambaqui to your Mac via USB, choose the USB input (ok, that one is obvious).  The input will blink.  Wait a bit and the digin app will look for update and tell you if the update is ready.   

 

 

[Stereophilus]

11 hours ago, PYP said:

maybe not.  I think the sound improved a bit, but my theory is that unplugging everything is usually beneficial anyway, so cannot be sure the update was the cause.  Sounds incredible, as owners know...

 

Reminders for those who have not updated:

-- check for update on your mobile app first and update there first.  Then the instructions pop up at the end.

-- from your computer, download latest digin programmer for either Windows or Mac from the Mola Mola website

-- if you are a Mac user, you may get the "not trusted app" message when you try to open digin.  If so, go to System Preferences, Security and Privacy, allow app download from...Mola Mola - open anyway (click on this button).

-- when you connect to the Tambaqui to your Mac via USB, choose the USB input (ok, that one is obvious).  The input will blink.  Wait a bit and the digin app will look for update and tell you if the update is ready.   

 

 

It’s so hard to know if the update makes any difference to SQ… it’s not like you can ABX firmware in the Mola Mola gear!  FWIW I usually don’t notice any change to SQ, but with this update I did think there a slight improvement.

[galanakop]

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 ???

[ted_b]

22 minutes 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 ???

IMHO it doesn't get much better than that.  There are other combos that would be equal, but hard to find something topping it.  And I've not heard the dac, but would love to.  I know Bruno to a very small extent (met through NativeDSD work at CES, etc) and respect almost anything he puts his mind to.  And I owned ATCs for awhile (older SCM150 pro models) and couldn't believe how good they were...just overwhelmed my room at the time (especially cuz I was contemplating a 5.1 ATC system).  Anyway....good luck, you have a solid foundation.

[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.

[galanakop]

One clarification please for the mola mola Tambaqui. For even better performance does the mola mola need an external power supply ??? If yes do you recommend it ???