Mola Mola Makua Pre-DAC

[dallasjustice]

Check out Crooked Colors as well: https://soundcloud.com/crookedcolours. Lots of great bands coming out of Australia / NZ.

** ALSO NOT COMING TO SF!!! **

Keep using song kick even though your music does want to tour much.

I think as music changes new demands are placed onto the playback system. You rarely hear music like this at audio shows in the hotel rooms. But when one hears music like this in a system capable of delivering the low distortion SPLs needed and accurate low end, it's an awesome experience.

Australia seems to be a hot bed for great new music now. Last year I saw Courtney Barnett and Xavier Rudd (with you). Both bands blew me away.

 

[dallasjustice]

Far too often folks assume there's something wrong with a recording or the format when the music sounds harsh or wrong. Rarely do I read someone ask "what's wrong with my system such that this recording doesn't sound right?"

 

[dallasjustice]

Michael will you be trying this combo with your G3s at some point as well?

No. The G3s are crated up and for sale now.

 

[adyc]

No. The G3s are crated up and for sale now.

Which new speaker do you have in mind?

 

[bplexico]

Ah I missed that, congrats on the JBLs. Or for whatever is to come.

 

[cjf]

Congrats on the new Pre. Either this Mola Mola Pre or a Pass XP30 will be my next big purchase for my system. Being a fellow Hypex amp user I look forward to your impressions of the Pre as it settles in.

 

[dallasjustice]

Congrats on the new Pre. Either this Mola Mola Pre or a Pass XP30 will be my next big purchase for my system. Being a fellow Hypex amp user I look forward to your impressions of the Pre as it settles in.

Although it's a pre and a DAC. The way I use it, it's primarily used as a DAC. I only have one source and the analog volume control is fixed to a level so as to minimize digital attenuation. I use digital attenuation because my system is really a 4 channel system. The Makua is driving only R/L speakers. The subs are driven by the Lynx Hilo.

 

[fas42]

I like listening to all types of music. I've found that some of the harshest sounding (on most other systems) music can be the most difficult to reproduce for all parts of the system. It's ironic and difficult to understand for me to say that so called crappy recordings can reveal big differences where other types of music make those differences mere subtlety. I'm listening to M. Ward now. The music feels like it wraps arounds me like a warm embrace.

Yes, this is a very, very useful tool in one's armoury for sorting out a system - the shame is that not more people understand this behaviour, intelligent use of such techniques make it trivially easy to "measure" whether a system is 'improving' or not ...

 

[dallasjustice]

I'm not big on tying to describe DACs. I always roll my eyes when I read others claiming their DAC is the "best" and have all these fruity descriptors; lame.

All I can say is that the Makua DAC's calling card is that ALL music sounds like it's "audiophile." IOW, the gap between non-audiophile and audiophile recordings is greatly reduced. Sure, one can still hear that channel classic Mahler I symphony in 24/192 is a better recording than Courtney Barnett. But both are equal for what they are. I can't recall having heard anything that can do that trick. The skeptic will say: "oh, so the Makua DAC makes everything the same; sux!" No, it's not that simple. The finer recordings have never sounded better. The low level details are never heard before.

 

[nc42acc]

Michael it is a shame you had to preface your thoughts to ward off an eminent flame attack. At least that was how I read it.

I'm not big on tying to describe DACs. I always roll my eyes when I read others claiming their DAC is the "best" and have all these fruity descriptors; lame.

All I can say is that the Makua DAC's calling card is that ALL music sounds like it's "audiophile." IOW, the gap between non-audiophile and audiophile recordings is greatly reduced. Sure, one can still hear that channel classic Mahler I symphony in 24/192 is a better recording than Courtney Barnett. But both are equal for what they are. I can't recall having heard anything that can do that trick. The skeptic will say: "oh, so the Makua DAC makes everything the same; sux!" No, it's not that simple. The finer recordings have never sounded better. The low level details are never heard before.

 

[Gregadd]

"...the gap between non-audiophile and audiophile recordings is greatly reduced..."

I suppose that depends on what you mean by audiophile. I think traditionally audiophile recording implied the emphasis was on sound quality rather than musical content. Certainly it is more likley now that a recording by soemone Like Barbara Streisand will be of exemplary quality. She might not even know what an audiophile is. To mkae a broad generalization that the gap is closing is simply incorrect.

 

[dallasjustice]

Michael it is a shame you had to preface your thoughts to ward off an eminent flame attack. At least that was how I read it.

Look at the vivid Giya G3 thread I started. I won't post on it anymore.

My goal is to share MY experiences and learn from other's legit experiences.

 

[dallasjustice]

Greg,
I'm just sharing MY experience about a DAC. That's the way it sounds in MY system. You are welcome in my home anytime if you'd like to hear for yourself.

Michael.

"...the gap between non-audiophile and audiophile recordings is greatly reduced..."

I suppose that depends on what you mean by audiophile. I think traditionally audiophile recording implied the emphasis was on sound quality rather than musical content. Certainly it is more likley now that a recording by soemone Like Barbara Streisand will be of exemplary quality. She might not even know what an audiophile is. To mkae a broad generalization that the gap is closing is simply incorrect.

 

[fas42]

"...the gap between non-audiophile and audiophile recordings is greatly reduced..." I suppose that depends on what you mean by audiophile. I think traditionally audiophile recording implied the emphasis was on sound quality rather than musical content. Certainly it is more likley now that a recording by soemone Like Barbara Streisand will be of exemplary quality. She might not even know what an audiophile is. To mkae a broad generalization that the gap is closing is simply incorrect.

This is the interesting, and indeed wonderful thing about lifting a system's performance to a sufficient level - the "really crappy" recordings now reveal enough of their inner detail so that, subjectively, the music related cues and message override the remaining technical flaws - one can just go with the music, the "problems" disappear from one's consciousness.

This is why I said ages ago, "There is no such thing as a bad recording" ...

 

[spazmatron]

This is the interesting, and indeed wonderful thing about lifting a system's performance to a sufficient level - the "really crappy" recordings now reveal enough of their inner detail so that, subjectively, the music related cues and message override the remaining technical flaws - one can just go with the music, the "problems" disappear from one's consciousness.

This is why I said ages ago, "There is no such thing as a bad recording" ...

ok, i have some early Island records ska that would challenge that idea!

but in the main i agree..

 

[opus112]

All I can say is that the Makua DAC's calling card is that ALL music sounds like it's "audiophile." IOW, the gap between non-audiophile and audiophile recordings is greatly reduced.

Interesting that you noticed this with your Makua - its also something I noticed during my long DAC development process. At the start, my go-to track for assessing progress in DAC design was RR Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances. But as my designs improved I started to notice the even more extreme dynamics of some analog-originated recordings. Decca in particular. What's odd about Decca is their earlier analog stuff sounds way more dynamic than their later digital on my system now.

The finer recordings have never sounded better. The low level details are never heard before.

Exactly. More transparency leads to greater noticeable differences between recordings. The more 'difficult' recordings gain the most it seems.

 

[dallasjustice]

come on Michael, say something about the Hilo vs Mola-Mola DAC, don't be shy

btw, you could use the Hilo as a USB/Thunderbolt interface with the Mola Mola DAC. So when they use the same interface (Hilo of course uses Hilo's self interface), how they compare?

Sorry. That's not my style. Bruno's design goal for this unit is for it to last at least 10 years. Given my history with Mola Mola gear, that's not unrealistic.

I have a long checkered past with amps. I've owned an embarrassing number of elite amps, none of which lasted longer than 6-8 months. I've now had the mola mola kaluga amps for going on two years.

No "chip DAC" circle jerk of the month here like we've seen before here and on other forums. If you are looking for the next hot "chip dac", this isn't it. If you want something that will serve you well at the highest levels and disappear from your system, this is what you want.

The bottom line with all mola mola gear is that it disappears. I stopped thinking about amps a long time ago. Honestly, I stopped thinking about DACs a while ago too with the Hilo. But my situation is different than most, so my requirements are unique. I expect I will forget about the Mola Mola DAC too. That's a good thing, IMO.

 

[spazmatron]

Sorry. That's not my style. Bruno's design goal for this unit is for it to last at least 10 years. Given my history with Mola Mola gear, that's not unrealistic.

I have a long checkered past with amps. I've owned an embarrassing number of elite amps, none of which lasted longer than 6-8 months. I've now had the mola mola kaluga amps for going on two years.

No "chip DAC" circle jerk of the month here like we've seen before here and on other forums. If you are looking for the next hot "chip dac", this isn't it. If you want something that will serve you well at the highest levels and disappear from your system, this is what you want.

The bottom line with all mola mola gear is that it disappears. I stopped thinking about amps a long time ago. Honestly, I stopped thinking about DACs a while ago too with the Hilo. But my situation is different than most, so my requirements are unique. I expect I will forget about the Mola Mola DAC too. That's a good thing, IMO.

i call that hifi without ego and its what i look for too.
circle jerk?? WBF??? ... what ever do you mean??!

 

[Gregadd]

Greg,
I'm just sharing MY experience about a DAC. That's the way it sounds in MY system. You are welcome in my home anytime if you'd like to hear for yourself.

Michael.

I thought I was agreeing with you in a qualified way. I have found an occasional mainstream recording gem. IME some artist hang around the recording studio and demand perfection, Branfrd Marsalis for example.On the whole I find recording quality on the decline.
Thanks for the invite. if I ever get that way I'll contact you.

 

[dallasjustice]

Chord Dave ain't use chip either, and its measurement is as good as mola-mola, I am afraid Bruno's goal of leading the DAC world is…harder than before

Chord has had numerous "best" DACs over the last several years. The DAVE is merely the latest in a long line of them. The marketing strategy is reminiscent of the MIT cable strategy. To most audiophiles "more=better" is an irrefutable logical. Eg. More "polls of articulation", more digital taps.

Maybe the Chord Dave is the "best" but I guarantee you there will be a new Xilinx FPGA onto which chord will load a few more taps and call it the Dave II or III or IV, over the next 10 years. That's what Chord does. Bruno isn't about marketing gimmicks.