HH_miller

Very nice read! Thx Sajid

Yes they are daisy chained, the first one is driving AES to a set of Genelecs the second the Mola Mola with AES. I previously had the Mola Mola attached to the Genelecs, but they need to run for passing the signal. Having the Tambaqui now on a dedicated AES line on the second MC3+ made a nice improvement, not night and day though.

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.

I just came back from a vacation and wanted to browse through some new releases…. Got stuck on the second Album, Houses from Silje Nergaard. The Mola Mola has transformed my streaming listening into a direction I‘d never have expected. If you listen to a vinyl record you are kind of forced by the medium to listen from start to end, which kind of forms the experience. When I started to stream I was more like jumping between tracks rushing into the next exploration. The downside is that the libraries are so huge that you can get lost easily without getting any sensual experience. With the Tambaqui I am often times getting stuck to an Album even if it would not have been my choice at first hand. The presentation has something very intimate which makes it very easy to listen into the music. Another positive aspect I have stopped looking at other DAC options available, so a very budget friendly investment ;-).

Going active in the past decade/analogue world was very costly, you would have to obtain the active crossover, power supply and enough amps for each driver etc. I went active with a Naim 500 setup on SL2‘s and the difference to me was worth it considering the effort and costs, I am still having this setup running in the living room. It is bulky as hell but all analogue and frontended with an LP 12 it does play nicely. My other systems are full digital with a Roon/Lumin frontends, I am running active Genelecs with great results. The DSP offers room correction so you can balance out the nastiness of domestic living space. Both setup types are very different and the analogue does have a nice touch of memorabilia, the digital one is super transparent and allows to dive into the seemingly endless world of streaming. Once active converted it’s hard to ever go back, I’d say its more a curse that a revelation. In the end music matters most and even cans let you immerse… and they are active by nature ;-)

I have never bothered with anything else but pure streaming in the U1, don’t do upsampling, disabled everything except Roon let alone MQA. Selecting gear I usually look for the one thing the company does really well, streaming for me was Lumin, DAC Mola Mola. I am using the Volume feature on the Niimbus for the Cans and the DSP version inside the Genelecs. My digital system has become quite bulky over the last year, but digital never sounded any better to me.

My new Tambaqui does have now a few hours under the belt and is nice and warm, sounding sublime. I have been a cable skeptic for some quite times, but recently I experienced that even Ethernet cable made a difference…. Whatever. Today I received a nice parcel from Tellurium Q containing Statement XLR and Silver Diamond 110Ohm AES and 75Ohm BNC. Installed early morning with just a short functional test, looked working all right. Now with a nice cup of coffee the song Pearls (original by Sade) on The woman who raised me is sending shivers down my spine, I guess they work as intended. The Tambaqui is probably the most emotional capable piece of gear I have ever called my own.

Just received my new Tambaqui, right out of the box it lets my Susvaras sing. This little box continues to amaze me.

I had the U1 before the Tambaqui, which replaced a Sonnet Audio Morpheus. I had already taken care of the Network (Melco S100&Etherregen) and Reclocking of AES with 2 Mutec MC-3+ and a Ref10 120, feeding Genelecs and my Headphone rig. So in essence, I have never tried the Mola Mola as Roon endpoint. I introduced the U1 moving the Nuc+LPS into a different location replacing its direct USB connection to the Mutec with the Lumin, this move was massive. Comparable to moving up a step on an LP12. Replacing the U1 PS with an X1 PS was again a very nice step, it is hard to explain but to me it was like a true source upgrade. The Tambaqui was a whole different beast, I was hesitant to Demo in the first place, I knew I would probably be in trouble. I am still having the dealers demo unit since I could not let it go. My final DAC should land later this week. Next step will be sorting out the digital cables feeding the Tambaqui and the XLR connection form the Tambaqui to the Headphone Amp, should come in next week if Brexit not again puts a 6 weeks delay into shipping.

Let me throw another combination into the mix. I am running my Tambaqui behind a Lumin U1. I decided against the X1 mainly because I did not want to buy into the Chip based DACs again, coming from R2R. But I did want to have a fabulous dedicated streamer to begin with. I am running the U1 with X-PS and an Audiosensibility cable though Mutec Re-Clock's to feed the Tambaqui with AES.

Maybe it was wishful thinking.

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.

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

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.

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