Recently, I received a Mola Mola Tambaqui in on trade. This is a unit I have really wanted to spend some time with given the raves and I have a great stable of products in to do some comparisons. Right as this arrived, I became a Linn dealer and the Klimax DSM arrived and I also picked up an older Selekt DSM with Katalyst DAC and the new Utopik PSU.
I had tested all of the inputs on the Mola Mola via my Oladra to ensure everything was working. I will admit, I found the setup particularly annoying since there is no easy way to switch between inputs. You have to download the app, etc... That said, this is a problem for me testing a used item but would not be an issue for a typical end user.
I was doing my listening test the same day the Linn Selekt DSM arrived and couldn’t help but listen to it. Immediately I was struck but the similarity in sound between the two units. The Katalyst is dryer than Organik and quite detailed. I tweaked my setup and decided to do a very close AB comparison with the units occupying adjacent XLR inputs in my preamp.
Regarding connections, I did deviate. After testing the different Mola Mola inputs I was torn between AES and I2S out of the Oladra. I opted for I2S via a Pink Faun I2S cable. The best input on the Linn is the on-board streamer and I used an Audioquest Vodka ethernet between server and DSM.
The Mola Mola is great. I completely understand why people love it. On Duke Ellington/John Coltrane the device has great top end sparkle on the piano. Drum rolls have great separation and are distinct.
Be Still My Beating Heart from sting Sounds huge. No sibilance in Sting’s voice, bells are clear, noise floor is very low.
In Liberty, effects are placed correcctly. Her voice is not sibilant though maybe a hair brighter than I prefer but clarity is excellent and again, the noise floor is low.
In Duende, the bass solo is clear and precise. No digital artifacts show up and it is smooth and clear. Great air around the strings. Drums are crisp with great decay, cymbals are bright (in a good way) with great air.
The Berg piece had great instrumental separation. No sibilance and scale was a bit off and lacked the intimacy of the Chord Dave or Linn Klimax but this is a very common issue and a tiny issue that is common to DACs that are more expensive.
I obviously ran the same test with the Selekt DSM w/ Katalyst and I was right, they are very similar tonally and in the way they present. That said, everything was just a hair off compared to the Tambaqui. the image was slightly congested for lack of a better term. Image was slightly less appealing though separation was as good. I literally had no idea what this thing cost yet and discovered it is ~$3K less expensive. My feeling was it is a fair compromise to save a little bit of money and was less dissapointed.
Then I decided to put on Space Optimization to evaluate the difference. Suddenly the entire image shifted and the whole experience is much more immersive. I suspect the congestion that I was hearing was smearing and timing issues with bass response in my room.
I have absorption panels, bass traps, diffusers and my speakers 5’ into the room and it measures extremely well. My subwoofer is a Perlisten with an advanced DSP that integrates into my system easily and quite well. The introduction of Space Op took this to a completely different level.
If you have ever spent time setting up a subwoofer making micro adjustments to settings, you know the moment when timing becomes perfect. It is shocking in the sudden increase in clarity and sense of rightness to what you are hearing. That is what happened with Space Op being turned on. There was a rightness and clarity to what I was hearing that I have to spend hours to get just right in terms of micro adjustments to placement, toeing and rake angle of your speakers along with micro adjustments to timing with your subwoofer.
Suddenly the Selekt became smoother and more coherent. I stopped feeling like I was observing the image in front of me with the mola mola or Linn without room correction and it seemed like I was suddenly immersed into the music and it enveloped me and I feel like the Selekt leap frogged the Mola Mola.
This had me itchy to test more. I cleared a couple shelves and inserted the Playback Designs MPD 6 and the Rockna Wavedream Signature XLR. My system was setup around Playback DACs and the Playback delivered its trademark musicality and the holographic image I am used to and it was a clear step up from both, albeit small. The Rockna timing was a hair off but the fine microdetails stand out and for me, deliver a fascinating feeling that almost feels like it is touch the edges of your ears.
I have been using a sixth track recently for demos. Michael Jackson, Human Nature off of Thriller. This is a very immersive track with these extremely quiet but detailed bells that appear in that air around you. All four DACs did a fine job of presenting an immersive and holographic experience. The Tambaqui and Rockna were a hair off.
What this tells me, is that the way these DACs present requires micro tuning of your system to get it just right. I believe the Tambaqui could be as good as these others but I am not prepared to go through the effort to tweak my system to get the most out of it for a used item I don’t carry.
More than anything, what stands out is the benefits of Room Correction as it makes it easy to get a basically perfect setup in less than perfect conditions. Most DAC manufacturers lack the scale of Linn so few will have the resources to develop their own room correction. I wonder if more manufactures won’t begin licensing things like DIRAC Live or the BACCH system to incorporate into their devices to bring them the next level.
