2. pc-audio
  3. 1328246582

Mach2Music mini and Amarra : Huge disappointment

I invite all the fellow Audiogon members than own both the Mach2Music Mini and Amarra to share they experiences.

Mine has been a huge disappointment .

The sound I get from the Mach2Music mini even with the advantage of playing Hi-Res files is mediocre at best and way inferior to the sound of a common CD.
Mach2Music tech support after checking that every setting is correct and everything is as it should dropped the ball. They blame the mediocre sound I'm complaining about on Amarra newer version of software they say more stable but sounding not so great.......

To me It doesn't add up. When there are problems the old music start playing: It's someone else fault. May be it's just that the Mach2Music mini is not so great as some say to start with.......

After spending over $4000 on the Mach2Music web site purchasing all the best available upgrades to possibly get the best possible sound from this computer based system, including their top of the line cables (power, USB, Firewire) an optional solid state SSD hard drive besides their special sandwich case to reduce vibrations and the expensive software Amarra, I get instead the sound you would from a cassette player.........at least that's how it sounds to me in my audio system....

My audio system as you read below is of high quality and well balanced where everything from acoustic treatment to power treatment has been closely matched starting from a dedicated room 20x24x9H fully treated with massive use of acoustic diffusers Gikq7 and bass traps Soffits and Tritraps by GikAcoustics.

Audio components connected to the Mach2music mini are:

DAC : dCS Debussy 24/192
Pre: BAT VK52SE upgraded with 6H30DR supertubes Reflector 1987.
Amp: 2x BAT VK600SE Mono
Transport ; Oppo 95
Speakers ; Magnepan 20.1
Speaker cables : MIT Oracle Matrix HD90
Interconnect : MIT Oracle Matrix XLR
Power: 2x Torus RM20 (one x each amp on two dedicated 20 amp circuits)
Power cords all MIT Oracle ZIII
Audio rack Adona Zero reference
All internal and external stock fuses replaced with HiFi Tuning Supreme.

I rarely write on the forum but this is too big of a screw up to pass and I hope to save to somebody the frustration I went thru.

Besides if some of you has a very positive experience with other computer based systems please share . Help is always appreciated.

I hear good things about Solos by Meridian or the USB Thumb reader by Bryston and I'll probably move on one of the two.... life continues......

so if you'll see my Mach2mini for sale on Audiogon in the near future you already know why..............................
128x128alessandro1

Showing 7 responses by edorr

edorr
714 posts
 
I have a few hunderd hours on the MKII board and it is absolutely amazing. I would not be surprised if it creams the DCS, but only a proper shootout will tell. If the turn-key PS audio silent server delivers the goods, in theory you should have a plug and play computer based system, without the head-aches of doing your own integration. Reality is, this is an ongoing R&D project, which will have some frustrating bumps in the road.
edorr
714 posts
 
I will be receiving the CAPS 2.0 as a music server tomorrow ($1,400). I have a HiFace EVO with Bolder powersupply USB converter. No basis to compare to Mach2Music - my baseline performance is streamed I2S through the PS Audio bridge. If I continue down this path I may get an offramp 5 USB converter.
edorr
714 posts
 
Hfisher, I am not qualified to comment on the sonic aspects of the vinyl/digital debate, but keep in mind that by the time sound comes out of your speaker, "digital" is just as "analog" as vinyl. The issue is whether transcoding an analog signal into a digital signal, and processing that signal digitally through some stages of the signal path is a net benefit or net harm to the signal, relative to staying in the analog domain end to end. The answer to this is a function of the state of technology. One thing we do know - the state of digital is on a vastly steeper price/performance improvement curve, and I have no doubt that at some point analog will be obsolute. How many professional photograpers are still using film????
edorr
714 posts
 
Pettyofficer, what other format do you propose? CDs have been around for a few decades with probably another decade of life left, which is a pretty good run in the digital age. Certainly beats floppy discs. 10 years out, 90% of content will probably be stored in the cloud and streamed to whereever you want to listen. In the interim, there is cheap local storage. Welcome to the 21st century.
edorr
714 posts
 
Pettyoffice, like all industries the primary driver in music publishing is money. As soon as a large enough number of folks that want high quality audio and are willing to pay for jump on the computer audio bandwagon, it will become commercially viable for studios to (a) remaster their catalogues in high resolution that will exceed CD quality and (b) release all new material in downloadable high rez.

So rather than lamenting the state of the industry, get yourself a PC, tell all your audiophile buddies to ditch their turntables and start buying high rez tracks on line. If HD tracks and the likes can show the industry there is booming demand, more labels will join the audiophile quality computer audio fray.
edorr
714 posts
 
Pettyofficer, I repeat, it is simply a commercial issue. The studio went to the effor to remaster the Beatles collection and sold an X number of sets. Dark Side of the Moon was remastered for SACD and sold Y. If the industry thinks it is commercially interesting to remaster a release as high rez downloads it will. It chicken and egg - as long as many the audiophiles hold out on computer based audio there is no market and no content. Look at video - everyone has a blu ray player so many, many popular movies are being released on blu ray - a commercial boon to the industry. The same could happend with computer audio. I would rebuy a few hundred titles as $20 a pop in high rez in a heartbeat if they were available, and I am not alone.
edorr
714 posts
 
Pettyofficer, I don't quite understand your rambling about formats. Existing lossless formats (Flac, Wav etc.) are capable of storing and transfering information at exactly the same resoltion as in the recording studio. There may be issues with computer based audio, and lack of high rez content, but the "format" is not part of the problem.
More to discover