New DAC! Meitner MA3, Denafrips Terminator Plus, Holo May KTE, Mola Mola Tambaqui

I love my Tambaqui but have not heard any of your contenders except Dave.

@ja_kub_sz , Hello!  I read with interest you comment on MMT output voltages.

And I have run into a few DAC related voltage output issues that I’ve had to troubleshoot over the years to avoid clipping.

My Tambaqui is connected to my Audionet Stern Preamp with single ended (prefered) (RCA) cables.  On a very few recordings, that in the words of my dealer, are 'very hot' I get clipping or distortion while using the 6v output.  Certainly different preamps or integrateds synergise with different output voltages.  So I can change it to 2v output, right in the Mola Mola app.  This eliminates the distortion on 'hot' recordings.  But, it does not sound as good generally.  So I learned this easy adjustment from Bill at GTT: in the app set Volume Offset (I use direct) to -2.  This allows me to maintain the higher output voltage and get no clipping with better sound.

Hi @brewerslaw ​​​​@chauncey !  I use Roon and had a Nucleus+ in my computer room.  I have the Mola Mola Tambaqui and was looking for a streamer to up the game.  I was told "you have a Ferrari for a DAC and are feeding it cheap gas" !

I ended up with a wired Aries G2.1.  Definite improvement.  Then I modded it with a Sean Jacobs AR6 power supply. Expensive and requires internal conversion of the Aries.  It sounded amazing.  But my wired Aries G2.1 was very finicky.  I have good internet, 1G service, 1G switch and throughputs etc. If I left it for any time (overnight) it would be locked up and a PAIN to restart.

So when I learned about the Grimm MU1 I jumped on it before the price went up.  It runs Roon Core so it replaced my Nucleus +, It's power supply and a power cable. It is also an amazing streamer, especially for the non DSD stuff.  It does DSD, it just is amazing on the 44 to 196 stuff.  Special.  AES to my DAC.  I think it is a real value, rivaling the N20 and besting most other servers.   And it runs Roon Core without issue.  And nobody talks of changing the power supply as in other streamers.  No wifi though... You need to hear the Grimm.  

Hi @ja_kub_sz ,  I can only speak about how my Tambaqui interacts with my Audionet Stern (and formerly Audionet Pre G2).  The 6v output sounds better than the 2v output on the Tambaqui.  At 6v I only got the clipping on some recordings, but was super annoying.  So by setting Volume offset to -2, for me, it fixes everything and I can still run 6v output.  Remember to use Volume Offset, not Volume, as the digital voilume on the Tambaqui casues bit strippiing or loss of resolution.  Again I run fixed volume output (now adjusted by the volume offset) and control volume on the preamp.  I would think we want to run the highest output from the DAC that works in our system.  The variable output on the T+A is interesting.

I do not know how to equate the amount of Volume Offset you need to run at 6v and eliminate the clipping.  Please experiment and get back to us!

@audioman58 , Good Morning!  Are your buddies using separate streamers with the T+A 200?  What amps?  Thanks, Ken

Hello @phishhhhh4 ,  Good info but confusing me a bit.  You (Mola Mola) are saying there is no difference as long as you turn the volume down using 6v or up using 2v?  This is not what I found to be true.  At the 6v output, on some recordings, there is distortion.  I will call it this as opposed to clipping as I might be technically wrong.  This distortion always starts at the bottom of any eight step cycle on my Audionet Preamp ( Pre G2) and probably my Stern.  As you turn the volume up, the distortion increases  along any 8 step portion of the volume.  As you increase volume, the distortion increases along that given 8 step increase. At the ninth step, the distortion lowers and then climbs again (louder as the volume is louder) during  that 8 step ladder.  So just turning the volume down to match 2v output volume does not eliminate the distortion.

Using Volume Offset does.  I do not know if this effectively turns the output down to 5v or 4v or not, but it sounds better than just using 2v and turning it up

I do not doubt that that the distortion goes away at the 2v output; same here.

What I am saying is that we do not have to turn it all the way down to 2v.  Use the Volume Offset instead.

I looked again at Volume Offset in the MM app.

I noticed by selecting -2 its value is -2dB (as opposed to -2v). 

Somehow this is different than decreasing volume, which in their digital domain causes a resolution loss.  I do not think you loose any resolution at 6v with -2 in the volume offset tab.

So based on that (thank you) I guess volume offset is just the same as turning the MM volume down -2db.  But it is once and done, and the -2db does not seem to reduce sound quality  at least to my ears..  6v output still works and I do not have any distortion.  As I have switched streamers (now Grimm MU1) and switched to AES, I should again play those hot recordings without the volume offset and see if it still happens.  

+1 on your PS Audio comments @w123ale I went from PS Audio (dull) to Auralic Vega 2 (much more resolving but edgy) to MM Tambaqui.  Amazing resolution, clarity, soundstage, imaging..  Adding a quality streamer brings it all home; more engaging, warmer, but still amazing resolution.  Lifelike.