Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC and Streamer Review

[Purité Audio]

I have opened ‘Computer Audiophile’,
Keith

 

[Matias]

The US dealer of Mola Mola published a nice video telling the history of Mola Mola, Hypex, how they operate currently with the passing of the owner, and also a little about the new amplifier tech coming.

 

[Purité Audio]

Does he mention the spat that left the Tambaqui unfinished for years ?
Keith

 

[Matias]

Grab your popcorn and have fun!

 

[HorizonsEdge]

Nominated for worst product name ever!

 

[yodog]

Nominated for worst product name ever!

So true


It always reminds me of the mola mola fish.

Google it!!!! (Mola mola fish)

 

[Rhubarb]

So true


It always reminds me of the mola mola fish.

Google it!!!! (Mola mola fish)

They should all remind you of fish, because that's what they are named after!

You can nominate them for worst product name ever but you won't get my vote. Most audio product names to me seem first cousiny to pharmaceutical names but trying to sound cool or powerful or some other thing that appeals to male insecurity-based fantasies of power.

Or just as bad and stemming from similar fantasies they are numbers and letters, like muscle cars or Nazi rockets.

At least the fish names refer to real things in the world, things with their own peculiar beauty independent of human designs. Kind of like sound, and music, fish are beyond human words, unnameable. Reminders that we are not the be all and end all and that truth is beauty which predates and will survive us.

[edit: one misspelling and one grammarish flub]

 

[Matias]

So true


It always reminds me of the mola mola fish.

Google it!!!! (Mola mola fish)

It's not a coincidence: the brand is the Mola Mola fish (aka Sun fish), and Tambaqui is also a fish.

 

[yodog]

It's not a coincidence: the brand is the Mola Mola fish (aka Sun fish), and Tambaqui is also a fish.

My mind is blown.

 

[gjm]

Given the aging of this product, and the incessant drive to release the bigger-better-faster-more next thing, this may not be cheap but will represent a very nice (probably) lightly-used entry into boutique hifi.

Is it technically better than more recent products? Unlikely. But for those that like good and 'different' this is very cool.

And while this late, I'd like to thank whoever sent it in for review.

 

[Purité Audio]

Different in which way?
Apart from more expensive obviously.
Keith

 

[Rhubarb]

Given the aging of this product, and the incessant drive to release the bigger-better-faster-more next thing, this may not be cheap but will represent a very nice (probably) lightly-used entry into boutique hifi.

Is it technically better than more recent products? Unlikely. But for those that like good and 'different' this is very cool.

And while this late, I'd like to thank whoever sent it in for review.

Aging? Unlikely?

What?

 

[RustyGates]

Given the aging of this product, and the incessant drive to release the bigger-better-faster-more next thing, this may not be cheap but will represent a very nice (probably) lightly-used entry into boutique hifi.

Is it technically better than more recent products? Unlikely. But for those that like good and 'different' this is very cool.

And while this late, I'd like to thank whoever sent it in for review.

Aging? Absolutely not. Technically better being unlikely? Don't know about that... here's a couple of chip DACs sweating a bit.

 

[gjm]

To clarify:

• Aging - it is now a 4-year-old model. That's not old, but in a market where manufacturers release new models at least twice a year, it is older. And that means there are some available as used models.
• Current models from some manufacturers will return a better technical result.

None of this detracts in any way from the Tambaqui or it's abilities. It's an excellent piece of kit.

 

[Purité Audio]

Probably a ten year old design, Bruno started it while working for Mola/Hypex left Hypex with the design unfinished completed by Bart Van de Lam?
Fine measuring but if kit, considering it’s age.
Keith

 

[Matias]

This 10 year old design is still a top performance DAC today and in the foreseeable future.

Some measurements against other expensive DACs here.

Mola Mola Tambaqui Measurements

In response to precisely that remark on my part they’re suddenly getting inquiries relating to "old design" etc etc... It’s odd that people might think that the development timeline should affect the performance of the product but there you go. Back in the day, for example, McIntosh would keep...

www.audiosciencereview.com

In my opinion the Tambaqui is still comparable to the very best measuring newer DACs I have seen lately, such as Weiss Helios and dCS Vivaldi Apex, both way more expensive by the way.

Gramophone Dreams #55: Mola Mola Tambaqui D/A processor Measurements | Stereophile.com

Measurements, from January 2022 (Vol.45 No.1): When Herb Reichert reviewed the Mola Mola Tambaqui in his December 2021 Gramophone Dreams column, he very much liked what he heard from this Bruno Putzeys–designed D/A processor. "During my first days of listening, the Mola Mola's most conspicuous...

www.stereophile.com

Weiss Engineering Helios D/A processor Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements I measured the Weiss Helios with my Audio Precision SYS2722, repeating some of the tests with the higher-resolution APx555. All the measurements were performed with the Helios's DSP bypassed.

www.stereophile.com

dCS Vivaldi Apex D/A processor Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements I measured the dCS Vivaldi Apex with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, repeating some measurements with the higher-performance APx500. I performed the testing with the AES3 and USB inputs. The Vivaldi's AES3 input accepted data sampled at all rates up to 192kHz, and the...

www.stereophile.com

Let alone the audibility of such differences anyway...

 

[jimmyjames8]

This dac uses the same oversampling of PCM and conversion to PWM scheme that the NAD M51 (that I own) does. And the Marantz 30N SACD player does something similar, PCM to DSD. John Siau of Benchmark says PCM to DSD is a bad idea for several reasons. All quite interesting.

 

[boXem]

This dac uses the same oversampling of PCM and conversion to PWM scheme that the NAD M51

The conversion to PWM scheme is unique to Mola-Mola.

And the Marantz 30N SACD player does something similar, PCM to DSD.

DSD is not PWM, it is single bit PCM. The advantage of PWM over DSD is that the information remains coded on several bits, notably allowing proper dithering, amongst other advantages.

 

[gjm]

John Siau of Benchmark says PCM to DSD is a bad idea for several reasons. All quite interesting.

With all due respect to John - and he and Benchmark make superb kit - this is a different approach to the one Benchmark uses. He may be expressing this to boost Benchmarks profile. We'd need to see empirical evidence of the 'bad idea' and not an opinion.

 

[tcli]

DSD is not PWM, it is single bit PCM. The advantage of PWM over DSD is that the information remains coded on several bits,

A sufficiently high frequency DSD could emulate a PWM
It's all about engineering compromise